Nodding our agreement, we watched the Librarian melt back into the shadows and disappear. We really should have pressed Meela and Reeba more about the Librarians. There was something slightly off about them, but I could never place exactly what it was.
“Let’s go,” Lierick whispered.
Vox handed the bag to Avalon, and she strapped it carefully across her body. Epsy moved from her pocket into the bag, curling up on top of whatever was in there. The last line of protection for whatever those tomes were, because I had no doubt they were important.
We moved toward the rough stone steps quietly, Vox’s magic buffering the noise. We made it to the dungeon level, and they were filled with people. No one I recognized, but as we moved down the hall, their hands reached out to us from behind the bars. Begging for help.
Lierick’s magic didn’t seem to work down here. I placed my finger to my lips, begging for them all to be quiet. Were they political prisoners too, or did they need to be down here? I didn’t have time to decide.
Hold on,I mouthed at them.Soon.I wasn’t sure that was true, but I could offer them hope, if not an escape.
We finally made it to the end of the row. “He’s not here,” Vox growled.
Fuck.We stood in front of an empty cell, though I’d bet my left testicle that Zier had been in there. We turned to the cell opposite. Inside the shadowed cell was a man caked in dirt and filth, his face hidden by an overgrown beard.
“Where is the man from the cell opposite you?” Vox asked, his voice filled with an authority he rarely used within our group. I hadn’t really heard it since Boellium, if I was honest. It was like a mask he slipped on.
“Why would I tell you, Vylan scum?” the man hissed.
Tilting his head, Vox stared. “Sir Trenton?”
“I don’t think I’m Sir anything anymore, you rat-piss-soaked bastard.”
I snorted a laugh. Colorful. Vox looked confused, and maybe a little affronted, so I stepped forward. “I will ask you once more, or I’m coming in there and breaking bones until I get my answers. Where is the man from the cell opposite you?”
“Why would I help a Vylan? Those sick fuckers stole my son. They tortured…” He broke off with a choked sound.
I looked at Vox, and it all clicked together. “You tried to get Malak back from Yaron? That’s why you’re down here?”
Trenton spat on the ground at our feet. “I asked the Baron of the First Line to get his son in hand. He had Malak chained to a wall, torturing him for fun. I told Feodore that his son was a psychopath, that he needed to be put down like a rabies-infested dog.”
Ah.Yeah, that would explain why he was in the dungeon.
Vox’s jaw was tense, but he stood closer to the bars. Brave, because I was fairly sure that Trenton would like to wrap his hands around a Vylan throat and squeeze. “We rescued Malak from Yaron’s party boat over a week ago. I sank my brother to the bottom of Lake Vale with his brains dripping from his ears. I avenged you both. We dropped Malak in the Fifth Line Barony with directions to someplace he could find refuge.”
Hope flared in the eyes of the man in front of us, but it was quickly quashed. “Why should I believe you? Liars and snakes, all of you Vylans.”
I stepped forward. “Not all of them. Not him. But I swear it on my own Line. I watched Malak walk off into the distance myself. I can’t attest to anything that has happened since then, but the last time I saw him, he was healthy enough.”
The man let out a shuddering sob. “I didn’t let myself believe he was still alive. Yaron never let his playthings live. It was mypunishment for turning a blind eye, until it was one of my own in his wicked hands.” He sobbed harder. Avie looked pale, her eyes shiny with tears too.
“We need to know if the man in that cell is being interrogated or…” I refused to believe we were too late.
“They came and got him for execution.”
“How long ago?” I snapped. We were wasting time.
“Maybe ten minutes?”
Fuck!The time for stealth was gone. Lierick and Iker disappeared into the guard room, the sounds of shouting muffled by the heavy wooden doors, but they returned with keys. Lierick opened the door and handed the keys to Trenton.
“You want to thank us for saving your son? Let every one of these men out from their cells and make a mess on your way out the door. Want to punish the Vylans? Do it now.”
With that, we ran. We had no more time. We had to make it to the steps of the Hall of Ebrusnow.
We fanned out around Avalon, drawing our swords. Avalon pulled her own dagger, holding it close to her thigh as she moved with us easily. I missed the hounds; fighting without them was like fighting with my hands behind my back.
“This way,” Vox murmured, ushering us into an alcove and moving the rock wall behind it with his power. “The hidden corridors. It’s how the Baron always manages to appear from nowhere. I suspect it’s how the Librarian moves around too.”
