Strapping her new sword to her belt, she walked to the main gate and wandered into the streets of inner Neraka. Up one rough crowded street and down another, she wended her way past shops, taverns, and brothels, through the marketplace and along the few residential quarters. She looked in alleys and checked the trash dumps and looked behind every eating establishment. She knew Fewmet the gully dwarf had to be somewhere in the city, but she had no luck finding him.
Finally she had to ask a patrol of guards where the gully dwarves made their homes, and after they finished laughing and making rude suggestions, they pointed in the general direction of the city dump.
"Those gutter rats have a colony of some sort outside the walls near the dump. Look there, but take a mask with you," their leader said.
"Better yet, take an exterminator with you," advised one man before breaking into a fit of laughter.
Sara offered her thanks and left them shaking their heads at the foolishness of women. She walked to the Queen's Way leading out of the walled city and was about to turn toward the main gates when she changed her mind, and on the spur of a strange desire, she turned her footsteps to the center of the city and the ruins of the Temple of Darkness.
The slave gangs were there as usual, working under the whips of the draconian slave masters. A different set of talons was there that afternoon, and knights and squires alike sifted through the rubble for treasures and artifacts under the watchful eye of the gray-robed Nightlord.
It still amazed Sara that Massard had been able to slip anything out of the sight of the sharp-eyed Knight of the Skull.
She stood for a moment at the entrance to the temple compound and took a deep breath. Her heart pounded faster, and a chill stole over her that had nothing to do with the frost in the air. Steeling herself, she walked forward until she could see over the wall into the crater itself. The black opening lay down at the bottom, like the maw of some buried monster. Large ladders poked out of the hole now, and the lines of slaves climbed in and out like ants.
"Do you have some purpose here?" said a deep voice beside her.
Sara nearly leapt out of her skin. She whirled, her eyes huge, her hands held up defensively.
The Nightlord stared at her from under the hood of his robe. The expression on his lean face was disapproving, and his eyes glittered dangerously.
"No. No, I just had to look," she stammered. Irritated at herself, she pulled herself together and asked in a calmer voice, "Why don't you build steps down into the corridor. It would certainly make it easier to get out."
The knight remained motionless as his dark eyes bored into Sara. "Exactly," he finally grated.
Sara suddenly laughed. She had to break the cold clamp of fear around her heart. "I see what you mean. There are some things best left in the dark." She heard footsteps behind her, and she and the Nightlord turned to see General Abrena striding toward them.
The general wore her knight's uniform that day, with |her breastplate and greaves and a magnificent fur-lined cloak. On her armor, the skull emblem of her order gleamed like old bone in the pale afternoon light.
"I'm glad to see you did not lose your sense of humor down there," Mirielle said to Sara. She pushed her hair back with a restless gesture. She shifted on her feet, moving her body in a constant flow of small motions like a dancer who cannot stand still. She seemed to exude energy from every pore.
The Nightlord saluted the general and quietly withdrew. The two women were left alone.
Sara pulled her cloak tighter about her shoulders. Mirielle made her feel tired and very old this day. Wearily she turned away and let her gaze be drawn back down to the pit. "Did you know there are horaxes down there?" she asked quietly.
"Of course. They appeared last year shortly after we began the excavation. We decided to leave them alone. They do not bother the slaves during the day for they are only active at night, and they have proven to be a marvelous deterrent for most would-be thieves."
"But not murderers," said Sara dryly.
Mirielle chuckled. "You are not the first to be dumped down there in the middle of the night. But you are the first to be pulled out alive. You were lucky. The horaxes are much slower when it's cold."
Sara shuddered and pulled away from the wall. Together the two women began to walk slowly across the compound toward a group of officers who were waiting for General Abrena.
"There are other kinds of thieves," Sara said deliberately. "You may suggest to the Nightlord to keep a closer watch on those who sift the rubble."
Mirielle pinned her predator's gaze on the woman by her side. They were very similar in height, so the general's golden-brown eyes could look directly into Sara's cool gray ones. Her expression warmed with understanding. "I will tell him."
Sara made up her mind to ask something she had wondered about for days. "What do you plan to do with the ruin? Are you just going to leave it for the horaxes?"
The general shook her head, her short blond hair blowing around her face. "We will build a new temple to be ready when Takhisis returns."
Sara was so startled by Mirielle's words that she tripped over a stone and would have sprawled on her face if the general had not caught her arm in a powerful grip. Swiftly Sara forced her face into calm serenity while she found her balance and stood up straight. Was this woman serious? And if so, where did she get her information? Or was it just wishful thinking? Whatever it was, the mere thought of Queen Takhisis returning to Krynn was appalling.
"Takhisis will-" she was horrified by the high squeak in her voice and tried again. "Takhisis will return."
"We are planning on it, and when she does, we will be ready."
The conviction was strong in the general's voice, but Sara caught the words "we are planning…" So the knights do not know for sure, she thought, vaguely relieved.
Mirielle went on without a pause. "We have been here only three years, and already we have instituted a new training program, doubled the number of knights in this command, and gained control of the city. By the time our queen returns to us, we will once again be the most powerful force on Krynn." Her voice rang with pride, and her arms swept wide in a gesture that took in the whole world.
Sara was shaken by the woman's immense confidence. "What about the dragon, Malys? She is a force to contend with. She already holds the Goodlund Peninsula."
"True. But there are ways to deal even with the likes of her."
Sara's throat turned dry, and she had to force her words past a lump in her throat. "You have a grand ambition, General."
Mirielle corrected her. "That's 'Governor-General' now. The city elders saw fit to bestow the title on me."
They had reached the group of officers, and Sara felt six pairs of eyes regarding her intently. It was more scrutiny than she cared for when her guard was down and her mind was still shaken by Mirielle's revelation. She was terrified they would see through her fear to the reality of her deception. She saluted them in the manner of a proper junior officer and asked to be excused.
"Of course, Knight Warrior," the governor-general agreed. "I look forward to watching your duel in two days. Fight well."
Sara bowed and left as quickly as she could without actually running. At the gate of the compound, she broke into a jog and by the time she reached the main gate, she was running. She flashed a wave to the officer of the watch and flew down the road to the bare open fields that stretched to the feet of the distant mountains.
Outside the city, away from the reek and crowds of the streets, away from the dark gaze of so many eyes, Sara slowed down at last and fell to her knees, panting. The frozen ground chilled her to the bone, and the icy wind cut through her cloak and padded tunic like a knife, but she knelt there in the dead grass and sucked in the clean, cold air in great cleansing breaths. She felt like crying, except no tears would come. She had never felt so empty-empty and frightened and confused.