He seemed to sense the bolt coming; whipping around, he batted it out of the air harmlessly.

“So,” he said, stalking toward me, “you know.”

“Yes.” I drew my sword and bounded into the open. The blade fit my hand like it had been made for me. I advanced on him, too. “Fenn gave you away. You spoke to him. He's in our house now.”

He shook his head and sloughed off his face like a snake shedding its skin. I stopped and stared, bewildered and horrified. It wasn't Locke. I'd expected that. But the face underneath… Ulyanash?

“You're dead,” I said. “I killed you!”

“You are as stupid as your father,” Ulyanash sneered, wiping bits of skin away from the corners of his eyes. “You have no power here, unholy mongrel! You do not know our ways. You could not hope to stand against a Lord of Chaos who wants you dead.”

“I did it once.”

“That was my cousin Orole. I could not attend Lady Lanara's party and kill you myself, so I sent him in my place. We look much alike. Everyone is fooled whenever we switch places.”

“I killed him, and I can kill you.” I shrugged. “I can't imagine you're a much better fighter than he was.”

“That shows how little you know.” He raised his sword and advanced on me again.

“Explain it to me,” I said, trying to draw out information. I circled, keeping twenty feet between us. “Don't let me die in ignorance.”

“Born in ignorance. Raised in ignorance. What harm to die in ignorance?”

Leaping forward, he closed quickly, then lunged. I parried, still backing away. Best to keep him talking. He seemed as slow-witted as Aber and Rhalla had claimed. Why else take time to brag in the middle of a fight?

“I know more than you think,” I said.

“Tell me something, then.” He slowed his advance. “Maybe you can buy your life, if you have the information I want or need.”

I chuckled. “Or maybe you can buy yours. How about we trade?”

He shrugged. “You are going to die anyway. Why not? There are things I want to know.”

“I'll go first,” I said. “Who is the serpent in the tower of skulls?”

He looked surprised. “Lord Zon, for all the good it will do you. My turn now. Does Dworkin really have the Jewel of Judgment?”

“I don't know,” I said honestly.

“Wrong answer.”

Without warning, he lunged. The silvered blade of his sword slid past my frantic parry, nicking my left shoulder. The wound was minor—little more than a scratch, really—but it stung, then turned cold. An icy feeling began to spread down my arm toward my fingers. His blade was poisoned, I realized with shock.

“Want to change your answer?” he asked, drawing back a pace.

“I cannot change the truth. I have never heard of the Jewel of Judgment. What is it?”

“A ruby, a little smaller than a man's fist.”

“Ah.” I nodded, knowing the one to which he referred. When we were in Juniper, my father had somehow taken me inside the gem. It had opened up my mind to the Pattern within me.

“Then you do know the Jewel?”

“Yes. I didn't know it had a name.”

“Where is it?”

“My father has it. Why is it important?”

I felt a strange warmth in my right hand. The sword's hilt… perhaps it was doing something to counteract the poison? I tightening my grew. The numbness no longer seemed to be spreading from my wound quite so quickly.

“It is… a key to controlling the Logrus. My turn. Where is it now?”

“I don't know. The last time I saw it, Dad had it in his workshop in Juniper. It may still be there.”

Ulyanash regarded me silently for a moment, then nodded. “I believe you,” he said. “Fair enough.”

“My turn again,” I said. “Who does Lord Zon work for? I know it's not King Uthor.”

“Lord Zon works for himself. One day soon, he will be King of Chaos.”

“And you'll be his right hand man? That sounds like a plot worse than my father's.”

He smirked. “In a way, your father made all this possible. Uthor is weak because of him. His followers waver in their loyalty. When we strike…”

I saw movement over Ulyanash's left shoulder. A man was entering Tsagoth Square, stepping into it from empty air. Obviously he was using a Trump. Aber?

No—it was my father! And he had his sword drawn. It seemed he'd gotten my message and followed me here after all.

I took a deep breath. My whole left side felt heavy and cold. The warmth from the enchanted sword could not hold it back. Numbness spread into my chest. No wonder Ulyanash had won so many fights, if he poisoned his weapons. When the coldness reached my heart… I did not like to think what would happen.

“I seem to have run out of questions for you,” he said. He raised his sword. “Prepare yourself, son of Dworkin!”

Dad began to creep up behind him, moving as softly as a cat. I had never been so happy in my life to see someone. I had to keep Ulyanash talking for just a few seconds more.

“I have one last thing to ask,” I said. I let my sword sag down as if I couldn't hold it up any longer. “I need to know—who was behind the attack on our family in Juniper? Was it you?”

“Of course.” He laughed.

I let my head fall to my chest. “I thought so.”

He stepped forward, sword ready.

“Look behind you,” I whispered.

He started to glance back, then thought better of it—it was an old trick, I had to admit. Instead, with his smirk growing broader, he raised his sword for a killing blow.

With one swing, my father struck Ulyanash's head from his shoulders. Blood sprayed across me, then began to drift up toward the sky. His body hit the ground with a dull thump.

“I came as soon as I could,” my father said. He bent to clean his blade on Ulyanash's shirt. “Are you all right, my boy? Are you up for more work tonight? I need you.”

“His sword was poisoned.” I gave a pained grimace. “He nicked me. I think I'm…”

And I felt myself collapse.

Chapter 27

I awoke slowly, feeling stiff. Sunlight came through an open window, showing a pleasant enough room. Whitewashed walls, long narrow bed, wooden floor. Outside, birds sang. We were in Shadow somewhere. “Dad?” I called.

No answer. It seemed I'd been abandoned again. My shoulder had been bandaged. I sat up and pulled away the dressing, discovering fresh pink skin over the wound. Apparently I'd been here a few days. The knife wound in my arm had also healed. I washed up, dressed, and went into the next room. A small table sat waiting for me, along with a basket of cold bread, a bottle of red wine, and a note. The note said:

I have urgent business in another Shadow. Time runs very fast here, so it will probably be a few days before I return. Get your strength back. I need your help.

The note wasn't signed.

I ate slowly. The crusty brown bread had gone a bit stale, but the wine more than made up for it.

As I chewed, I began to have a strange sensation of being watched. I remembered the serpent-creature who had used Taine's blood to scry upon me... Lord Zon, Ulyanash had named him. Zon might well be spying on me now and cursing the day I had come to the Courts of Chaos. Hopefully he had lost one of his chief lieutenants in Ulyanash.

The Pattern within me seemed to have special properties. Let's see how I could use them.

With the bread knife, I began to carve an image of the Pattern into the table before me. As I did, my sight seemed to drift away from the reality of here and now. I saw dark lines, threads of energy, rising from the table. They formed an image of the Pattern, slowly spinning in mid air. I willed it up, up, larger and larger, surrounding and protecting me.

Suddenly, like a door closing, my sense of being watched came to and end. Whatever connection Lord Zon had made between Taine's blood and me, between the tower of skulls and this little cottage, had been broken.