‘Lots of things are possible given the will,’ Caldason told him.
Phoenix came by at that moment and Disgleirio collared him.
‘Tell these two what you told me earlier.’
‘What was that?’ Realisation dawned. ‘Oh,
that
. It’s not the sort of thing I like making a fuss about, Quinn.’
‘What is it?’ Serrah asked, curiosity whetted.
The sorcerer didn’t answer, so Disgleirio did. ‘Phoenix here is shortly to celebrate his hundredth birthday. That makes you and him contemporaries, doesn’t it, Reeth?’
The Qalochian regarded him stony-faced.
‘Er…Congratulations, Phoenix,’ Serrah said, hoping to move things along.
‘Thank you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have many people to talk with.’ He moved off.
‘I believe he was
embarrassed
,’ Disgleirio reckoned. ‘That must be a first for the old boy. But I have to say, Reeth, that you’re wearing a lot better than he is.’
It was probably intended as friendly mockery, but from the look on Caldason’s face, Serrah wasn’t sure he saw it that way.
She need not have worried. The guards had let in a messenger, and he made straight for the Righteous Blade man. They had a whispered conversation before Disgleirio dismissed him.
‘Well, we have some news,’ he told Serrah and Reeth. ‘It seems somebody very important just arrived from Gath Tampoor.’
‘Who?’ Serrah asked.
‘We don’t know yet. But it warranted a fast chartered ship and a very heavy escort to paladin HQ.’
‘You’re assuming this has something to do with Kinsel?’
‘It’s a fair assumption. Some top official arriving so soon after such a high-profile arrest; it’s hardly likely to be a coincidence, is it? And we’ve heard nothing about an official visit being due.’
‘Any hunches?’ Caldason wondered.
‘Only nagging worries.’
‘Such as?’
‘Suppose they’ve brought in a really skilled interrogator, or a master torturer?’
‘I would have thought they had enough perfectly able ones here already.’
‘Know what I think? I think Karr’s underestimating the damage Rukanis could do. He knows quite a bit about our operation and if…
when
he talks, he could take us all down. We should do everything we can to prevent that.’
‘What are you saying, Disgleirio?’
‘He’s been an asset. Now fate, or betrayal, has turned him into a liability. I don’t want to sound hard-hearted about it, but if we can’t rescue Rukanis…’
‘Go on.’
‘I’d recommend assassinating him.’
15
It was a matter of pride to the paladin clans that no prisoner had ever escaped from their Valdarr headquarters. Not that there had never been attempts at both break-outs and break-ins. But all had ended in failure and the deaths of everyone involved.
Important captives weren’t held in ill-lit dungeons deep in the bowels of the central fortress, as might be expected. They were hidden in plain sight. There was an extensive clearing in the grounds, an area in which not a tree, a rock or even a single blade of grass had been left standing. Its perimeter was guarded day and night by sentries with kill dogs on slip-leashes. The second line of defence was deadlier still: a range of protective spells of the highest order. Glamours that would raise ear-splitting alarms as they injured, mutilated and killed at any hint of an unauthorised approach.
In the middle of the clearing was a building. It was a windowless, single-storey structure built of stone, with a flat roof and one robust door. No attempt had been made to beautify the exterior, which was uniformly weathered grey.
Inside, there were just six chambers. Four were cells. The
other two housed what were euphemistically referred to as persuasion suites.
Currently, the building had only one occupant.
Kinsel Rukanis had been deprived of food, water and, crucially, sleep. He had been interrogated with little respite, and some violence had been shown to him, though it was more rough handling than actual abuse. Most of his captors’ questions were about who he knew in the Resistance, and its organisation. So far, he’d refused to answer any of them.
For the last couple of hours he’d sat uncomfortably on a hard wooden chair, his wrists bound, facing an increasingly agitated Devlor Bastorran.
‘You do know that this attitude isn’t helping your case, don’t you?’ the paladin said.
‘I’m doing my best to answer your questions.’
‘You’ve failed to answer a single one of them!’
‘I can only address questions on things I have knowledge of. If you will persist in asking about matters beyond my-’
‘Oh, come on, Rukanis! We both know you’re up to your neck in terrorist activities.’
‘I resent that accusation,’ he came back heatedly. ‘Terrorism’s something I would never-’
‘We have evidence, and witnesses.’
‘Then produce them. Charge me and take me to trial. As an empire citizen I have that right.’
‘Under the new emergency powers the rights citizens shall be accorded are at the discretion of legally designated law enforcers,’ Bastorran chanted.
‘How am I expected to prove my innocence under such conditions?’
‘As far as we’re concerned, the question of your innocence or guilt is already settled.’
‘If that’s the case, why should I co-operate?’
‘Because things will go easier on you if you do.’
‘Show me a law I’ve broken. Cite me one example of-’
‘This isn’t so much about anything you’ve done. It’s your friends in the so-called Resistance whose activities interest us. Tell us about that and you’ll find us much more accommodating. But carry on obstructing us…’ He left the threat hanging.
‘I’m afraid I can’t help you.’
‘Afraid? You don’t know the meaning of-’
There was a light tap on the open cell door. Visibly irritated, Bastorran swung round to see his aide, Lahon Meakin, hovering there. ‘Yes? What is it?’
‘Your pardon, sir, but you asked me to let you know when our visitor was ready to see the prisoner.’
‘Ah, yes.’ He turned back to Rukanis. ‘One moment.’
He left the room with his aide, slamming the door behind them.
Kinsel sagged in his chair. He didn’t know how much more of this he could take, and there were ominous signs that they hadn’t even started to flex their muscles yet. And now somebody else seemed to be involved, though he was damned if he could think who.
The door opened again, breaking his chain of thought.
Devlor Bastorran came back in, accompanied by an almost skeletally thin man, probably in his sixties. He was totally bald and clean-shaven, with lips that were a colourless slash, and sharp, intensely blue eyes. His expensive
