bedside table flew past him and shattered against someone’s skull. Men caromed
into each other swearing as Gilla groped forward. There was no sound from their
neighbors-he had not really expected it-they would ask their questions when
morning came.
“In Vashanka’s name, somebody silence the sow!” In the half-light a drawn sword
gleamed dimly.
“No!” he croaked, gasped in air and cried out, “Gilla, stop fighting-there are
too many-Gilla, please!”
There was a final convulsion, then silence. Flint rasped steel and a little
light sparked into life. Gilla lay sprawled like a fallen monument. For a moment
Lalo felt as if a great hand had closed on his chest. Then there was movement in
the tangle of limbs. Gilla rolled over and levered herself to her feet without
spending a glance on the man who had cushioned her fall.
“Savankala save me, she’s squashed me flat . . . Sir, help me-don’t leave me
here….”
Sir? But the man on the floor was a Hell-Hound-Lalo recognized him now.
“I don’t understand…”he said aloud, and as he turned the light was quenched
and he blinked at darkness again.
“Carry him,” said a deep voice. “And you, woman, be still if you want to see him
whole again.”
Sick from the blow and aching from rough handling, Lalo did not resist as they
shoved his sandals onto his feet and thrust an old smock over his head and
marched him along the empty streets back to the Palace. But instead of rounding
the outer wall to the dungeons, as Lalo had dismally expected, they hustled him
through the Palace Gate and along the side of the building and down a little
Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289