'Very well, Jadis. I will tell you what I intend to do. In fact, I do not think it will help your master very much, even if you manage to survive long enough to deliver the news.' He eyed the dark splotches on her hands.
'Get on with it,' she snapped.
Soon her anger was replaced by fascination as she listened to the dark words the baron spoke. When he finished, Jadis could barely suppress a shudder. The fiendishness of Caidin's plan surprised even her. However, now she had what she had come for. She had to return to II Aluk without delay. 'You have fulfilled your end of the bargain, Caidin. Once I am outside the keep, I will fulfill mine.' She started to push herself out of the velvet chair.
'I wouldn't do that if I were you, my lady.'
Something in Caidin's voice made her hesitate.
'In fact, I think you would do well to stay seated in that chair and proceed to tell me just where I might find this courier of yours, and what word I must speak to him.' N
Jadis studied him with calculating eyes. 'And what, pray tell, would compel me to do that?'
Caidin stood and approached a small wooden shelf near the door. On it was a small object concealed by a black cloth.
'You see, my lady,' he explained matter-of-factly, 'the square of stone upon which your chair stands is sensitive to the weight that rests upon it. The slab is attached to a rope and pulley beneath the floor, which is in turn attached to the rod that supports this shelf. Should you leave the chair, the rope will move, and the support will be pulled out from under the shelf. As a result, the glass jar beneath this cloth will fall to the floor and shatter.'
Jadis frowned. 'I fail to see why a jar shattering should bother me.'
'Oh, normally it shouldn't,' Caidin concurred. 'Except this is no ordinary jar, but is instead an enchanted prison for a most interesting creature.'
He pulled away the dark cloth. Crimson flames danced and shimmered inside the glass jar. Jadis thought she glimpsed a tiny, humanlike being amid the flickering fire, but she could not be certain. The flames were too bright to gaze at directly.
'I found this peculiar item in a forgotten room deep below the keep,' Caidin went on casually. 'The creature within is a fire elemental. Oh, it looks small and harmless. Of course, it has been imprisoned for centuries. I imagine that, if it were released, it would be quite… annoyed.'
Fear clawed at Jadis's throat. King Azalin sometimes summoned fire elementals to dispatch his enemies. When the magical creatures were finished there was little left of their victims but ashes.
'So you see, my lady, since the jar is out of your reach, and you couldn't possibly hope to catch it before it crashed to the floor and shattered, you would do well to obey me.' Jadis glared at him. What was she to do? Once he knew where to find the courier, what reason would he have to let her live? 'I will withdraw to allow you to consider your answer.' Before she could utter a word in protest, he backed from the room and shut the door. The lock made a grinding sound. Jadis swore a bitter oath. She was trapped. In the corridor outside the sitting chamber, Caidin jerked aside a purple curtain. Perched on a wooden stool in the alcove beyond was his gnome lackey. 'Keep an eye on her, my faithful little worm,' Caidin commanded. 'With pleasure, Your Grace!' Pock bent forward to peer through a small crevice in the stone. He recoiled in sudden surprise, making a nauseous sound. 'Er, kitty isn't so very pretty anymore, is she?' 'No, she is not. But she is still dangerous, Pock. And clever. Make certain she does not escape. She has some knowledge that is… most important to me.' 'Don't you worry, Your Grace,' Pock chirped happily. 'I'll watch her like a hog!' A scowl crossed Caidin's face. 'You mean hawk, don't you? The phrase is, 'Watch her like a hawk.' ' Pock's purple face wrinkled in puzzlement. He shrugged. 'I hadn't thought of that, Your Grace, but I suppose I could give it a try.' The baron bit his tongue. What was the use? 'Just keep an eye on her, Pock!' 'Aye, aye, Your Grace! I'll keep an eye on her just like a-' 4 Caidin pulled the curtain hastily shut. He did not want to hear any more. There were other things to worry about besides Pock's stupidity. Turning, he strode purposefully down the corridor, his glossy black boots beating a sharp tattoo against the stone floor.
He had an uprising to crush.
Jadis's mind raced. There was no time to spare. With every passing moment, another part of her body ceased to function. She had to return to Il Aluk before it was too late.
'Keep breathing, love,' she said hoarsely, willing her lungs to continue their laborious work. 'Just keep breathing.'
She gazed about the chamber, searching for anything that could help her. But she could see no way out of the trap.
'Wait a moment, love,' she whispered thickly through numb lips. She had an idea.
As swiftly as her clumsy body allowed, she set to work. After much laborious contortion, she managed to shrug off her heavy woolen dress without taking her weight off the chair. To that she added her soft doeskin boots, and all her jewelry-gold rings, bracelets, even earrings. Every last ounce was crucial. She piled everything on the cushion beneath her. Then, with painstaking care, she began to inch her way out of the chair.
At first Jadis thought it was going to work. She made it far enough that only her right hand was resting on the chair. Then she heard a faint grating of stone on stone. Across the room, the wooden shelf tilted slightly. The fire elemental shimmered inside the magical jar. Desperately, she lunged back into the chair.
It had almost been enough. Almost. If only she could add a little more weight to the chair. It was a useless thought. There were no other objects in reach, and she had removed every last item of adornment from her body. There was nothing else she could leave behind on the chair.
'No, love. That's not true, now is it?' A thought flickered through her mind. It was such a ghastly thought that she almost laughed aloud. In dread, she realized that she was going to do it. What other choice did she have? It was either this, or death.
'Come now, love,' she murmured reassuringly even as she shuddered. 'It won't really hurt, now will it?'
Jadis looked at her left arm. The flesh was darkly bloated and utterly lifeless. She raised her right hand, focusing her willpower. Sharp talons sprang from the tips of her fingers. She swallowed the taste of fear. With slow, painstaking motions, she used the talons to rip the useless arm from her left shoulder.
It was easier than she would have thought, and indeed there was no pain. Again, she almost laughed aloud. Would not any wild animal caught in a trap chew off its limb just to gain freedom? The putrid flesh yielded easily to her sharp claws. Yellow liquid oozed from the appendage. In moments she reached the bone. Even dislocating the joint was not as hard as she feared. She used her talons as a lever. For a moment there was slight resistance. Then, with a wet pop! her arm fell free. 7u This time mad laughter did issue from her lips. 'Oh, my king,' she said exultantly. 'What I suffer Willingly for you!'
Setting the severed arm upon the dress, she carefully rose from the chair. This time the weight proved enough. The chair did not shift, the magical jar did not fall. She had escaped!
Lurching toward the doorway, she tried not to glance at the oozing stump of her left shoulder. Aza- lin's powers were great enough to defeat death itself. He would be able to heal her. Extending a sharp talon, she easily picked the door's lock. Opening the portal, she took a step toward freedom.
'Not so fast, nasty kitty!'
Jadis spun around. A block of stone in the wall swung open, and a small fornri tumbled through. It wa§ Pock, the baron's cretinish gnome.
'You're not going anywhere!' the gnome squeaked. 'Baron's orders!'.
A feral smile twisted itself about Jadis's lips. 'And I suppose you're going to stop me?'
Pock drew a laughably diminutive knife from his belt, his pale, bulging eyes blazing. 'Good guess!'
Jadis's canine teeth lengthened into stilettolike fangs. She could tolerate this one distraction. It would be satisfying indeed to rend the wretched little gnome to bits. 'Try then,' she hissed.
With a cry, the gnome lunged at her. As he did, Jadis's form undulated, molding itself into her man- ther shape-half woman, half cat. With an almost casual motion, she slashed at the gnome with her right arm. The purple knave moved more nimbly than she had anticipated. He ducked under her swipe and stuck his little knife deep into her side. Fiery pain shot through her body. She screamed in rage and amazement. Howling with fury, Jadis grappled the gnome with her one good arm. Shrieking, Pock struggled fiercely, biting and scratching. She tensed her arm to break his neck. In a desperate attempt to free himself, the gnome gave one last furious kick.
The toe of his small black boot just brushed the wooden shelf upon which the magical jar rested.
