| |
SO THIS WAS REALLY it, Dun thought, as the guards hurried them, pushing and prodding them back to their cells. But why all of a sudden? What did that mural say that was worth killing them over?
Should he even be worrying about that at all? Were they about to be put to death? He chastised himself for being distracted. But that didn’t stop him thinking about it.
“I always thought these Stone-folk were no appreciators of art,” Padg said after a particularly vindictive poke from his guard. Although they had become used to the heavy quern-stones on their feet, hurrying in them was neither comfortable nor easy.
“Quiet you,” the poking guard said.
“Oh come on,” Dun chimed in, bottled annoyance rising in him. “It’s hardly like you can threaten us. Let’s agree that we’ll hurry not to get you into trouble, and you’ll let us talk on our way. It is kind of our last chance.”
“Well,” the guard said, pushing Dun, who seemed more senior, Dun thought, “I don’t suppose it’ll bother Tuf none.”
“There,” Dun said in what he hoped were pacifying tones. “Speaking of Tuf, where is he? I thought he’d have come this way with us if it was fastest.”
“It isn’t.”
“Oh?”
“There’s a quicker more dangerous way. He’ll have taken that to get there first.”
“I’m not being picky here,” Padg chimed in. “But would it have made any difference taking us that way, if you’re all so keen to get rid of us?”
“It has ladders,” Padg’s guard said.
“Ah,” Padg conceded. He was particularly feeling the weight and chafing of his quern-stone, in the rush to their doom.
Dun had noticed that Tali was unusually quiet.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yes. Fine.”
“It’ll be okay.”
“You know that?”
“No, I’ve not had a foretelling but...”
“Well, then,” she said sharply. Then, realizing quite how she’d lashed at Dun, she continued, “I’m sorry, it’s just... I’m... I...”
“Scared?” Dun offered.
“Yes.”
“If, you know, if- we’ll all be together...” Dun said.
“If it does come to that,” Tali said. “I want to go first. I don’t think I could stand it... you know.”
“Yeah, I know,” Dun said.
They drifted back into a silence surprisingly easy for what they’d just discussed. The air clearer now, they’d broached what they needed most to say. At least they were returning by a less populated route, Dun thought. Somehow he felt less bad because of that. Or maybe it was a rest span. He’d lost track since he’d been a prisoner and wasn’t sure what times they were being kept to. All he knew was that he was tired, and he didn’t want to die when he was tired. Did everyone get stupid thoughts like that when facing death, he wondered? Of all the times that a foretelling would be useful, now would be good. It was just that the part of his brain that was tired and scared seemed to be the part he was supposed to be calling on to produce a result.
The journey seemed to be slowing down and not just due to carrying the weight of the quernstones. The guards gave them a break and issued flasks of faintly brackish water for them to drink. Dun panted and Padg’s leg was bleeding where his stone had rubbed him. He adjusted the stone and tore some fabric off his other trouser leg to stuff down where it was rubbing. It would have to do. The break wasn’t as long as either Dun or Padg had hoped, but the new pace the guards set was mercifully slower. Dun wondered whether this was just because they were closer to their destination. He caught that thought and reminded himself he must keep his head straight, despite everything. Tali and Padg, despite their bluster, depended on him. He was responsible for leading them, wherever they had to go, and if he allowed himself the luxury of wallowing in fears of his own doom, then what kind of person did that make him?
Slowly, Dun detected smells of civilization on the gentle breeze moving through the corridors. They were nearing the end of the journey. They threaded their way back through the market and back through houses to the stair that led down to the prison level. All three of them were made to stand in front of Tuf’s desk. He had reached there before them, as they’d all expected. They could smell something pungent on his breath.
“The two males will follow me,” Tuf said. Dun thought, he knows our names. He wondered Tuf had to disassociate himself from people he’s supposed to execute?
“The female must wait here with a guard for her escort—wherever she is, curse her. Well, we cannot wait, we must proceed.”
Dun and Padg were led to the chamber that they’d bathed in when they arrived. Two guards were there to meet them. It seemed to Dun there were a lot more guards around. Their clothes were taken, and Dun and Padg were roughly scrubbed with stones then doused in warm water. The guards guided them to a warm air vent, and they waited while they dried off. Next, the guards pulled them into fresh-smelling, loose-fitting clothes. Finally, they left the chamber and walked back out into the corridor. It felt refreshingly cool after the humidity of the bath chamber. Then they were walked back to their cells. Tuf was there to meet them. He reached for Dun’s face, held his chin, and smeared something in the middle of his forehead. It felt greasy and cold.
“Gods, decide your fate,” Tuf said.
He repeated the ritual with Padg. Now Dun felt really scared.
***
TALI STOOD AT THE GUARD station with her guard, for whom she hadn’t managed to overhear a name. It was definitely a male though, she could smell that, and a nervous one to boot. She heard his feet shuffling on the floor as the time clicked by. At least she could enjoy the fact that she wasn’t the only one who was nervous. She wondered where Amber was. Somehow, whatever happened, she wanted Amber to be there. It seemed right. Although equally, Tali could understand if Amber didn’t want to be.
Her guard finally cracked.
“Right, we will wait here for Amber no longer. I will return you to your cell and search for her.”
I can sit down, thought Tali, as she was ushered back. She was trying to stay cheerful, but the remainder of her morale was ebbing away. She was hurriedly pushed into her cell, caught her foot, and fell to the floor. As she rubbed the parts of her that stung, she wondered what she’d tripped on; she knew her cell pretty well by now. She felt across the floor.
It was her backpack.
Tali’s heart leaped. Now she had an ally and they had a chance. There was only one question left to answer: Would she still have time?
“Who knew, a whole... a whole everything, could spring up out of what we left behind, the first time.”
Excerpts from <Distress Beacon SN-1853001>. Found by E.S.V. Vixen Terradate: 26102225.
