“How are you?” I said. “It seems like our last visit was a session ago.”
“I’ve been very busy with the Wall and my lessons,” he said.
“Yes, the Wall is keeping every Wug busy,” I replied, hoping he heard my emphasis.
“But we’re still behind schedule,” John said. “The official timetable will not be met. We need to work harder. The Outliers may strike at any time. We must have a sense of urgency.”
His strident tone caught me off guard.
“Uh, you look well,” I said, changing the subject.
He seemed to calm, but all enthusiasm drained from his face as he focused on my simple observation. “I am very well. And you?”
“Fine.” It felt like two strangers meeting.
“Have you been to the Care?” asked John.
I flinched and then my gaze darted to the carriage. “Not recently, no.”
“I’ve wanted to visit our parents, but Morrigone says I must stay focused.”
I hesitated. I was trying very hard not to jump into the carriage and have a personal Duelum with Morrigone. But I had given her my word. “I’m sure she does,” I said loudly so that Morrigone was certain to hear.
Morrigone poked her head out. “We must go, John.”
“Just one more sliver,” I called out, staring directly at her. “And don’t worry, Morrigone, I’ll keep focused on what needs to be said and what doesn’t.”
She gave me a piercing look and then withdrew into the carriage once more.
“I miss you, John.” Then I stepped forward and hugged him. I could feel him tense under my embrace.
I felt him mechanically patting my arm. “Things will be fine, I’m sure, Vega. You have a canine now, I see.”
I stepped back and looked down at him. “I’m living in our old house.”
He looked startled by this.
“Our old house?”
I nodded. “Loon won’t allow canines. But it was good to go home. Very good. Reminds you of how important families are.”
Morrigone looked out of the window and glared at me.
“I hope you have been enjoying your time, Vega.”
I did a bit of a double take, as I focused on the emphasis she had placed on the word time.
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“You will,” she said cryptically.
And for a fleeting moment, I thought I saw great sadness on Morrigone’s features, but it happened so fast that I could not be sure.
She looked past me and said, “Come along, John. We have things we must accomplish this night.”
John boarded the carriage.
Morrigone and I stared at each other for a half sliver longer and then Bogle whipped up the sleps and they were off.
I spun around on my heels and walked off, pushing my way through huddles of Wugs who were lingering to talk about the Duelum. I felt a sharp pain in my side and looked over to see Cletus Loon running away with what looked like a rock in his hand. I called Harry Two back because he had started to tear off after Cletus. I took a deep breath, stopped thinking about the pain and hurried on. Harry Two snorted twice and glanced back at Cletus, obviously miffed about being called off.
I reached my digs, pulled out the Adder Stone, waved it over my hurt and thought good thoughts. The hurt instantly vanished, as did the swelling.
I placed the Stone, along with Destin and the shrunken Elemental, in my cloak pocket and hung it on a wall peg. As I rubbed my side, I truly believed this was to be the last time I would ever be pain free.
LATE THAT NIGHT, I heard Harry Two bark. That was actually the second noise I heard. The first was my door crashing inward.
I sprang off my cot, my heart pounding painfully in my chest.
I saw Harry Two fly backward and strike the wall next to my cot. He lay there stunned even as I looked around and saw what was happening.
Jurik Krone stood before me. Behind him were Non, Ran Digby, Cletus Loon and Duk Dodgson, at twenty-four sessions old, the youngest member of Council. They all carried either long- or short-barreled mortas and they were all pointed at me.
“What is going on?” I shouted as I ran over to Harry Two and made sure he was okay. He lay there, his tongue hanging out and his breathing heavy, but nothing seemed to be broken and he did lick my hand.
“We are here to take you to Valhall, female,” announced Krone.
“You are not taking me anywhere, you git. I’ve had quite enough —”
Krone held up the book of the Quag that Quentin Herms had authored.
His smile was as triumphant as it was cruel.
I made the mistake of glancing at the floorboard where I had hidden it.
“This was taken from your digs earlier this night during the meeting at the village square,” said Krone. I winced at the utter glee in his voice. That explained why he was not at the meeting. He had been here, searching.
Krone continued. “It appears to be a book on the Quag. An illegal thing if ever there was one. Was it the Outliers that gave it to you, Vega? Does it show the routes they will use to attack us? How much are they paying you for your treachery? Or have they simply taken over your puny mind?”
I looked at each of them, my heart pumping so fast I had to steady myself by holding on to the wall. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not a traitor. And I’m not working with any Outliers.”
Krone drew closer and pointed his short-barreled morta at my head. With his free hand he held the book close to my face. “Then explain this book. Where did you come by it?”
“I found it.”
“You found it!” exclaimed Krone. “Then why did you not report it to Council?”
“I … I was going to,” I said lamely.
“You lie,” he snapped, his features twisted into an ugly ball of fury.
He looked at Digby and Non. “Take her.”
They came forward and seized me by the arms. Harry Two started to attack them, but I ordered him back. Dodgson had taken aim at my canine’s chest and I was terrified he would shoot him.
“Don’t,” I screamed. “He won’t try and harm you. I’ll come with you. I won’t fight. Harry Two, you stay here. You stay!”
I was hustled out of my home and down the Low Road. All the noise must have woken up the village, because many Wugs in their nightclothes were out on the cobblestones as we reached the High Street, the buildings behind them ablaze with candle and lantern light.
We reached Valhall. Nida had evidently been forewarned and placed back on duty, because he had the cage door open. The shuck stood next to him, its ferocious eyes on me, its nostrils quivering as though it was taking in my scent in case it had to run me down and kill me later.
I was thrown inside the cage, and the huge door slammed shut behind me. Nida securely locked it.
Krone stared at me through the bars. “Formal charges will be brought against you this light. And those charges will be proved. And the penalty for treason of course is beheading.”
I looked at him in disbelief. Beheading?
As he turned away to speak to Nida, my mind raced. It was stupid for me to have kept the book, but it did not detail attack plans against Wormwood. It was information about creatures that existed in the Quag. My spirits sank as I thought about this. How could I explain having such a book without revealing that I had taken it from Quentin’s cottage? And how could I explain him even having such a book? I glanced down at my arm. I thanked Steeples that I had fallen into an exhausted sleep this night and not bothered to take off my clothes. If they had seen the marks of the Quag map on my body, they would probably tear me limb from limb here and now. I pulled my sleeve down farther and made sure my trousers were securely fastened and my shirt tucked in them.
Krone turned back to me. “You can spend the rest of this night thinking of your sins. And the punishment to come.” He drew closer so that his mouth nearly touched the bars.
“And not even Madame Morrigone can get you
out of this, Vega.”
He cackled, turned and left.
I yelled at him and reached through the bars in a futile attempt to hit him. Then I jerked my hand back as the shuck snapped at me with his teeth. I came within an inch of losing my fingers.
Nida’s club hit the bars with a powerful whack. He roared, “Never reach through the bars, female. I will not tell you this again.”
I crawled to the center of the cage and sat there, dazed by what had happened. I was hoping this was simply a nightmare from which I would soon wake. But as the darkness deepened and I lay there shivering in the chill, I had to accept that this was real.
For a time, I watched Nida and the shuck patrol up and down the cobblestones. Then Nida went into his little shack, and the shuck became the sole sentry. If I moved even a muscle, it would stop its pacing, turn and make such a menacing growl that my arm and neck hairs rose heavenward.
I cried a bit because I could not help myself. Then I grew angry, thinking of how many ways I would tear Krone apart. Then I thought of what my defense to the charges might be. Then real depression set in, because I could think of no plausible explanation, not even a lie that I could carry off.
I didn’t have my tuck with me so trying to pick the lock was not possible. Even if I had, the shuck would just bite me in half. I lay down on the dirt floor and ran my fingers along the ground. Prisoners before me had left their marks here in the form of holes and burrows in the dirt. I could understand that. One would want to dig into the dirt just to hide from the shame of being here.
I fell asleep three times but awoke with a start each time, either because Nida, who returned periodically to his patrol, slammed his club against the bars, or else the shuck howled at something. I wondered if this was how things usually were — the guards instructed to never allow a prisoner a sound night’s sleep.
I watched the black of night turn to gray and then deepening red and then brilliant gold as the sun began its climb into the sky. I was dreading the light, for obvious reasons. Thankfully, I fell asleep again, which allowed my exhausted mind and body a bit of a reprieve. When I awoke, the sun had brightened Wormwood. I stared at the blue sky and calculated it was nearing the second section of light. My belly grumbled and I wondered if food was served here. I would not be going to Stacks this light. I hoped someone had told Domitar. I supposed this meant I was going to be sacked from my job.
And then I recalled Krone’s words.
My punishment could be death. And here I was worried about not having gainful employment or food in my belly.
I blinked heavily as I saw him near the cage.
It was Delph, and he had Harry Two with him. The shuck instantly started to growl. Nida came forward and stared up at Delph.
“You will move along, male,” said Nida. “And the canine too.”
“I want to talk to Vega Jane,” said Delph forcefully.
“You cannae talk to a prisoner. Now move along.” Nida slapped the club against the palm of his hand.
“I saved your life once, Nida. And you will not grant me this?” said Delph sternly.
Nida stared up at Delph. I could see the conflicting thoughts racing across his small, brutish features.
“You have five slivers, no more. And our debt will be settled.”
Nida stepped aside and whistled at the shuck, which stopped growling and drew next to his master as Delph and Harry Two passed by to the cage door.
I flung myself against the bars. “Delph, you have to help me.”
“What be the charges against you, Vega Jane, rubbish though they must be?”
I couldn’t look at him as I said in a low voice, “They found the book on the Quag.”
He sucked in a breath and looked nervously over at Nida.
I said, “Krone is saying I’m a traitor. That the book is a way to help the Outliers attack us.”
“Bollocks.”
“I know, Delph. But Krone said I could be put to death for this.”
He paled, though I’m sure he wasn’t any paler than I was. If it was possible, I was more scared than I had been with the jabbits. I knew Krone would take great pleasure in wielding the ax on me himself.
“How did you know I was here?”
“Word got round fast, it did.”
“H-how did you save Nida’s life?”
“He was out on patrol with the Carbineers one night. Stupid Cletus Loon mistook him for something and took aim with his morta. I was walking past and saw what was happening. I grabbed Nida and threw him down a moment before Loon fired. Blew a hole in the side of a tree instead of Nida’s head.”
I nodded, but my mind had already moved back to my dilemma.
“You ain’t guilty of nothing, Vega Jane. And you’re going to be out of here in a sliver.”
“I’m really scared,” I said.
He reached out a finger and touched my hand.
An instant later, we had leapt back because Nida’s club had come down on the bars, nearly crushing our fingers.
Nida barked, “Talk, not touch. Har! And your slivers are almost up, Delphia.”
I looked down at Harry Two. He looked alone and scared. I said, “Delph, can you look after Harry Two?” I swallowed a huge lump in my throat. “Just while I’m in here.”
He nodded. “O’course. What’s one more beast to the Delphias?” He tried to smile at his little joke but couldn’t manage it.
I looked at Harry Two. “You’re going to go with Delph, okay?”
Harry Two, I thought, shook his head, but I pointed my finger at him and told him again. He finally lowered his head, and his tail tucked between his hind legs.
“I have to get on to Wall building,” Delph said. “I’m already late.”
I nodded.
He glanced over at Nida. He was busy adjusting the shuck’s spiked collar.
Delph reached in his pocket and handed me a hard roll, a bit of meat and an apple.
“I’ll be back soon as I can.”
I nodded again. With one more look back at me, Delph and Harry Two disappeared down the cobblestones.
I retreated to the far corner of the cage, squatted down with my back to Nida and had my meal. My belly was hungry, but my mind refused to focus on the food in front of me.
The full Council would be meeting to decide my fate. I couldn’t believe they would kill me for merely possessing a book. But the more I thought about it, the worse my thoughts became. It wasn’t simply any book. It was a book that described the creatures of the Quag. They would want to know how I had come by it. Would they accuse me of actually going in the Quag to learn this? Should I tell them I had nicked it from Quentin Herms’s cottage? Then they would want to know why I was there. What would my defense be? That I believed the idea of the Outliers was a load of hooey? And that the Wall was being built to keep us Wugs in and not Outliers out? Oh, yes, that would go over very well with Council. They might give me a bloody medal.
I was about to take a bite of the apple but instead I put it back in my pocket. I felt sick to my stomach; cold waves of nausea swept over me. I was not going to leave Valhall this light. I might never leave here until they took my head clean from my shoulders.
The light swept to the third section and the sun beat down on the metal roof of the cage, making it sweltering inside. I remembered the Wug McCready, who had asked me for a cuppa water when I had passed by here. I could understand his request as my throat felt like it was closing up. It was fortunate, I knew, that no Wugs had come by to see me here. Or to hurl spit at me. Or call me a traitor. How long would that last?
I looked over at Nida. He was watching me closely now, perhaps wondering how well I would handle being locked up.
I thought of several smart remarks but didn’t have the courage or energy to deliver any of them.
As the light wore on, I heard the wheels before I saw the carriage. Only it wasn’t a carriage. What turned the corner and headed to Valhall was a simple wagon with a cage set in the back. Two
Wugs who I knew worked for Council were in the driver’s box. A single old slep was pulling it, its head and tail drooping in the heat.
They stopped in front of the cage door and one of them jumped down. His tunic was not black, but green. He handed Nida a parchment.
“The prisoner is wanted at Council,” he said.
Nida nodded, glanced at the parchment and then unhooked the large key from his wide belt. He unlocked the cage door and said, “Come, now!”
I stumbled forward and the Wug shackled my legs and hands. He had to lift me into the back of the wagon and I was forced into the cage, which was bolted after me.
The Wug got back in the wagon, and the other Wug whipped up the slep.
And off I went to Council.
Off I went, perhaps forever.
THE COUNCIL BUILDING was located at the very end of the High Street. It made all other structures in Wormwood, except Stacks and Steeples, seem but a clutter of old boards and cracked glass by comparison. It was that grand. I had no idea who had built it or when. I had always admired it, if from afar.
It was constructed of stone and marble with soaring columns out front and grand steps leading up to it. The doors were made of iron with intricate scrollwork that, as a Finisher, I had long loved to gaze at. It was said that the lights in the Council building were never extinguished and that despite the heat or cold outside, it remained the same temperature inside at all times.
As the head of Council, Thansius maintained his living quarters on the second floor. I had never been inside. I had had no reason to — until now. And I wished with all my heart that I were not here.
They did not bring me in the front entrance. I supposed prisoners were not given that privilege. A rear entry sufficed. I passed other Wugs who worked at Council as I shuffled along in the chain bindings. Most of the Wugs didn’t look at me. Those who did were fiendishly hostile. I hoped they were not part of the voting process here; otherwise I would be dead before this night.
I was led into a chamber that was nearly as large as the main room at Stacks, but far nicer. The floors were marble, the walls of stone, the ceiling a combination of the two, with enormous old worm-pitted beams crisscrossing the high space.
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