He didn"t look up, and that was a bad sign; she felt a thread of fear unwind down her spine.
Then he said, "I"ve heard of them. There have been rumors, but no one"s sure who is involved, or how real the conspiracy is. Last year an explosive device was discovered in the Palace, in a room where the Queen was expected. Nothing new there, but a small emblem was found too, hanging from the window catch, a small metal wolf."
He watched a ladybug scaling a blade of gra.s.s.
"What will you do?"
"Nothing. Yet."
She took the Key out and held it in both hands, letting the sunlight catch its facets.
"I"m not an a.s.sa.s.sin."
He nodded, but seemed preoccupied, staring hard at the crystal.
"Master?"
"Something"s happening."
Absorbed, he reached out for the Key and took it from her. "Look at it, Claudia."
The tiny lights were back, this time moving deep, a rapid, repeated pattern.
Jared placed the artifact quickly on the bench.
"It"s getting warm."
Not only that, but there were sounds coming from it. She brought her face nearer, heard a clatter and a ripple of musical notes.
Then the Key spoke. "Nothings happening" it said.
Claudia gasped and jerked away; wide-eyed she stared at Jared. "Did you ...?"
"Quiet. Listen!"
Another voice, older, rasping. "Look closer, fool boy. There are lights inside it."
Claudia knelt, fascinated.
Jared"s delicate fingers slid silently into his pocket. He took the scanner out and placed it beside the Key, recording.
The Key chimed, a soft sound.
The first voice came again, oddly distant and excited. "It"s opening. Get back!"
And then a sound came out of the artifact, a heavy clang, ominous and hollow, so that she took a moment to register it, to recognize what it was.
A door. Unlocking. A heavy, metallic door, perhaps ancient, because it groaned on its hinges, and there was a clatter and smash, as if rust fell, or debris shuddered from its lintel.
Then silence.
The lights in the Key reversed, changed to green, went out.
Only the rooks in the elms by the moat karked. A blackbird landed in the rosebush and flicked its tail.
"Well," Jared said softly. He adjusted the scanner and ran it over the Key again.
Claudia reached out and touched the crystal. It was cold.
"What happened? Who were they?"
Jared turned the scanner to show her.
"It was a fragment of conversation. Real-time. A phonic link opened and closed very briefly. Whether you initiated it or they did I"m not sure."
"They didn"t know we were listening."
"Apparently not."
"One of them said, *There are lights inside it." "
The Sapient"s dark eyes met hers. "You"re thinking they may have a similar device?"
"Yes!"
She scrambled up, too excited to sit, and the blackbird flew off in alarm.
"Listen, Master, as you said, this isn"t just a key to Incarceron. Maybe it"s also a device to communicate!"
"With the Prison?"
"The inmates."
"Claudia ..."
"Think about it! No one can go there. How else does he monitor the Experiment? Overhear what"s happening?"
He nodded, his hair in his eyes.
"It"s possible."
"Only..." She frowned, knotting her fingers together. Then she turned on him.