Krondor the Assassins (30 page)

Treggar said, ‘‘He could be defeated.’’

William said, ‘‘What do we do?’’

Treggar and James drew their swords. ‘‘We make sure none of the assassins leave before Arutha gets here, and while we’re waiting, we lower the odds.’’

William looked from James to Treggar, then he, too, drew his sword.

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AMES held up his hand.

He signaled to Treggar and William that three men were waiting in the next room.

Treggar walked forward in a crouch, sword out.

William stood behind him, his two-handed blade at the ready. A fearsome weapon, it was hard to wield at close quarters and all agreed he should be the last into the room, lest his presence hinder his companions.

James took a deep breath, saying a silent prayer to any gods who might be listening. He exhaled, stepped into the room and threw his dagger at the closest man. He then stepped forward as the dying man’s companions hesitated and calmly began to pull out his sword.

Treggar was past James and attacking even as James un-sheathed his sword. The captain was a brutally effective swordsman, without scruple when it came to combat. Any dirty trick that would defeat an opponent was employed, something that James had come to appreciate. The captain faked a high lunge and when the assassin’s sword came up to block, Treggar kicked him between the legs.

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James winced in sympathy as the man started to fold, but he appreciated the efficiency of the tactic. Before the assassin could will himself to keep his guard up, the captain struck him on the side of the head with his sword hilt, and as the assassin went over backward, Treggar thrust home with the point.

James quickly disposed of his opponent, and then William entered the room. ‘‘That’s sixteen, counting the four you killed in the stables,’’ said the young lieutenant.

‘‘That leaves a hundred and thirty-four or so,’’ said James, retrieving his dagger from the first man he had killed. ‘‘Things are still frantic around here, but soon they’ll start finding corpses and then they’ll start looking for us.’’

Captain Treggar said, ‘‘Someone’s coming!’’

‘‘No time to hide the bodies,’’ said James. ‘‘That way!’’ He pointed down a side corridor. They ran.

They were moving through a series of chambers used by the assassins, with torches burning in the wall-sconces. In the third room, they burst in on a single man who looked up with surprise. He died before he realized these were enemies, Treggar barely breaking stride as his sword lashed out.

They reached a ‘‘T’’ intersection, with torches visible off to the right, and darkness on the left. ‘‘This way,’’ said James, pointing to the left.

They rushed into the dark corridor. After a short run, the darkness forced them to a slow walk. The sounds of pursuit followed them.

‘‘Put your hand on the left wall,’’ said James. ‘‘There’s a nasty break in the floor ahead on the right. If you hug the wall when I tell you, you’ll avoid it.’’

‘‘How did you find it?’’ asked William.

‘‘The hard way.’’ He didn’t provide further details.

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William still almost lost his balance when his right foot didn’t meet resistance a few steps further. He was glad of the warning, as an updraft gave him the impression the hole was a deep one.

They reached a series of small rooms, and James said, ‘‘I think these might have been cells or storage, but all the doors are missing.’’

‘‘I can’t see a thing,’’ said Treggar.

‘‘Neither can I,’’ responded James, ‘‘but in my former line of work it paid to remember where you’d been, even if you were fumbling around in the dark. Keep your hand to the walls.’’

‘‘Where are we going?’’ asked William.

‘‘A place I think we’ll be safe for a while.’’

‘‘Think?’’ asked Treggar.

James said, ‘‘We’re not in what passes for ideal surroundings, captain. There are no rooftops and only a short run of abandoned sewer to hide in. This is solid stone and brickwork, and we’re fifty feet below ground. Our choices of hiding places are limited.’’

They moved around the corridor and James said, ‘‘Step to the right wall and put your hand on it. Then follow me.’’

They did as he instructed, and continued on into the new corridor. ‘‘But I have found one place.’’

‘‘What?’’ asked William. ‘‘A bolt-hole?’’

‘‘No,’’ said James. ‘‘We’re here.’’

‘‘Where?’’

‘‘I had a torch the last time I came through here. Directly above us is a crack in the ceiling, a flaw in the stones of this place. It looks big enough for us to hide up there for a short time.’’

‘‘Looks?’’ said William.

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‘‘I had no way to go up and see,’’ said James. ‘‘Boost me up.’’

William said, ‘‘In the dark?’’

‘‘Do you have another light?’’ asked James.

‘‘No.’’

‘‘I thought not. Now boost me up, please.’’

William sheathed his sword, then reached out until he touched James on the shoulder. ‘‘Hands, or shoulders?’’

‘‘Kneel down, so I can step on your shoulders, then when I tell you, stand up.’’

‘‘If you say so.’’ William knelt.

James stepped on William’s shoulders, balancing like an acrobat. ‘‘Now,’’ said James, and William stood, holding James’s ankles.

‘‘Let go,’’ instructed James and William felt the weight vanish from his shoulders. After a moment, James said, ‘‘Just reach straight up with your hands outstretched now and I’ll pull you up.’’

William had to leap three times before James caught his wrists and pulled him up. Treggar followed. When all three were sitting, stooped over, in a low and shallow space above the rock ceiling, William said, ‘‘What is this place?’’

‘‘I don’t know,’’ said James. ‘‘Sometimes stone has flaws.

Water leaches holes.’’

‘‘Water would have to come from somewhere, and last time I looked, there wasn’t a lot of water in this region,’’ said Treggar.

James spoke: ‘‘We’re below the surface, and maybe the water level in the well was higher years ago. I don’t know. But at some time in the past the ceiling here gave way, and here we are.’’

William said, ‘‘There’s close to fifty feet of rock between this level and the surface. There might be some upper chambers.’’

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‘‘But you said you didn’t find any stairs,’’ said Treggar to James.

‘‘There are those two rooms we found at the west end of this place, with the rockfall. Maybe those hid stairs?’’

‘‘What now?’’ asked William.

‘‘We wait,’’ said Treggar.

A few moments later, they heard footfalls pounding through the hall, and light could be seen. Men hurried along beneath them, weapons ready, holding torches. All were wearing black armor, save one who brought up the rear, who wore the robes of a priest.

When they had passed, the three fugitives could hear them searching nearby rooms. No one said anything until the sounds of the searches grew faint.

James said, ‘‘I saw some loose stones above us when those torches passed by.’’

William asked, ‘‘You were looking up?’’

‘‘Old habits,’’ said James. ‘‘When you’re running around in the sewers or up on the roof at night, if a light suddenly appears you look away, to avoid being blinded.’’

James ran his hands along the surface above him. ‘‘These are man-made,’’ he said. ‘‘They’re each a foot and a half square.’’

‘‘Sounds like we’re under a floor,’’ said Treggar.

‘‘Help me push this,’’ said James, as he experimented with one of the stones above him.

Treggar duck-walked two steps and sidled up to James. He reached up and they pushed. Mortar and dust rained down as the stone moved upward with a crack. James stuck his hand experimentally through the hole. ‘‘It’s a room,’’ he said.

The other stones were set far more solidly so it took some work, but they got two more up and moved, allowing them 274

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enough room to climb through. James said, ‘‘Step this way. I don’t think those stones directly above where we hid would support our weight.’’

The air was musty and stale. The darkness was total.

James added, ‘‘Don’t move until I’ve had a chance to scout a little and see how big this chamber is.’’

William and Treggar stood still, while James stepped cautiously away, moving slowly through the darkness. His tread was light, but in the silence of the room they could tell roughly where he moved. ‘‘I’ve found a wall,’’ he said after a few moments, his voice coming from about twenty feet away. They then could hear him moving along the wall, measuring as he went. ‘‘The floor feels solid, except where we broke through,’’

he said absently.

William said, ‘‘Let us know if you find a light. This darkness is tedious.’’

James said vaguely, ‘‘You get used to it. Ah!’’

‘‘What?’’ asked Treggar.

‘‘A door. Wooden. Closed.’’

A few seconds later, a spark was struck. ‘‘We have light,’’

James said, igniting an old torch he had found in the wall-sconce. Putting away his flint and steel, he said, ‘‘Let’s see what we have here.’’

The room was forty feet square and the walls were lined with empty weapons racks. Two racks stood in the middle of the room, empty of the long spears that had once waited there for a call to action.

‘‘If the armory is below . . .’’ mused James aloud.

‘‘Then this is where they kept spare arms close to hand,’’

finished Treggar.

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James returned the torch to the wall-sconce, and went to the door. ‘‘This should lead to the marshaling yard above.’’

He tried the door. ‘‘It’s jammed.’’ Examining it, he said, ‘‘Let’s try the hinges.’’

William and Treggar pulled out their daggers and worked at the ancient iron hinges. ‘‘If we had some oil,’’ said William,

‘‘maybe.’’

James said, ‘‘I’ll get some.’’

‘‘Where?’’ asked Treggar.

‘‘Down there,’’ said James, moving back toward the hole in the floor.

‘‘You’re mad,’’ said Treggar.

‘‘Probably,’’ answered James as he ducked out of sight.

After he had left, William and Treggar looked at one another and sat down to wait.

Time passed slowly, then suddenly James’s voice sounded in the dark. ‘‘Give me a hand.’’ William hurried over and lay down, lowering his hand through the hole. After a couple of misses in the darkness, James seized it and came up.

‘‘Here,’’ James said, handing a jar to William. ‘‘Oil.’’

William said, ‘‘I didn’t even hear you until you spoke.’’

James replied softly. ‘‘You weren’t supposed to. A couple of disagreeable men were trying to find me, and once I shook them I didn’t want them hearing me climbing up here.’’

‘‘What’s it like down there?’’ asked Treggar.

‘‘They’re into their second sweep. They probably have someone above at the top of the old well, and since no one came up, then they figure we must still be in here somewhere.

They probably think it’s your Pathfinder Edwin loose down here, killing their men. But sooner or later one of those bright 276

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lads is going to suspect there may be a passage up to this level and then they’re going to start inspecting every inch of ceiling.’’

‘‘Eventually they’ll find us,’’ said William.

‘‘Almost certainly,’’ said James. ‘‘Being caught was never my first worry.’’

‘‘If that wasn’t, what was?’’ asked Treggar.

James pulled out a heavy crowbar, two feet in length, and said, ‘‘Oil.’’ He nodded toward the hinges. As William poured oil on the upper hinge, James continued. ‘‘Getting caught before word got to Arutha. As long as we’re running around in here, those down below are going to be too concerned about catching us to prepare well for Arutha’s arrival. If everything works out, those coming back will have Krondorian soldiers hard on their heels, and will run right into a barred door, with those inside slow in getting it open for them.’’

‘‘That’s your plan?’’ asked Treggar.

‘‘It’s the old plan,’’ said James. ‘‘If this door leads where I think it does, I have an even better plan.’’

With the oil and crowbar, they got the pins out of the hinges. Treggar inserted the bar between the door and jamb and pulled hard. A dull scrape sounded as the door moved a fraction, then stopped.

‘‘Whatever’s jamming it is holding it tight,’’ observed the soldier.

‘‘Captain, may I?’’ asked William.

The captain relinquished the bar to the broad-shouldered younger man.

William looked at the door, then moved the bar to a position slightly above his shoulders. He pulled hard, and downward, and the door moved. William yanked hard again, and 277

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the door moved again, and he fell backwards with the release of the bar.

James and Treggar leapt away as the door seemed to fly off the jamb, spinning as it fell with a loud crash to the stone floor. Clouds of fine dust filled the room, as thick as smoke, and the three men came up coughing.

‘‘Look,’’ said William.

The original room had been excavated just below the surface of the ancient fortress’s marshaling yard. Behind the doorway, a ramp led up to the surface, and at the top of the ramp, parallel to the floor, was a barred trapdoor. The release bar for the trap was set across it in such a fashion that it could be pulled free by two ropes or chains. The iron eyelets were still intact, but any ropes had long since rotted to dust. James inspected the trapdoor. ‘‘Clever,’’ he said at last. ‘‘It’s hinged here and there—’’ he pointed to the far end ‘‘—so that when it falls open it lands atop the ramp.’’

Treggar said, ‘‘Old Keshian trick. I’ve never seen it, but the old Knight-Marshal, Dulanic, once told us of a fight here in the desert where they took a fortification. As they crested the walls, it seemed the defenders were all dead. They got inside and set up camp, and that night the Keshians seemed to come out of nowhere.’’ He glanced around the room. ‘‘He mentioned we should always inspect for hiding holes like this if we found ourselves in a similar situation.’’