Blind God's Bluff A Billy Fox Novel - By Richard Lee Byers Page 0,8
broken.”
Timon looked genuinely surprised. “Why? I haven’t treated you so badly. Any of the others would be worse.”
“That remains to be seen, doesn’t it?”
“Don’t let spite stand in the way of your own best interest.”
“It’s not in my best interest to let myself be blinded or worse, now is it? I know who your opponents are.”
“Then have it your way, coward! I’ll get Festering Sam. See how you like it when he’s a lord, and you’re still kowtowing to me.”
“He won’t represent you, either. No one will. We all talked about it.”
Timon stiffened, and when he spoke again, it sounded choked. “Are you saying that every single one of my minions is a traitor?”
“No, my lord. I’m saying that even vassals and thralls have rights, and we’re exercising them. That’s all.”
“When I’ve sorted this out, I’ll give you a thousand years of nightmares.”
“Then it’s a good thing I don’t need a lot of sleep.” Murk’s eyes shifted back to me for a moment. Then he hauled himself back out into the water and slipped beneath the surface.
Up until then, Timon had held himself straight and defiant. Now, his whole body slumped. For a second, I thought he might fall down.
Like I said, I was dazed and bewildered. Yet even so, I’d figured out that there wasn’t much about the old guy that was likable. Still, I felt sorry for him. Maybe it was because we’d just come through danger together.
“It could be,” I said, “that Murk was just trying to rattle your cage. You may still have some… vassals who are willing to help you.”
Timon shook his head. “No. What he said had the ring of truth.”
“What did you do to them all, anyway?”
He showed me that a person can glare without eyes. “Nothing I didn’t have a right to do! Nothing that caused any harm! So what if they suffered a few terrors and humiliations in their dreams? Dreams aren’t real! Isn’t that what your people say?”
“I guess.”
“Any of the others would do worse. As the ungrateful scum will find out in due course. Unless… ” He cocked his head. “Tell me about yourself.”
“I’m just a regular person.” Even as I said it, I realized that regular people don’t create “wards” and drive cars during out-of-body experiences. But it felt true. “Tell me about you. About all of this.”
He shook his head. “You first.”
“You know what? To hell with that. I’m not one of your stooges—”
“Actually—”
“—and I’m done letting you boss me around. Answer my question, or I’ll get back in the car and drive away.”
That might be the smart thing to do anyway. But I didn’t want to, and not just because I felt bad for him. The things I’d seen were terrifying, but fascinating, too. How could a person suddenly discover that his own hometown was full of monsters, and that he himself had some kind of half-assed superpowers, and not want to find out more about it?
Timon sniffed twice, like his nose could tell whether I really would follow through on my threat, and then he scowled. “Have it your way. I assume you know at least a little bit about folklore. Demons, witches, and the like.”
“Well, I saw the Lord of the Rings movies. The first and the third one, anyway. And you’re telling me that all those things are real?”
“You’ve already met some of us. Do we seem real?”
I swallowed. “Yeah. But then why doesn’t everybody know about you? Why haven’t I ever seen you before this?’
“We prefer to keep our society apart from yours, and just dip into your world when we need something. It’s easier that way.”
“Okay.” Interested as I was in what he was saying, his funk was burning my nose again. I took a step back so I could inhale less of him and more of the saltwater smell of the bay. “And in your ‘society,’ there are lords who run everything. And you are one.”
He smiled a crooked smile. “You sound skeptical.”
“No offense, but you look like a homeless person.”
“I spend some of my time living like one. But that’s perfectly acceptable, because I’m not human. Something that seems unpleasant and degrading to one of you doesn’t have the same effect on me.”
“So you’re okay with dumpster diving and never bathing or changing your clothes.”
“Believe me, I have joys and luxuries you can’t even imagine. It’s just that I partake of them in the mansions and gardens of the inner world.”