Pug looked interested, but unsure of what Brother Victor was implying. ‘It sounds as if they raided a library.’
The monk smiled. ‘There were no libraries nearby, neither imperial, nor any maintained by the religious orders known to us at that time; no libraries existed west of Malac’s Cross or north of Queg! Oh, there were perhaps some rooms full of books here and there, but nothing on a scale that would have required a detailed catalogue that the Empire was so famous for at that time.’ There was a merry glint in his eyes as Brother Victor’s smile broadened.
‘What is it?’ Pug said, unable to resist returning the man’s smile.
‘It’s your Demon Brothers!’
‘According to this inventory of booty, over a score of the volumes seized came from the “frateri demonicus”, which is a very bad Quegan spelling for Demon Brothers.’
‘The necromancers?’ asked Pug.
‘Not a common name by any measure,’ said Brother Victor. ‘And there’s more.’
‘More?’ asked Magnus a moment before Jim echoed him.
‘The title of one of the volumes…At that time, legionaries were not much better educated than the common Keshian Dog Soldiers of today. Their officers could read and were literate—a necessity for the giving and receiving of orders—but the common soldiers were not. This list must have been complied by a relatively uneducated officer, or possibly the task was given to a lower ranking soldier who was barely educated. In any event, the title they have recorded isLibri Demonicus Amplus Tantus and translated as “Really Big Demon Book.”’
Amirantha laughed. ‘I speak Quegan, and that’s not a phrase I recognize.’
‘It’s four-hundred years old. I originally assumed that the scribe didn’t understand that amplus and tantus have similar meanings—ample and large—but it now occurs to me that our less-than-scholarly-scribe was simply trying to describe two of the book’s aspects: that it’s a large volume, but also that it’s important. “Tantus” can mean “of such great size”, but “amplus” can be read as “of great importance”, as well as meaning “ample”. So, what you may wish to consult next is this very large, very important book concerning demons, which was written by a necromancer four-hundred years ago.’
‘I don’t suppose you have that volume here?’ asked Amirantha.
‘No,’ said Brother Victor with a regretful expression. ‘I wish we did. It sounds fascinating.’
‘But you know where we might find it?’ suggested Magnus.
The monk nodded. ‘Indeed, if it still exists.’
‘The Imperial library in Queg, perhaps?’ suggested Magnus.
Pug said, ‘If the book remained among the property seized by the legionaries, and if they didn’t loot the library when recalled to Kesh during the abandonment of the north…’ He tapped his chin in thought. ‘It’s possible. They might have taken the gold and other valuables south with them, but books and scrolls? Not as likely. It’s as Brother Victor said, ‘I must leave you now, as evening prayer is about to begin. I assume you do not need me to show you out?’ His merry expression revealed that he already knew the answer.
‘No,’ said Pug. ‘Thank you my old friend.’
‘No, thank you for all you have given us. Too few people realize how much they owe you, Pug.
‘Until we meet again,’ he finished, turned and left the four visitors alone in the library office.
Magnus said, ‘We have a new problem, Father.’
‘I know,’ said Pug. He turned to Jim and said, ‘Queg is the one court in which we have no friends.’
Jim sighed as he anticipated what was coming next. ‘I thought you had agents, or at least friends, everywhere?’
Pug gave him a tight smile. ‘Queg is strategically unimportant. We manipulated some information during the invasion of the Emerald Queen, so they believed they were attacking a foreign treasure fleet; instead they ran into her armada, half the Imperial Keshian Fleet, and the Kingdom Navy. Not wishing to attack nations they were at peace with, they did their best to loot a few ships which instead of treasure held angry soldiers. It made them distrustful of information that doesn’t come from reliable sources.
‘To the point, they resisted all attempts to infiltrate their intelligence.’
Jim smiled ruefully. ‘I know. I have had the same problem.’
‘What about Kesh?’ asked Magnus. ‘Have they placed anyone within the Quegan Court who might prove useful?’
Jim slowly shook his head. ‘No, they’re just as frustrated by their small neighbour as the Kingdom is. If Queg didn’t possess such a formidable navy, they’d have been reabsorbed by the Empire, or conquered by the Kingdom, a century ago. There aren’t many resources on the island worth seizing, but they are a serious annoyance; while they may not be strategically important to you, Pug, controlling Queg would prove a significant advantage to Kesh or the Kingdom.’
‘Which is why neither of them will let the other gain influence,’ finished Magnus.
Amirantha said, ‘Back to the point, if you don’t have anyone at court to help with the search, how do you propose we discover if this tome exists there?’ He smiled dryly. ‘Are you just going to appear one day and ask to browse the shelves?’
Pug’s expression became distant for a moment, and then he smiled slowly. ‘That may be just the thing.’
‘What?’ asked Jim. ‘I was certain that you were going to ask me to swim ashore, sneak into the library and steal the book.’
‘No,’ said Pug, looking amused at the suggestion. ‘You’re going to use your rank to get the Prince of Krondor to send you, with three advisors,’ he indicated the three of them, ‘on a scholarly delegation, with the intention of correcting distortions of the truth in Kingdom history—which will appeal to Quegan vanity when you explain that in the process their glorious past will be forever enshrined in our annals. You will then seek permission for your three scholars to spend a few leisurely days browsing the shelves of the Imperial Library.’
Jim’s face went through a spectrum of emotions, from surprise, to doubt, to agreement, then delight. ‘Play to their vanity!’
‘Yes,’ said Pug. ‘Then, if we find out that they have the book, you can sneak into the library and steal it.’
Jim rolled his eyes. ‘Can’t we just study it there for a while?’
‘No,’ said Amirantha. ‘We will need to examine it closely, and that could take weeks. If it’s written in some ancient variant of the Keshian language, we’ll need to find a scholar who can help us understand it.’
‘And the Quegans may become interested in why we are focusing on one ancient, obscure text about demons when we were supposed to be looking at their histories,’ finished Magnus.
Amirantha said, ‘It would be helpful if you could convince the Star Elves to let their Demon Master return once we hold the book.’ Shaking his head slightly as if he hated making the admission, he added, ‘He knows much that I don’t. I taught him a few tricks when he was on the island, but I think we’d work faster if Gulamendis was with us.’
Pug looked at Magnus. ‘Have we heard any more from the taredhel?’
Magnus shook his head in the negative. ‘Only through Tomas. He and his Queen are still in contact with the Regent Lord, but you know how elves are about taking their time.’
‘All too well,’ conceded Pug. ‘Let’s worry about