The Warded Box

by Guy Antibes

  “Should we enlist Norris’s men?” Tanner asked.

  “No. It isn’t the proper time. If he moves on a prison, he stands to lose more than any of us.”

  “My life is pretty valuable,” Tanner said.

  Jorey sighed. “There are only so many people who can enter the prison,” he said.

  “So what is the prison like?” Jack asked.

  “The ambassador has an acquaintance who was imprisoned there a few years ago. He is having her summoned,” Jorey said. “We will reconvene when she arrives. I also have another servant seeking out Norris Everlight for information. We have to move tonight. I’ll summon you when they arrive.”

  Jack and Tanner returned to their rooms while servants brought down refreshments. Jack took a goblet of fruit juice and went out into the hallway. Ralinn had the same thought, and her eyes brightened when she saw him.

  “You are heading into danger again?”

  “Were you scared in the streets?”

  She nodded. “I’ll admit it. I’m still not used to all the fighting. I thought I would be tougher by now, but no.” She took his hand. “Everyone knows we have our relationship, even Lark. He is fine with it. I thought I would tell you.”

  Jack didn’t tell her that he never thought a moment about Lark not approving. His worries were with Lark’s title and whatever else people kept talking about.

  “I don’t suppose you’ve been down here before?” Jack asked.

  “I’ve never been inside the embassy.”

  A servant carrying some pastries on a tray walked up to them. Jack took one.

  “Is there any interesting thing about the basement?” Jack asked.

  The woman stopped and pursed her lips for a bit. “The king of Corand stayed in the lady’s apartment three or four years back. Hmmm. There is a secret passage to the temple down here.”

  “Where?” Jack asked. “Can you show us?”

  She nodded and took them to the end of the passage. It made two turns and stopped at a padlocked door. “I don’t know if it is true. A former ambassador converted to Eldora worship, turning away from Alderach, just as this embassy was being built and put in a tunnel.

  “Does the current ambassador know about this?”

  The woman rolled her eyes and laughed. “He knows about everything that goes on in the embassy and most of what goes on in Gameton. Corand has the right person on the job here. He is demanding, but he is respected by all the staff.”

  “Take a few more. They will go to waste if you don’t,” the servant said and turned back the way they came.

  “We are alone,” Ralinn said.

  “I know. First, we see if I can pick this lock,” Jack said. “This passageway might come in handy.” He worked on the lock with one of Ralinn’s hairpins, and it gave a satisfying click.

  “I don’t know how you can do that,” she said.

  “Practice, unfortunately,” Jack said.

  He undid the lock and opened the door. They looked at steps leading down. Jack took Ralinn’s hand and led her to the bottom. A crude rock-lined tunnel led into the darkness. Jack raised the intensity of his floating flame.

  “It won’t take long to see what is on the other side.”

  A hole had been cut into stone blocks fifty or so paces from the door.

  “The wall around the embassy,” Ralinn said.

  “I think you are right,” Jack kissed her hand. “A reward for your discovery.”

  They continued until they came to a stone wall. “This is the foundation, and the door won’t move,” Jack said. “Not to worry.”

  He took Ralinn’s hand and said, “shift.” They were in a dark, musty room. Jack lit his torch. The other torch didn’t make the move with them.

  “Storage. Not unexpected,” Ralinn said. She examined the pieces. “A statue of Eldora,” she said moving an old rug uncovering the life-sized replica. “We have to get back.”

  Jack nodded. He took her in his arms and lifted her veil. “Another reward.”

  They rewarded each other a few times before Jack took a deep breath. “Time to go back. The door was bricked in on this side,” He said looking at the wall. He extinguished the light he had made and squeezed her hand.He said the trigger word, and they were back in the tunnel illuminated by the floating torch.

  “It didn’t go out,” Jack said. “Interesting.” He pulled her along the tunnel, and they ran back to the embassy.

  Ralinn was out of breath when they reached the stairway. She hugged Jack while she gasped for air. “Princesses usually don’t run so far.”

  “Princesses on the run do,” Jack said as he led her back up the steps and into the basement. “I will see you when Jorey calls us.”

  Jack walked into the room he shared with Tanner.

  “Where have you been?” the mercenary asked.

  “Exploring. I found a secret way into the temple.”

  “Do you think you will need it?”

  Jack nodded his head. “Probably. The place is crawling with Black Finger Society members, newly converted.”

  Helen stuck her head in the open door. “One of our guests is here.”

  They headed back to Lark’s room after Jack put a veil over his face. A woman sat in a chair by the small dining table in the room. A large square of parchment paper was laid out with pencils. She was already talking to Jorey who was sketching to her directions.

  Jack took a seat across from the woman. She was about Jorey’s age, and it looked like life had taken a toll on her. She was thin and drawn, but she wore nice enough clothes. She continued to describe what the prison layout was like until she shrugged her shoulders. “I didn’t exactly take a tour,” she said.

  “Do you remember the procedures the guards followed when they brought you in or when they released you?” Tanner asked.

  Jack listened to her describe the guards and reiterate the path from the side door, she hadn’t come in the front of the building, and back.

  “I was in prison for sixty days,” she said. “I don’t want to go back again. Can I put my veil back on?”

  Jack finally noticed the pile of cloth at her elbow.

  “Just before you leave the embassy, my dear,” the ambassador said. He looked at Jorey. “Are you finished with her?”

  The grand wizard nodded. “Thank you for your cooperation.”

  She gave Lark a curtsey and left them.

  “What do you think?” Jorey asked Tanner.

  “I wouldn’t trust a thing she said,” the mercenary said. “She was frightened.”

  “She went in and came out the side of the building,” Jack said. “We didn’t learn much more than that. I agree with Tanner that she was too nervous about being believed.”

  “Did she lie?” the ambassador said.

  “I don’t think so,” Jorey said. “But her descriptions were either vague or too detailed as if she felt she had to embellish.”

  “I’m sorry I brought her in,” the ambassador said.

  “Don’t be. Even this information is better than none. She was only on the main floor. How many stories make up the debtors prison?” Tanner asked.

  “Four stories above, plus there are a few lower levels,” Lark said.

  One of the embassy officials entered the room with a garishly dressed man.

  “One of Everlight’s men, Ambassador.”

  “Have a seat,” Jorey said as he flipped the parchment over. “We are launching an operation to free some of my comrades in debtors prison tomorrow night and would like some information.”

  The man shrugged. “I’ve removed enough of the debtors from the prison myself,” he said.

  “Multiple times?” Jack asked.

  “I have. I am the part-time undertaker, you see.” He gave them a greasy smile. “I’ve been all over the place.”

  Jorey looked the man in the eye. Jack smiled because the man looked Jorey right back, face impassive. He was a cool character.

  “I’ll bet you have lots of s
tories,” Jack said.

  “Lots of stories,” the man said, and as he began, Jack let Tanner do the questioning while he wrote notes and made sketches based on the undertaker’s experiences.

  “What was the easiest way to get a stiff body out?” Tanner said.

  “That depends on where the body lies. If it is on the top two floors, we can take the poor mite out of the window. None of the bars above the first floor are secure. The guards would just as soon everyone jump to the ground, hoping for a fatal injury. One less inmate, you see,” the man said.

  “Did you ever have to haul a body from the lower floors?”

  “Ah, for that there is a coal chute. Debtors get a little heat through flues that run from the bottom floor to the top of the building. We just bundle the body up and haul him up through the chute.”

  “Where would that be?” Jack asked, from his drawing of the building.

  The undertaker lifted his eyebrows and looked down his nose at Jack’s drawing. He began to correct it little by little, even before he got to the chute.

  By the time the man had told them enough, Jack almost felt he could walk through the prison blindfolded. He might just have to in the middle of the night. The ambassador’s man escorted the undertaker out, giving him a bag of coins as he left.

  Jack flipped the parchment over and rubbed his chin. “What a difference.”

  They went over both drawings. The woman’s description wasn’t as off as Jack would have thought, but the undertaker was a gold mine of information.

  “We have choices,” Tanner said. “Do we have any idea where the wizards are kept? That will make a difference.”

  “Bottom floor of the basement,” Helen said.

  “Is that a guess?” Tanner asked.

  “Remember in Lajia when the Black Fingers tried to convert Quist and the Khotes girl?”

  “Khotes girl?” Ralinn asked.

  “She was a Black Finger wizardess,” Jack said. “She ended up being an enemy, as was Quist, so does that even count? I was the one who had to save you.”

  “Wait, wait, wait,” Ralinn said. “Jack had to save you two?”

  “More than once,” Tanner said.

  “That must have been some kind of adventure. I know you had to go to Lajia to retrieve the Serpent’s Orb, but—”

  “It was an errand,” Jack said, blushing underneath his veil. “It had its exciting bits.”

  “It did,” Tanner said, grinning. “So maybe not the basement?”

  “Top floor? If we don’t find them, we can just move on down. It is always easier to walk down stairs than to walk up,” Jack said.

  “Lazy boy.” Helen smiled and patted Jack on the head. “Lazy onion boy.”

  “So, the top floor,” Tanner looked down at the paper. “We can get in any window since the bars aren’t secured. Jack can teleport through the door and pick the lock, then we find the wizards,” Tanner looked at Jorey, “How many?”

  “Six, but they might have picked up more. I haven’t been able to contact them.”

  Jack shook his head. “I’m not so sure I can get them all awake. I’m not a healer, you know.” Jack looked at Jorey, “but I think you should stay behind.

  Jorey nodded. “I’ll give you their names. They will probably have black fingers, but I’ll also include descriptions,” Jorey said. He began to write on the parchment.

  “We will need rope,” Jack said. “I can levitate the end through a bar.”

  “You could go into business with Norris if we get in and out,” Helen said.

  “First we will need to make a few objects of power,” Jorey said, holding an armful of short wooden rods with fresh-cut ends. “They are likely to be depleted. You do know how to make them, don’t you?

  “Simple ones,” Jack said.

  Tanner smiled. “Not too simple.”

  Jack shrugged. “Give me half. How do I make them, so they aren’t keyed to me.”

  “You can make those?” Jorey said, astonished.

  “No one taught me, so that is how they come out.”

  Jorey gave Jack a few tips. He had been using too much will.

  In a few minutes, Jack was done. “I can do the rest. Do you want to test those?”

  Jorey nodded and smiled as he held onto each one. “You are ready to go.

  Chapter Thirty

  ~

  J ack stood with a coil of rope around his shoulder. Ralinn raised her veil, and they had one more kiss.

  “There is more where that comes from if you come back,” she said.

  “Motivation enough for a country bumpkin like me.” Jack looked at Tanner standing in the hallway. “We’ve been caught.”

  “Come on,” Tanner said. “Time to go. The ambassador will send a guide with us.” The mercenary yawned. “All we have to do is stay awake.”

  One of the ambassador’s servants had led them to the prison through the back streets of Gameton. There wasn’t much of a prison yard, but the gate was patrolled. Jack had expected to be accosted by some faction or another, but everyone must have already gone to bed.

  “This way,” Jack said, as he led them around the back. He looked up at the wall. “I suppose we could climb up and over.”

  “That was what I had supposed,” Helen said.

  “Touch my hand.”

  “Jack, all this time I thought Ralinn was yours,” she said. Nevertheless, she extended her hand.

  “Shift,” Jack said, but nothing happened.

  “Maybe we need to get closer.”

  “Aren’t you the forward one, but I will keep my lips sealed.”

  “I promise not to tell Lark,” Tanner said. That earned him a very dirty look.

  Jack tried again, and they appeared on the other side of the wall.

  Jack retrieved Tanner without comment until the man whispered in his ear.

  “Which of the three of us do you really like? Say it isn’t me.”

  “It isn’t me,” Jack said.

  “Are you through?” Helen said.

  Jack frowned at her diminished sense of humor. He looked up at the building and spotted an outside stairway. “Maybe we could just take that?” he said.

  “We would lose the element of surprise,” Helen said.

  “I don’t care about surprise,” Tanner said. “It beats climbing four stories up a rope.”

  “You have a point,” she said. Helen turned to Jack. “Lead on.”

  They climbed the stairs and reached the top floor. Tanner gently tried the lock. “Cursed guards,” he said. The door didn’t move when Tanner pushed against it. “Will we teleport again?”

  Jack frowned and shook his head. “A lock pick from Ralinn’s hair,” he said. The latch still didn’t work. “Wait a few minutes.”

  After teleporting on the other side of the door, Jack spotted the padlock that prevented the door from opening. In a few moments, he opened the door for his friends.

  “Inside,” he whispered.

  They began to comb through the inmates. There were only three on the fourth floor. Jack guessed the guards didn’t want to climb stairs all day. There were no Black Fingers and no one meeting Jorey’s descriptions on the next two floors, but there were a few locked doors. Jack guessed those didn’t contain an inmate. They could hear voices from the main floor, so they moved carefully down the steps.

  A roomful of guards looked up at them. “We’ve been waiting for you,” they said.

  At the back of the group stood the undertaker. He grinned and gave them a little wave. “I don’t work for Everlight after earlier tonight, by the way.”

  Jack heard footsteps above them, and guards stood at the top of the stairs cutting off their retreat. The proximity was too close. They were caught. It was that simple. The misdirection of claiming they would rescue the wizards the next night obviously hadn’t been believed. Tanner and Helen raised their hands. “Who betrayed us?”

  “Money did. The embassy is being watched. A lovely priestess paid me much more th
an you people did to turn my perspective around after I left you.”

  “The archpriestess?” Jack asked.

  The undertaker nodded and grinned some more. “The very lady.”

  Jack said the invisible trigger word and quickly stepped back against the wall.

  The guards gasped, looking at each other, dumbfounded. The first floor boiled with activity, but Jack was able to work his way around the room and tiptoed downstairs.

  After things settled down, one of the guards told the others to take the prisoners upstairs.

  Jack had waited to hear where they would put Tanner and Helen before continuing his descent. He didn’t stop at the first basement but proceeded to the bottom. He needed allies, and the imprisoned wizards were his only hope. The last three doors on the bottom floor were locked, but to his mind, that might mean wizards were there.

  Jack teleported through the first door. Three men slept. Two of them had black fingers. He had found the wizards. Jack touched the men and spoke the trigger word, hoping not to wake them. He held them until he could feel the spell stop pushing against his power. He suspected he was getting more sensitive to the process of decontaminating wizards. The last man didn’t have any contamination. That was odd, but Jack had more wizards to work on. He teleported out of the room and light began to flood the stairwell, so he quickly teleported into the next room.

  In this one, all the four men were black fingered, and when he flooded them with his power, they all resisted, but the resistance fell away. One of them awoke and looked at his hands as he produced a feeble flame.

  “You removed the curse?” the man said. He looked like one of the men on Jorey’s list.

  “I did. Here are objects of power to restore some of your magic. I have one more cell to check. What is the deal with one of the men in that cell?” Jack pointed to the shared wall of the cell he had just come from.

  “Our minder. A true Black Finger, through and through.”

  “I will be back to let you out, but the guards are currently—”

  Keys rattled in the lock. Jack scrambled under the man’s cot. He could see an arm and a leg of the wizard draped down to obstruct any view of him. The torch shifted the shadows for a few moments before the door was locked again. The other wizards began to stir from the intrusion.