He was just about to follow her when the dark-haired metaologer who’d hauled Wynn off a few nights ago came flying out the same door. The door banged recklessly against the wall and, at the noise, Hawes skidded to a stop, turned, and held out her hand.
“No, Dorian!” she commanded. “Go back and watch every area that we have covered.”
Dorian gave a quick nod and went running back to wherever he’d come from. Hawes took two backward steps and then turned to race to the keep’s main doors and disappeared inside.
Rodian was at a complete loss as to what all of this meant. What could Dorian possibly be watching from inside the northwest building? And what had Hawes meant by “covered”? He wanted to question Wynn, but something more immediate was happening.
Rodian took off at a jog after Hawes.
Dänvârfij crouched low on the rooftop as the wagon rolled out through the bailey gate. Én’nish was crouched beside her, and they both drew in a sharp breath at the same time.
Beside the tall driver on the bench sat a smaller, slender form in a full cloak, pants, and jerkin. Perhaps it was the driver’s son or apprentice. But there had been only the driver onboard when the wagon had first entered the bailey gate and tunnel.
Dänvârfij tensed in indecision. First the pale human and dwarf had melted through the outer wall. Then the black majay-hì had raised a wild commotion at the gate, drawing out the guards before it had run off. Now a small, cloaked figure came out who had not gone in.
“Is it the sage in disguise?” Én’nish whispered.
Dänvârfij closed her eyes. Everything that had happened in this city since Magiere’s return seemed to surround Wynn Hygeorht. There was no certainty here, but there was no letting the possibility slip through her hands. If it was the sage on the wagon, somehow she had slipped out of the castle with no help from Magiere or Léshil.
“Who is driving?” Én’nish asked.
Dänvârfij squinted but could not make out the driver’s face, though he was quite tall. Too tall to be Léshil, yet not broad-shouldered enough for Brot’ân’duivé. She looked straight into Én’nish’s too-eager eyes.
“Get Rhysís and go after them. Secure the sage at any cost.”
Chane hurried toward the library’s center doors caught in a pool of light from a cold lamp mounted to one side. Each of the frame stones at the arch’s top held an engraved Begaine symbol for the guild’s creed. He knew what they meant without struggling to read them.
Truth through Knowledge ... Knowledge through Understanding ... Understanding through Truth ... Wisdom’s Eternal Cycle.
It was a bitter notion after all that the Premin Council had put Wynn through.
He grabbed the right door’s handle, twisted it, and found it locked. Gripping the handle harder, he threw his weight against it, knowing the effort wouldn’t matter. For the first time since beginning this undertaking, real anxiety flooded through him.
It was not enough that they had locked Wynn away. Was the council now locking up any and all knowledge? How could he get Wynn out if he could not quickly and safely breach the library to clear her a path? He wondered if he should rush to the main doors and toss a glove out into the courtyard. Ore-Locks might yet get Wynn out another way.
Chane steeled himself. There was still one more library door to try, and he had to reach it quickly. But as he turned, one of the keep’s main double doors swung open.
He backed up, not even looking to see who it was, and snatched the glass off the wall-mounted cold lamp. Pulling the lamp’s crystal, he clenched it tightly in his fist to squelch its light and then flattened against the sidewall as he peered up the central passage.
Premin Hawes stepped into the entryway and quickly shut the main doors. She stood there for a moment in the entryway’s dim pool of light. She was facing down the central passage.
Chane feared she had already seen him, but he kept still in waiting. Even if she had not, if she came straight on, she would soon enough.
One of the main doors opened again, and Hawes spun toward them, facing away from Chane.
Captain Rodian stepped inside, frowning at the premin.
Rodian was surprised to find Hawes still in the entryway. How strange, considering her panicked rush of a moment before.
“Is something amiss, Premin?” he asked, abandoning any pretense. “I saw you running and was concerned.”
If she was equally surprised to see him, her expression didn’t betray it. Hawes was as composed as Rodian had ever seen her, once again the coldly observant premin of metaology.
“I was told someone was wandering about,” she returned evenly. “Considering the curfew you set and your order to keep the library locked at night, I did not want some initiate’s forgetfulness to cause trouble.”
He stared at her, letting silence linger for three breaths. “How did you receive this word?”
“We have our ways of communication here,” she answered. “Nothing that would hamper your security. I apologize for not having notified your men before acting on my own.”
Rodian didn’t move. “Such hurry ... out of concern for an initiate?”
“All of our charges should be long abed. As you are here, perhaps you would assist me in checking the main building.”
What Rodian wanted was to put her in a room until she gave him a real answer. He didn’t believe her in the slightest, and had long since grown suspicious of anything said by any member of the Premin Council. She knew someone was in here, but Rodian seriously doubted it was a mischievous initiate up past bedtime.
Locking Hawes up might be a pleasure unto itself, but it would only gain Rodian more trouble from the royals, unless he could prove exceptional reasons.
“Should I call more men?” he asked.
“I think you and I can handle this.” The premin turned halfway, glancing northward along the main passage. “Perhaps you could check up there while I head the other way. With the towers and library locked up, whoever is wandering about couldn’t have gone far. We will meet back here shortly.”
He was about to suggest they switch sides in the search, for Hawes had too quickly stated her preference. But he couldn’t think of an adequate justification for the change and so he had to play along. Nodding, he turned northward at a slow pace along the keep front’s main passage.
Rodian listened for the sound of Hawes’s footsteps heading the other way.
Chane did not move a muscle as he watched the pair in the entryway. He gained no relief when Rodian disappeared from sight, heading north, for Hawes lingered. The premin stood there a moment and then suddenly, sharply, she turned and vanished in the other direction. Chane remained still, though it appeared neither the premin nor the captain had spotted him.
That was something at least, but too little. All of his plans were now ruined.
With those two wandering about the keep, it would not matter if he managed to force his way into the library. He had to stop Wynn and Ore-Locks before they entered this building and ran straight into the premin or the captain. But could he reach the main doors himself without being spotted?
He crept along the central passage’s left wall toward the entryway. At a half dozen paces away, he slowed, watching the mouth of the main passage’s northward half. Of the two now in the keep, if the captain spotted him first, Chane would have no chance to talk his way out. Then again, though Hawes knew him a little, she might be far more dangerous if she did not believe his excuses.