Marked for Death

Chapter 32

Kandler looked around the bedchamber. Four different beds lined the walls, each made of polished mahogany with a tall, white canopy. A thick oak panel separated this bedchamber from the ladies’, just like the one that partitioned off the sitting room from the rest of this level of the tower. Wide, unglazed windows stood in the tower’s outer wall. As with the windows on the other floors, the mists dared not cross over their thresholds.

The justicar ran a finger along the edge of one of the ornate nightstands that stood next to each bed. It came back covered with dust.

Kandler heard the trapdoor in the tower’s roof slam shut. He returned to the door and pressed his ear against it. He could hear someone walk down the upper stairs and stop in the sitting room.

Majeeda’s voice muttered something in the arcane tongue of wizards. After a moment of silence, footsteps receded down the stairs from the sitting room to the lower levels. When Kandler was sure his host had left, he tried the door. It didn’t budge, no matter how hard he shook it.

The justicar strode over to the windows and peered into the mist. He couldn’t see anything other than the swirling clouds. He poked his head outside, and the cloying mist clung to him. Even at this altitude, it was so thick he couldn’t see anything below or above.

Kandler peered off to his left where he guessed there would be a window looking out from the ladies’ bedchamber. If there was, it remained hidden to him.

“Esprл,” the justicar called through the mist. He feared that Majeeda might hear him, but he was ready to-risk it. “Sallah, are you there?”

“Kandler!” Esprл sounded excited. “We’re here. I can’t see you.”

“Stand aside, child,” said Sallah. “The light of the Silver Flame will help here.”

Kandler saw a light come shimmering out of the darkness to his left. It burned away at the mist, and soon he could see Sallah’s sword flickering with its silvery fire.

“Have you tried your door?” Kandler asked.

“It’s locked,” Esprл said.

“Magically,” said Sallah. “And don’t think about trying to scale these walls.”

Kandler ran his hand along the stones near him. “Too smooth. I left my ropes in the saddlebags too.”

“What about the bed sheets?” asked Esprл.

Kandler snapped his finger. “Good thinking. I’ve got lots of them, plenty to reach the ground.”

“Are you sure?” Sallah said. “We don’t know what’s straight down from here. It could be that chasm or something even worse.”

“Worse than the chasm?” Esprл asked in disbelief.

“I don’t see where we have much of a choice,” said Kandler. “Majeeda’s several arrows shy of a full quiver. The longer we stay here, the better the chance that she’ll do something to us.”

“Sir Deothen will not abandon us in here,” Sallah said. “We need only wait for him and the others to come to our aid.”

“Even if they could somehow get across the chasm, Majeeda would spank them like babies. If they’re lucky, they’d end up here with us, which leaves us in the same spot.”

“So what do you propose?”

Kandler rubbed his chin for a moment. There were no good options, but one was clearly less worse than the others. “We have to give it a try. I’ll make a rope from the sheets over here. Get started over there too.”

“We’re going to use separate ropes?” Sallah asked.

“I’m coming over there first. If I get to the bottom and it’s safe, I’ll tug on the sheets. Then you can follow me down.”

“This is insane.”

“Welcome to the Mournland.”

Kandler went over to the beds, tore their dusty sheets from them, and began knotting them together. The sheets were old, and they had a musty scent that made him sneeze, but they were rough enough that he thought the knots would hold. He wondered how long it had been since someone had slept in them.

The justicar soon had a makeshift rope he was confident would be long enough reach to the ladies’ bedchamber. He needed something to weigh down one end of it, though, so he could throw it. He glanced around and on one of the nightstands he spotted a small statue, a bust of an elf carved from jade. As he picked it up, he wondered if it was a likeness of Majeeda in life. If so, she’d been beautiful. He tied the end of the sheet-rope around it and stepped over to the window.

“Ready,” Kandler said. Sallah’s sword reappeared at her window.

“We’re still working in here,” Esprл called out.

“I’ll give you a hand when I get over there. I only made enough to get from my room to yours.”

“We’re ready,” said Sallah.

Kandler leaned out the window and swung around the bust-weighted end of the sheets in a wide circle. “All right,” he said, “catch!”

The justicar flung the bust toward the sword. “Ow!” Sallah said. There was a clatter, and Kandler could see the knight’s sword almost fall away into the mist. When the bust hit the end of the sheet-rope’s length, it tugged hard. Kandler felt himself being pulled through the window, but he hauled himself back in at the last moment.

“You could say something when you tie a chamber pot into the end of something you’re throwing at me,” Sallah said.

“It was a jade bust,” said Kandler. “And now you know.” He hauled up the sheet and started swinging the bust around again to give it another try.

“Incoming!” the justicar said as he flung the bust over once more. This time, he heard a satisfying grunt on the other end.

“She got it!” said Esprл\

“Perfect. Now tie your end to something solid. I’m coming over.”

Kandler anchored his end of the sheet-rope to the nearest bed’s leg and tested it with his full weight. It held.

“Ready!” said Esprл.

“Here I come.”

Kandler pulled his legs over the edge of the window and looked down into the nothingness of the mists. For a moment, he wondered if this was what the realm of the dead looked like, then he rubbed his hands together, took a deep breath, grabbed the sheet-rope, and swung himself out.

The sheet-rope gave a bit under Kandler’s weight. He swung for a moment, trying to regain his equilibrium. When he was ready, he moved hand over hand along the rope.

The distance between the windows hadn’t seemed so far when Kandler made the rope. Throwing a jade bust the thirty feet or so was easy. Crossing the gap himself was a bit more treacherous.

Kandler was about halfway to his goal when he heard a sheet behind him start to give. The tearing noise pierced the mist-shrouded air like a shout. He recognized it and flung himself along the rope as fast as he could go.

The justicar only managed to get another swing in before the rope separated. It tore right where it had been rubbing against the corner of the windowsill, and Kandler fell.

Esprл screamed.

Kandler yelled as he swung out into the mists. He clung to the rope with all his might. When he reached the bottom of his swing, his hands slipped along the rough, musty sheets. The skin burned from the palms of his hands, but he held on tighter, trying to slow his descent.

Kandler’s grasp came to a knot in the sheet, and he stopped hard. His momentum kept going, though, and he swung far out away from the tower’s wall.

When Kandler reached the end of the swing, he breathed a sigh of relief, despite the pain in his hands and his arms. It turned into a gasp of fear as he swung back.

Kandler’s back slammed into the tower’s wall, knocking the air from his lungs and wrenching his arms. Still, he managed to hold on, and he hung there until he could breathe again, grateful that the swinging had stopped. The mists swirled hungrily below him, and for a moment Kandler considered letting them have him. Maybe Esprina would be waiting for him on the other side.

“Kandler!” Esprл said. The voice shocked Kandler out of his daze.

Sallah joined her. “Kandler!”

“All right,” the justicar said. He still had work to do here. He couldn’t leave Esprл and the others to the mad elf’s whims. He choked on his words until he cleared his throat. “I’m all right,” he said. “Be right up.”

Kandler stretched his shoulders a bit, testing to see if they would still work. He took a deep breath and started pulling himself hand over hand up the sheets. He had only made it a few feet when he heard the sheet start to tear again. This time, the sound came from above him.