He stood up and stretched his back, scanning the cell’s ceiling. The rafters and beams were just about perfect for what he intended.
He pried the sheets out from under Saryn’s body and knotted them together to form a make-shift rope and noose. He tossed the noose end over one beam and stretched the sheet-rope over to the next beam to be sure he’d have enough excess to tie it off. When he was satisfied his plan would work, he pulled the sheet down and passed the noose over Saryn’s head. After he tightened it snuggly around Saryn’s neck, he threw the loose end over the beam and began to heave Saryn up.
He nearly lost his grip a couple of times as he maneuvered Saryn’s body into the position he wanted. Then he climbed up on the cot and tied off the end on the second beam. Saryn’s body slipped down a couple of inches while he tied it off, but his feet were still a good foot off the floor. Perfect.
He stepped down off the cot and walked over to the cell door. As he cracked it open to make sure the hall was still clear, he glanced back at Saryn’s body. No one would ever guess that Saryn hadn’t killed himself. He stepped out into the hall and replaced the crossbar. If he had timed this right, it was about time for the guard to make his rounds. And that’s when he’d slip away into the woods. No one would ever know he’d been there.
At no point did he notice the splint under Saryn’s leggings, the thin strip of wood that was holding Saryn’s broken thigh bone in place.
Chapter 40
Darrell Makes Some Plans
Kevin was on his way to breakfast when Darrell intercepted him. “We need to talk.”
“Now?” Kevin asked.
Darrell nodded. “Privately.”
“Okay.” Kevin turned around and headed back to his office. As he crossed the reception area, he asked Ariel to send someone down to the kitchen for coffee.
As soon as Kevin shut the door to his office, Darrell said, “Saryn’s dead.”
“Dead?” Kevin asked, frowning. “But I thought Theresa said his injuries weren’t that bad.”
“No, but hanging will do it every time.”
“Hanging? How? Why didn’t the guards stop it?”
“The last one’s the question of the day.” Darrell sighed. “On the surface, it looks like suicide. He was found hanging from the cross beams of his cell. The sheets from the cot had been used as the rope and noose.”
Kevin thought for a moment. “What does Gen. Crandal say about it?”
“He’s not saying a whole lot right now. He’s walking around like an enraged bull. No one’s asking him any questions, me included. Truthfully, I think he blames himself for not having more guards on duty. He only assigned one per shift, and that one was stationed outside. But Saryn was the only prisoner, and he was out for the night once he drank the tea Theresa sent up. One guard should have been enough.”
Kevin leaned back in his chair. “You know, Saryn didn’t strike me as the suicide type. I figured he’d bide his time until his leg was healed and then try to escape.”
“Me, too.”
“Do you think he was afraid he’d be forced to give up the rest of the assassins?”
“I don’t think he was worried about that at all. He refused yesterday, surrounded by a general, two sorcerers, an elf, and guards. He said no, and no one made any threats or tried to force him. I don’t think that even crossed his mind.”
“Then how do you explain what happened last night?”
“I think he was murdered.”
There was a light knock on the door. When Darrell opened it, Chris walked in carrying a tray with three coffee cups and a plate of pastries. He set the tray down on Kevin’s desk, picked up a cup for himself, and sat down.
Darrell brought Chris up to speed. When he finished, Chris reached for a pastry and said, “If it was murder, how did it happen? How did someone get in the cell?”
“You haven’t seen the cells here, have you?”
Both Chris and Kevin shook their heads.
“They’re not like the ones at home. The idea here is to keep the prisoner in. No one’s concerned about keeping anyone out. The ‘lock’ is a sliding crossbar that goes into a wall bracket. Anyone could have opened it.”
“What about the guard? He wouldn’t let just anyone go in,” Chris argued.
“The guard’s post is at the front door, but he walks the perimeter every fifteen minutes. He’s just a token really. I doubt anyone except our killer went into that building from the time they took Saryn his tea last night until they took him breakfast this morning. That’s when they found him.” Darrell shook his head. “I’m sure whoever was on duty last night would have gone in if he’d heard anything. I doubt it crossed anyone’s mind that someone might break into Saryn’s room. I know it didn’t cross mine.”
“All right. Suppose someone did sneak in to kill him,” Kevin said. “Did the room look like there’d been a struggle?”
Darrell shook his head. “But Saryn had two cups of Theresa’s tea. According to the guard, he was out. I doubt he knew anything was happening until it was too late.”
“But why kill him?” Chris asked. “It doesn’t make sense to me.”
“Maybe our spy was afraid he’d be identified,” Darrell said. “There were several people in that room when he said he’d recognize the man’s voice. Maybe someone repeated it to the wrong person.”
“So you think the killer was someone from the castle?” Kevin asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe. But it could also have been one of his assassin friends. They may have decided not to count on his loyalty. Or maybe they even have a pact where if one of them gets captured, the others kill him. I don’t know who did it, but I do know with that broken leg and Theresa’s tea, Saryn did not kill himself.”
“Okay, what can we do about it?” Chris asked. “We don’t have a forensics team. We can’t do the fingerprint bit. We don’t have security cameras. We don’t have anything to go on.”
“But I still think we should pursue it,” Darrell said.
Kevin frowned. “How?”
“Well, this person slipped in, killed him, and slipped back out without alerting the guard or anyone else. That takes skill. And it’s not easy hoisting a dead body up on a rope, especially a rope made of sheets. I doubt I could do it.”
“No way,” Chris said. “I don’t have that kind of upper body strength.”
“I could do it, and never break a sweat,” Kevin said quietly.
Darrell looked at Kevin. “I never even considered that a sorcerer might be involved.”
Kevin shook his head. “I doubt one was, but you can’t rule it out.”
“Anyway, I think a trained assassin did the actual deed, but I do think someone from the castle was involved. This person knew which building Saryn was in. That’s not really common knowledge, at least not in town. He wouldn’t have had to watch very long to figure out the guard’s routine, but he knew there was only one guard on duty. Otherwise he wouldn’t have left the guard outside alive when he went in.” Darrell paused and looked at Kevin. “I think our main goal should be to stop the flow of information. We may never know who killed Saryn, but we need to find out who set it up and who leaked the information about Landis. I feel fairly certain the person we’re looking for is smart, and either works in the castle or is here a lot. And I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the same person who let Rolan know Badec had a cup of tea every night. We need to find out who he is.”
“Don’t rule out a ‘she’,” Chris said. “I know Saryn told all of you that he thought it was a man, but …”
Darrell nodded. “I’m not ruling anyone out.” Then, after a moment, he added, “Well, except for all of us and Laryn.”
“Okay,” Kevin said. “But be careful. I don’t want to find you strung up over your bed.”
~ ~ ~ ~
When Darrell left Kevin’s office, he went back to his own and sat down at his desk. He took out the list of names he had compiled after talking to Elin and Marcus. He’d been
counting on Saryn to identify the spy’s voice. This was going to be harder now.
He picked up a blank sheet of paper and made a list of things he needed to find out. Who knew who Landis was? Or that she was Myron’s apprentice? Who knew she was the one the assassins were looking for? And how did they know? He thought back to the people in Kevin’s office when she’d first arrived. Could any of them be involved? He added those names to his list. They might not have known her plans, but they could have spread the word she was in Milhaven.
He planned to talk to each person on his list near the end of the workday, when they were tired and ready to go home. He figured he’d be more likely to get the truth then. The grounds men started work around daybreak, the housekeeping and kitchen staffs were staggered, and so were the guards. He’d have to schedule interviews after lunch, before dinner, and throughout the evening. Even so, there was no way he’d get them all done in one day.
He wanted to find out what each person had heard and who they’d talked to. He wanted to know every place each person had gone between the time she’d first arrived and mid-afternoon, what they’d done, and who had seen them do it. He wanted alibis, and he wanted alibis he could check, because he was going to check each and every one of them. Because at some point the spy had slipped away and gone to meet with the assassins, and that was how he was going to find out who it was.
Darrell sighed. Things would be so much easier if Glendymere could be there when he asked the questions. Where were all the telepaths when you needed one?
He sat back up and took out another sheet of paper and drew a chart. On the left-hand side he wrote the names of the castle staff. He had planned to start classes in hand-to-hand combat next spring, but after what had happened at the chapel and then at the jail, he wasn’t going to put it off. Classes would start today, and his first students would be the pages.
At the top of the chart he listed the various things he wanted the staff members to be able to do. Next, he assigned different guards to different groups, but he saved the pages, Chris, Karl, Joan, Steve, and Laryn for himself. He wrote Marcus’s name with a big asterisk on one side and a list of his best archers on the other.
He put the papers he’d been working on aside and picked up the original list of people who had been present in the dining room or in Kevin’s office Monday morning. He scanned the list and wrote down five names. Then he cleared his desk and stood up. He handed the list of names to the guard at the front desk. “I want to see these people this afternoon. Have them notified to report here after they eat lunch.”
“Yes, sir,” the guard said.
“I’ll be out back if anyone needs me,” Darrell said as he walked out the door.
He went down the hall to Kevin’s office and asked Chris if he could have Elin and Cameryn for about an hour. “I want them to start working on self-defense.”
Chris nodded. “Need any help?”
“Not yet. We’re going to do some basic stuff first, but I’ll need someone for them to practice on later. Want to volunteer for that?”
Chris laughed. “Only if I have a lot of padding.”
“We’ll come up with something,” Darrell said. He looked over at the girls. “If you’ve got some old clothes, you might want to change. There’s a good chance you’ll get dirty before we’re done.”
~ ~ ~ ~
An hour later, Elin and Cameryn stumbled back into the reception area. They both looked so bedraggled Chris couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you all right?” he asked.
Elin nodded while Cameryn said, “Probably. But a nice hot bath and a change of clothes wouldn’t hurt.”
“Go ahead. There’s nothing going on around here at the moment. I’m sure the guys won’t mind. You can pay them back when Darrell comes for them.” He burst out laughing at the look of dismay on Ariel’s face.
“I thought this was just for the girls,” Ariel said. “You know, so they could protect themselves.”
“You need to learn how to protect yourself, too,” Darrell said from the doorway. “But I don’t want to take all of Chris’s help, so I’ll work with the two of you tomorrow morning right after breakfast. Wear some old clothes.” He turned to Chris. “Do you have any idea where Marcus is?”
“He headed into Milhaven a little while ago, but he said he’d be back in time for lunch. Why? Do you need some help? Kevin’s in his office.”
“Good. I need to see him, too.” Darrell walked across the reception area and knocked on Kevin’s door. At the muffled “Come in,” he opened the door and stepped inside. “Do you have anything on tap this afternoon?”
Kevin shook his head no. “At least not as far as I know. You might want to check with Chris though.”
“I want to start working with Marcus, and I’d like for you to play Glendymere.”
Kevin frowned. “Exactly what do you have in mind?”
“Remember when we were first training for the sparring matches? Glendymere had us form a circle and shoot arrows at you. At first you used your shields, then you batted them away. Later you caught them, and started throwing them back at us.”
Kevin nodded.
“I want to do the same thing with Marcus, but I need you out there to make sure he doesn’t get hurt, at least at first, until he gets used to having arrows flying around him.”
“Darrell, I’m not that good. I’m not Glendymere.”
“No, but you’re good enough for this. I’d love to have you throw energy bolts at him and let him practice defending against those too, but that might be pushing it. We’ll need to get a second sorcerer to throw the energy bolts while you serve as safety net.”
Kevin shook his head. “I can go along with the arrows, but no one’s going to throw energy bolts at Marcus. It’s too dangerous.”
“I disagree, Kevin. Yesterday one of Rolan’s archers tried to kill Landis. When Rolan hears his archer was up against a sorcerer and an elf, he’ll probably rethink his attack team. I know I would. I’d be sure the next team of assassins included a sorcerer.” Kevin still looked unconvinced, so Darrell added, “Everyone in Milhaven knows Marcus works with you. How big a leap is it to assume you’ll turn over most of the training duties to him? He’s going to be a target.”
Kevin leaned back in his chair. “Let me think about it. You can set up some practice against arrows and knives for now. I’ll get back to you about the energy bolts.”
“I’ll round up the archers. Can you and Marcus meet us in the sparring meadow about an hour after lunch today?”
“The one on the road to Milhaven?”
Darrell nodded. “There’s more room there than out back. I don’t want the archers too close to him at first. He’ll need a little reaction time. When he gets quicker we’ll move to the practice field out back.”
Kevin shook his head. “I hope you know what you’re doing. And I hope I’m as good as you think I am. I don’t want to see any more holes in Marcus.”
“Don’t worry. You are.”
~ ~ ~ ~
After he finished the interviews he’d set up for right after lunch, Darrell met with six of his best archers and explained what they were going to do. “We’re going to shoot arrows at Marcus so he can practice defensive magic. Don’t aim directly at him. Aim a little off to the side or a little high. Make it close enough to be realistic, but, for the love of Camden, don’t hit him.”
Brandon, his best archer, asked, “Won’t he be insulted if we don’t aim at him?”
“After yesterday he’d probably rather you didn’t aim right at him. Besides, he knows this is a training exercise.”
“What happens if he does get hurt?” Yanel asked. “Will we be charged?”
Darrell shook his head. “No, but since no one here is going to hurt him, it’s a moot point.”
Meech frowned. “Moot?”
“It means it doesn’t matter since it’s not going to happen,” Darrell explained. “Look, make the arrows come close enough to be threatening, but you’re al
l good enough to miss. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t be here. Now, head out to the sparring field so I can get your positions marked off before Marcus gets there.”
When his men nodded, Darrel said, “I’ll meet you in a few minutes. I’m going to let Myron know we’re ready.”
While his men made their way out of the castle, Darrell stepped into Kevin’s office and asked Chris if Marcus was ready.
“About as ready as he’s going to be. He’s a little apprehensive about having your men shoot at him.”
“He’ll be fine. Kevin’ll be there.”
“I know, but Marcus has never seen Kevin spar. We have. Makes a difference.”
“Maybe I should put Kevin in the center first and let Marcus see how he does it. Think that might make him feel better?”
“It probably would, but your men would have heart attacks.”
Darrell laughed. “I’d have a mutiny on my hands. No, I don’t guess I can order the guards to shoot at the Master Sorcerer, but I’m sure I can get you, Karl, Joan, and Steve to do it. A little demonstration of what we want them to do might help my men as well as Marcus. I should have thought of that earlier. Can we round everyone up?”
Chris stood up. “I don’t know. We can try, but what about bows and arrows? My bow’s upstairs, but I have no idea where my quiver ended up. And I bet Joan and Karl have their stuff at their house in Milhaven.”
“No problem. We’ll borrow what we need from the guards.”
“Ariel, see if you can find Steve and ask him to meet us …,” Chris paused and looked at Darrell.
“In the meadow below the barracks.”
Ariel nodded and left the office.
“We’ll stop by Karl’s office on the way,” Chris said as he walked over towards Kevin’s office. He knocked once and opened the door. “Okay you two,” he said to Kevin and Marcus, “time to get this show on the road.”
Marcus frowned at Chris.
“He means it’s time to go out to the meadow,” Kevin explained.
Darrell stuck his head in the door and looked at Marcus. “Has he explained what we’re going to do?”
The Fourteenth Key (The Chronicles of Terah Book 3) Page 35
