passages lead away from here towards the Swamp of Night Secrets, or into
Sanctuary and the governor’s palace itself. Whoever has ruled in Sanctuary has
always sought our cooperation in moving men and arms if a siege is laid.’
She showed the speechless captain catacombs where a sizeable garrison could wait
in complete concealment. He drank water from a deep well whose water had none of
the brackish taste so common in the seacoast town. Above he could hear the
sounds of parties at the Aphrodisia and the other houses. Zaibar’s military eye
took all this in, but his mind saw Myrtis, candle-lit in the black gown, as a
man’s dream come true, and the underground fortress she was revealing to him as
a soldier’s dream come true. The potion worked its way with him. He wanted both
Myrtis and the fortress for his own to protect and control.
‘There is so much about Sanctuary that you Rankans know nothing about. You tax
the Street and cause havoc with trade in the city. You wish to close the Street
and send all of us, including myself, to the slave pens or worse. Your walls
will be breachable ‘then. There are men in Sanctuary who would stop at nothing
to control these passages, and they know the Swamp and the palace better than
you or your children could ever hope to.’
She showed him a wall flickering with runes and magic signs. Zaibar went to
touch it and found his fingers singed for his curiosity.
‘These warding walls keep us safe now, but they will fade if we are not here to
renew them properly. Smugglers and thieves will find the entrances we have kept