Digging into his pocket, the knight produced a piece of parchment and a lead pencil. Coaxing her along, he drew what details she remembered seeing. By the time he had sketched a nearly compete coat-of-arms, Ellie was ready to pass out.
“I think that is enough for now,” Amber told him. “She needs rest.”
The knight nodded in agreement. “I’ll be by in a day or two to see if she remembers anything else. Keep guards on her door. If the ones who did this are still around they may try to silence her.”
“We will,” Amber assured him. She walked him to the door then returned to Ellie, who was still forcing herself to stay awake. Sitting down, Amber gently caressed her face. “All the questions are over. You can get some rest now.”
Ellie looked at her pleadingly. “You are loyal to Master, right?”
“Yes, Ellie, get some sleep.”
Ellie lifted her eyes. “Tell Master to put on his green pants in the morning, the ones with the narrow gold stripe.”
“I think he can dress himself,” Amber replied.
“He must put those pants on,” she stressed, making an attempt to lift her head.
“I’ll see to it. Rest, you're safe now.”
“Promise me you will tell him.”
“I promise.”
Ellie went limp and shut her eyes.
Amber checked to make sure she was still breathing and had a good heartbeat. Then, thinking about Ellie’s insistence on Tayan’s choice of clothing, she suddenly knew where that scroll was. Before she left, she made sure one guard was in the room with Ellie and two more were stationed outside the door.
The study looked better, which was to say the floor was being cleaned and the desk had been removed. Tayan stood talking with the knight who had questioned Ellie and another one holding a parchment and pen as Amber stormed into the room.
The evil of the deed done here hit her with the exact same skin-crawling feeling she had gotten from Duke Kahn. She hadn’t noticed it earlier, but then she had been preoccupied with keeping Ellie alive. She walked over to Tayan and pointed to the clothes Ellie had folded on some shelves.
“You want to see why she was tortured?” she asked heavily. Not waiting for anyone to follow, she dug into the pile and found the pants Ellie had described. Picking them up, she shook them out until a scroll fell from one leg. She threw the pants aside and brandished the scroll at Tayan.
“This!” she spat. “This donation from Jeni Redman is why Ellie was tortured. Ellie refused to tell them where it was, so they tore her skin off!”
Tayan took the scroll from her hand, which was quivering with rage. Calmly, he unrolled it and looked it over. “This is a very generous donation.”
“Who knew she had it?” the knight asked Tayan.
In her fury, Amber answered for him. “Ellie was to get the donation from Jeni just to keep her busy, so she wouldn’t try to come with us. The only ones who could have known she had it were Jeni Redman and Belenaris Tolham,” Right after she said it, she remembered something she had observed as she was escaping from the Sisters in the courtyard. “When they came out, Belenaris stopped to talk to a couple of his men. They went inside as we were leaving.”
The knight frowned at her then nodded. “Thank you, Sister,” Turning back to Tayan, he asked, “Did you see this, M‘Lord?”
“He was already gone by the time this happened.”
The knight whirled on her. “My good Sister!” he snapped. “I understand you are very upset, but I am addressing Lord Tayan, not you. Please keep still and let Lord Tayan answer for himself.”
Tayan cleared his throat. “Sir Walker, the good Sister is correct. I did not see either Mrs. Redman or Lord Tolham until after we arrived at the Duke’s palace.”
“And you did order your...” He was about to say “slave” but noted Amber was still fuming beside him. "...Ellie to obtain this scroll for you?”
“That is correct.”
Sir Walker nodded and looked at Amber. “I will be back to talk with you more, Sister. Where may I find you?”
“She’ll be at the church,” Tayan said quickly.
Amber gave him a startled look. Sir Walker only nodded, his expresion saying he wished that the one he was speaking to would answer him.
“Very well, M’Lord. Until we find the culprits, I suggest you keep Ellie under heavy guard. The ones who did this know they have a death penalty hanging over their heads, and she can identify them.”
He turned and walked away, signaling his scribe to follow.
“You want me to leave you at a time like this?” Amber cried. “You could be next, and what about Ellie?”
He gazed at her a few seconds then said, “Sir Walker just said to keep Ellie under heavy guard. You might also want to consider that you may be next. I want both of you safely tucked away in the church. I will call for you when I am ready.”
“What about you?” she asked.
“I plan to be surrounded by guards,” he told her with a grin. “And I am not exactly helpless.”
She couldn’t believe he was sending her away. He was, and gave orders to gather a large guard to escort her and Ellie to the church. She was still working on a substantial reason to stay with him as she was led out to the center of a platoon of men, who had Ellie on her stretcher in the middle of the pack.
***
He was finally alone in the room. From one of the tall windows, he watched the Sister and the slave leave through the gates with their armed guard. Behind him, the door opened.
“Lord Tayan, do you need anything, perhaps an evening drink to calm your nerves?” a servant asked.
“No, thank you. I do not wish to be disturbed for the rest of the night,” he told the man pleasantly.
“As you wish. Good night, M’Lord.”
Once the door was shut, he reached into his pocket and grasped the crystal. “Master, I am inside. No one suspects anything--they believe I am who I say.”
Very good, Aliana’s voice replied in his head. You have that priestess out of the way?
“She is not a problem.”
Keep it that way, and keep me informed.
“Yes, Master.” He let go of the crystal and started leafing through the stacks of parchment to get a grasp on the size of the army he was going to destroy.
***
The first day in the lower chambers, Amber tended to Ellie, sure that Tayan would send word to her. The task wasn’t hard--Ellie slept the whole first day and most of the second. When Amber left to get food and pray, two of the six men in the room across the hall went with her. Weapons were not allowed in the church, but that did not include the thick walking sticks and heavy brass belt buckles that each man wore. Amber had once seen such a belt used in a fight; and although the other man had a knife, the man with the belt had beaten him to death.
The first time Ellie awoke, she stayed conscious only a few minutes. Once Amber told her that her master was fine and had his scroll, she slipped back into a deep sleep. Early in the morning on the third day she awoke again. Amber tended her wounds and tried to get her to eat. Ellie drank juice but refuse to eat anything. She stayed awake until just after noon then took a long nap until dinnertime.
While she tended to Ellie, Amber tried to get news from the outside. There was nothing from Tayan or anyone else; so she ended up having John, one of Jeni’s men who brought them supplies, tell her what was going on. What she found out she was sure had to be only wild rumor. The large contribution Jeni had made, the one Ellie almost gave her life for, was being used to hire scribes to post notices all over the city on the state of the army. These notices included the names of all the Lords and ranking officers, as well as a decent description of how many men they had. Tayan did hire General Cooper and had him move east of the city to perform maneuvers in farmland where angry farmers were compensated for the destruction of their crops. If she was to believe one guard who came in for his shift, he was also hiring mercenaries as military advisors.
&nb
sp; The only thing she believed was that Belenaris Tolham was made Jeni‘s consort by the elven council, and he had wasted no time in moving her to his own estate. According to John, Jeni had gone only because Belenaris had threatened to put Erica into an orphanage.
The morning of the fourth day, Amber returned from her morning prayers to find Ellie awake.
“Good morning, Ellie,” she said pleasantly as she came in. Going over to the girl, she lifted the covers to see if her wounds were still oozing. Thankfully, the bandages were dry.
“How much of me is left?” Ellie asked tonelessly.
“I think you will recover quite nicely,” Amber told her. “Sir Walker is still looking for the men who did this to you.”
“What is my Master going to do with me?” she asked with a hint of fear in her voice.
Sitting down by her head, Amber took on a more stern tone. “He has left you in my care. Until you are healed, don’t worry about anything but getting better.”
Ellie picked up her left arm and showed her the wrist stump. “Are you going to fix this?”
Amber gave a sigh. “Nothing can be done with it. Be glad you’re still alive,” She picked up the blanket and pulled it to one side. “Let’s see how your other injuries are.”
Ellie stayed quiet as Amber checked her over. Except for her stomach, all her wounds were sealed. Not wanting Ellie to try to sit yet, she gave her a sponge bath and got a fresh sheet around her then made her eat a few slices of pear.
The door opened and a guard came in. “Sister Amber, Sir Walker has some prisoners for Ellie to identify.”
Amber turned to Ellie, who nodded.
Sir Walker came in first; then another guard led in four prisoners who shuffled along with chains on their hands and feet. The group was also connected by the collars around their necks. As the guards got them in a line at the foot of the bed, Amber propped Ellie up so she could get a good look at them.
“Head up!” a guard snapped at one who was looking at the floor. He punctuated his statement by slapping the man’s chin to lift his head.
Three of the four were elven. Ellie studied their faces and pointed to two of the elves. “That one, and that one. They are the ones who tried to steal from my Master.”
“These are the ones who attacked you?”
“Yes, because I would not give them my Master’s property,” Ellie stated.
The elf with the light-brown hair she had pointed to broke down and cried. “It was Lord Tolham who told us to do it!”
“Right,” the other one said quickly. “And he said he’d kill us if we got caught.”
Grabbing the sobbing elf by his hair, Sir Walker made him look at Ellie. “Lord Tolham told you to torture this girl?”
“Yes. He said do whatever you have to, but make her talk.”
“So, you cut off her hand and tore her skin off!” he spat in the elf’s ear.
The other elf nodded. “That’s right. He said he didn’t care what it took, but to get the scroll she had.”
Sir Walker let go of the one elf and walked up to the other. “Explain to me in detail what his orders were.”
The elf swallowed. “He told us to...”
“Who, exactly?”
“Lord Belenaris Tolham told us to get the scroll the slave had. I asked him what we should do if she refused.” The elf took a deep breath. “He said to use whatever means necessary to get it.” Tipping his head toward the crying elf, he said, “Halarian asked if we should hit her. Lord Tolham stood as close to him as you are to me and told him to beat her, break her bones or whatever it took to make her give up the scroll. He implied that if we failed he would kill us.”
Sir Walker frowned at him. “Just what did he say, exactly?”
“His exact words were ‘Get the scroll tonight, or you won’t see tomorrow.’”
“And you will testify to this?” Sir Walker stated more than asked.
“It’s not our fault!” Halarian cried. “If only she’d just given us the damn scroll!”
“You are the one who did this, not Lord Tolham!” Sir Walker spat.
In a firm voice, Ellie spoke up. “I will never betray my Master!” In a blast of breath, she yelled, “Never!”
Amber looked down to see she was quaking. Ellie tried to sit up, wincing in pain as she hovered with her shoulders just above the sheets. Quickly, Amber was beside her, coaxing her back down. Once she got Ellie to lie still, she looked at the knight.
“Sir Walker, I think you better leave.”
Sir Walker hustled the men and guards out of the room. Standing by the doorway, he said, “Sister, these men will be brought to justice, I promise.”
“Belenaris Tolham, also?” she asked.
“The duke will see to it personally,” he replied then closed the door on his way out.
Ellie stayed agitated the rest of the morning. The bandages on her stomach became stained with blood. Only after praying with her did Amber manage to get her calmed down and get the bleeding stopped. The rest of the day, Amber tried to take her mind off her injuries by playing games with her. As first, Ellie wanted nothing to do with games. Amber reasoned with her they would help pass the time until she got better. After considering this, Ellie gave it a try. She had never played tiles before, but once she got the hang of it, she won almost every time.
The next morning, Ellie insisted on trying to get up. Amber checked her stomach first and was quite surprised to discover the wound had healed over. Ellie sat up and got a look at herself for the first time.
Sitting naked on the edge of the bed, she gazed down at herself as she ran her hand over the latticework of scars on her body. Fingering the rough ridges of skin on her stomach, she let out a low moan. Both her thighs were also adorned with long, crisscrossed scar tissue.
“They killed me,” she breathed.
“You should be thankful to be alive,” Amber told her sternly.
Ellie turned a blank stare up to meet her eyes. “You call this alive? Tell me, what Master deserves to see this in his bed?” she choked, indicating her body.
“I do not believe Tayan has plans of bedding you.”
“Who would?” Ellie cried. “You should have put me out of my misery!” Holding up the stump of her left arm, she waved it at Amber. “I can’t serve, I am useless. Now, I am garbage!”
“You are not garbage!” Amber scolded.
Ellie hunched over and cried in wracking sobs. Amber let her. Once she got used to the sight of herself, she would talk her into feeling better. It did have to be a shock to find out that your once-perfect body now looked like something a blind artist had patched together. She had always thought that having pits in her face was a terrible thing. To see this girl now, she knew pits were nothing.
Ellie had quieted down by the time John arrived. Ignoring Ellie, he sat down beside her and looked at Amber. “I don’t believe it. I heard it with my own ears, and I still can’t believe it.”
Amber flicked her eyes at Ellie. “Do you mind?” she asked heavily.
John looked at Ellie and pulled a sheet up around her shoulders. Returning his attention to Amber, he said, “Sir Walker brought his evidence to Lord Tayan, who is now the acting leader of the elven council. It was up to him to set a trial date with the duke.”
Amber screwed her face up. “How did Tayan get to be head of the elven council?”
“Being an unofficial prince in Elrad, he’s the senior noble,” John said with a shrug. “Sir Walker was able to sentence the men who tortured Ellie, but to put a noble on trial he had to go through Lord Tayan.”
“And...?” Amber prodded.
“He let him go. He said that Lord Belenaris Tolham’s order to those men did not include mutilating her. He made the wimp pay five hundred in gold for ruining a good slave, but other than that the bastard went free.”
Amber thought he had to have heard wrong. “That’s it? He paid a fine, and it’s over?”
“Five hundred is a good price,” Ellie said
blankly.
It may have been the news John brought or Ellie’s insistence she no longer was worth anything, but the girl’s statement was the last straw. Amber slapped Ellie before she knew she meant to. Glaring down at the girl, she growled, “No life can be measured in gold!”
Ellie stared back up at her defiantly. “Yes, it can. I know my worth, and five hundred is a good price.”
Amber balled her fists, which made Ellie shrink back. “Anyone who can trade a life for gold is evil!”
That made Ellie straighten herself up and face Amber’s anger. “My Master is not evil!”
Amber opened her mouth then caught herself before she said that he was. She thought she knew Tayan wasn’t evil, but with what John told her she wasn’t sure anymore. He seemed to have become a completely different man.
Collecting herself, she turned her attention to John. “Would you escort me to see Lord Tayan?”
“Take me back, too,” Ellie said as she glared at Amber.
John shifted his gaze between them. “Umm, ladies, we have strict orders to keep you in the church, for your own safety. A few Brothers have found out there is something evil lurking about, but they have yet to locate it. The whole council has agreed that you two are the closest to Lord Tayan and need to stay under protection.”
“My protection is Leighna,” Amber stated. “Ellie will stay here, but I must go see Lord Tayan. I can go with you or sneak out a window if I have to. Either way, I am going.”
“Sister, please--” John started, but Ellie spoke up.
“I must return to my Master, even if he takes my head,” she stated. “I will not stay here.”
John held his head and groaned. “I am going to lose my job over this.”
“Better a job than a soul,” Amber told him. “Although I do think Ellie should stay here for now.”
Ellie stood up on shaky feet, letting the covers slip down. “If you can do nothing more for me then I must return to my Master.”
Aghast, Amber quickly picked up a sheet and wrapped it around her. “Young ladies do not go around naked,” she scolded.
“I agree. Do you have clothes for me?”
“Come on!” John groaned, “Why don’t the two of you just stay here?” Turning to Ellie, he said, “You can barely stand on your feet.”
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