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a sort of bloody mist settling to the floor where she had been. Blade felt
saliva welling up in his mouth. By a heroic effort he swallowed it, and turned
an impassive face to Queen Mir-Kasa, who was looking inquisitively at him.
"Well, Blade? Have the English such as the great wands?"
"Not precisely such, Your Splendor. But we have things that can do as well."
He was not going to admit that this this death ray was far ahead of anything
in England, or that the demonstration of it had nearly made him sick.
"Did you expect to find such as the great wand here in Melnon?"
He could not tell that lie with a straight face. "No, I did not."
"Well, they did not exist until a few seasons ago. They were the idea of a
worker of the First Rank, a very good idea, wouldn't you say?"
"I would. But what are they for? I can see that they are an immense
improvement over the regular wands, but surely you do not need these for "
"For administering the Low People? Hardly, Blade. These are for use on
warriors. The warriors of the other Towers of Melnon. And on the Low People,
if necessary."
Swiftly, in clipped sentences, she told him of her real plans, and of how the
great wands that could kill at a distance were the heart of them. She made the
picture exceedingly clear to Blade much too clear.
What she dreamed of doing was raising the Low People of the other towers in
revolt against their
High People. Perhaps they would not actually succeed. But they would shake and
weaken the other towers so that they would be easy pickings for the warriors
of the Tower of the Serpent.
"Armed with the great wands?" asked Blade.
"Perhaps. But I hope we will not need to use them elsewhere. They are for use
mostly in my defense, and in the defense of the wise High People of Melnon."
The "wise High People of Melnon" were those who could or would follow her
lead, and submit to her absolute rule. She expected there would be many, after
she had made the Tower of the Serpent supreme in Melnon. But she could not be
sure of all her High People even then. And certainly there
would be many who would balk beforehand, if they knew of what she was
planning. Raising revolt among the Low People was the most horrible of all
violations of the Peace Wisdom, and the slightest rumor of it would raise a
hornets' nest of opposition.
"And of course it is always possible that the Low People of my own tower may
learn of what is going on, and try their own revolt. They would kill both the
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wise and the foolish High People, and leave the
Tower of the Serpent too weak to support my rule over Melnon. So I must defend
myself against the
High People who would attack me, and against the Low People who would attack
my friends among the
High People. Therefore, the great wands."
The great wands, in short, would arm Mir-Kasa's private army, the instrument
of her personal rule over both the Tower of the Serpent and the other towers.
With them, such an army would be invincible and her rule unshakeable.
"No doubt of that," said Blade. At least no doubt he felt like expressing to
Mir-Kasa.
But where to build up this private army, so that it would be all ready for the
day it might be needed?
Where in the Tower of the Serpent could the necessary secrecy be maintained?
The answer was obvious. In the levels of the Low People, the degraded and
dishonorable brutes whose doings no one of the High People could properly care
about. So when Bryg-Noz was degraded and sent down among the Low People quite
properly he was sent down with instructions and advice from Mir-Kasa. He did
not need very many of these, for he was a highly intelligent man. And each
time one of the High People was degraded, if Mir-Kasa trusted him or her she
told them of Bryg-Noz, and sent them to him. He used them well. By now he had
"How many, Bryg-Noz?"
A look passed between Bryg-Noz and the warrior girl Kun-Rala. It was a look of
complicity. Blade caught it. Mir-Kasa, fortunately, did not.
Bryg-Noz shrugged. "Oh, at last count, more than two hundred."
"Not badly done, my friend. But we need more."
"Of course we do," said Kun-Rala. "We know all about your thousand and more
great wands in the secret compartments of the work chambers. But all it takes
is one person with a loose tongue, and
Nris-Pol or someone like him will have the tower howling about our ears. And
you have as much to lose by that as we do. So don't urge us to move faster
than is safe, I beg you."
The look Mir-Kasa shot at the girl was filled with chill rage. Blade hoped
Kun-Rala would learn to control her tongue and her temper better than this if
she was going to be involved in a revolution.
Then the queen took a deep breath and shrugged. "You are indeed the ones in
danger, so it is just that I defer to your judgment. But remember it will go
hard with you if I find that you delay when there is no danger. Come, Blade.
Have you seen enough for tonight?"
"I have, Your Splendor." He turned and followed the queen toward the stairs.
As they wound their way upward through the green dimness, Blade was turning
the night's events over and over in his mind. Obviously his guess had been
right Queen Mir-Kasa was interested in upsetting the Melnonian applecart to
increase her own power, not to help anybody. And she was playing a more
dangerous game for much bigger stakes than he had ever realized.
But there were still some pieces missing from the puzzle.
Where were those Great Wands stored and did he dare ask? And did
Bryg-Noz and that hot-tempered Amazon Kun-Rala really see eye to eye
with Mir-Kasa on the goal of the whole
"revolution?" The looks he had seen passing between the two made him wonder.
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