... I climbed the steps like a broken creature. My boy lay there and they had made him beautiful. I bent to kiss his face with tears blinding my eyes. And then I paused.
Oh, they had made a good job of it. Whoever the boy was he was the right age and coloring, and the skinwand had been carefully used. But I knew, I knew.
It was not Giles.
I think I laughed. One gasp of joy. I pray no one noticed, that no one knows. I sobbed, retired, played the heartbroken retainer, the broken old man. And yet I know the secret that the
Queen, and perhaps the Warden, wish no one to know.
That Giles is alive.
And where else can he be but in Incarceron?
Alys grunted and yawned and opened her eyes. "Are we nearly at the inn yet?" she asked sleepily.
Claudia stared at the small pad, eyes wide. She looked up at her nurse as if she'd never seen her before. Then she glanced down and read the last sentence again.
And again.
16
Don't defy me, John. And be on your guard. There are plots in the Court, and conspiracies against us. As for Claudia, from what you say she has already seen what she searches for. How amusing that she did not even recognize it.
-Queen Sia to the Warden; private letter
It was hours before she could get Jared alone. There was the fuss of finding their rooms, the innkeeper bowing and scraping, the supper, endless small talk from Evian, her father's calm watchfulness, Caspar's complaints about his horse.
But finally, well after midnight, she tapped on the door of his attic and slipped in.
He was sitting at the window looking at the stars, a bird pecking bread from his hands.
She said, "Don't you ever sleep?"
Jared smiled. "Claudia, this is folly. If they catch you here, you know what they'd think."
She said, "I'm bringing you into danger, I know. But we have to talk about what he wrote."
He was silent a moment. Then he released the bird, closed the window, and turned, and she saw the shadows under his eyes. "Yes."
They looked at each other. Finally she said, "They didn't kill Giles. They imprisoned him."
"Claudia..."
"They wouldn't spill Havaarna blood! Or perhaps the Queen was afraid to. Or my father ..."
She looked up. "It's true. My father must know."
The bleakness in her voice shocked them both. She sat on a chair. "And there's something else. This boy Finn. The Prisoner. His voice ... seems familiar."
"Familiar?" He looked sharply at her.
"I've heard it before, Master."
"You imagine that. Don't make this assumption, Claudia."
She was still a moment. Then she shrugged. "In any case we need to try again."
Jared nodded. He went over and locked the door, clipped a small device to its back and adjusted it. Then he turned.
Claudia had the Key ready. She activated the speech channel, and then the small visual circuit that they had discovered. He stood behind her, watching the hologram of the eagle flap silent wings.
"Did you delete the pad?"
"Of course. Completely."
As the Key began to glow, he said quietly, "They had no problem spilling the old man's blood, Claudia. They may already know we searched his house. They must fear what we found."
"By they you mean my father." She looked up. "He won't hurt me. If he loses me, he loses the throne. And I'll protect you, Master, I swear."
His smile was rueful. She knew he didn't believe she could.
Very quietly, the Key spoke. "Can you hear me?"
Claudia said, "It's him! Touch the panel, Finn. Touch it! Have you found it?"
"Yes." He sounded hesitant. "What will happen if I do?"
"We'll be able to see each other, we think. It won't hurt you. Try k, please."
There was a second of dead air, a few crackles. And then Claudia almost jumped back.
Out of the key a beam projected silently. It opened to a square, and crouched in the square, startled and dirty, was a boy.
He was tall and very thin, his face famished and anxious. His hair was lank and long, tied back in a knot of string, and his clothes were the drabbest she had ever seen, muddy grays and greens, badly worn. A sword and a rusty knife were stuck in his belt.
He stared at her in astonishment.
FINN SAW a queen, a princess.
Her face was clean and clear, her hair shone. She wore a dress of some lustrous silk, and a pearl necklace that would be worth a fortune if a buyer could ever be found rich enough.
He saw at once that she had never been hungry, that her mind was clear and intelligent. Behind her a grave dark-haired man watched, wearing a Sapient's coat that put Gildas's rag to shame.
Claudia was silent so long, Jared glanced at her. He saw she was stricken, probably by the boy's condition, so he said softly, "It seems Incarceron is no paradise then."
The boy glared at him. "Are you mocking me, Master?"