Deathstalker 08 - Deathstalker Coda

shapely mature woman with a soft mouth and knowing eyes. Kramer just looked even more of a thug. Then there was an old woman, Gina Caswell, who was the oldest-looking woman Lewis and his companions had ever seen. People didn’t look old in the Empire these days, right up until they died. But this was Mistworld, whose inhabitants didn’t believe in such fripperies. Lewis had to keep himself from staring at her sunken wrinkled face. Brett of course didn’t even try, until Jesamine kicked his ankle under the table. The final Councillor, and leader, was Gil Akotai. Lewis would have known he was the leader without having to be told. Akotai was a squat heap of a man, flat-faced and sleepy-eyed, almost as wide as he was tall, but for all his air of calm relaxation, Lewis wasn’t fooled for a moment. He knew a dangerous man when he saw one.
    “There’s not much of you, for a Deathstalker,” said Caswell, in her sharp old-woman’s voice. “I’ve flushed more impressive objects in my time. Did you gain any powers from the Madness Maze?”
    “I’m still finding out,” said Lewis, determined to be polite despite all provocation. “But I am definitely more than I used to be.”
    “That wouldn’t be difficult,” said Caswell.
    “I never wanted any of you here in the first place,” said Kramer. “What are you, really? A disgraced warrior trading on his legendary name. A singer past her best, another bloody Random’s Bastard as if we didn’t already have more than enough, and the Wild Rose of the Arena, who I still say we should have shot on sight, from a distance. Oh, yes, we know all about her. We get all the entertainment channels out here. A complete bloody psychopath, and vicious with it. No offense.”
    “Trust me,” said Brett. “If she was offended, you’d know all about it by now. There’d be heads rolling across the floor, and entrails hanging from the lamps.”
    “You see!” Kramer said to Akotai.
    “Be quiet, Manfred,” Akotai said mildly, and Kramer shut up immediately. Everyone looked at Akotai, but it seemed that was all he had to say, for the moment.
    “Excuse me,” said Jesamine, in that dangerously calm and even tone that Lewis had learned meant imminent trouble. “What exactly did you mean, a singer past her best? I am a diva.”
    “This is supposed to be a meeting for rebels and fighters, not second-rate showbiz stars,” said Kramer, and Lewis winced.
    “I was never second rate!” snapped Jesamine. “And I’m more of a fighter than you’ll ever be.”
    “Be silent, woman! Or I’ll have you removed!”
    Oh, dear , thought Lewis.
    Kramer and Jesamine were both on their feet, glaring at each other. Lewis looked to Akotai, to see if he was going to do anything, and when it became clear that he wasn’t, Lewis sighed heavily, and brought his hand down hard on the table. The heavy ironwood tabletop cracked, from one end to the other, and everyone looked sharply at Lewis. Ironwood was so tough you could usually only carve and shape it with a laser. Kramer sat down, and after a moment, so did Jesamine. The four Councillors actually seemed to relax a little. Old woman Caswell actually smiled at Lewis.
    “Now, that’s a Deathstalker,” she said, showing off the few front teeth she had left.
    “Yes,” said Akotai. “You’ll understand, Lewis, we needed to be sure. Now, let us get down to business.” He leaned forward, holding everyone’s attention effortlessly. “Much has happened, in a short time. This world has rejected Finn Durandal and his Empire. There is no place here for the madness of Pure Humanity and Church Militant. The final straw was of course the murder of our Paragon, Emma Steel. Every man and woman of Mistworld has sworn to avenge her foul and unjust death. The Durandal has branded her a traitor, but no one here believes that. We all knew Emma Steel. She was the best of us all.”
    “She was no traitor,” Lewis said. “Finn didn’t even bother with a show trial, and he does so love his trials. She must have been onto him, onto something important, so he had her killed. He must have known he could never bribe or intimidate her into silence.”
    “We would never have believed it, even if there had been a trial,” said Kramer. “We all knew Emma.”
    “I knew her too,” said Lewis. “She was my partner, for a time. A good Paragon, strong and true and honorable. We worked well together. I miss her.”
    “It is good to know, that she was what she