The Hidden City

‘Truly,’ the Child Goddess replied. ‘Let’s follow the sound back to its source. There has to be some way to get to the water here in the outer city.’

‘How did you become involved in this, Elysoun?’ Liatris was asking.

Elysoun shrugged. ‘I have more freedom of movement than the rest of you,’ she replied. ‘Chacole needed somebody she trusted to carry messages out of the Women’s Palace. I pretended to fall in with her plan. It wasn’t too hard to deceive Chacole. She is a Cynesgan, after all.’

‘It is here, Divine One,’ Xanetia whispered, laying her hand on a large iron plate set into the cobblestones. ‘Thou canst feel the urgent rush of water through the very iron.’

‘I’ll take your word for it, Anarae,’ Aphrael replied, cringing back from the notion of touching iron. ‘How do they get it open?’

‘These rings do suggest that the plate can be lifted.’

‘Let’s go back and get the others. I think this might be the weakness Bevier was looking for.’

Danae yawned. Everything seemed to be under control, so she curled up in her chair, nestled Mmrr in her arms, and promptly fell asleep.

‘Couldn’t you have just – well –?’ Talen wiggled his fingers.

‘It’s iron, Talen,’ Flute said with exaggerated patience.

‘So? What’s that got to do with it?’

She shuddered. ‘I can’t bear the touch of iron.’

Bevier looked intently at her. ‘Bhelliom suffers from the same affliction,’ he observed.

‘Yes. So what?’

‘That would suggest a certain kinship.’

‘Your grasp of the obvious is positively dazzling, Bevier.’

‘Behave yourself,’ Sparhawk chided.

‘What’s so unpleasant about iron?’ Talen asked. ‘It’s cold, it’s hard, you can pound it into various shapes, and it gets rusty.’

‘That’s a nice scholarly description. Do you know what a lodestone is?’

‘It’s a piece of iron ore that sticks to other iron, isn’t it? I seem to remember Platime talking about something called magnetism once.’

‘And you actually listened? Amazing.’

‘That’s why Bhelliom had to congeal itself into a sapphire!’ Bevier exclaimed. ‘It’s the magnetism of iron, isn’t it? Bhelliom can’t bear it – and neither can you, isn’t that so?’

‘Please, Bevier,’ Aphrael said weakly. ‘Just thinking about it makes my flesh crawl. Right now we don’t want to talk about iron. We want to talk about water. There’s a stream or river of some kind running under the streets here in the outer city, and it’s flowing in the direction of the inner wall. There’s a large iron plate set in the middle of the street not far from here, and you can hear the water running beneath it. I think that’s the weakness you were looking for. The water’s running through a tunnel of some kind, and that tunnel goes under the wall of the inner fortress – at least I hope so. I’ll go find out as soon as you gentlemen lift off that iron plate for me.’

‘Did you see any patrols in the streets?’ Kalten asked.

‘Nay, Sir Knight,’ Xanetia replied. ‘Centuries of custom have clearly dulled the alertness of the Cynesgans responsible for the defense of the outer city.’

‘A burglar’s dream,’ Talen murmured. ‘I could get rich in this town.’

‘What would you steal?’ Aphrael asked him. ‘The Cyrgai don’t believe in gold and silver.’

‘What do they use for money?’

‘They don’t. They don’t need money. The Cynesgans provide them with everything they need, so they don’t even think about money.’

‘That’s monstrous!’

‘We can discuss economics some other time. Right now I want to investigate their water supply.’

* * *

‘You idiot!’ Queen Betuana raged at her general.

‘We had to find out, Betuana-Queen,’ Engessa explained. ‘And I will not send another where I will not go.’

‘I am most displeased with you, Engessa-Atan!’ Betuana’s retreat into ritualized mourning had vanished. ‘Did your last encounter with the Klæl-beasts teach you nothing? They could have been lurking just inside the cave, and you would have faced them alone again.’

‘It is not reasonable to suppose that they would have,’ he replied stiffly. ‘Aphrael’s messenger told us that the Klæl-beasts take shelter in caves that they might breathe a different air. The air at the entrance to this cave will be the same as the air outside. It is of no moment, however. It is done, and no harm came from it.’

She controlled her anger with an obvious effort. ‘And what did you prove by your foolish venture, Engessa-Atan?’

‘The Klæl-beasts have sealed the cave, Betuana-Queen,’ he replied. ‘Some hundred paces within stands a steel wall. It is reasonable to suppose that it may in some fashion be opened. The Klæl beasts retreat beyond the barrier, close it behind them and are then able to breathe freely for a time. Then they emerge again and attack us once more.’

‘Was this information worth the risk of your life?’

‘We have yet to discover that, my Queen. The tactics devised by Kring-Domi keep us out of the reach of the Klæl-beasts, but I do not like this running away.’

Betuana’s eyes hardened. ‘Nor do I,’ she conceded. ‘I dishonor my husband’s memory each time I turn and flee.’

‘Aphrael’s cousin told us that Khalad-squire had found that the air which the Klæl-beasts breathe will burn when it mixes with our air.’

‘I have not seen air burn before.’

‘Nor have I. If the trap that I have set for the Klæl-beasts works, we may both see it happen.’

‘What sort of trap, Engessa-Atan?’

‘A lantern, my Queen – well hidden.’

‘A lantern? That’s all?’

‘If Khalad-squire was right, it should be enough. I closed the lantern so that the Klæl-beasts will see no light when they open their steel door to come out again. All unseen, their air will join with ours, and the mix will find its way to the candle burning inside my lantern. Then we will discover if Khalad-squire was right.’

‘Then we must wait until they open that door. I will not leave them behind us until I know without any doubt that this burning of air will kill them. As Ulath-Knight says, only a fool leaves live enemies behind him.’