“Let us get moving,” Arghen said. “This cloak will not disguise him up close, but it will have to do until we figure out where we can hide to apply the rest of the disguise to him and how to costume him better.”
I faced the direction Heather had been taken by Bascom and said out loud more to hearten myself than anything else, “Hold on, Heather, Emalai. Hold on. We’re coming for you.”
CHAPTER 20
“So, uh, you guys wanna fill me in on who Heather and Emalai are?” Jason asked.
Quickly I told Jason that Heather was from New York City like we were, and that Emalai was a captive Surfacer who’d been helping us until she sacrificed herself to be a diversion.
Jason’s bronzed face grew grim. “Then we’d better help her first. If she did that, she’s in for a world of hurt. I should know.”
I gulped, not liking how or why Jason knew that. Arghen arranged for him to walk between Arghen and me with his head bowed, as if Jason were a warrior on discipline, as Chirasnivians trickled back into the Art area grumbling over the fact that they had not been the ones to catch the escaped Surfacer and earn a reward. I signaled for Arghen’s attention over Jason’s head as an idea came to me.
“You know, Emalai does ‘belong’ to you now,” I said slowly. “And we have the lead that matches her collar. Could it be just that easy?”
Arghen bared his teeth in a smile something like one of Ragar’s. “Only one way to find out.”
Stepping in front of Jason to hide him better, Arghen waved over a passing warrior. The warrior, seeing Arghen’s supposed rank, saluted him smartly.
“Where has the recently escaped Surfacer been taken?” Arghen demanded of him.
“She has been returned to the dwelling that she is registered to, Captain,” he replied.
Arghen put on an air of exasperation. “Unfortunately, that is no longer her place. Her place is with me.” He held up the broken lead, and the warrior goggled at it.
“Apologies, Captain! If the change had been properly recorded …,” the warrior began, but Arghen haughtily overrode him.
“It only happened during this past Lightening, and my duties had not allowed me time to take care of that trivial matter yet.” He waved a hand behind him to indicate Jason’s submissive posture. “Now escort me properly to Jodron and Descora’s establishment at once!”
A flash of surprise appeared in the warrior’s eyes, but all he said in a subdued voice was, “Yes, Captain,” as he turned around.
Not liking what I’d seen, I resolved to watch the Under-elf carefully as we followed him. The warrior set a quick pace leading us out of Central Court and into the Leadership Ring. Several twisty passages and numerous unmarked doors later, the peace officer stopped at one door in particular.
“Here you are, Captain. But Jodron and his long-mate seem to be out,” he said with a malicious grin without knocking on the door. “You will have to wait for their return, as I have no authority to open their dwelling to you.”
“No matter,” Arghen said dismissively. “I have entry to their place because I know them. Why else would I have been given the Surfacer? You are discharged to your duties. Now.”
The warrior’s face fell. Muttering under his breath, he vanished down the corridor, annoyance clear in the set of his back.
“Jason?” Arghen asked quietly when the Chirasnivian was out of sight.
“Already on it, amigo,” Jason replied, waggling the Catamount fangs he’d been using as lock picks ever since we’d defeated that monster.
I smiled at their exchange, though I noted Jason, not surprisingly, didn’t have the same bright and cocky attitude he’d had before. It didn’t matter, though. It was so good just having him back again! While we shielded Jason as he worked, I asked Arghen why all the doors were unmarked.
“Under-elf paranoia,” he replied. “If one knows where one is going, one does not need to be told how to get there. Searching is suspicious, so that is why I had the guard ‘escort’ us here. He could not refuse a direct order from a higher rank. He will be distrustful of our right to be here and will come back to check on us, but if we are inside by the time he returns, his doubts will be allayed.”
Jason got the lock open, and we entered the apartment. For extra security he locked the door behind us before we looked around. The place was furnished something like Bascom’s private rooms in his tower had been, except that the color scheme ran more to blacks, dark blues and whites. Instead of growing on the walls, the omnipresent air moss grew on standing art forms scattered about the place and garnished with what likely were gems. I was not, however, relieved to see the apartment empty.
“Emalai? Emalai! Where are you?” I called as Arghen, Jason and I fanned out to find her.
A muffled sound coming from behind one of the closed doors on the far side of the room led us to a short hallway, which in turn led to a bedroom. There, a sumptuously large and extravagant bed with matching furniture filled the room, but what immediately drew my eyes was the little cage in a corner. It was made of large, rounded metal bars, and was not big enough for a being to either stand up or lie straight in. Emalai was inside it, bound, gagged, and naked except for the bejeweled collar. Tears of relief rolled down her beautiful face at the sight of us as we rushed over to the cage. Closer up, we could see that she had been beaten. Jason growled, sounding a bit like Ragar for a moment.
“Emalai! I’m so sorry! I had no idea!” I said, aghast.
I turned to Jason to have him open the lock, but he was already working feverishly on it. He had it popped in a matter of moments, and we carefully pulled her out and freed her.
As soon as her mouth was ungagged, she said, “Champion, it is all right. I knew it would happen. But I also knew that I would not be killed because the Under-elves would believe I still belonged to Jodron and Descora.”
“Call me Lise. And killed? That was a possibility? If I had known that, I would not have let you run away from us!”
“Being killed was not a possibility for me, at any rate,” she said somewhat dismissively, though with a hitch in her voice. “My supposed owners would have been cross with whomever had done that, and believe me, it would have been reported to them by someone wishing a reward for the information. But I could have starved to death before anyone realized that Jodron and Descora were no more, so thank you for coming for me!”
Hmph. Another reason to hate Chirasnivians, as if I didn’t have enough already. Jason muttered something about taking a look around to make sure we weren’t interrupted and vanished. Arghen pulled out the last of the salve that Auraus had made and applied to it Emalai’s hurts. She winced at each application, but soon she was just fine.
“Well, I guess we’d better hope that we don’t get hurt on the way out, or its tough luck for us,” I said casually, watching Arghen put the empty container away. “Let’s get you dressed and get out of here, Emalai. We have another rescue mission to do now.”
“Do you mean the other Surfacers from the Exchange?” she asked, going to a small free-standing closet and pulling out a robe-dress like the one she’d worn before.
I could see over her shoulder into the closet that there were several other robe-dresses hanging there, all pretty much the same. When what she said caught up with my brain, I sighed. Right. The Exchange. I had almost forgotten about them in my burning haste to get going after Heather. Emalai took in my sigh, looked around, and only then realized that we were short one human.
“The other female? Named Heather?” she asked. “Is that the rescue mission you meant? Has something happened to her?”
“Yes,” I replied. “But she’s being taken to the Surface by someone other than an Under-elf, and I did swear that we would rescue as many Surfacers on the way out of here as possible. Which means visiting the Exchange first before we leave. Can you guide us there?”
The black-haired Surface-elf nodded as Jason, who’d just come back into the room where we were, blinked and looked lost. I caught hi
m completely up to speed from the day he had been taken until we saw him in the cage while Emalai dressed and secreted useful items in pouches about herself, including a couple of daggers pulled from one of the drawers in the bedside table. Out of the blue my stomach rumbled, and I became aware of hunger.
Arghen looked amused. “Let us avail ourselves of what this dwelling has to offer in the way of provisions. I am sure we could all use a good meal. But we should be quick in case the bodies are found soon. They cannot stay hidden for long.”
We put together a quick meal of sandwiches consisting of mushrooms, butter, bread, and some sort of meat found in the kitchen pantry.
“You do realize that hitting the Exchange is going to be messy?” Jason asked around a mouthful of food.
I blinked. Hit the Exchange—that was what we would really need to do, not just visit. I don’t know if I’d had some vague idea of just waltzing in there when we arrived or what, but as soon as Jason put it like that, I knew he was right. The personnel of the Exchange certainly weren’t going to hand out their whole inventory because we asked them politely. We would have to do it by force.
“You’re right,” I said to him. “But I couldn’t come down here to rescue you and not at least make an attempt to save the others, too, before we go after Heather.”
Jason cocked his head to one side with a smile at me though his dark eyes still looked pained. “You know, more and more you’re sounding like one of those knights from King Arthur’s Round Table. And not the Monty Python kind, either.”
I smiled back at him, recognizing his words for the compliment he meant it to be. I felt warm all over, and I couldn’t stop staring at him while we ate. When we were done, Jason went and picked out some of Jodron’s clothes, and we started disguising him as an Under-elf by whitening his skin. Instead of bandaging his ears like mine, which would be too suspicious with the fancy clothes he now wore, he instead chose a fancy hat that he could pull the brim down over the tops of his ears.
“What about all my stuff?” Jason asked.
I looked at Arghen and indicated I had no idea what to say, or do, about the belongings we’d rescued from the cage with him.
Arghen replied, “Everything you had can be replaced when we get to the Surface. It would look out of place to have even Emalai carry a travel pack down here. Minus the weapons, it will, I am afraid, have to remain behind.”
“That’s cool,” Jason said nonchalantly. “I wasn’t overly attached to anything in there anyway.”
While Jason dressed in his new clothes, the rest of us used a tiny room off the bedroom that was the Under-elf version of a bathroom. It had a squat hole that disappeared down into the depths, a basin on a pillar and a pitcher of water, soap, and a cloth on a tall thin table next to it, presumably to wash hands, and a mirror. That was where we fixed up or reapplied any parts of our disguises that had become less perfect. And since I had the opportunity, from the bedroom I rummaged up a hat for myself that was somewhat more feminine but still managed to hide my ear tips so I could lose the bloodied bandage. When I was done with my touchups I offered the disguise makers to Emalai, but Arghen stopped me.
“I think it would be better for her to stay a Surfacer. That way she can more easily get the other Surfacers to come with us once we have taken over the Exchange. Valuable time might be spent in convincing them to come with us otherwise,” he explained.
I nodded at him. “Smart.” I turned to Emalai. “Okay, let’s go. Lead the way, Emalai.”
Jason, after finishing dressing, had been rummaging through the rest of the room while we talked. He came to show us a double handful of loose gems and pieces of jewelry—rings, bracelets, necklaces, and some miscellaneous other bits—as well as a pouch that had the heavy jingle of coins to it.
“I’m not a jeweler, but all these must be worth a pretty good amount,” he said with a grin that actually reached his eyes. “And these are easier to get than trying to pry gems out of their settings in the stuff around us.”
“Good work, Jason,” I commended him. “Now we’ll have bribes available for use.”
Emalai raised her eyebrows. “There is not enough in there to bribe or buy the use of the whole Exchange. I do not think there is enough in any Under-elf’s pouch, except maybe a High Councilor’s.”
“‘Buy the use’—you mean, rent?” I asked.
“The slaves of the Exchange are not free to use,” Emalai said. “You buy their time for a period and then return them.”
Jason said, “Yep. She means rent.”
I remembered Arghen talking about buying things in the marketplace of the Sub-realms when we went on our buying trip in Meritzon. I had no idea it would also extend to living beings.
“Well, it wasn’t as if we were going to be buying their release anyway, remember?” I shrugged. “We can save the money and gems for use elsewhere if we need it.”
Jason looked a little disappointed as he stuffed the gems away in his pouches and tied the coin pouch to his belt.
I smiled a little at him. “Don’t worry. I’m sure we won’t need it all for bribes.” I then looked around at everybody. “All right. If there is anything else that needs to be done, do it now. Otherwise, it’s show time.”
CHAPTER 21
With Emalai once more on her fixed lead and subtly guiding our steps, we headed through the Leadership Ring, through a different part of Parks and Recreation, through the Civilian Ring, and into the countryside lands without any trouble at all. It seemed that the bodies we’d left on our trip in, amazingly and thankfully, still hadn’t been discovered yet. I felt a bit bad about not doing the Rite for them, but I consoled myself with remembering Auraus’ long-ago explanation that the souls would eventually free themselves from their shells even without the ritual. I felt a little sad to realize that they would become ghosts.
This time we didn’t have to thread our way through the mushroom farms. The exit that Emalai had taken us through brought us to a populated section of the breeding lands in the countryside. Pens were set up like the villages in the farming area in the countryside, with each little cluster inside each fenced-in area comparable to a one-room house back in the medieval times on the human side. The major difference was that there were no walls to be seen. As we walked by the first barricade I could see why it was called the breeding lands—only pregnant Kobolds, and very young Kobold babies and children, seemed to live inside it.
“Where are their husb–I mean, long-mates?” I asked in a general whisper.
Emalai replied, “From the little I’ve seen and overheard, males do not live in the breeding pen. Neither do the females, really—at least all of the time. Once a female Kobold, or Troglodyte, or whatever race, has gotten pregnant, she is moved here to eventually birth the child. Mother and child stay here until the child is old enough to work, and then they are returned to the farms. Each race has its own set of breeding pens.”
I suddenly wondered if the city-state that Arghen had come from did the same thing, but I was afraid to ask because I didn’t want to hear the answer.
“What about privacy?” I asked in a whisper. “They’re set up like campsites inside the pens, just like in the farmlands.”
Surprisingly, Jason answered, with an undertone of anger, “Slaves don’t need privacy.”
I saw the dark look had reappeared in his eyes. We fell silent as we spotted a pair of warriors walking a measured beat away from us over by the next pen. When they were out of Elven earshot, Emalai spoke.
“Actually, that is not quite true,” she corrected Jason in a low voice. “I have learned from overhearing my owners speaking that the Surfacers enslaved down here have privacy of sorts—but only because if they did not have walls around them, they would be attempting to escape frequently. Or at least they would be, if there was no Re-conditioning. The Chirasnivians learned that, in the early days of their taking Surfacers from up above, that Surfacers would rather chance escape and die in the attempt than live out their live
s here underground. Eventually the Chirasnivians relocated some Under-elves of the Civilian Ring out and turned their dwellings into the Exchange. But to soothe ruffled Chirasnivian sensitivities, the opening to the Exchange was made to face the breeding lands instead of one of the inner passages of the Civilian Ring.”
“You make it sound like escapes have been stopped,” said Jason.
“For the most part, they have. Some particularly brutal examples were made, and that discouraged those of the Exchange and those in private hands, like myself, from trying after that,” Emalai said without expression or inflection. “But what prevents more beings from trying to escape nowadays is the Re-conditioning plan that resulted from the first escape attempts.”
“This is the second time you’ve said that word,” I noted. “What is it?”
“Re-conditioning was created after the first several escape attempts back in the early days. A suite of rooms was put aside for that very thing. When fresh Surfacers are brought to Chirasniv, it is first decided where they are to go—whether straight to Art in the Central Courtyard,” and here Jason gave a growl, “or to Re-conditioning. How long one stays in Re-conditioning depends on how long it takes a being to either be broken or for the being to understand and to acquiesce that leaving is hopeless. Or, if neither of the first two options are appealing, to die.”
Jason and I gave identical shudders. At least that explained why we hadn’t see any of the Miscere Ogres or Miscere Giants that had originally taken Jason in Art—they were probably still in Re-conditioning, or possibly the Exchange already. I couldn’t decide if I was glad or not about that.
“Is there a back door to the Exchange from the Civilian Ring?” Arghen asked, changing the subject.
“I do not know,” she replied, relief to get away from the previous topic on her face. “I was never part of the Exchange. When I was brought out of Re-conditioning, I was taken off the patrol’s hands by Jodron before even leaving the Martial Ring.”
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