Page 61 of Crucible of Chaos

The clang of the iron-banded door slamming shut behind them was immediately followed by the creak of the key turning in the lock. Caeda dashed through the water to the door and hauled on the handle, but it wouldn’t budge. ‘The coward must have been closing it gradually while we were distracted with Venia’s writings so we wouldn’t hear him pulling against the water.’

‘Forgive me,’ Brother Syme called out from the other side. ‘She. . . she told me to tell you that yours is not the only legal authority here, and by laws more ancient than those of any king, you are hereby placed in the custody of the Cogneri until a trial for heresy may be convened.’

Estevar walked leisurely to the door that was confining them within a low-ceilinged cell slowly filling with water from the overflowing storm drains that would shortly be flooding the lower passages of the abbey. The wooden door had begun to rot long ago, but it was at least four inches thick and banded with iron strong enough to withstand a war hammer, never mind Estevar’s rapier.

He leaned in close and said, ‘You’re forgiven.’

Apparently Brother Syme had not yet run off to inform Brother Agneta that he’d completed his mission. ‘What did you say?’

‘A moment ago, as you locked us inside this waterlogged chamber, you begged our forgiveness. Are you no longer desirous of a pardon?’

‘I. . . Don’t try to fool me with your Greatcoat ruses. She warned me that you might have some trick up your sleeve!’

‘Pocket, actually,’ Estevar mumbled inaudibly.

‘What?’

‘I said, run along now, Novice. Inform Brother Agneta that I am most eager to accommodate her in the matter of a trial for heresy. Give her my forgiveness as well, if you’re of a mind.’ He smiled at Caeda. ‘That will irritate her no end.’

Estevar waited until the sound of the monk’s feet splashing in the water receded. ‘I confess to being at once irritated at his betrayal and disappointed in the lack of originality.’

Caeda snorted in disgust. ‘I couldn’t believe the way he fell for your silly “Are those eels in the water?” ploy.’

‘You saw?’ Estevar asked, somewhat crestfallen that his attempt at legerdemain had been so easily spotted.

She knelt down to peer through the keyhole. ‘What did you stick in there, anyway? It didn’t stop him from turning the lock.’

‘Had I blocked the mechanism, Brother Syme would have known his attempt to incarcerate us had failed. We would have lost the advantage of Brother Agneta being deceived into believing we were her captives.’ Estevar removed the thumb-sized leather pouch from his coat pocket. ‘The powder I pushed inside the lock has no effect on skin or hide, but it rusts metal with remarkable speed. The famed Tailor of the Greatcoats concocted it for burning through iron bars. Some among the nobility make a nasty habit of imprisoning magistrates when they disagree with our verdicts.’

Caeda grinned up at him. ‘Oh, I do adore all your little Greatcoat tricks, my Cantor.’

Estevar knelt to listen at the keyhole. The iron inside the lock was definitely hissing. It wouldn’t be long now. ‘Would you say your fondness for mischief defines you?’ he asked.

‘Defines me?’

Estevar shrugged as if it had been nothing but an idle question to pass the time. ‘Many of us are driven by a singular passion– a focal point– from which all our other tendencies flow.’

She didn’t answer at first, and when he looked back at her, she was paler than before. ‘You make me uncomfortable when you talk like that, Estevar. It’s very rude of you. I wish you’d stop.’

He put up his hands in surrender. ‘Forgive me, my dear. I’ve been wounded, drowned, beaten, threatened with any number of unpleasant deaths and now forced to read the rantings of someone I– grudgingly, I will admit– respected. My mind is perhaps a trifle addled.’

He went back to listening at the keyhole. Hearing nothing now, he grabbed the handle with both hands, placed his heel against the wall and pulled with all his strength. The iron piece holding the bolt in place crumbled and the door slowly opened, splashing even more water over his already soaked legs.

‘See?’ Caeda asked as if this had all been her plan. ‘You’re so much more fun to be around when you leave the philosophising to others.’ She stepped past him, holding the lantern aloft to illuminate the tunnel. ‘Where do we go now? I doubt either the Trumpeters or the Hounds will offer you sanctuary from Brother Agneta.’

Estevar massaged his palms, which now bore the sharp imprint of the door handle. ‘It is not we who require sanctuary, believe me.’ He glanced either way down the winding passageway, trying to get his bearings, then chose left. ‘We must go to the bell gate near the shore on this side of the causeway.’

‘Why?’ she asked, following behind. ‘It can’t be more than an hour after nightfall. Malezias said the causeway wouldn’t be passable until morning at the soonest.’

‘Perhaps, but by now the Margrave of Someil will have assembled his forces on the other side, so I’ll need to shout across the channel to inform him that he’s in violation of the King’s Law against forceful annexation of religious lands. Also, I have reason to believe someone will be coming to meet me by the shore.’

Caeda grabbed the back of his coat to make him slow down. ‘Who’s coming for you?’

‘A dead man,’ Estevar replied. ‘Though he doesn’t know it yet.’

PART THE SEVENTH

THE SIGILS OF SELECTION

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