Part 18 (2/2)

Droz considered Hogan. ”So, Zu, why are you here?” He used a polite t.i.tle, but not the one deserved by a bowmaster.

”I'm a friend,” said Hogan.

Droz looked at Argoth, and what was going on in that mind Argoth couldn't tell. Droz was a cunning man. And a man with such a mind just might suspect everything here was not as it seemed.

A beat pa.s.sed, then Droz said, ”Before you go down, you should know: anything happens, anything at all, and Pony there”-he pointed to a man standing by the doorway to the back chamber- ”will pull that lever. That will bring down two portcullises that five dreadmen together cannot lift. One will seal off the cleansing room. But, just in case someone made it out of the cleansing room and to the stairs, the second will seal that back chamber. Should you be caught behind them with the witch, do not expect us to even think about saving you. You're on your own.”

”I wouldn't worry about her getting out,” said Argoth. ”I'd be worried about her kind getting in.”

”Nothing's getting in here,” said Droz. ”We've got archers in the wings of the entrance. Men on the wall above. n.o.body is getting in.”

”It's dark out. Easy enough to slip by in disguise.”

”You don't need to worry, Captain,” said Droz. ”We're tight as a drum.”

Argoth nodded. They'd planned for everything but a traitor in their midst.

Droz led them through an arched opening to the back of the chamber. The heavy portcullis in that arch would not be made solid. It would have holes in it so they might shoot arrows at whoever was caught behind.

Another lever was set into the wall of this chamber. Argoth supposed it would release only the lower portcullis. There was a stench in this rear chamber. ”What is that?” asked Argoth.

”Bones,” said Droz. ”The man has the noxious flatulence of the Dark One himself. I think the designers of this tower wanted to suffocate their prisoners. There's no second window and, therefore, no cross breeze. So what do we do? The best I could come up with was to order the man to release his poisonous vapors back here. They still waft out to torment us, but at least their potency has diminished by a degree.”

Argoth wrinkled his nose. ”I tell you what: forget the crossfire. Just put Bones at the door.”

Droz laughed. ”I'd put him out if he wasn't such a good swordsman.” He motioned at the numerous squares on the floor with handles in them. ”Mind the covers.”

”Murder holes?” asked Hogan.

”Exactly.”

Droz lit and handed both Argoth and Hogan an oil lamp, then held his aloft to reveal the stairs leading down.

Droz said, ”They spent a fortune making this small fortress; you'd think they'd make it safe for the guards. But no, the fifth stair will try to kill you. Just mind its slope as you go by.”

They descended the stairs, minding the fifth one. The steps followed the curve of the tower wall to what looked like an empty cellar that lay directly below Bones' stink chamber. This chamber too had murder holes in the floor.

It also had an iron grate door set into the floor on one side. Droz lifted the bar on the door and took them down another staircase. This stair opened onto a flat area about ten feet deep. At the end there was yet another grated door. Two ma.s.sive iron bars held it shut.

Droz unbarred the door and opened it outwards toward himself, revealing a dark chamber. A breeze blew across Argoth's face, which meant there was an air hole somewhere down here. He sniffed. The air smelled faintly of urine and excrement and something else he could not identify.

Droz held up his lamp high enough to illuminate the grated doors of the first few cells.

”The woman's down at the end,” said Droz. ”I'll wait here.”

”Actually,” said Argoth, ”I think we'll accomplish more alone.”

”I don't like it,” said Droz.

”If you want to rouse the warlord to discuss our methods with him, go ahead. Or maybe we can wait until he wakes. Of course, she doesn't have many hours left in her. If she dies tonight without us questioning her, that will be on your head.”

Droz grunted. ”You like to push it, don't you?”

”No, Droz. We just need some answers.”

”Fine,” said Droz, ”But that means I lock you in.”

”Thank you,” said Argoth. ”We'll ring the bell when we're ready.” Argoth dropped his voice to barely a whisper. ”I expect you'll want to watch. But, please, don't uncover one of the murder holes directly above her cell. If she is sleth, she'll know you're there. In fact, I'd recommend against opening any of them. Your stink will come through, and she'll not say a word.”

Droz looked at him, and Argoth couldn't tell if it was suspicion or curiosity behind those eyes. But then he nodded, locked the grated door behind himself as he left and retreated back up the stair.

Hogan stepped forward toward Purity, but Argoth restrained him, and motioned at the murder holes in the ceiling. Argoth held his lamp aloft and walked the length of the chamber, examining the ceiling for open holes. When he was sure n.o.body was listening, he motioned Hogan to Purity's cell.

Purity lay in a blanket at the bars of her cell on a bed of straw. They'd stripped her, shaved her head. A silver King's Collar ringed her neck. Hogan knelt close to the bars and held his lamp up. Her wounds from the arrows were st.i.tched in tidy rows. Even so, the wounds were red, angry, and corrupting. She would not last long in this room, but she might survive long enough to do the Grove damage.

”Purity,” said Hogan.

She spoke, but did not sit up. ”I hope you brought wolfsbane roots,” she said. ”If I'm to be poisoned, let it be quick. Not an insufficient dose of hemlock and honey or some two-day mushroom.”

”Calm yourself,” said Hogan. ”It hasn't come to that yet. First, we need to know what has happened.”

She coughed and her breath rattled in her lungs. ”I'm sure the Fir-Noy gave you the full report,” she said.

”I don't care about the battle,” said Hogan. ”I want to know about the stork and your child. And what happened to the harvest master's family afterwards.”

”I thought maybe someone else in the Grove decided to take justice in their own hands,” Argoth whispered, ”but it wasn't anyone in the Grove. n.o.body I know could have drained the bodies like that. Not even a Divine can do that. I inspected the bodies, and they were dry. Completely wrung out.”

Argoth referred to the Fire in the bodies of the family. Death was the separation of Fire, soul, and body. Some said the soul took the Fire with it. Others claimed the Fire poured forth like smoke or steam. Whichever was the truth, when Fire separated from the body, there was always some that remained in the bones and leached away only very slowly. Fire could be found in bones a hundred years old, yet the bodies of Barg's family had been empty husks.

Argoth continued, ”There were the markings of an immense draw of Fire, a blackening of the skin. It looked almost as if some monstrous hand had grasped hold of each victim's face.”

Purity was silent for a long moment. ”I know nothing of what happened to the harvest master's family.”

Hogan squatted down next to the cell. He reached in and gently stroked Purity's hair. ”Whatever you're hiding, you need to let us know so we know how to set it right.”

Purity looked at them then. Large cuts and bruises covered her face. Her left eye was almost swollen shut. Her lip was split.

”Give me the poison,” she said. ”You cannot free me. I have broken our trust. I am willing to abide by the covenant; cut me down and preserve the rest.”

Not a tear fell. And how could she weep? She was broken. Argoth's heart ached for her. He had once practiced forbidden lore, but had been given a chance. Surely, she deserved the same.

Hogan continued to softly stroke her hair. ”We decide if the covenant is broken. Besides, not all is lost. Your children yet live.”

Argoth had not known that.

Purity looked at Hogan, and now the tears began to well in her damaged eyes. ”I have done horrible things.”

<script>