Sung In Blood

He lowered another basket.

"Keep him talking," Soup whispered.

Spud did his best. Soup examined their prison.

It had been used as a garbage pit. And dump for bodies. He saw fragments of several skeletons.

But nothing useful as a tool or weapon.

"Quit your whining," the man above said. "You're alive." And, "I heard you guys was tough.

Guess maybe you're not so much after all." He laughed as Spud spat something back.

The easterner demolished the man's claim to a family history.

The light went out.

"I think you made him mad, Spud."

Spud chuckled. "That was the idea. Look up there."

Soup saw a hairline crack of light.

They argued about who would climb onto whose shoulders. The fading of the light caused Soup to give in.

Spud fell off his first two tries. Third time around he caught hold and kept his balance. Soup huffed and muttered. Spud strained and stretched, forced the tips of his fingers through the crack. He ground his teeth, expecting a heel to smash them.

Nothing happened.

He pulled himself up, pushed the cover with his head. "Heavy!" he gasped.

"Hurry!" Soup growled. "You're ruining my shoulders."

Spud heaved again. A corner of the lid rose. Then the whole thing slid aside. He threw an arm over the edge of the hole, anchored himself, looked around. "Nobody up here." A moment later he was out. "The rope!" he said.

It came up. He hoisted Soup. They swung the lid into place.

"Where are we?" Soup asked.

"Someplace near the Bridge. Tell that by the smell."

"Yeah. Looks marshy down there ... What's that?"

A whiny, muted, metallic sound came from the north. "Music," Soup said.

"If you say so." Spud coiled his lariat. "Let's take a look."

In a moment they crouched behind a fallen wall, looked at a shabby building which leaked light and sound. A door opened on the far side. Enough light escaped to betray a small ship drawn up on a narrow beach.

"Smugglers," Soup said. "They hired smugglers to watch us."

"What now?"

"Put some distance between us and them. Hole up till dawn. Then head along the coast till we come to a village."

Spud snorted. "We'll see."

"We won't see much for long if we don't start stepping."

The sun had not been up an hour before they knew the awful truth. "An island!" Soup snarled.

"We're on an island."

"One of the Hurm Islands, to be exact," Spud said. "Nowhere else fits."

"So we're trapped anyway."

"We'll steal a boat. We're not that far from the Saverne side."

Soup demanded, "How do you expect to do that? It won't be long before they know we're gone and start hunting. We can't grab one of their boats in broad day-light."

"We won't. I'll lower you back down so you can grouch and complain when they come to feed us.

I'll pull you out again after dark. Then we'll grab a boat. And have twelve hours' head start."

"Why don't you go down in the hole?"

"It's my plan."

Bickering, they headed for their former prison.

XVIII

Rider was thoughtful as he descended to the Treasury chambers.

"Why so quiet?" Su-Cha asked. In the shadows the imp was almost invisible. He gave Rider a start.

"I'd better pay more attention," Rider said. "You could have been one of Shai Khe's gang."

"Right. I could. So what did Belledon say?"

"That Kentan Rubios was the chief of the King's Shadows."

"Aha."

"Aha indeed. Polybos House—a pseudonym, of course—is the only other Sanjek in the City."

"Aha again. Where are you headed?"

"To look into Vlazos' safety chest. Afterward, we'll visit Rubios' City house. Belledon said he ordered everything left as it was found."

"What's he going to do about Polybos House?"

"Call him in for a conference and surprise him with a set of chains. We get first crack at him."

"What was that?" They were near the Treasury vault, deep in the living stone of the Rock. The hallways were nests of shadows.

Rider saw nothing, but trusted Su-Cha's senses. He took hold of the web, probed. "Something

... The thing that murdered Odehnal. It's gone now. Evidently just spying."

"You'd better be quick. He might have gone for help."

"He probably did." Rider lengthened his stride. "Keep watch."

Two old pensioners guarded the vault. They knew Rider. He had a Treasury secure chest of his own. He gave them a sealed order from Belledon. Half the security of the vault arose from the fact that only the vault attendants themselves could distinguish between the thousands of identical chests. They argued. Not even the King, they said, could authorize ...

Rider waved a hand. They fell silent. "Show me the box," he commanded.

The elder turned, led the way. The other remained on guard, occasionally shaking his head puzzledly. Su-Cha vanished into the shadows outside.

Rider's guide indicated a chest indistinguishable from a hundred others. Rider tried the Vlazos key. The chest opened immediately.

"Ah." Several bound ledgers lay inside the chest, with one packet of letters tied together with a red ribbon. Rider opened a ledger at random.

Names. Dates. Places. Minutes of topics discussed.

"This is what I came for." He took ledgers and letters and headed for the door.

Su-Cha sent warning by tugging at the web.

Rider cast a small spell which set shadows dancing like a madman's dream. Those who lurked outside became disoriented. They called to one another in confusion.

A second spell sent shadows playing over Rider's own body. He entered the chaos in the hallway—and seemed to disappear.

Su-Cha, meantime, shifted form. He grew into something huge and ugly, a nightmare beast with eight-inch fangs and a disposition so foul fire bubbled from his nostrils. He jumped at a man.

"Boo!"

Panic added its mad whip to the confusion.

The two old guards came to investigate. Su-Cha frightened them too. He giggled, then took off after Rider.

"Names, dates, places, and plans," Rider told the others. The contents of Vlazos' chest lay scattered across the library table. "A meticulous man, our Vlazos. He kept records of everything."

"When do we round them up?" Chaz asked.

"We'll let Belledon have the credit for that," Rider said. "We're going to Kentan Rubios'

house."

"Let Belledon do it? When you can't trust anyone anymore?"

Rider tapped the ledgers. "He'll have these to go by."

"But they know about them. Else why would a bunch of them have been down at the vault?"

"Maybe we'll see the rats scatter," Su-Cha said. "Rider, you think Belledon will grab Polybos House? Because we still got to figure out about the Devil's Eyes."

"Things are going to get crazy, we'd better see about Spud and Soup, too," Chaz said. "Shai Khe might kill them out of spite."

"I don't think he's the petty sort," Rider said. "Still, he can't keep a close rein on all his henchmen. We'll go first time things slow down."

Chaz jerked his head to indicate Caracene. "What about her?"

"We can't have her ru

"Somebody pounding on the door."

Rider strode into the laboratory. Chaz ducked into the contraption of mirrors. "It's all right," Rider said, after peering through the peeping device. "One of the King's men." He opened the door.

Chaz was determined to trust no one. Likewise, Su-Cha, who had secreted himself behind a rack of glassware.

Even Preacher and Greystone, in the library, had drawn weapons.

The King's man did not enter. Breathlessly, he said, "His Majesty has taken the prisoner. But people from the Shadows are clamoring to talk to him. His Majesty suggests you take custody."