The Dread Wyrm (Traitor Son Cycle) Read Online Free PDF Page A

are not
trying
to be mysterious and difficult, but you are succeeding magnificently. May I try returning your words? You are saying that the more you help us, the less you can see of what’s actually happening. You are saying that there are several of you, which I guessed but I don’t think we’ve ever heard said plainly before. You’ll help us to a point, but to do more would jeopardize—” Here Ser Gabriel laughed. “Your moral convictions as a deity. Or a dragon.”
    “Or whatever the fuck you are,” said Sauce.
    “Yes,” Master Smythe said. “You are an apt pupil.”
    “Can I ask you some questions?” Ser Gabriel asked.
    Master Smythe drank. “Of course. But you understand that this is about entanglement with your… event sequence. The more questions I answer, the more entangled I am, even if I take no action.”
    “Bless you,” Ser Gabriel said. “But that’s your trouble, not ours.”
    “I agree,” said the dragon.
    “Will Harmodius now change sides?” Gabriel snapped.
    A pained look crossed Master Smythe’s usually immobile face. “Master Harmodius is far along the road,” he said. “So far that he may decide to be a side, rather than adopt one. It heartens me that he was so conservative with his powers in the recent contest. I cannot go beyond that.”
    “Will de Vrailly kill the King?” Gabriel asked.
    There was the sound of a dozen breaths all sucked in together.
    Master Smythe let a trickle of smoke—artificial smoke, not his own—come out of his mouth. “The sequence, as it applies to the King of Alba, is now completely opaque to me,” he said. “I can’t see a thing.” He sighed. “But I do not see anything happening to the king except his becoming more of a tool.”
    Ser Gabriel sat back. “Damn. How about this spring? Right now? The drove and the fairs?”
    Master Smythe nodded. “Again, I am too close to all of these. My adversary must be very close to exposing me. But I see this much; Thorn has made alliance with the entity who calls himself ‘the Black Knight.’ They have both slaves and allies in the north—and elsewhere—and they are preparing a major effort. Their scouts have already entered the Adnacrags—indeed, a few foolish creatures attempted to pass my Circle and a dozen raids are aimed into the valley of the Cohocton even now. So yes—yes, I expect that you will be attacked on the road, and that efforts will be made to disrupt trade. My adversary understands trade.”
    They all sat, digesting this packet of information.
    “Will there be another attempt on the Emperor?” Ser Alcaeus asked.
    “I’m not a prophet,” Master Smythe said with visible irritation. “And given your own hand in these events, you are perilously close to annoying me.”
    Every head turned.
    Alcaeus flushed. “I have chosen my side. I’m here.”
    Master Smythe shrugged. “Any road, I’m too close to it. But I will say that any event that threatens the stability of the city is a threat to… everything.”
    “How very enigmatic and helpful,” Father Arnaud said. “Will you attend the Council of the North? You are one of the important landowners.”
    This sally caused Master Smythe to smile. “By your God, Father, that was witty.” He looked around. “No, I will not attend. We are, as I havetried to say, too close to the tipping point where our adversary detects my interference pattern. That would be very difficult for me. I cannot be seen to directly aid you or I am revealed. And then—then, we fail.” He shrugged. “Even this is an evasion. I can take certain actions—others are too revealing.”
    “Because he is stronger than you?” Ser Gabriel asked.
    Master Smythe frowned. “Yes.”
    “Drat,” Ser Gabriel said.
    “Is there a God?” asked Sauce.
    “You don’t mince about, do you?” Master Smythe asked. “Child of man, I have no more idea than do you.” He took a long pull on his pipe. “I will say that as my kind is to your kinds, then it would not