view. Just in case you need anything?”
Kiva shook his head. “I think we’d value the privacy if it’s in your power to grant that.”
Sabian nodded and gestured up the stairs. The guard marched off.
“Sergeant Iasus will be down here shortly with food and drink and a doctor. I will stop by once in a while.”
And with that the commander saluted them and then stalked off toward the stairs.
“A good man, commander Sabian” noted Quintillian.
“Yes,” Kiva replied. “I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing. At least bad men can be bought or bargained. Good men have the tendency to be incorruptible and to carry out their orders regardless.”
He shuffled over to one of the pallets and sank onto it, opening and closing his hand. The blood was beginning to clot now. With a frown, he withdrew the coin from his pocket; around an inch across with one edge sharpened to razor point, the coin displayed the flying horse of Pelasia on one side and an image of the eastern Moon Goddess on the other. His frown deepened as he rubbed his finger across the coin, smearing the blood. Standing once more, he moved over to the bars of the cell and smiled ironically.
“What is it?” Alessus asked as he lowered Julian to the pallet and then sank to the floor himself.
“A pointless note from a friend.” He smiled again. “Ashar’s man dropped it to me from the city gate. There are marks on it, but they’re in the linear script of Pelasia and I haven’t the faintest idea what they mean.”
Quintillian limped across the room and grasped the coin from the captain’s hand.
“Careful, it’s sharp.”
Quintillian brushed the concern aside. “I studied several languages on Isera. This is fairly simple, much like the languages the eastern provinces used to speak before they were brought into the Empire.” He grinned. “It’s amazing how much text you can fit into such a small space with this kind of language.”
Kiva tutted. “All very fascinating. What does it say?”
Quintillian turned the coin in the extremely low light.
“Four assassins. Twenty five archers. No chance. Wait for better timing.”
“Ha!” exclaimed the captain. “So they’ve waited until we’re in a cell. Very helpful.”
He slammed his fist on the cell’s bars in annoyance, but he knew the words were right. Ashar probably didn’t even know they’d been captured yet. These would just be four Pelasians he’d sent to the city to gather information, and they stood precious little chance against Phythian or the army of Velutio. It would be down to him after all.
Quintillian handed the coin back to him. “What do you think’s going to happen, sir?”
Kiva shrugged. “Death” he said with a cold certainty. “I’m surprised we made it past the courtyard to be honest; it’s most unlike him. Perhaps he’s having trouble deciding how gruesome to make it?”
The lad shuddered. “Then it’s time we start making some plans. Shame Darius isn’t here. All the best plans we ever put into action were made by the two of us together.”
Kiva yawned. “There really isn’t anything to plan. There’s no way to get out of here. Nobody’s coming to the rescue, and any time we actually get to leave the cell, we’ll be in the middle of a palace guarded by an army in a hostile city.”
“So there’s no hope at all?” Quintillian asked, his voice incredulous. ”That’s not you. You always find a way round things. You’re a survivor, captain.”
Kiva rounded on the boy angrily. “If you think I’m that clever, why are we here? Do you think I can conjure an escape tunnel out of my pocket?”
He turned away. “Ahhh shit. We’ll be lucky to see another dawn. I hope Athas and the others have been sensible enough to lose themselves somewhere. Our only faint glimmer of hope now is that we can drive a wedge between this Sabian and his Lord. It looks suspiciously like they’re already on the way.”
Alessus stood and walked over to join them. “Are there any escape routes from the palace? Plenty of Emperors have been paranoid.”
Kiva shook his head. “I’ve heard rumours, but you can guarantee that Velutio’s had every inch of this place checked and sealed. I wouldn’t hold much hope out for that.”
“What about the gardens? They’re out in the open.”
Kiva shook his head. “Almost one hundred and fifty feet of sheer rock face with jagged rocks and reefs at the bottom. Then there’s his guards patrolling the edge and his men in boats patrolling the bay. And that’s only if we could get out into the gardens. I think that’s reaching. If we find ourselves out in the open at any point it’s going to be a matter of taking any opportunity we see, rather than planning in advance.”
Alessus opened his mouth to speak again, but Kiva cut him off. “Not worth asking. I’ve been through everything I can think of, but there’s no way out without outside help. We’ll have to bide our time and try and work on people we come in contact with.”
His head jerked up.
“Now’s not the time anyway. Someone’s coming.”
The three standing men retreated to the rear of the cell and took their seats on the wooden pallets as hob- nailed footsteps echoed down the stairs and along the corridor. After a few moments, the sergeant they’d seen in the courtyard appeared with a guard, two of the palace servants and a man in a white tunic with a leather case.
At a gesture from the sergeant, the guard unfastened the door and stepped back. The two servants entered the cell nervously, each with a covered tray and a jug. They placed them on the floor by the bars and then left in a hurry. The sergeant laughed at them as they ran up the stairs.
“Idiots” he sneered. “Did they really think you would attack them here?”
Kiva smiled at the sergeant with no real humour. “It’s not all that farfetched.”
The doctor entered and made his way into the dark. “This is totally unacceptable” he declared.” I need light.”
Without waiting, the sergeant picked up one of the oil burners from a shelf near the guard’s chair and gave it to the soldier with the keys. “Light it and give them it.”
The soldier did as he was bade and the flickering light was carried into the cell, though it did precious little to push back the oppressive darkness of this place. As the doctor began to examine Quintillian’s leg by the guttering light, the sergeant straightened. “I’ll leave you with him.” As he spoke the soldier locked the door and stepped back to the seat. “When you’ve finished, doctor, tell him and he’ll bring you back out.”
The doctor nodded, unable to speak as he had some miscellaneous implement held between his teeth while he prodded at the flesh round the bolt with both hands. Kiva stood. “Thank you sergeant.”
With a nod, Iasus left and climbed the stairs back to the surface world.
The doctor was mumbling and grumbling to himself as Kiva sat down among the others once more.
“What’s wrong?” the captain asked.
The doctor took the tool from between his teeth and pointed at the bolt with it. “It’s done considerable damage to the muscle, but it’s also chipped the bone as the head went through. I’m going to have to break off the flights and draw the bolt through by the head and it’s going to be extremely painful.” He produced a strip of leather. “Bite on this young man.”
As Quintillian bit down, the doctor snapped the flight end off next to the skin. For the first time in days blood welled up thick around the wood. Accompanied by muffled howls the man gripped the head of the bolt and in one slow, agonising move pulled the shaft through, accompanied by a gush of blood.
“There’s some infection here too. It may heal or it may not. If not, it’ll become a very painful problem. In the meantime, I’ll stitch the wound up.”
As the doctor worked, Quintillian looked up at the captain, a frightened look. Kiva smiled back as comfortingly as he could. “Of all our worries right now, I’d not panic over-much about infections.”
Chapter XVII
Danis was a small town that had grown from a tiny village due solely to the old Imperial courier post there.
