Deathstalker 08 - Deathstalker Coda

the uber-espers into coming to the palace in person: a King and an Emperor. Both Douglas and Finn had agreed that the only real hope they had of defeating the thralls was to lure the uber-espers out of their hiding places, and face them in person. Only when those five monsters were dead, would the threat really be over.
    The meeting should have been just for Douglas and Finn, but Tel Markham insisted on accompanying Douglas to the palace, to watch the King’s back. He, better than anyone else living, had good reason to know just how treacherous the Emperor could be. Douglas didn’t object. Finn had been very clear in his instructions that Douglas should come alone, but Douglas wasn’t about to start taking orders from Finn Durandal.
    Of course, there was always the chance that Tel intended to betray Douglas to Finn, for labyrinthine reasons of his own, but Douglas didn’t think so. Hell hath no fury like an intriguer scorned.
    The two of them walked together through a deserted palace. All the guards and most of the servants were out in the city fighting, and the rest were hiding. The living had abandoned the dark and bloody corridors to the dead. They were everywhere now, even more than on Douglas’s last visit. Rotting bodies hung from nooses, or steel garottes, and severed heads stood in rows on wooden stakes. In some places the old carpeting was so thickly and darkly stained with blood that the patterns had disappeared. The air was thick and hot and still, and rank with foulness. Douglas strode quickly along, not allowing himself to be distracted, while Tel scowled and muttered darkly under his breath. It took a long time to reach the court, where Finn Durandal sat in state on his throne, smiling down on his visitors from the raised dais. He nodded to Douglas, and to Tel.
    “So, here we are again. Well, well. I knew you’d bring someone, Douglas. So I thought I’d have a little company too.”
    He indicated the dead man swinging slowly from a rope beside his throne. Mr. Sylvester hadn’t been dead long. His eyes bulged from his dark congested face, and a purple tongue protruded from his mouth. His great body twisted slowly back and forth, while the rope creaked loudly. Finn smiled fondly, and gave the body a gentle push with one hand to keep it moving.
    “A peace offering, Douglas,” he said lightly. “To show my sincerity. How sorry I am for all the nasty things he did, on my behalf. And he had outlived his usefulness, after all. I had a hell of a job getting him up there. Kicking and struggling and carrying on. And it wasn’t easy to find a rope that would take his weight. The first two snapped. The things I do for you, Douglas, and you never appreciate them. But then, that’s what started all this, wasn’t it?”
    “What happened to the two other thrones?” said Douglas. “Tradition always had two more thrones, one for the Queen and one for the blessed Owen on his return.”
    “Oh, I got rid of them long ago,” said Finn. “Thou shalt have no other gods but me, and all that. Now, I was going to do something. What was it? Oh, yes.”
    The Emperor drew a concealed disrupter from his tall boot and shot Tel Markham in the chest. Tel cried out briefly as the impact threw him backward, but he was dead before he hit the floor, the front of his grubby tunic blackened and smouldering. Douglas already had his gun in his hand, but the Emperor just smiled, and put his gun away again.
    “Relax, Douglas. Show’s over. It had to be done; he betrayed me. And there’s some shit I just won’t put up with. Now it’s just the two of us, as it was always meant to be. Tel didn’t belong here, any more than Mr. Sylvester. They were only ever minor players in our drama. Are you wearing your esp-blocker?”
    “Of course,” said Douglas, slowly putting his gun away. He deliberately didn’t look at the dead Tel Markham. “The most heavy-duty esp-blocker Diana Vertue could put together. And there’s still no guarantee it will work if the uber-espers do show up in person.”
    “Oh, you know they will,” Finn said easily. “How could they not? A chance to possess the two leaders of the city defenses, the two men who’ve done so much to defy them? They won’t be able to resist us. I’m quite looking forward to seeing them again. They really are spectacularly ugly.”
    Douglas slowly ascended the dais steps to stand beside Finn’s throne. He looked out over the empty court. For a moment, the two men were