"I did," said Hogan. "She is prepared." In each conflict, the Order took great precautions to make sure the full trio of leaders could never be found together at the same time. If two fell, the third would have a better chance to bear the rest of the grove off to safety and start again somewhere else. Or to mount a counterattack.
"I told her to ready the Victor"s Crown," said Arogth. The crown of a Victor was a special weave. An ancient device used by the old G.o.ds to bestow great might upon its wearer.
"Do you think it will come to that?" asked Hogan.
"The reports coming out of Plum," said Argoth, "if they"re true, suggest this is rare magic. Terrible. Who has wielded the power to animate such a beast? The older texts describe it, but when was the last time?"
"Never."
"And it rises in a place where a Divine has recently vanished. The New Lands are vast. I wonder if we"ve awakened something here."
Hogan sighed. "Do you think Purity is involved?"
Argoth shrugged. "Purity had skills the rest of us did not comprehend. I wish Matiga were here. How can we make a decision to cull this tree without her?"
Matiga was strong-willed. Sometimes to the point of being obstinate. She was currently three months into a grudge against Hogan. She had found an excellent woman to join the Grove. One she hoped to marry to Hogan. She was the widow of a Koramite boat builder. Matiga had prepared the woman and asked Hogan and Argoth to test her for admittance to the Grove. Of course, the woman knew nothing of this. She could not. The Grove"s survival depended on strict secrecy.
Hogan and Argoth had agreed to consider the woman and had tested her in many ways for almost a year. In the end, Argoth and Matiga had been satisfied, but Hogan found her wanting. They"d argued, but Hogan would not budge. The trio had to act in perfect unison on such matters. And so the woman was rejected. Matiga had been furious. In this case, Argoth thought she had grounds. Matiga might be strong-willed, but she was also perceptive in her odd way. The woman would have been an a.s.set.
Purity was an a.s.set as well. And it was a terrible decision before them. Purity had been a friend for so long. But the Grove couldn"t risk putting all three roots together in this situation. And even if they could, he doubted he would have been able to convince the lords of the Shoka to let him bring in yet another person to see the prisoner.
"If this tree can be saved," said Hogan. "We will do it. But if it cannot, are you prepared?"
Argoth touched his pocket that contained the required poison. "I am prepared," he said, his heart groaning with the weight of those words.
They said nothing more. Argoth led Hogan past the guards and mastiffs, and into the first bailey. They turned left and walked to the second gate and another set of guards.
The whole design of the castle was to create a series of killing fields, areas where attackers would be forced to expose themselves to fire from many directions. The path from the first to the second gate was just such a killing field, forcing a troop sideways to travel to the second gate. The moat, the fortress road, and the s.p.a.ces before the gates and barbican were killing fields as well.
Argoth and Hogan pa.s.sed the guards and walked into the dark tunnel. A rat spooked and scurried before them. They followed it out to the inner courtyard which lay in darkness. An armsman on a horse trotting to the gate nearly collided into Hogan. At the last moment, the rider jerked his horse to the side and headed into the tunnel, the clopping of the horse"s hooves sounding on the cobblestones.
Across the deep courtyard, the sea tower rose into the sky, moonlight gleaming dully off its ramparts. From the top of that tower a watchman could see miles out to sea. On a clear day he could see the out islands.
In most fortresses, prisoners held for ransom were kept in the tops of towers. If they wanted to escape, it meant they would have to make their way through all the defenses below. More importantly, it was more comfortable living at ground level, and so the lower rooms were usually taken by those with authority. But sleth were a different matter. They could descend heights and break timber floors that other men could not. Experience had shown that they needed to be held behind tons of rock. The cleansing room, the only place in all of the New Lands capable of holding sleth, was built in the cellar of the sea tower.
Argoth led Hogan across the courtyard to the tower. They pa.s.sed a group of soldiers drawing water from the well. A number of yards farther they arrived at a low wall a dozen paces from the door of the tower. Half-a-dozen guards stood along the wall with two more mastiffs in their midst.
"Hold," one of them said.
"Captain Argoth, here on at Warlord Shim"s request. We"ve come to question the woman."
"Aye," said the man, then he walked back to the tower door and knocked. The door of the tower was set deeply between two wings much like a fortress gate was, but in a smaller dimension. There were dark arrow loops in those wings that would allow archers, if there were any there now, to cover the door with crossfire.
Moments later, a small block of wood set behind bars opened at eye level revealing lamplight within. Part of a face filled the opening.
"Your visitors have arrived," the man said.
The face disappeared and the block closed. A moment later the crossbar inside sc.r.a.ped, then the door opened. A giant of a man with a bushy beard held the door with one hand and a lamp with the other. His name was Droz. Many straps hung from his armsman"s ap.r.o.n-for not only was he experienced, but he was also a dreadman of immense ferocity. Argoth had seen him chop men in two. Both his right and left forearms were covered with warrior tattoos.
"Ah, Captain," Droz said. "We"ve been waiting for you." He motioned for Argoth and Hogan to enter.
Argoth led Hogan through the opening in the wall and to the door. When they entered the dimly lit room, Droz shut the door behind them and swung down the cross bar.
The room was windowless, wide, and bare, with only a plain hearth burning to one side. There were no wooden tables or benches. Not a chair or cupboard. Nothing a sleth might use as a weapon. The only seats or shelves were those carved in the stone. It was purposely large enough for half a dozen men to wield spears and bows freely. A few guards slept on the floor. Three stood behind Droz holding their weapons. One stood at the far end of the room next to an iron lever set in the wall.
It was clear the warlords considered Purity a serious threat. Argoth wondered about Shim. If he wanted to trap Argoth, this would be the perfect way to do it.
Droz motioned at Hogan with his lamp. "I expect you want irons for him?"
"No," said Argoth. "He"s working with me."
"But he"s not working with me," said Droz, "now, is he?"
"Actually, Droz," said Argoth, "he is."
Droz stood a head taller than either Argoth or Hogan. He folded his ma.s.sive arms across his chest and looked down at them. The three men behind Droz shifted ever so slightly into a stance that would allow them to quickly spring into action.
"Search him," said Arogth. "In fact, if you"re worried about it, order him to strip. Send him to the cleansing room naked."
"Now, now," said Droz. "We"re not in the business of sending pretty men to the witch. This isn"t a brothel, Captain."
The other men smiled, but they did not laugh.
"Well, there"s your problem," said Argoth. "Not all prisoners can be cracked directly. Sometimes you"ve got to build a little trust. And Zun Hogan here will do that. So perform your search. It"s late and I want some answers."
"You"re not going to get any," said Droz.
"Is that so?"
"We"ve been pressing her. Quiet as a fish, she is. Oh, she"ll struggle and cry out as loudly as the next one, but she won"t talk."
Argoth truly hoped it was true. If nothing else, Purity had to keep their names hidden. "We"ll see if different methods produce different results."
"How many of us do you need?" Droz asked.
"It will be just me and the bowmaster this time."
Droz grunted. "Just the two of you? Are you sure that"s safe?"
"She"s got the King"s Collar, hasn"t she? So she"s nothing more than a woman. And an injured one at that."
Droz nodded. He pointed at Hogan. "He"s her lover then?"
"She had one love," said Hogan. "And he wasn"t a man even you would want to cuckold."
Droz looked at Argoth. "We"re going to have to search him. Can"t be giving her keys or daggers or other sweets."
"Of course," said Argoth.
Hogan took a wide stance. A guard patted him down. When the guard finished, he stood back, looked to Droz, and nodded.
Droz considered Hogan. "So, Zu, why are you here?" He used a polite t.i.tle, but not the one deserved by a bowmaster.
"I"m a friend," said Hogan.
Droz looked at Argoth, and what was going on in that mind Argoth couldn"t tell. Droz was a cunning man. And a man with such a mind just might suspect everything here was not as it seemed.
A beat pa.s.sed, then Droz said, "Before you go down, you should know: anything happens, anything at all, and Pony there"-he pointed to a man standing by the doorway to the back chamber- "will pull that lever. That will bring down two portcullises that five dreadmen together cannot lift. One will seal off the cleansing room. But, just in case someone made it out of the cleansing room and to the stairs, the second will seal that back chamber. Should you be caught behind them with the witch, do not expect us to even think about saving you. You"re on your own."
"I wouldn"t worry about her getting out," said Argoth. "I"d be worried about her kind getting in."
"Nothing"s getting in here," said Droz. "We"ve got archers in the wings of the entrance. Men on the wall above. n.o.body is getting in."
"It"s dark out. Easy enough to slip by in disguise."
"You don"t need to worry, Captain," said Droz. "We"re tight as a drum."
Argoth nodded. They"d planned for everything but a traitor in their midst.
Droz led them through an arched opening to the back of the chamber. The heavy portcullis in that arch would not be made solid. It would have holes in it so they might shoot arrows at whoever was caught behind.
Another lever was set into the wall of this chamber. Argoth supposed it would release only the lower portcullis. There was a stench in this rear chamber. "What is that?" asked Argoth.
"Bones," said Droz. "The man has the noxious flatulence of the Dark One himself. I think the designers of this tower wanted to suffocate their prisoners. There"s no second window and, therefore, no cross breeze. So what do we do? The best I could come up with was to order the man to release his poisonous vapors back here. They still waft out to torment us, but at least their potency has diminished by a degree."
Argoth wrinkled his nose. "I tell you what: forget the crossfire. Just put Bones at the door."
Droz laughed. "I"d put him out if he wasn"t such a good swordsman." He motioned at the numerous squares on the floor with handles in them. "Mind the covers."
"Murder holes?" asked Hogan.
"Exactly."
Droz lit and handed both Argoth and Hogan an oil lamp, then held his aloft to reveal the stairs leading down.
Droz said, "They spent a fortune making this small fortress; you"d think they"d make it safe for the guards. But no, the fifth stair will try to kill you. Just mind its slope as you go by."
They descended the stairs, minding the fifth one. The steps followed the curve of the tower wall to what looked like an empty cellar that lay directly below Bones" stink chamber. This chamber too had murder holes in the floor.
It also had an iron grate door set into the floor on one side. Droz lifted the bar on the door and took them down another staircase. This stair opened onto a flat area about ten feet deep. At the end there was yet another grated door. Two ma.s.sive iron bars held it shut.
Droz unbarred the door and opened it outwards toward himself, revealing a dark chamber. A breeze blew across Argoth"s face, which meant there was an air hole somewhere down here. He sniffed. The air smelled faintly of urine and excrement and something else he could not identify.
Droz held up his lamp high enough to illuminate the grated doors of the first few cells.
"The woman"s down at the end," said Droz. "I"ll wait here."
"Actually," said Argoth, "I think we"ll accomplish more alone."
"I don"t like it," said Droz.
"If you want to rouse the warlord to discuss our methods with him, go ahead. Or maybe we can wait until he wakes. Of course, she doesn"t have many hours left in her. If she dies tonight without us questioning her, that will be on your head."
Droz grunted. "You like to push it, don"t you?"
"No, Droz. We just need some answers."
"Fine," said Droz, "But that means I lock you in."
"Thank you," said Argoth. "We"ll ring the bell when we"re ready." Argoth dropped his voice to barely a whisper. "I expect you"ll want to watch. But, please, don"t uncover one of the murder holes directly above her cell. If she is sleth, she"ll know you"re there. In fact, I"d recommend against opening any of them. Your stink will come through, and she"ll not say a word."
Droz looked at him, and Argoth couldn"t tell if it was suspicion or curiosity behind those eyes. But then he nodded, locked the grated door behind himself as he left and retreated back up the stair.
Hogan stepped forward toward Purity, but Argoth restrained him, and motioned at the murder holes in the ceiling. Argoth held his lamp aloft and walked the length of the chamber, examining the ceiling for open holes. When he was sure n.o.body was listening, he motioned Hogan to Purity"s cell.
Purity lay in a blanket at the bars of her cell on a bed of straw. They"d stripped her, shaved her head. A silver King"s Collar ringed her neck. Hogan knelt close to the bars and held his lamp up. Her wounds from the arrows were st.i.tched in tidy rows. Even so, the wounds were red, angry, and corrupting. She would not last long in this room, but she might survive long enough to do the Grove damage.
"Purity," said Hogan.
She spoke, but did not sit up. "I hope you brought wolfsbane roots," she said. "If I"m to be poisoned, let it be quick. Not an insufficient dose of hemlock and honey or some two-day mushroom."
"Calm yourself," said Hogan. "It hasn"t come to that yet. First, we need to know what has happened."
She coughed and her breath rattled in her lungs. "I"m sure the Fir-Noy gave you the full report," she said.
"I don"t care about the battle," said Hogan. "I want to know about the stork and your child. And what happened to the harvest master"s family afterwards."
"I thought maybe someone else in the Grove decided to take justice in their own hands," Argoth whispered, "but it wasn"t anyone in the Grove. n.o.body I know could have drained the bodies like that. Not even a Divine can do that. I inspected the bodies, and they were dry. Completely wrung out."
Argoth referred to the Fire in the bodies of the family. Death was the separation of Fire, soul, and body. Some said the soul took the Fire with it. Others claimed the Fire poured forth like smoke or steam. Whichever was the truth, when Fire separated from the body, there was always some that remained in the bones and leached away only very slowly. Fire could be found in bones a hundred years old, yet the bodies of Barg"s family had been empty husks.
Argoth continued, "There were the markings of an immense draw of Fire, a blackening of the skin. It looked almost as if some monstrous hand had grasped hold of each victim"s face."
Purity was silent for a long moment. "I know nothing of what happened to the harvest master"s family."
Hogan squatted down next to the cell. He reached in and gently stroked Purity"s hair. "Whatever you"re hiding, you need to let us know so we know how to set it right."
Purity looked at them then. Large cuts and bruises covered her face. Her left eye was almost swollen shut. Her lip was split.
"Give me the poison," she said. "You cannot free me. I have broken our trust. I am willing to abide by the covenant; cut me down and preserve the rest."
Not a tear fell. And how could she weep? She was broken. Argoth"s heart ached for her. He had once practiced forbidden lore, but had been given a chance. Surely, she deserved the same.
Hogan continued to softly stroke her hair. "We decide if the covenant is broken. Besides, not all is lost. Your children yet live."
Argoth had not known that.
Purity looked at Hogan, and now the tears began to well in her damaged eyes. "I have done horrible things."