Deathstalker 05 - Deathstalker Destiny

but Random and Ruby both felt the need for a little quiet celebration, and the wine cellar was the most obviously convivial of the few suitable places left. So they made their way through the remaining stone corridors, detoured here and there by the need to bypass missing or devastated sections, smiling and nodding to the few people they passed. Most of the castle's volunteer crew had survived by taking shelter in the castle's core section, but they all seemed shell-shocked to some extent by what they'd been through. Random understood how they felt. It was one of the reasons why he was heading for the wine cellar. It isn't every day your whole universe turns upside down.
    It wasn't actually a cellar. Clan Deathstalker just named it that out of a sense of history. The long, narrow chamber stretched away for what seemed like forever, home to a series of great crystal honeycombs, holding fine wines, sparkling champagnes, and brandies so potent you could fall under the influence just from reading the label. There were wines from vineyards that hadn't existed in centuries, born from grapes whose very genus was now extinct. There were champagnes named in languages no longer spoken, distilled liquors with far worse
    things than worms at the bottom of their bottles, and a few spirits banned on civilized worlds under health laws, suitable only for suicide pacts.
    Random and Ruby wandered unhurriedly between the racks, stopping to take a taste here and there. Eventually they settled on a thick ruby red liquor liberally laced with wormwood, and sat down at a handy table to sample it. It went down very well, and Random sighed happily as he felt some of the kinks in his strained muscles slowly unraveling. He smiled fondly at Ruby, and she nodded solemnly at him over her glass.
    "You know," said Random, "Diana was quite right. If she had told me her plan in advance, I'd have had her committed. Anyone would."
    "Right," said Ruby.
    "Life… has taken a definite turn for the strange, just recently," said Random.
    "Once, the Mater Mundi was our ally. Then it turned out to have been our enemy all along, and now it's our friend again. Shub were the official Enemies of Humanity, and now they're our children. Hell, look at us; friends, then enemies, now friends again."
    "Yeah," said Ruby, draining her glass. "But then, things never were as simple as we made them out to be, even during the rebellion. The new Imperial history books will call us the good guys, but I never made any secret of the fact that I was only in it for the loot."
    "And a chance to kill a whole lot of people."
    "That too."
    "Politics," Random said sadly. "So much time wasted in arguments that in retrospect don't seem important at all. If only we could slam people's minds together, like Ruby did with Shub. Make people see the truth."
    "There is no truth," said Ruby. "Just differing opinions. We all do what we have to, because our nature demands it."
    "My God, that was almost philosophical," said Random, draining his glass. "We should do this more often."
    "We have had some good times together, haven't we, Jack?"
    "Sure. When you weren't trying to kill me, for one reason or another."
    "Those were just arguments. I wouldn't really have killed you."
    "I know that."
    "Not as long as there wasn't any money in it."
    Random laughed. "Once a bounty hunter…"
    "Yeah. But we did have some good times. I never felt about anyone the way I felt about you. And I was always proud to be fighting beside the legendary professional rebel."
    Random looked at her, just a little surprised. "Why, thank you, Ruby. I was always glad to have you on my side. If only because you'd have scared me shitless as an enemy. And I have to say, you've made me feel more alive than any of my wives. Even dear Arabella, my fifth. And she was a contortionist. What brought on this sudden sincerity?"
    Ruby shrugged. "I don't know. Just feeling my mortality, I guess. I don't think we've ever come closer to dying than we did today."
    "But we came through. We always do. Though Owen's going to freak when he sees what's left of his castle."
    "I'm glad he and Hazel aren't dead after all. Hazel was the only real friend I ever had. And Owen… I always admired the Deathstalker. Only really honorable man I ever met."
    "I'll drink to that," said Random.
    "Here," said Ruby. "Let me refill your glass for you."
    She took his glass, and tilted the bottle over it.
    And as the thick red liquid flowed, like curdled blood,