The Unwilling Accomplice (Book 5) (6 page)

"I was glad to be of assistance," Ruth returned. She took the box and placed it in her magical pouch.

Telana turned to the others. "Now where shall we start on this tour?" she asked them.

"Before we begin I am curious to know if there is an update to the late-night intruder," Ned wondered.

Telana shook her head. "Nothing as yet, but the guards are still searching. I am sure they will find this woman and we will learn her intentions. For now we should not trouble ourselves with what we cannot control, so where shall we begin?"

"Ah'd like ta see the broken stone just so Ah know it's true," Canto spoke up.

"I, too, wish to see what remains of it," Percy agreed.

Telana smiled and gestured to the door. "As you wish. If you would follow me I will show you its remains."

CHAPTER 7

Telana guided them into the entrance hall and down the left-hand passage. On their right after they passed the stairs were large windows and a pair of doors that looked and led out onto a garden courtyard. The square courtyard was as lavishly green as anything in the city, and could be accessed on two opposing sides. The other two sides of the courtyard were walls. On their left were doors that led into more private rooms. In front of them, like on the second floor, was a corner and a wall. Telana took them halfway through the castle and turned left into a narrow passage. At the end of the passage was a staircase that wound its way beneath the castle.

They traveled down the stairs and into the dark depths of the castle. Torches filled with flickering blue light lit the otherwise dark and bleak stairwell. Telana paused at a landing one floor beneath the castle's main hall, and showed them a passage. It led into a maze of hallways, and servants strolled through the halls at leisure and work.

"These are where the servants' quarters and the kitchen are located. The torches never go out because of our magic inside the flames," she explained to them.

"They live in such a place?" Ruth wondered.

"This is the worst of the passages. The others have window access to the exterior walls of the cliffs and that gives them natural light," she replied. "But come, we have a great distance to travel before we reach the stone."

The companions stepped deeper into the bowels of the castle. Every fifteen feet they passed archways that framed long halls with doors on either side of the passages. Each archway signaled another drop in temperature and a further hint of must in the air. They were not only deep beneath the castle, but also beneath the hill itself.

"For what are all these rooms used?" Pat asked their guide.

"These halls are places of refuge for the citizens should the barrier ever fail us," Telana explained. She paused at one of the doorways and gestured to the hall. "We can fit our entire population in these rooms, and at the end of each passage is a staircase that leads to the port below the castle. There are also openings on each of the terraces that connect to these halls, and their entrances can be sealed behind the escaping citizens." She indicated a stairway that lay on the left side and at the front of each hall for as the stairs leading from the terraces.

"Have you ever needed to use these passages?" Percy wondered.

"Yes, though not in my time," she replied.

"How long is your time?" Pat diplomatically inquired.

Telana paused and glanced over her shoulder with a smile on her face. "I am young compared to others, but I have lived for three centuries."

Ned chuckled at the surprised faces of the younger members of the group. "Have you forgotten that elves are known for their long life?" he teased them.

Canto scoffed. "What's a life when there's nothing to do?" he mumbled.

"We have our gardens to keep, and my father has not been idle with his centuries. He has seen much and knows a great deal," she argued.

They soon reached a landing where stood a strange door. There was no handle or lock, and on either side stood a guard. In their hands were not lances or swords like the other guards, but staffs etched with runes. The guards eyed everyone, even Telana, with suspicion. Telana diverted the steps of the companions so they stood before the guards and she spoke a few words in Elvish. The guards relaxed their tense stance and opened the door by tapping the tips of their staffs against the wood. The door swung open and Telana led her guests into a long hall like the others, but unlike the others there were no doors. It was a straight route to the far end where stood another door and two more guards with staffs.

"What did you say to them?" Ruth wondered.

"The secret words to enter my father's collection of rare artifacts. The words are only known to those in the royal family and those who guard the door," Telana explained. "He keeps his most treasured and dangerous items here where they cannot be used for evil." They reached the new door and repeated the process, but with a different set of words.

The guards opened the door, and instead of a hallway there stretched a wide, cavernous, windowless room with a domed ceiling. At the very end lay a simple locked door. Long carpets covered the floor, and among them stood pedestals and glass cases filled with oddities. There were manacles hewn from an ancient wood, stones etched with runes like the staffs of the guards, and busts that watched the visitors with eyes that moved.

"You may look at anything you please, but I warn you that nothing should be touched," Telana instructed them.

The group fanned out and admired the strange collection. Each piece had a plate with the name of the item, but not the use nor history. Fred stopped in front of a pedestal that held an open metal clamp. He could see a faint hint of a magic aura around the object. He stepped closer, and peered at the metal and the runes etched on the inside of the band.

"Careful there, boy," a voice warned him. Fred spun around to find Ransan standing three feet from him. The elf had a half-grin on his face and his cold eyes glared at the young man. "Edwin wouldn't appreciate your touching that. That is a piece especially dangerous to castors."

Fred didn't like the unfriendly warning in the elf's voice, and straightened to his full height. "Why is that?" Fred asked him.

Ransan stepped past Fred to stand on the other side of the pedestal. His eyes brushed over the clamp as he ran a finger across the top of the pedestal around the object. "This was made by a dwarven craftsman at the request of an elf lord who disliked castors. At a command from the person who holds it the clamp will throw itself upon the top of a castor's staff and seal the magic in the wood, preventing the castor from casting any spells." His eyes flickered upward to Fred and he chuckled. "It can only be released by the same person who gave the command, so the castor is at the mercy of the clamp's master."

The others noticed the new arrival, and Telana walked up to stand before him with a deep frown on her face. "Cousin, what are you doing here?" she questioned him.

"You forget that my port duties extend to the underground rooms, my dear cousin. I was merely making an inspection when I noticed you and your company enter this room," Ransan explained. His eyes swept over the group with clear disdain. "I would think you would have better sense to allow outsiders into this chamber. They may steal something as Canavar tried to do."

"You are the only one who would fear such a threat, Ransan," Telana countered.

He smirked. "I don't fear the outsiders, my dearest, I merely-well, I have much greater experience with them and that has taught me to be cautious," he argued.

"There is no difference in my eyes," she countered.

"I would not anger your beautiful eyes over a trifle, and apologize for my truthfulness," he replied.

She frowned. "I would hope no others would consider such rudeness as truth," she replied.

"In rudeness there is at least truth. I would not put on a false face to please those who are unworthy of my pleasure," he argued.

The princess' face reddened. "You have spoken enough, my cousin. I would have you change the subject before I am angered beyond control," she ordered him.

He grinned and bowed low at the waist. "Unfortunately, duty at the port forces me away, and so I must beg leave of you," he told her.

"It is given freely," she quickly replied. Ransan straightened, smirked at the companions, and left.

After his departure Percy turned to Telana. "Do others support his opinion of outsiders?" he asked her.

She scoffed and shook her head. "His opinion has few allies within the walls of the city, and any hope from outside must pass through the barrier," she reminded them.

"Then for the moment his intentions are confined to you?" Percy wondered.

"Unfortunately, that is true, but we should press on. There is much to see of this city without spoiling it over talk of my cousin," she replied.

Telana led them to the door at the rear of the room. It was of a plain wood without window or ornamentation. She paused before the portal and swept her hand over the surface. They heard the sounds of a thousand locks unlock and the door swung inward to reveal a large circular room, also with a domed ceiling. Two guards stood against the walls on either side of a jagged stump a foot tall made from white, transparent stone. It was all that remained of the Region Stone of Caston. The rest of the shattered remains lay on the floor in sizes ranging from pebbles to fist-sized rocks.

"What kind of lock was that?" Canto asked their guide.

"Only those of my bloodline can open the locks. The guards are my distant cousins," Telana explained to them. She stepped into the room, turned to them, and swept her hand over the scene before them. "This is all that remains of the stone," she told them.

Ned strode toward the remains and the others followed except Fred. Fred hadn't forgotten the last times he had come into contact with the stones, and though this one was destroyed he wouldn't take any chances. Ned stopped in front of the jagged stump of shattered stone, and the guards on either side of him tensed and clutched their rune staffs.

"What was the treasure your father used to destroy the stone?" he asked Telana.

She moved to stand beside him. "An ancient sword given to us by the castors of old." She shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself. "To be truthful we were glad to be rid of both the stone and its treasure."

"Why is that?" Pat wondered.

"The sword was-well, was rather a nuisance. A loud, penetrating song continuously emanated from its blade, and so we were forced to lock it in its own room," she explained.

Percy stooped before the shattered remains and picked up a group of stones and pebbles. The guards saw his action and sprang at him. They thrust the ends of their rune staffs in his face and shouted words at him in their native Elvish tongue. Percy stiffened and his eyes flickered between one staff and the other as his other hand clutched the hilt of his sword.

Telana hurried over and glanced between Percy and the guards. "What is the matter?" she asked them.

"My Elvish is a little rusty, but I believe they want me to stop doing something," Percy replied.

Telana's eyes drifted down to his hand, and she frowned. "You cannot leave with any of the pieces of stone. Please drop them and step away," she advised him.

Percy bowed his head, and opened his hand. A few pebbles and a rock fell from his grasp, and he stood and stepped back. "Might one ask why such precautions when the stone is destroyed?" he wondered.

"Though the stone is destroyed we fear there still remains a part of that magic contained in the rock, and that is why we must ask that no one take away any parts of the stone," she explained.

Ned stepped forward and smiled at the group. "On that note perhaps we should leave. There are more pleasant aspects of the city I wish to see again."

"Very well. If you would follow me I will show you the port," Telana invited them.

The group exited the stone room but once the door closed behind them Percy held back. His hand slipped into his pocket and a sly smirk slip onto his face. A sudden sensation of being watched caused him to turn to his right, and he noticed Sins standing beside the door and just behind him.

"You are as thorough as ever watching over me, my dear assassin," Percy coolly commented. Sins' narrowed eyes brushed over him, but he said nothing. Percy glanced forward at their retreating friends. "Shall we join them?" he suggested.

Percy led them after their friends with Sins following behind in silent contemplation.

CHAPTER 8

Telana led them back to the wide, winding staircase and they moved farther downward. Fred was dizzy by the time the stairs widened to a landing, and on the opposite side of the landing was a large arch with a thick double-door. Telana opened this entrance without use of magic nor key, and the wings swung open to reveal a dazzling blue light. The light originated from the crystal-clear water that lay in the domed cove.

The group stood at the farthest back wall at the top of a terraced road that wound its way like a snake down to the water's edge seventy feet beneath them. The ceiling stretched above them another hundred yards and curved toward the wide opening that lay at two hundred yards distance in front of them. The opening was shaped like an archway, and a tall, wooden wall stretched across the mouth of the entrance to the cove. The wall rose up twenty yards from the water and was twenty feet thick. At the top was a battlement where guards strolled the length watching the ships coming and going. In the center of the wall were two large gates that were opened to the maritime traffic. The battlement arched over the opening like a quaint bridge over a stream, and when the gates were shut the battlement would cap their tops. Beyond the wall lay the ships that were too large to enter the gates. They had their smaller landing boats to carry their cargo to port.