he couldn't estimate the exact number, but instinctively he felt there were at least three.
'You have me, then,' he said.
After a moment of hesitation, the measured tread of boots revealed lion Alanzo, dressed as though for court, in a ruff, a linen shirt, a crimson and gold beaded doublet, padded breeches, and stockings, topped off by a velvet hat at a carefully positioned angle. He rested one hand on the pommel of his sword and studied Will.
'You cut a fine figure, Don Alanzo,' Will observed. 'If I did not know better, I would think you dressed for royalty.'
'I return to Cadiz tomorrow,' he replied in his heavy accent. 'And then to glory, to the beginning of the end of England. With my prizes in hand.'
'Not all your prizes.'
'No, one evades me.'
'And it will continue to do so.'
'I think not.' Don Alanzo examined his polished nails with theatrical nonchalance. 'Already our agents close upon it. It is only a matter of time before your assistant is located and the Shield returned to us. Edinburgh is not a large city, and the people have no love of an Englishman.'
Will stifled a pang of regret that he had placed Nathaniel in danger, and hoped that it was some previously unseen Spanish agents pursuing him and not the Unseelie Court. As he had always feared, his vow to Nathaniel's father continued to haunt him. 'Nathaniel has a surprising degree of animal cunning. You may well be disappointed,' Will said blithely.
Don Alanzo's lips curved with a faint, mocking smile. 'You have not disappointed us yet.'
There was much unsaid in the smile. 'What are you saying, Don Alanzo?' Gently, Will tested the strength of the bonds around his wrists. As he had expected, they held fast; Don Alanzo would not make any mistakes.
'You recovered the artefact for us, where we and our allies had failed.'
Will quickly assimilated Don Alanzo's implication. 'You let me escape with Kintour and the cipher.'
'Of course. Your reputation is well known. If there is one man in this world who could break a cipher, and overcome the traps of those Templar Knights, it is the great Will Swyfte.' His mocking smile grew wider and stated, quite plainly, that Will was not at all great. 'Reidheid, who plays both sides in this game, fed you the information we required about the existence of this house, and then it was only a matter of waiting for your arrival.'
'A good plan,' Will said. 'One that I would have been proud to put into effect myself. Except ... one of your allies lies dead ...'
Don Alanzo's features remained unreadable.
'And you do not have the prize you sought,' Will continued.
'As I said, only a matter of time.'
'Which is what all failures say.' Will was pleased to see Don Alanzo flinch. 'Your allies are a poor choice, Don Alanzo, and do you no credit. Do you think they would not slit your throat, and every throat in Spain, once you have served their purpose?'
Don Alanzo's eyes flickered towards the unseen presences behind Will. 'Do you think we are not aware of that? Shared interests cross boundaries of suspicion.'
'Men are judged by the friends they keep.'
Don Alanzo laughed. 'And we should only ally ourselves with people we like? How naive! Why, Master Swyfte, if that were the case, I think you would struggle to find allies even within your own court.'
'We are not talking about the French here, Don Alanzo. Or Venice, or Florence, or the Hapsburgs, or even that weak and feeble Russian, Feodor. The Unseelie Court is a half-starved wolf waiting in your parlour.'
'And you think Spain is not? England is a corruption upon the world. Your arrogance spins out of control, standing against God and Rome, overthrowing laws and truces and order whenever it serves your purpose. You are despised by all freethinking men, and soon you will see black sails on the horizon. The dark ship that reeks of rot approaches your land, and it is already too late to turn it back.'
Don Alanzo summoned one of those who stood behind Will. The Silver Skull stepped into the shaft of moonlight, his mask glowing with white fire, and fixed his bloodshot eyes on Will.
'Who are you?' Will asked.
'His identity is not important,' Don Alanzo said. 'There are many people prepared to sacrifice all they have to ensure England is destroyed. It is the sacrifice itself that matters.'
'Play the hero in your game. We all do the same,' Will said. 'In the end, there are only winners and losers.'
'Sadly, your role is already defined. If you think the lack of the Shield will slow our plans, you are sorely mistaken. This grand weapon has many uses. While it remains in our hands, you will always be in danger.'
'Then my best endeavours will go to returning it to the Tower.'
'I think not.' Don Alanzo caught the Silver Skull's arm and guided him towards the door. 'I take no pleasure in the suffering you are about to endure,' he continued. 'This is war, and the stakes are high, but still ... You will reveal the whereabouts of the Shield, and then it all ends.'
Don Alanzo and the Silver Skull stepped out of the room, and for a while there was no response to Will's mocking questions. At his back, he felt the weight of the remaining people in the room, studying his strengths, mental state, resilience, turning over his flaws and weaknesses, like hunters circling their prey. He knew exactly what was to come.
Finally, Cavillex stepped before him. The superiority Will had witnessed at the palace had been replaced by a cold indifference, though Will thought he sensed an intense rage burning just beneath the surface.
'I have a question: how many of your kind have fallen by a mortal hand?' Will asked blithely.
Cavillex ignored Will's taunting. He was handed a small silver tray, but held it just above Will's line of vision.
'It was surprising. I found it just like killing a man,' Will continued. 'Or a dog.'
'It is a while since you have eaten,' Cavillax began. 'Would you like a bite, to fill your belly?' From the tray he plucked a fragrant, golden biscuit and wafted it under Will's nose. The scent of honey, butter, and spices filled his senses, and despite himself, Will's hunger magnified unnaturally. 'Or a drink of water?' Cavillex poured a goblet of crystal water from a silver jug. Suddenly, Will's throat was as dry as a summer street.
Overwhelmed by the urge to consume the biscuit and water, his head spun, but he forced himself to resist. He knew the consequences of accepting food and drink from the Enemy; he would not forget Kintour.
'Thank you,' he said, 'but my appetite has fled.'
Cavillex leaned in and said quietly, 'That would have been the easy road.'
'I would give you the gift of a challenge,' Will replied. 'For life is nothing, if it is not tested.'
'No challenge,' Cavillex stated.
Behind him, Will could hear the sound of metal upon metal, the clink of objects being arranged upon another tray, the clack and whirr of items being tested. In his head, he began to picture their shape and purpose, and forced himself to stop.
'You will never defeat us,' Will said.
'Us?' Cavillex said. 'Ah. The brotherhood of man. You think yourself my equal. Of course. Yet in the New World, you treat your own kind like slaves, and slaughter them as if they have no value. As you did the Moors. As you have done, even your own countrymen, over the steady march of the centuries. We stood in our glades, and by our lakes, and on the hilltops, and watched, slack-jawed and silent, as you tore through your fellow creatures. When the Norman, William, invaded your nation, one hundred thousand fell before his will in the north. Thirty thousand dead of starvation in Ireland under your own queen's campaign. How many more have been sacrificed to your pathetic arguments about religion? You are animals falling on each other in the field. You do not deserve to exist.'
Will could not deny the sting of truth in Cavillex's words. 'That is not the sum of us,' he replied.
'What makes a man, then?' Cavillex enquired. 'Let us investigate.'
Hands grabbed Will's shoulders roughly and flipped his chair backwards. Just at the point when he expected his head to slam against the boards, it came to a gradual rest. A member of the Unseelie Court supported the chair on either side, but he could not see the details of their faces.
Cavillex loomed over him with the water jug. 'This gift is given freely, and without obligation,' he stated.
He poured the water slowly from the spout, down Will's chest, allowing it to flood across his face and into his
