The Ruby Guardian

better to give coin to the soup kitchens, rather than to the beggars themselves, for you could not abide the thought that they would waste your donations on drink and carnal relations.'

Pilos nodded again, beginning to feel overwhelmed. He and Mikolo had been alone during that conversation, and short of magical eavesdropping, no one else could have known that. 'I remember,' he said at last, hoarsely. 'You told me that-'

'I told you that Waukeen found beauty in all coin changing hands, and even though you could not see the beneficence of it, the purveyor of drinks and the prostitute certainly did. All creatures thrive in an environment where coin is freely given and accepted, Pilos. Remember that.'

Pilos nodded again, terrified. It really was Mikolo Midelli, hovering there in his chambers. 'Why me?'

'Because I can see in your heart that which is also in mine,' the apparition replied. 'I know you will see the wisdom in crying out, in demanding greater scrutiny against Lavant's misguided rulership of the temple. You must take up a cause that I could not finish, Pilos.'

'But Grand Syndar, I do not know what to do! No one will listen to a simple Abreeant. No one will value my words.'

'Ah, but Pilos, you are trying to open the eyes of those who refuse to see. You must seek out others, beyond the temple. And it is they who need your aid, rather than you who need theirs.'

'Others? But who, Grand Syndar?' Pilos had no idea what the ghost spoke of, nor how he could act on the apparition's instructions. 'Who must I find?'

'Return to your home, Pilos. There you will find sympathetic ears. They will help you take up the call against Grand Syndar Lavant. There, you will find the path that must be followed.' The ghost began to fade, and Pilos was terrified of being left alone in his room.

'Grand Syndar! Wait!' he cried out, but the glowing figure of his beloved leader was gone.

CHAPTER 13

The wagon was horribly hot and stuffy, and Kovrim squirmed from the itch of rivulets of sweat pouring down out of his hair, past his face and neck, to tickle the skin beneath his shirt. His thirst was severe, made more unbearable by the thick bit still filling his mouth. He had tried to dislodge the gag with his tongue at various times throughout the morning, but it wasn't going anywhere, so he sat there, glum.

Kovrim blinked as the wagon bounced and sent a particularly irritating droplet of sweat right into the corner of his eye. The salty perspiration burned, making him shake his head in frustration. The maneuver only succeeded in causing more rivulets to trickle down out of his damp, matted hair.

'Sorry, sir,' Hort Bloagermun said, coming out of his own stupor. The grizzled veteran leaned forward and, with his own hands locked in more conventional steel restraints in front of himself, used the sleeve of his own shirt to wipe away the worst of Kovrim's sweat, trying his best to help keep it from running into the old priest's eyes. Kovrim was grateful for the gesture, though the beads of perspiration would be running again soon enough. He nodded in thanks.

The old priest looked around the wooden box that he shared with five other Crescents. All of them were secured similarly to Old Bloagy, with manacles locked about both wrists and ankles. Their clothing was soaked through with sweat, and a couple of them looked very much the worse for wear. Kovrim knew that they would begin to grow ill if they weren't given water soon. They had been crammed into the nearly lightless box wagons since early morning, cruelly sealed up inside the heat traps with nothing to assuage their thirst. Kovrim imagined that the Crescents in the other wagons weren't faring much better.

With no way to see the height of the sun in the sky, Kovrim had no clear idea of how long they had been traveling, but he guessed it had to have been at least three hours. And though he did not know exactly where the survivors of the sinking of Lady's Favor had come ashore, he knew that they had to be near the city of Reth, just based on old maps of the area he had often studied. Besides, he had overheard one of the soldiers loading them into the wagons mention that they would reach their destination near noon. Though the old priest feared what would become of them after they arrived in that independent city, he welcomed their arrival if it meant getting out of the baking oven of a box in which they rode at the moment.

As if he were a seer, Kovrim detected a change in the sound of the wooden wagon wheels and of the feel of the ride. They had moved off of dirt road and onto stone pavement, a sure sign that they had neared the city. He listened carefully, detecting the unmistakable sounds of crowds beyond the wooden walls of the box wagon, and they were growing louder. Then the wagon rumbled through a shadow, for the sun was briefly blotted out where it shone through the narrow cracks in the wood panels, and Kovrim knew they had passed through the city gates of Reth. It was not long after that that the wagon drew to a halt.

'It sounds like we've arrived… wherever it is we are,' Old Bloagy said, trying to peer through a small knothole. 'Looks like a courtyard, but I'm not sure,' he added.

Outside, Kovrim could hear a general commotion as orders were shouted and men moved about. Someone began to work on the latch that held the door at the rear of the box wagon shut, and in another moment, the portal swung downward, letting glaring sunlight shine in. Along with that brightness came a blessed breeze, cooler fresh air that wafted in. Kovrim sighed in profound relief.

The six members of the Sapphire Crescents climbed out of the wagons and descended the slanted door, which served as a sort of gangplank. The prisoners congregated in a group, breathing in and exhilarating in the open air, thankful to be out of the box. Nearby, the rest of the Crescents were being offloaded in a similar manner.

Kovrim took a moment to peer about at his surroundings, wondering where, exactly, they had been brought. It appeared, as Hort had claimed, to be a courtyard of some sort, for high stone walls surrounded the cobblestoned area on every side. One wall was pierced with a gated opening, beyond which Kovrim could see a street teeming with people and shops and carts. In front of him, however, a large edifice rose up, dominated by a high tower in the very center that was four or five stories tall. Kovrim recognized it immediately as the Palace of the Seven, the central keep of the government of Reth.

I guess we'll be guests of the mayor and the senate, Kovrim thought, wondering what sort of connection Lavant might have with the rulers of Reth that he could arrange such.

After all five wagons were unloaded, the entire group of Crescents-plus the pair of druids who had been captured during the attack in the night-were herded together and escorted by a dozen soldiers toward a narrow door set in one side wall.

The prisoners marched toward the door and inside into blessed coolness, each man shuffling along with short steps due to the inadequate length of chain spanning the distance between their ankles. Kovrim nearly tripped at one point, but a nearby guard reached out and grabbed him by the shoulder to steady him.

Inside the doorway, they encountered a somewhat steeply pitched stone ramp leading down, flanked on either side by alcoves occupied by additional guards. The guards eyed the prisoners impassively as they trotted past, and Kovrim could see that a large portcullis could be dropped near the guard post, preventing anyone from descending deeper into the route-or trying to escape, he understood.

The ramp turned a little farther on so that it doubled back. At the bottom, Kovrim and the other prisoners found themselves in the middle of a large, low-ceilinged chamber that was dimly lit by a handful of torches. It smelled strongly of sweat, human waste, and staleness, and the old priest knew they had arrived in the prison.

The prisoners' guards began to rapidly separate their charges into smaller groups again, sorting them into sets of four. Kovrim wound up in the same group with Hort and the two druids. Their guards pushed them off to one side and stood nearby while the rest of the soldiers were similarly sorted. Once the process was finished, they were marched through a narrow doorway and down a hall that Kovrim saw was lined with cells. The lighting in that area was even dimmer than out in the main room, but as far as he could see, the cells in that wing of the prison were empty, for none of the wooden doors had been pulled shut at the moment.

Making sure no one else sees us here, he thought, or talks to us.

That notion was ominous in Kovrim's mind, but he shunted it away for the time being and allowed himself to be led into one of the cells, along with Hort and the two woodsmen. As their guard stepped back and prepared to shut the thick wooden door with the tiny, barred window, Kovrim mumphed at the man