As they rapidly made their way through the corridors, Jo saw that many of the magical lanterns still hadn’t been repaired. She wondered how Arteris was handling the delinquent mages. The scattered torchlight lent an eerie look to some of the longer halls and in some areas the smoke collected and stung Jo’s eyes and nose. This was not the same glowing castle she and Flinn had entered some months before.
Two guards stood outside the meeting room entrance. One turned and threw open the doors as Jo and Braddoc approached. The guard announced in a clear, strong voice, “Your Ladyship, Castellan Graybow escorts Squire Menhir, Master Briarblood, and Sir Brisbois to your council chambers.” The guard bowed and stepped aside.
Graybow, Jo, Braddoc, Brisbois, and the two guards behind them entered the room. The entire council was assembled, and the visitors’ entrance had apparently interrupted some meeting. Jo noticed that three of the castle’s four magicians were also in the room, sitting before the council members as if to give a report.
The chamber’s heavy doors closed with a bang. Jo and Braddoc stepped forward, Brisbois reluctantly doing the same. The two guards took up positions behind the knight.
The mages and all fifteen members of the council turned to face Jo. Baroness Penhaligon rose and demanded, “Your report, Squire Menhir!”
“Master Briarblood and I intended to journey to the village of Rifllian, where we had been told Master Brisbois was hiding,” Jo began stiffly, trying to be succinct. Still embarrassed that her overblown account had gone awry, Jo wanted to avoid a rambling report. “We stopped in Kelvin at the end of a day’s ride. While there, we came across Master Brisbois being beaten by three thugs—”
“You and Master Briarblood are not responsible for the knight’s condition?” Sir Graybow broke in.
“No, sir,” Jo said quickly. She saw the castellan’s little nod of relief.
“Continue, Squire Menhir,” Arteris said. She took her seat at the table.
“We rescued Master Brisbois from the thugs; we killed two, but the third escaped.” Jo turned to look at Brisbois, but the knight refused to meet her gaze. “Sir Brisbois claims to have been made a pawn, kidnapped by Teryl Auroch. He was given a note, which I am afraid I no longer have in my possession. Master Briarblood will confirm that the note bore the sigil of Auroch.”
“Is this true, Master Briarblood?” Sir Graybow inquired.
The dwarf nodded. “Sir Brisbois says it was the mage’s sigil—a curved line, like the horns of a bull.”
“That is the sigil,” the castellan replied. “We will accept this by the honor of your people.” A nodded again, a slight smile on his lips.
Jo continued: “The note told Master Brisbois to meet the mage at a certain time and place—”
“A time and place in which you discovered I was being beaten to death,” Brisbois interrupted harshly.
Arteris pounded her fist against the table. “Quiet, Master Brisbois! You will have your say. This is a court of honor—despite those who still pretend to possess it.” Arteris pointedly eyed the stained midnight-blue tunic Brisbois still wore. “Continue, Squire Menhir,” the baroness said.
“It is true that we found Master Brisbois at the time and place indicated on the note,” Jo said. “And it is true that we saw no sign of Auroch. Master Brisbois says he has no love for Teryl Auroch—”
“We will let the man speak for himself, Squire Menhir,” Arteris interrupted testily. “Continue with what you know to be true.”
Johauna nodded. “We returned to our inn, tended to Master Brisbois’s wounds, and rode out this morning.”
Sir Graybow glanced at Brisbois and said, “Did Master Brisbois give you any indication that he did not want to return to the Castle of the Three Suns? Did he try to escape last night or today?”
Jo did not want to answer the question: she knew it would lend credence to Brisbois’s claim of his hatred of Auroch. She wanted Brisbois punished at any cost, but knew that she must answer truthfully.
“No, Sir Graybow, Master Brisbois did not resist us in any way,” Jo hesitated. She was about to add, “But he was in no condition to do so,” but Sir Graybow held up his hand for silence.
“Thank you, Squire Menhir” the castellan said. He gave Jo a warning glance, and suddenly Jo was glad she hadn’t made the petty qualifier to her statement.
Sir Graybow nodded to one of the guards, who left for a moment to bring in three extra chairs. “Please take a seat, Squire Menhir and Master Briarblood,” the castellan said gruffly. “I’m sure sitting is the last thing you want to do after a day in the saddle, but perhaps you can rest a bit while we finish today’s proceedings.”
Jo sat gratefully, taking care to position Wyrmblight between two of the chairs. Beside her, Braddoc sat, too. He gave a tiny sigh of relief that only Jo heard. She smiled inwardly.
Silence fell in the room as everyone waited for Arteris to speak. She folded her hands on the table before her and fixed Brisbois with her agate-brown eyes. They were hard and stony and inflexible, without an ounce of mercy in them. Sir Graybow had told Jo that the baroness was growing more and more like old Baron Arturus every day, and her present mood seemed to support the claim.
“Do you know why we sent Squire Menhir and Master Briarblood after you, Master Brisbois?” Arteris asked calmly.
Brisbois was caught off guard. “Ex-excuse me, Your Ladyship?” he asked.
“Do you know why you were brought here?”
Brisbois’s puffy face took on an impassive cast. “No, Your Ladyship, I do not ” Brisbois obviously could not meet the woman’s stony gaze.
“Then let me inform you,” Arteris said graciously. “You are here because it is believed by our court mages that Teryl Auroch has destroyed the magic in the Castle of the Three Suns ”
“Destroyed—?” Brisbois blurted. He turned his attention to the council and looked at each person in turn. “You must believe me! I know nothing of Auroch’s plans—”
“Then why did you leave with the mage after he attacked Sir Flinn and his party here in the castle?” Graybow interjected suddenly.
Brisbois shook his head angrily. “I didn’t leave with Auroch willingly! He abducted me as he disappeared.”
“Are we to presume you have quit his company?” Arteris asked and added quickly, “and, if so, how did you escape from so powerful a mage?”
Brisbois’s face displayed emotions ranging from anger to shame; he looked aside at the floor. After a few moments, he turned to Arteris and addressed her squarely, “Auroch spirited us away to Specularum, Your Ladyship. We appeared on a crowded dock, and I took advantage of the confusion to slip away. The attack had drained Auroch, and he was not capable of retrieving me.”
Baroness Penhaligon considered the knight’s words, her face devoid of emotion or thought. “And what have you done in the weeks since this abduction, Master Brisbois?” Arteris asked impassively.
Brisbois took a deep breath, as if he were about to reveal some grave personal secret. Jo found herself entranced, despite her anger.
“At first, I sought to escape Auroch’s influence. He is obviously more powerful than I, and I feared for my life,” Brisbois replied leadenly. “But I slowly realized that if the man were as powerful as I thought, I could not hope for any real escape. My only option was to kill him before he killed me. I have been running from him only to gain opportunity to decide how I might kill him.”