uncertain. Lhors thought he could see another boulder to their north-perhaps another doorway. He shifted his grip onthe spears so he had one ready to throw and hoped they weren’t going to gothere-or into a lot of unpleasant dead-ends and near-traps, as they had in theSteading. Vlandar won’t let us, he reminded himself. Indeed, Vlandar glancedthat way and as Khlened eyed it curiously, Vlandar tapped the barbarian on the arm and firmly shook his head. The Fist shrugged, then nodded, and turned his attention back to the main way.
Vlandar sent Rowan and Lhors out ahead, getting Malowan to test north and west while Nemis used yet another of what Lhors thought must be an endless supply of reveal danger spells on the south cave. At least you do not need to understand magic for it to protect you, he told himself as he followed Rowan along the south wall.
The ranger stopped abruptly and held up a hand for silence. Lhors listened. He could hear nothing out of the ordinary. There was just enough whine of moving wind through openings in the stone high above to make everything sound like a stealthy enemy to him. The ranger drew him close and sent her eyes into the passage where it bulged wide and turned south.
He could see them all at once. Guards surrounded three giantesses.
Rowan signed urgently, and Lhors backed away. As soon as they were out of sight, they both turned and ran.
It was enough. Vlandar got everyone around the back of a tall ledge and into gloom just as three fur-clad giantesses sauntered up the hall. Several ogre servants and a pair of armed giant guards loped just behind them.
The company held their breath, except Florimund, who seemed to be fighting a sneeze. Nemis dove into his belt for something and moved his hands. The wounded half-elf’s jaw went slack and his eyes shut as he sagged atthe knees. Maera clutched him in dismay as the giantesses and their servants wandered by. They turned right at the bend and kept going out into the entry. Lhors could hear the stone shift gratingly, and then they were gone.
“What is wrong with Florimund?” Maera breathed.
“I sent him to sleep,” the mage replied, “in a way. If he’dsneezed just now-”
“What do you mean,
“He’ll follow where you lead him, but he won’t be aware,”Nemis replied. “He won’t speak or cry out-and he won’t feel pain, as he clearlyhas all the way here.”
Maera gave him a scorching look before she turned away to help the blank-faced Florimund to his feet.
Vlandar looked around. “We should-Mal, what is it?”
He broke off as the paladin came up to him. In the faint light, the man’s face was grim. “There is another ledge to our west, and aprisoner is locked away beyond it. I sense fear and hatred of frost giants, and pain.”
“An ally?” Vlandar murmured as he tugged his cloak closer. Hegave Maera and Florimund a glance. “Or just another…?” He let the statementgo unfinished.
“I cannot say. If not an ally, we can bespell it and leave.If an ally, though…” The paladin let the thought hang.
Vlandar nodded-reluctantly, Lhors thought. He gestured forMalowan to lead on.
“I will wait here with my cousin,” Maera said stiffly. “Tokeep watch.”
“Watch south,” Rowan told her. “I will tend to the east.”
Malowan was already gone the way he’d come, Agya on hisheels.
Nemis met Vlandar’s eyes. “I will stay as well,” he saidquietly. “There may be things here we cannot see.”
The warrior gestured assent and put Lhors in front of him. He motioned for the others to follow. Lhors glanced back at Maera, who knelt next to her sleeping companion. Why does Vlandar not seem to trust her, all of a sudden? he wondered. He had seen the same lack of trust in his father toward certain village boys who’d once hunted with them-but they weren’t just aftermeat for a village here. If Vlandar really was worried about Florimund or Maera, wouldn’t he just get Nemis to send them away? Perhaps Nemis couldn’t do that, ormaybe something else was going on.
Another massive boulder blocked part of the west wall. It took Khlened, Bleryn, and Vlandar to shift it far enough for them to enter the chamber beyond. Vlandar left Bleryn and Gerikh at the opening and let Malowan lead the way in.
The chamber was poorly lit and sparely furnished. A huge pallet with massive chains was bolted to the wall at head and foot, and a giant three times Malowan’s size lay fettered to the bed. Just out of the giant’sreach, a low table held an ewer and some bits of bread and bone. Malowan was already next to the bed, speaking quickly and urgently to the prisoner in Giantish. Agya was glaring at the little table, and Lhors’ nose wrinkled as hecame close enough for his own chilled nose to work. The pitcher held swampy-smelling water. The bread crust was white and the rest pale greenish. The bone was huge but bare of meat, and he could see where it had been gnawed.
He blinked as the prisoner answered Malowan. The voice was deep, but not masculine-deep. What could one of their females do to deserve this? Lhors wondered. He backed away. The pallet smelled dreadful, and the sheer size of the creature frightened him, even bound as she was.
He turned away to find Khlened staring open-mouthed at another table. Two massive chairs flanked a table covered in fine cloth and golden plates. The food there looked and even smelled as if a proper cook had prepared it. Two goblets with stems as thick as his spear held dark wine. A few gems and coins spilled from a leather bag, and Lhors assumed this was what the Fist stared at so avidly.
“Smells good,” the barbarian muttered.
“Don’t eat
Lhors backed away hastily, and Khlened looked slightly sick.
“Yes,” Vlandar added with a faint smile. “It smells good tome, too. It may be no more than what it seems: stolen beef roasted plain over a fire.”
Malowan gestured then, drawing them close so he could translate. Lhors listened from where he was, eyes searching the chamber and glancing out into darkness, now and again. “She is Nghora, a storm giantess froma distant hold. The Jarl took her prisoner some time ago, believing she would willingly become his mistress. She refused the ‘honor’, and so he had her puthere. Now and again he has her beaten, but mostly he leaves her like this: cold, hungry, and unable to reach proper food and drink, though she can see all that will be hers, if she submits to him. She loathes the Jarl, but I can tell she is distrustful of all males.”
“Why?” Khlened scowled. “Humans didn’t put ’er here, nordwarves.”
“Her father is a drunkard, and because of that his householdguards are lax. The Jarl knew it and took advantage of that when he took her prisoner,” Malowan explained. “He had asked for her first, but she had alreadytaken vows as a virgin priestess. The Jarl is grotesque, she says, but even if he had been handsome and kindly and not already wed, she wanted no mate, nothing but the right to serve her goddess.”
Agya nodded. “Weird t’me too, barbarian, but a thief I knewwent t’serve… Zodal. Had somethin’ t’do with peace and hope or somesuch-like. She tol’ me she ’ad to swear not t’let any man touch ’er or look at’er face, an’ she was ’appy t’do it too.”
The girl seemed baffled by this, Lhors thought. On reflection, he wasn’t sure if
“These things happen to some people,” Malowan said dryly.“Nghora says she has been a guest here, now and again since childhood. I think Ican persuade her to guide us.”
Vlandar nodded. “Could be. But what of all this show ofwealth here?”
“To be hers, if she submits. She wants none of it and says itis ours if we will free her.”
“I say aye, then.” The barbarian turned away and began tosort through the goods on the table, setting aside loose gems and coin and ignoring the heavier plate. Agya came over to help him. Lhors moved nearer the doorway as Malowan bent over the bound giantess and loosed her fetters with some spell.
The giantess said something, her voice husky. As she stood, Lhors noticed for the first time that her skin had a greenish tint to it. Tall as the paladin was, his head barely came past her knee. Lhors swallowed past a dry throat and looked away.
“She does not know any of the things we’re seeking,” Malowantold them. “She does know where the Jarl’s most valued possessions are stored,however. And we need to go now. There are guards, two giants who patrol with a chained yeti, who come here once a day to check on her, and they are due before much longer. She also says the Jarl keeps wolves in the room where he and his lady sleep. It is some distance from here, and there are several
