Ventus by Karl Schroeder

Karl Schroeder / Ventus / Page 393
"I’ve been watching him for weeks now, and he’s not the
same man anymore. I think Calandria was right, he came here
to conquer the Winds. He was the agent of some other creature
even more powerful. But that one is dead, and Armiger is
free."
She was eyeing him now. He shook his head. "I can’t
explain it. You have to be there, you see, to see the difference.
But he has a woman now, and he cares about her. And he’s
affected by things around him now, where he wasn’t before.
The siege, he’s really bothered by it. People are dying, you
know, starving and injured, and he’s realizing he can’t do
anything to help them. He’s not thinking about conquering the
world anymore."
Tamsin frowned. "So how can he help you? Can he
make the Boros’ go away?"
"Maybe. If I can convince him to help me."
"How are you going to do that? By letting that," she
nodded to the desal, "eat you?"
Jordan took a deep breath. "Well, this is the crazy part.
He went to Queen Galas to learn from her why the Winds are
the way they are. Why they persecute people. She told him
enough to give him an idea of where to look--but he can’t talk
to the Winds, and he’s trapped in the palace with her now. But
I can talk to the Winds. And I can search the places he needs
to go."
"So you want to be his errand boy!"
He winced. There was a little of her former haughtiness
in her voice, though, and the thought cheered him. "Errand
boy for a god is not a bad position," he said. "I want to trade
him the information in return for him getting the curse off my
back."
"Why should he trade? You said yourself he no longer