things on their minds before long.’
‘Be careful, Sparhawk.’
‘Of course, my Queen.’
‘Sparhawk,’ Mirtai called up softly. ‘Xanetia’s back.’
‘I have to run now, dear,’ he whispered into the darkness.
We’ll have you out of there shortly. I love you.’
‘What a lovely thing to say.’
Sparhawk quickly climbed back down to the parapet. ‘Welcome
back Anarae,’ he greeted Xanetia.
‘Thou art in a peculiar humor, Anakha,’ she replied in a
slightly puzzled tone.
‘I just had a chat with my wife, Anarae,’ he said. ‘That always
brightens my day. How many guards will we have to deal with?’
‘I do fear me that they number some score or more, Anakha.’
‘That could be a problem, Sparhawk,’ Bevier noted. ‘They’re
Cyrgai and none too bright, but twenty of them might give us
some trouble.’
‘Maybe not,’ Sparhawk disagreed. ‘Aphrael said that there are
only three rooms up here – the main room, the cell where Ehlana
and Alcan are, and the guardroom. Was she right, Anarae?’
‘indeed,’ she replied. ‘The cell and the guardroom are here
on this north side. The main room is on the south, overlooking
the Temple of Cyrgon. I did glean from the sleepy thought of
such Cyrgai who were awake that this ultimate tower is the
customary retreat of King Santheocles, for he doth take some
pleasure in surveying his domain from the parapet – and above
all in receiving the adulation of his subjects in the city below.’
‘Stupid,’ Mirtai muttered. ‘Doesn’t he have anything better to
do?’
Xanetia smiled faintly. ‘Much else would be quite beyond him,
Atana. His guardsmen, limited though they themselves are, do
hold their King’s understanding in low regard. But his wits, or
lack thereof, are of little moment. Santheocles is the descendant
of the royal house, and his sole function is to wear the crown.’
‘A hat-rack could do that,’ Talen noted.
‘Truly.’
‘Do the guardsmen have any kind of set routine?’ Bevier
asked.
‘Nay, Sir Knight. They do but hold themselves in readiness
to respond to the commands of their King, nothing more. In
truth, they are trumpeteers rather than warriors. Their primary
duty is to announce with brazen notes to their fellow citizens
that Santheocles will appear on the parapet to accept the adulation
of the Cyrgai.’
‘And they do their waiting in the guardroom?’ Sparhawk
pressed. ‘Save only for the pair who stand guard at the door to thy
Queen’s prison and the other pair who bar the stairway which
doth lead down into the lower levels of this tower.’
‘Can they get into the Queen’s cell from the guardroom?
Bevier asked intently.
“Nay. There is but one door.’
‘And how wide is the doorway between the guardroom and
the main room?’
‘Wide enough for one man only, Sir Bevier.’
‘Kalten and I can hold that one, Sparhawk.’
‘Are there any other doors to the guardroom?’ Kalten asked.
Xanetia shook her head.
‘Any large windows?’
‘One window only – the mate to this one above us – though
it is not barred.’
‘That narrows the opposition down to just those four guards
in the main room then,’ Kalten said. ‘Bevier and I can keep the
rest of them penned in for a week, if we have to.’
‘And Sparhawk and I can deal with the ones at the cell door
and the top of the stairs,’ Mirtai added.
‘Let’s get Talen inside that cell,’ Sparhawk said, looking again
toward the east, where a faint lessening of the darkness had
begun.
Kalten scrambled back up the wall to the window and began
digging at the mortar with his heavy dagger.
‘Slip around and keep watch, Anarae,’ Sparhawk whispered.
‘Let us know if anybody comes up those stairs.’
She nodded and went on back round the corner of the tower.
Sparhawk climbed up and attacked the mortar on the left side
of the iron lattice while his friend continued to dig at the right.
After a few moments Kalten took hold of the rusty iron and
pulled. ‘The bottom’s loose,’ he muttered. ‘Let’s get the top.’
‘Right.’ The two of them went to the top of the window and
began to chip away the mortar there. ‘Be careful when it breaks
away,’ Sparhawk cautioned. ‘We don’t want it clanging down
on that parapet.’
‘This side’s free,’ Kalten whispered. ‘i’ll hold it while you dig
your side loose.’ He reached inside, found a’secure hand-hold
with his right hand, and grasped the grating with his left.
Sparhawk dug harder, sending a shower of chunks and dust
to the parapet below. ‘I think that’s got it,’ he whispered.
‘We’ll see.’ Kalten’s shoulders heaved and there was a grinding
sound as the ancient grate tore loose from the wall. Then,
with the same movement, Sparhawk’s burly friend hurled the
heavy obstruction out beyond the balustrade.
‘What are you doing?’ Sparhawk choked.
‘Getting rid of it.’
‘Do you know how much noise that thing’s going to make
when it hits the ground?’
‘So what? It’s five hundred feet down. Let it make all the noise
it wants to. If some Cyrgai or Cynesgan slave-driver’s standing
under it, he’s in for a nasty surprise, though. But we can live
with that, can’t we?’
Sparhawk pushed his head through the now unobstructed
opening. ‘Ehlana?’ he whispered. ‘Are you there?’
‘Where else would I be, Sparhawk?’
‘Sorry. Stupid question, I suppose. The bars are out of the
way now. We’re sending Talen in. Shout or something as soon
as he gets the lock jammed so that the guards can’t get through
the door.’
‘Get out of the way, Sparhawk,’ Talen said abruptly from
just below. ‘I can’t get in there with you filling up the whole
window.’
Sparhawk swung himself clear of the opening, and the agile
boy began to wriggle his way through. Suddenly he stopped.
‘It’s not working,’ he muttered. ‘Pull me back out.’
‘What’s wrong?’ Kalten demanded.
‘Just pull me back out, Kalten. I don’t have time to explain.’
Sparhawk’s heart sank as he and Kalten hauled the young
thief back.
‘Hold on for a minute.’ Talen turned until he was on his side,
and then he extended his arms until they were stretched out
above his head. ‘All right then, push.’
‘You’ll just get stuck again,’ Kalten objected.
‘Then you’ll have to shove harder. This is what comes of all
that wholesome food, exercise, and clean living you keep pushing
on me, Sparhawk. I’ve grown so much that I can’t get my
shoulders through.’ He began to wriggle through the opening
`again. ‘Push, gentlemen!’ he instructed.
The two of them pushed their hands against the soles of his
feet.
‘Harder!’ he grunted.
‘You’ll tear all your skin off,’ Kalten warned.
‘i’m young.I heal fast. Push!’
The two shoved at his feet, and, with a great deal of squirming
and a few muttered oaths, he was through.
‘is he all right?’ Sparhawk whispered hoarsely through the
window.
‘i’m fine, Sparhawk,’ Talen whispered back. ‘You’d better get
moving. This won’t take me very long.’
Sparhawk and Kalten dropped back to the parapet. ‘Let’s go.’
Sparhawk said shortly, and the three knights and the Atan giant,
ess moved quickly around the narrow parapet to the south side
of the tower.
“Quietly, Anakha.’ Xanetia’s voice seemed to come out of
nowhere.
‘Are they stirring yet, Anarae?’ Bevier whispered.
‘Some few sounds do emanate from the guardroom,’ her voice
replied.
There were two large, unglazed windows at the front of the
tower, one on each side of the broad door. Sparhawk cautiously
raised his head above the lower edge of one of them and peered
inside. The room, as Aphrael had reported, was fairly large. It
was sparsely furnished with benches, a few backless chairs, a
couple of low tables, and it was lit with primitive oil lamps.
There was a narrow door on the right side of the rear wall with
two statue-like Cyrgai, one on each side, guarding it. The stairway
on the left-hand side of the room, also guarded, was
enclosed on three sides by a low wall. The second doorway, the
one leading into the guardroom, was also on the left side, not
far from the top of the stairs.
Sparhawk looked intently at the guards, closely studying their
weapons and equipment. They were well-muscled men in
archaic breastplates, crested helmets and short leather kilts. Each
had a large round shield strapped to his left arm, and each
gRasped an eight-foot spear in his right. They all had swords
and heavy daggers belted at their waists.
Sparhawk moved his head away from the window. ‘You’d all
better take a look,’ he whispered to his friends.
One by one, Kalten, Bevier, and Mirtai raised up slightly to
peer into the room.
‘is this locked, Anarae?’ Sparhawk whispered, pointing at the
door leading out onto the parapet.
‘I did not think it wise to try it,.Anakha. Cyrgai construction is
crude, and me thinks no door-latch in the city may be attempted
soundlessly. ‘
‘You’re probably right,’ he breathed. ‘Let’s pull back around