Part 23 (2/2)

'You should have turned back when you had the chance,' she heard him say as though from a great distance. Then everything was swallowed up by a velvet blackness.

CHAPTER 20.

TRIAL.

Arnella fought her way slowly back to consciousness. Dimly she became aware of lying on some hard surface and voices around her, then someone raising her head and forcing water between her lips. She coughed and spluttered and blinked gummy eyelids open. A blur lit by grey light resolved into Brockwell's concerned face.

'h.e.l.lo,' she said faintly, her tongue feeling thick and useless in her mouth.

He smiled down at her. 'h.e.l.lo. How do you feel?'

'I think... that wine was a little strong.'

'It was drugged.'

'Oh...' She was still drowsy and the implications of his statement took a few moments to sink in. 'The innkeeper?'

'Yes. And everybody else in the village as well, apparently.'

She made herself breath deeply, trying to clear the cobwebs from her mind. 'My uncle?'

'He's here, and the professor and Falstaff and Jaharnus.

They're still feeling rather groggy, but I think they'll be all right.

They drank a little more than we did.'

'But why did they do it? And where are we?'

'I don't know, but I'm sure they'll tell us soon enough. We're in a sort of prison, so it looks like they're prepared for this kind of thing. You can see if you sit up - not that there's much to it.'

With an arm from Brockwell she sat up, resting her back against a rough wall. Her head swam for a moment, then she began to take in her surroundings.

The cell was quite large, with stone-slab floor and block walls.

A small, heavily barred window let in pale grey light. 'Is it morning or evening?'

'Morning by my watch. It must have been quite a powerful dose they gave us. They weren't taking any chances.'

The cell held half a dozen low, rough, wooden trestle beds, covered by thin, straw mattresses. Falstaff lay on his back on one snoring, while her uncle and Jaharnus were sprawled on their sides. Thorrin was half sitting up, head cradled in his hands. The forth wall of the room, opposite the windows, was formed out of a thick latticework of bars, let into which was an equally st.u.r.dy door. Beyond that was a dark, stone-flagged corridor and a second row of bars. Behind them stood a figure dressed in a pale frock coat and striped trousers who was staring across at her.

'h.e.l.lo, I hope your feeling better now,' he said.

'Doctor? How did you get here?'

'Well at Qwaid's insistence, we've been following you rather closely for some time. We saw you arrive and settled down to wait in an empty barn to see what you'd do next. Unwisely, as it turned out.'

'Why? How did they catch you?'

'Drorgon had procured some tempting local tree fruits as we went along. We ate them while we waited. And that was the last thing I remembered until waking up here. A salutary lesson: crime does not pay.'

She stared at him aghast. 'They drugged the fruit on the trees to catch seekers?'

'Apparently so. They must have been watching us all the time as well, since they evidently found us quickly enough.'

'That's... frightening.'

'It does suggest a rather unwelcoming att.i.tude to strangers, doesn't it?'

She now noted the two figures still slumbering on pallets in the cell with him. 'Where's your friend? Is she... all right?'

'Peri? She's fine, as far as I know. Gribbs took her back to Qwaid's s.h.i.+p to ensure my cooperation.'

'Do you think they can do anything to help us?' Brockwell asked practically.

'Unfortunately the locals seem to have removed anything that remotely resembles a weapon, or that might be useful in aiding our escape. And that includes all our communicators. So even if they could help, they won't know exactly where we are. We were taken before Qwaid sent an update on our latest position. Gribbs must be getting quite worried about us by now.'

Gribbs turned back from the communicator. 'It's no use, Mr Alpha. He still doesn't answer.'

'So Qwaid is still functioning as efficiently as ever, I see. Give them another hour, then we shall have to take action ourselves.

In the meantime, check the s.h.i.+p's systems and ready her for takeoff. I shall release the override locks.'

'But the natives won't let us fly over the quest zone. I tried, but I couldn't make my hands work the controls.'

'So I understand, Gribbs. But it is always a risk to place too much reliance on a single form of defence. I doubt whether these people have any conventional weapons, and I suspect that illusions and other mental subterfuges will not affect me now.'

'No, boss. I guess they won't.'

Their captors waited until they had all recovered before coming to fetch them. Their hands were shackled and a number of burly men armed with swords and short-handled pikes ushered them out into the morning light. Two DAVE drones were waiting outside for them, giving a surreal touch to the procession as they were marched through the narrow streets of Braal to the square.

Some children playing in front of a house watched them pa.s.s with wide, curious eyes, until a woman dragged them inside hastily.

Their destination turned out to be the inn. Inside they found the bar had been removed to make way for a low wooden podium and nine chairs on which they were made to sit. The tables in the rest of the room had been replaced by several rows of benches.

Seated on these were fifty or so villagers of all ages and races.

Arnella searched for some sign of sympathy in their faces, but saw only stern concentration. The DAVEs glided into position at the back of the room, studiously ignored by the crowd.

The innkeeper had removed his ap.r.o.n and replaced it with a simple black sash across his chest. His friendly, open manner of the day before had also undergone a dramatic change.

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