Джеффри Лорд - Champions Of The Gods

«Why should I care if you die in the flames or not? Don't tell me that this night should be enough, either. You'd be wasting your breath.»

Arllona was silent for a long moment. Blade could hear her breathing returning slowly to normal, as she apparently reached a decision.

«I came because I can help you escape,» she said at last.

Blade's expression and voice did not change. «How? Do you know the way out of this prison? If you do not, you know nothing I do not, and there is no reason I should trust you.»

«I know the way as far down as the roof garden,» she said firmly.

«But that is guarded,» said Blade. He was testing her now.

«Not as well as it once was,» said the woman. «I know there are only two guards there at night. That is still too many for me. I could not fight them. But they will not stand against a warrior of the Raufi.»

«And then?»

«You mean, when you have slain the guards?»

«Yes.»

«The garden is no more than the height of fifteen tall men above the ground. One side drops straight down the inner wall, into the Gardens of Stam. There are strong vines in the roof garden. Again, I could not cut them and make a rope of them, or climb down that rope without help. But a warrior of the Raufi-«

«You seem very ready to praise the warriors of the Raufi, for a woman of Kano.» Arllona was silent, but Blade saw something-surprise? alarm? — unmistakably flicker briefly in her eyes. His hands clamped on her jaw and wrist again. This time he did not hold back his strength. He wanted to frighten her, tear out of her the truth she still hadn't told.

«Tell me-why this praise for the Raufi? You are an agent of Dahrad Bin Saffar, aren't you? Tell me, then-why should I not tell Dahrad what a clumsy agent you are? I cannot imagine that he rewards foolish spies.»

For a moment Blade thought he was going to have to knock Arllona unconscious to keep her from having hysterics. She writhed and heaved and struggled, trying to bite the hand he clamped over her mouth and pull free of the arm locked around her waist. She whimpered and gasped and moaned. Blade did not relax until she lay silent and still in his arms.

«Please,» she murmured at last. «Please. Do not tell anyone. If Dahrad does not stake me out in the desert, the Jade Masters will do something even worse. I don't want to die. I don't!»

Blade reflected that she was certainly in the wrong profession if she was that afraid to die. Spying was a risky business in any Dimension. «You have my word that I will do everything I can to keep you alive, if you tell me the truth. Start with the Jade Masters.»

It took quite a while to finally get the truth out of Arllona. She was no longer trying to conceal anything, but she was too sick with fright and worry to be very coherent.

The Jade Masters might be citizens of Kano, but they did not really care much who ruled it. What they wanted was the assurance that their lives, families, mines, and profits would stay intact through the worst the Raufi could do to the city. So the Council of the Jade Masters was secretly negotiating with Dahrad Bin Saffar.

«What are they promising?»

Apparently Arllona was telling the truth when she said she didn't know exactly. She was only a courtesan, once the mistress of one of the Council. By having her arrested on a minor charge, the Council had placed her in the prison. There she was to spy out the prison and spy on the Keeper. The Keeper came from an old and much-honored family, knew many secrets, and talked freely when in his cups or in his bed. There was very little that Arllona didn't know about making an old man talk freely, and very little of what he'd said over the past few months that she'd forgotten.

Now she had to get out of the prison, and soon. She had to get at least as far as the Gardens of Stam, where the Jade Masters had a hidden rendezvous for their spies. Until Blade appeared, she hadn't been able to even imagine how to make her escape.

«I have been in the roof garden. I know the way down there, and I tell the truth about the vines and the wall. I must have your help. Otherwise-«She shrugged helplessly.

Blade suspected that Arllona was actually a good deal less helpless than she pretended to be. But even if she was planning to lead him into a trap, it would take a strong trap to hold him if it caught him with a sword in his hand. Certainly he could not hope for any better chance to get out of this prison.

If worse came to worst, he would at least have a chance to take a few Kanoans with him, rather than to sizzle helplessly on that blasted cart! Also, the escape or death of his prize sacrifice would make the Second Consecrated Jormin very unhappy indeed. It was good to think about annoying that arrogant bastard!

«Why are you smiling so, brother?» Arllona asked.

Blade swiftly improvised an answer. «I was remembering how you came to me and what you had in mind.»

Arllona laughed nervously. Blade suspected that in daylight he would have seen her blushing. «That was very foolish of me. I–I wanted a real man, not that old-! But you are a Raufi. I was fortunate that you wanted me.»

«Why?»

«Well, you know, so many of you are great lovers of boys or other men. They will not lie with a woman except one they consider fit to bear their sons.»

Blade's smile widened. «Well, you have seen that I do not think that way.»

«Truly, you do-«The rest of her words vanished in a whimper of delighted surprise as Blade's arms went around her and his lips pressed down on hers. Warmth and desire rose in him again, and as he tightened his grip he could feel it rising in her too.

The next morning Jormin himself came in with the guard who brought the food and the doctor who examined Blade's wounds. The priest hovered over the doctor until it was obvious that the man would have lost his temper if it hadn't been too dangerous to quarrel with one of the Consecrated.

«Is he healing?» Jormin asked. «When will he be healed? The wrath of the gods will be upon Kano if there is no one for the Mouth soon!»

«He is healing,» replied the doctor. «Are you sure that the gods' wrath is not already upon us? The Raufi have never struck so close to the walls as they did last night. Do you think that you-?» He cut himself off as Jormin's eyes hardened. His eyes were murderous as they watched the priest turn away.

When he was alone, Blade went to the window and looked out. He saw at once what the doctor had meant. Not far beyond the outer walls, a solid mass of smoke a mile wide rose into the morning sky. Farther out, Blade could see clouds of dust and the glint of sun on armor and weapons as the army of Kano rushed about.

Blade realized that his fate now depended on the outcome of a three-way race. Would Arllona be able to arrange his escape before Jormin decided that he was ready to sacrifice him, or the Raufi swarmed over the walls? He and Arllona had agreed that the best time for the escape would be another night when the outer chamber was empty of guards. There would be no one to kill, meaning no bodies left lying about to give any warning.

But the guards' chamber would be empty only if there was another large Raufi attack, one that drew every man who could carry a weapon to the walls. The next time the Raufi came, however, might be the grand assault on the city itself.

«The very winds blowing off the desert bring the smell of the gathering of the Raufi,» a guard had said.

At least Jormin would not be able to come secretly in the night and carry Blade off. He would have to warn the Prison Keeper, and if he warned that old man, Arllona would learn the secret. The Keeper would certainly mumble it in drunkenness or passion. Then Blade and Arllona would have to move at once, striking down however many guards they met-and hoping luck would be with them.