"Once we capture the soul of Naitachal, after what- ever torture you have in mind, of course, we will incarcerate him, the King, the Captain, and every other prisoner we have taken in the matrix. Even though they are not mages, you will still have a wealth of power to draw from. We can break the Unmaking spell this time, I promise."
Carlotta seemed to swell; she towered over Jehan, and Alaire saw then why Jehan was so terrified of her.
She might be hideous, she might be rooted to one place physically, but it was obvious that her power could reach any corner of this kingdom. "Well, you had better. If I get any fatter or uglier as a result of these efforts, it will be your soul that pays. Each time that Soren cooks up a cure for this condition of mine it backfires! If it backfires again -- "
"It won't!" Sir Jehan squeaked, cowering before her, clearly frightened out of his wits. "I promise."
"Now where have I heard that before!" Carlotta replied sardonically, but she shrank back down t "normal" size with a sigh. "But now, with all the pow- ers of the Necromancer and Bard, I think even that fraud Soren will be able to break the spell so that I can resume my human form and powers. Secular and magical!"
Jehan stroked his beard, nervously. "Only a step- ping stone, my dear, only a stepping stone. A war Althea is all but guaranteed. Now that King Archeno- men is out of the way, we can blam 'disappearance' on Althea's ambassador, Naitachal, and implicate King Reynard. That's all the justification we could ever need for a war. And when we conquer that southern land -- "
"I haven't forgotten our deal," Carlotta said slyly.
"You will be made King of Althea. Then we will share the spoils. But that's only if all, and I mean all, goes according to plan!"
Something about the way she had said that al Alaire. She doesn't mean to keep her bargain, he thought. Not surprising. She always was treacher- ous. ...
"Your wish," Sir Jehan replied, bowing flamboy- antly. "Is my command."
Alaire remained perfectly still in the shadows as the full implications of what he had just heard came home to him. This is worse than I could have ever imagined!
They're out for Althea, and it doesn't look like they'll stop until they have it.
Jehan and Carlotta did not seem to be finished with their conversation, but Alaire had heard all he needed to. He carefully withdrew from his hiding place, and crept back to the corridor, in search of Kai.
Kai's got to be somewhere back here, he thought as he made his way down one of the halls. They said he was on this same level. Where would they put prison cells?
After a brief search through the labyrinth, Alaire found Kai. The corridor turned into a second-floor balcony overlooking a line of iron-barred prison cells.
Kai was chained to the floor of one of these, while four guards stood watch. Two of the guards seemed ready to fall asleep on their feet; even so, the odds weren't very good. Alaire had no weapons, and even with a sword, two of these men would be too many to fight, especially if they trained under Captain Lyam. Look- ing down on the guards from his shadowy hiding place, Alaire considered ways to distract them.
I've got to get them away from Kai. Maybe one of these keys will let me into his cell. He peered at the chains binding Kai to the floor, saw the sturdy padlock there. Good. So long as they didn't weld him to the spot, I might be able to free him.
Kai sat sullenly near the front of the cell, the chains draped around him. He stared at his captors, the hate and anger on his face there for anyone to read. Clearly undefeated. Still in the game, and fighting.
Good. I'm going to need him to get both of us out of there, Alaire thought. If I could create a diversion to lead some of those guards away, I might be able to get him out.
Just as he thought that, the noise of fighting erupted down a corridor. Alaire couldn't tell if the ech- oes were contributing to the ruckus, but sounded as if hundreds of men were clashing down there. The guards started; Kai looked up, snarling.
Two of the guards ran off, heading for the conflict.
The other two stayed, but they were clearly distracted.
They conferred for a moment, then, before his amazed eyes, one of them opened Kai's cell, while his partner stood nervously outside, watching back in the direction the noise was coming from!
Alaire had no idea what the man thought he was about -- perhaps he meant to move Kai to someplace more secure. It didn't matter. Kai was ready to snatch any opportunity, and he wasn't about to let this one pass.
He waited until the guard was within his reach -- then leapt!