hallway. She had taken this walk before, and always for the same reason.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to prepare herself for the kinds of things she would encounter along the way.
From her place near the cell’s far wall, Mallory looked down at the empty dishes. Although the food and water had been evenly divided, there had been very little for any of them individually. The bowls had all been licked clean; not a drop of water remained. If their sustenance didn’t improve, what magical powers they had remaining would soon be gone.
She suddenly winced as the pain came again-sharp, stabbing, humiliating. She still hurt in secret places where the guard had probed her. Even so, her exhaustion was so great that it easily rivaled her discomfort. Closing her eyes, she leaned against the dank wall.
She suspected that the hour was late, but there was no way to be sure. All the girls other than she and Ariana were huddled together in one of the cell’s corners, fast asleep. A brutish guard paced back and forth on the other side of the barred door. Other than his footsteps and the squeaking rats, this part of the prison was quiet.
Mallory trudged across the room to join Ariana. Her friend was again sitting on her knees, staring at the latest symbols and numbers she had scrawled across the wall. The piece of charcoal she held had become much smaller, prompting Mallory to wonder what they would do when it was gone. She gently placed one hand atop Ariana’s shoulder. Ariana turned her dirty face up to her.
“How goes it?” Mallory whispered.
Sighing, Ariana ran one forearm across her brow. “Don’t get too excited,” she warned, “but I may have it.”
Mallory eagerly went to her knees to look at Ariana’s calculations. Then she groaned inside when she saw that the tightly spaced numbers and symbols stretched for more than three feet.
“Can it be shortened?” she asked.
Unsure of her answer, Ariana pushed her tongue against one cheek. “Perhaps,” she answered. “But I’m not the one to do it. Only a fully realized wizard or sorceress could shortcut this mess. For our use, I’m afraid it must stand as is.”
Mallory understood Ariana’s concern. In order to master a spell, one had to commit the formula to memory until recalling it was second nature, and then activate it in a split second. Ariana’s work would be difficult for Mallory to absorb, and time was running out. The other way to perform a spell was to recite the formula verbatim, in the form of an incantation.
Hearing footsteps, Mallory looked to the door. The guard passed by without looking in. She turned back to Ariana.
“Have you tested it?” she asked.
Ariana shook her head. “No,” she answered flatly. “I didn’t dare.”
“Why not?”
“The other girls’ gifts aren’t as strong as ours,” Ariana said. “You and I are the only two who might succeed. Either of us will only have enough strength for a single try. After that we may never have enough power again.”
“Worse yet is the sound it is sure to produce, should it work,” Ariana went on. “This place is very old. Everything is covered in rust and grime. If I were to test it just as the guard happened by-well, you get the picture.”
Sadly, Mallory had to agree. “What do you suggest?” she asked.
Ariana thought for a moment. “We should reverse roles,” she said.
Mallory looked surprised. “Why?” she asked.
“I am the one who wrote the spell, not you. I know it better. If it works for me, then you can perform the part I was to do and entice the guard. I know it’s not what we agreed on, but it seems the only way.”
For several long moments, Mallory considered Ariana’s suggestion. “Do you think you can do it?” she asked.
Ariana sighed. “There’s only one way to find out. But I can summon only enough energy to try once, so I’ll do it by incantation rather than memory. That way has the greatest chance of success.”
Ariana thought about what was at stake, then looked Mallory in the eyes. “You’re our leader,” she whispered. “What do you want me to do?”
A concerned look came over Mallory’s face. She stared back at the other girls. All six were fast asleep. Even Magdalene, their resident troublemaker, was out. Mallory looked back at Ariana.
“If there was ever a time to try, it’s now,” she whispered. “The girls are all asleep, so they won’t react and make any noise. If you succeed, we’ll wake them. If you fail, they don’t have to know.”
Standing, Mallory looked to the door. “Wait for my signal,” she said. “It will come when the guard is farthest away.” Ariana nodded her understanding.
“Good luck,” Mallory said.
“And you,” Ariana answered back.
Mallory waited until the guard passed by again, then she quickly tiptoed to the door. Placing her face against the dirty bars, she watched him walk away for as long as she could. When she lost the angle on him and he slipped from view, she waved one hand. Concentrating with all her might, Ariana started whispering her calculations. Remembering what Master Duncan had so often told her, when she reached the end of the formula she closed her eyes, then envisioned what she wanted to happen. With her heart in her throat, she cocked her head to listen.
Squeaking as they went, the rusty tumblers in the door’s lock started to turn over.
Knowing that the spell was only halfway finished, Ariana held her breath. Eutracian locks always turned over at least twice before they released. She winced as she heard the tumblers scrape again, even louder this time. In the quiet of the prison, they seemed deafening. Terrified, Ariana shot a glance at Mallory.
Mallory heard the guard’s footsteps abruptly stop for a moment, then start again. They came faster now, growing louder with every step.
Racking her brain, she hurried to the rear wall, then grabbed up the tin pot in which the gruel had been served. Putting a vacuous look on her face, she started absentmindedly scratching the pot against the wall, as if the relentless boredom had finally overcome her and she needed to do something, anything, to alleviate it. The scratching didn’t sound altogether like the rusty tumblers, but it was all she could think of.
As the curious guard stopped before their door, Mallory kept on with her mindless scraping. Out of the corner of one eye she saw him grab the door bars, then peer in as he searched the cell. Ariana kept her face to the wall. Mallory held her breath.
The guard finally sneered at Mallory’s foolishness. After what seemed an eternity, he let go of the door. Mallory blessed the rusty hinges that had kept it from shifting at his touch. Saying nothing, the guard turned, then continued his patrol.
Wide-eyed, Ariana looked at her. Mallory let go a sigh of relief.
It was time to wake the others. They hadn’t a moment to lose.
Mary’s dread grew as she followed Lothar down the torch-lit hallways. Today’s walk was in an unfamiliar direction. She had never visited this part of the prison before.
The dingy cells along the way held prisoners of both sexes. Some had been imprisoned for so long that their clothes were mere tatters and their bodies had wasted away to slumping sacks of bones. Mary lowered her head as she tried to ignore the pervasive stench of human waste.
Many of these wretched souls had gone mad. Some pointed, laughed, or howled insanely as Lothar and Mary walked by. Others, their eyes wide with terror and hopelessness, lunged at the bars. Still others sat huddled in their cell’s corners, babbling incoherently. Signs of physical torture showed plainly on their bodies.
Mary was comforted to know that her two most trusted girls back at the bordello knew where she was, in case Lothar tried something unexpected. That was always the case when she visited here. Even so, as she traveled deeper into this wretched place, she became more frightened.
Her mouth suddenly dry, Mary clutched her purse so tightly that her knuckles went white. She was about to tell Lothar that she wanted to go back when he stopped before a wooden door at the end of the hall. It was made of massive oak planks and was fortified with iron cross braces.
Lothar dropped his cigar and crushed it beneath one shoe. He smiled.
