The Fourteenth Key (The Chronicles of Terah Book 3) (88 page)

“Right,” Kevin said. “And thanks.”

After Kevin ran through his routine twice, he was feeling more settled. When he stopped by the kitchen on the way back in, Cpt. Lawrence was waiting for him. He poured Kevin a cup of coffee and handed it to him. “Wythe’s in Gen. Crandal’s office.”

Kevin nodded and sipped the hot drink.

“We were going to wait in your office, but Brandon wouldn’t let us in. He said you left orders to keep everyone out unless you were there.”

“If Gwendolyn shows up in my office again, I don’t want her to find anyone to threaten or grab.”

“You aren’t working out of your office today?”

“I’m not sure, but if I’m in there, I’ll leave the hall door open so people will know it’s okay to enter. But if that door’s shut, walk on by.”

“Got it.” Cpt. Lawrence took the last swallow of his coffee and put his cup in the sink. “So where would you like to meet with Wythe?”

“Can we use the general’s office?”

“As far as I know.”

Kevin nodded. “Give me a few minutes to change clothes and I’ll be right down.”

“See you there,” Cpt. Lawrence said as he left the kitchen.

~ ~ ~ ~

Twenty minutes later Kevin walked into Gen. Crandal’s office with a tray of coffee cups and a carafe. Cpt. Lawrence quickly made room for the tray on Gen. Crandal’s desk and then stepped back so Kevin could set it down. Once Kevin’s hands were empty, he turned to Wythe and held out his hand. “Nice to see you again, Wythe. Wish it weren’t under these circumstances though.”

Wythe was hesitant, but at a nod from Cpt. Lawrence, he took Kevin’s hand and shook it. “The captain here told me what happened yesterday. I’m sure sorry she did that, sir.”

“Thank you,” Kevin said, “but now let’s concentrate on making her sorry she did it.”

Wythe’s leathery face crinkled as he smiled. “You want me to go in there and try to get them out? I can go in like I’m one of the castle slaves. I sure know how to act like one, had enough practice at it while I was there. Can’t say I’ll make it, but I’ll give it everything I’ve got, and if they do get me, I’ll make sure they know I was there before they do. You can count on that.”

Kevin grinned. “I appreciate the offer, and we may end up doing that, but I’ve got something else I want to try first.”

Wythe looked puzzled. “Then why did you send for me?”

“You worked in that castle, right?”

Wythe nodded. “For seven years.”

“So you know where things are? Like where her office is, where the kitchen is, where the slaves stay?”

Wythe frowned. “I guess so, but I’ve been gone for over twenty years, sir. Things might have changed.”

“They may have, but probably not a whole lot. Could you draw a floor plan of her castle for me?”

Wythe’s frown deepened as he looked from Kevin to Cpt. Lawrence and back again. “A floor plan, sir? I’m not sure what that is.”

“A sketch of the castle, showing where the different offices and rooms are, where the halls are, where the guards are stationed, even where the front door is.”

Kevin saw the moment when Wythe figured out what he was talking about. The frown vanished and a slow grin wrinkled his cheeks. “You want me to draw you a map of that castle, right?”

“Exactly!” Kevin said, nodding. “And I want you to put as much detail into it as you can remember. Things may have changed, but the more detail I’ve got the better prepared we’ll be. Would you do that for us?”

Wythe rubbed his hands together. “I’ll need some paper, large paper, and a big table to work on.” He looked around the room. “Could I use that one?” He pointed to the table in the back of Gen. Crandal’s office that was covered with maps.

Gen. Crandal nodded. “Cpt. Lawrence, help me gather up those maps.”

While Cpt. Lawrence and Gen. Crandal cleared the table, Kevin went to Cryslyn’s office to see where he could get some large sheets of paper. By the time he returned with paper and pens, the table was clear.

“Will these do?” Kevin asked as he laid the supplies out on the table.

“They’ll do fine,” Wythe answered. “Thank you.”

Kevin shook his head. “You’re the one doing me the favor. Thank you.” Then he turned to Cpt. Lawrence. “Did you eat when you got in?”

Cpt. Lawrence shook his head. “We’ll get something when Miranda opens the dining room.”

“Be sure he takes time to eat.” Kevin nodded towards the table where the soldier was already hard at work.

Gen. Crandal smiled. “I’ll see to it. And I’ll let you know when he’s done.”

“Oh, and when he gets done with that, see if he knows where the castle is in relation to the rest of Hendon Port. Before we can go in, we’ve got to be able to find it.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Kevin paced around his office most of the day. He went to the dining room for lunch and made a couple of coffee runs, but other than that, he stayed put, waiting, although he wasn’t sure what he was waiting for. Gwendolyn had given him until the meeting Saturday morning to comply with her demands, so chances were she wouldn’t be back before then.

He walked out to the falcon house a couple of times to check for mail. The few pieces that came in weren’t crucial, so he put them on Chris’s desk and kept pacing. By mid-afternoon, Kevin figured they’d have to put a new rug in the reception area when this was all over. He was going to wear the old one out.

A little while later, there was a knock on the open door. “Sorry to disturb you, but Wythe’s done,” Brandon said. “Where do you want him to meet you?”

“Let’s meet in here. Does he need any help?”

Brandon shook his head. “Cpt. Lawrence is with him. I’m sure the two of them can manage.”

“Tell them to give me ten minutes. I want some more coffee.”

“You don’t need to do that.” Brandon motioned towards the guard office at the end of the hall. “Would you like a carafe? And how many cups?”

“Four, if Gen. Crandal comes.”

“Any cheese? Sweets?”

Kevin shook his head and then changed his mind. “If you happen to spot any cookies or brownies, I wouldn’t mind a few of those.”

Brandon nodded. “Anything else?”

“No, and thank you.”

A minute later, Kort had taken over Brandon’s position beside Kevin’s door and Brandon had left.

Brandon’s first stop was Gen. Crandal’s office. “Myron wants you to meet him in his office.”

Cpt. Lawrence nodded and began rolling up the sheets Wythe had worked on.

“I’m on my way down to the kitchen for coffee. Would you like for me to pick up anything else while I’m there?” Cpt. Lawrence shook his head no, but the wistful look on Wythe’s face caught Brandon’s eye. “Are you sure? Wythe? Would you like something?”

“I hate to ask, but do you think there might be some more of that cake we had for lunch? I sure would like another piece of that.”

Brandon smiled. “I’ll see what I can do.”

While Cpt. Lawrence and Wythe got everything together to take to Kevin’s office, Brandon went to the kitchen. Miranda cut several slices of cake and set them on a large tray while Carrie put some brownies and fresh baked cookies on a couple of plates. Brandon filled a carafe with coffee and loaded that and six coffee cups onto the tray. As soon as Carrie set the last plate of cookies on the tray, Brandon picked a cookie up and stuck it in his mouth. Then he picked up the heavy tray and left the kitchen.

By the time Brandon reached Kevin’s office, Kevin, Wythe, Cpt. Lawrence, and Gen. Crandal were poring over the floor plans Wythe had drawn. Brandon set the tray on Ariel’s desk and started pouring coffee. Before he was done, Darrell walked in and joined the others at the conference table.

After everyone had coffee, Brandon handed Wythe a slice of cake and the man’s eyes lit up in delight.

A few minutes later, Kevin stood up. “Okay. I need to go through these in an orderly manner if they’re going to do me any good. Wythe, could you take me through this, floor by floor, just as if I were visiting the place? Start at the front door, describe everything you can remember, and show me around.”

Wythe swallowed the last bite of cake, took a sip of coffee, and nodded. “Sure. Be glad to.” Then he described Gwendolyn’s castle.

The only similarity between Kevin’s castle and Gwendolyn’s was they were both made out of stone. He pushed all but one of the sheets out of the way. There were two long but narrow rectangles on the paper. The bottom rectangle was noticeably thinner than the other.

“This first bit is a walkway.” Wythe pointed to the rectangle near the bottom of the sheet. “There’s a roof over it and columns about every ten feet.” Then he pointed to a box he’d drawn midway in that rectangle. “This is the front entrance. The walkway’s bigger here. It sticks out maybe twenty feet in front of the door, and it’s twenty, twenty-five feet wide. There are columns all around it. Then, up here,” he pointed to a circle he’d drawn in the other rectangle, in line with the front entrance, “is a big dome. There’s a short wall around the dome just like there’s one all the way around the roof, and except for the dome, the roof’s flat. Guards walk around the edges of that roof twenty-four hours a day.”

Next he indicated small boxes on the four corners. “There are spires here, sticking way up in the air. She has guards posted in the tops of those spires. Not sure why.”

Wythe took a swallow of coffee, moved the first piece of paper out of the way, and pulled up another sheet. It had one big rectangle with markings inside.

“This is the ground floor. The main entrance is big and wide open. Her office is at the back. The governor’s office and the guard’s office are both near the front door, one on each side. When I was there, the governor’s office was on the left as you went in, the guard’s office on the right. There’s a hall on each side of the entrance way, about halfway between the front and back wall. You can’t go down the hall on the left because it leads to her chambers. I think any of her children who happen to be there sleep down there too, but I couldn’t swear to it.”

“You don’t know how many bedrooms are down that hall, do you?” Gen. Crandal asked.

Wythe shook his head. “I’ve never been down that hall. As far as I know, the only ones allowed down there other than family are the chambermaids.”

Gen. Crandal nodded.

Wythe waited a second to see if there were any other questions, then he went on. “The other hall, the one on the right as you go in, leads to everything else, the kitchen, the dining room, or at least the one for everyone but the slaves. That one’s downstairs, in the second basement. But back to this floor. The housekeeping office is down that hall, along with the laundry room, storage rooms, a huge pantry, and her business manager’s office. The stairs are at the end of the hall, next to his office.”

“She has a business manager?” Kevin asked.

Wythe nodded. “He oversees the slave business along with purchases for the castle or any other business she wants him to handle. I’m not sure who might be in that office now. She changed business managers at least three times while I was there.”

“Bet that’s an interesting job,” Darrell said.

“And a dangerous one,” Wythe commented. “I can’t say for sure, but rumor had it that when she changed business managers, she killed the old one before the new one took over. She doesn’t have a problem killing people. And neither do her guards. They walk around with these really big swords on their belts, the ones that have those long, wide, curved blades. They keep those things razor sharp. They can cut a person’s head off with one swipe. Cut a body in half that way, too. I know. I’ve seen them do it.”

Kevin knew his eyes widened at that statement, he could feel it, and his weren’t the only ones. “Are you serious? You’ve seen one of her guards kill someone?”

Wythe nodded.

“Who?” Kevin asked.

“A criminal of some sort?” Darrell asked.

“Someone who tried to kill Gwendolyn?” Gen. Crandal suggested. “Or hurt one of her children?”

Wythe shrugged and shook his head. “No, just slaves.”

“I’m not sure I want to know, but what for?” Darrell asked.

“I never heard any reasons, and asking questions was a good way to get yourself in a lot of trouble, so I never asked.”

Darrell nodded. “Wise on your part.”

“And you offered to go back in that place, pretend to be a slave, and try to get Chris out?” Kevin asked.

Wythe nodded. “Offer still stands.”

Darrell shook his head. “You’ve got guts, I’ll give you that.”

Wythe frowned at Darrell, trying to figure out what he meant.

Kevin put his hand on the soldier’s shoulder. “That’s his way of saying you are one brave man.”

“More like one who would like a little pay back,” Wythe mumbled.

He moved that sheet of paper away and picked up another. “This is the first basement. Nothing much here but quarters for the guards. I think the cook sleeps here too, maybe the housekeeper. But that’s it, just bedrooms, probably a couple of dozen on each side of the hall.” Wythe had drawn that rectangle as large as the one on the other sheet of paper.

“Is the basement as large as the main floor?” Gen. Crandal asked.

Wythe nodded. “At least as far as I could tell. So’s the next basement, but the third basement, the dungeon, is smaller from what I’ve heard. That’s why I drew it smaller.”

“What’s on the second basement?” Cpt. Lawrence asked. “You mentioned the slave dining room. Are the slave quarters down there?”

Wythe nodded. “We had small rooms, but for the most part, there were only two slaves to a room. There’s also a small storage room near the dining room for things like blankets, but mostly we had to make do with whatever happened to be in our room. All in all, the quarters weren’t all that bad.”

“And this is the dungeon area?” Darrell pointed to the last drawing. “Do you know what it’s like?”

Wythe shook his head. “All I know is the stairs keep going down past the second basement, and if you keep going, you end up in the dungeon. I never went down there, not even when I first got to the castle. From what I heard, there are two large cells down there, one for men, one for women. The cells are locked, and the door to the dungeon’s locked. It’s at least thirty feet underground and the ground’s mostly rock. No way out except through that one door. And there are guards on duty down there twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. And, at least when I was there, no one had ever escaped from that dungeon.”