Before Naja could speak, Merritt did. “Quinn, we don’t have time to explain it at the moment. Right now I need you to listen and do something for me.”
Quinn shrugged. “Sure, Merritt, you know I will. Just tell me what you need and consider it done.”
Merritt pulled Naja forward by the arm. “I need you to heal Naja for me. You’ve always been better at healing than me anyway. I have some important things to do that can’t wait. Once you’ve healed her, she can explain why she’s here, about the half people, and the trouble we’re in.”
Quinn glanced at Naja’s face briefly and back to Merritt. “Well, I’ve never seen her before. Can you at least tell me who is she? And how she’s involved in what’s going on?”
“I was Emperor Sulachan’s spiritist,” Naja said before Merritt could explain. “I came here to help your people stop him.”
Quinn’s brow lifted. “You’re the defector I’ve heard rumored? I could never find out anything about you. People said that it must be gossip and nothing more.”
“Not gossip, real.”
“Did you get injured escaping, then?”
Naja fixed Quinn a serious look. “When I came here I was captured. Men said that I was a spy and sentenced me to death. They tortured me. That is how I was hurt.”
“Who did such a thing?” Quinn demanded, looking from one face to another. “What men?”
“She doesn’t know who they were,” Magda told him.
“They were torturing her to find out if she knows who the traitors in the Keep are and if she has others with her,” Merritt said. “They must be worried about being discovered.”
“And do you know?” Quinn asked Naja.
Naja looked genuinely downcast. “No. I’m sorry.”
Quinn ran his fingers back through his hair as he walked off a few paces, considering what he’d been told. “This is the very thing I’ve been worried about. I’m convinced that there are traitors, or at least spies in the Keep.”
Magda and Merritt shared a look.
“Do you have any information about such traitors?” Merritt asked. “Have you heard anything from all the wizards and important people who come through here to use the sliph?”
Quinn turned back to them. “No, no one knows anything. I have my suspicions, but I don’t have any evidence to base it on. With the war going badly people are making a scapegoat of Baraccus. You know me, Magda, and you know that I believe that Baraccus was our greatest champion, but people are beginning to believe Prosecutor Lothain’s contention that Baraccus was responsible for conspiracies that have harmed our war effort. He thinks those conspiracies are the source of the murders at the Keep. Lothain has been asking a lot of questions about Baraccus, trying to find out if he was working with enemy agents.”
“I know,” Magda said. “I’ve heard the accusations.”
“A lot of people are starting to listen to Lothain’s theories because he has been right so often and so successful at uncovering traitors no one would have suspected. Fortunately, there are still a lot of people who don’t believe it. It seems the whole Keep is in turmoil over the discord. From what I’ve heard, that friction is beginning to become a problem.”
Feeling momentarily faint, Magda had to lean against the side of the sliph’s well. Merritt saw her fading.
“Look, Quinn, we have to go. After you heal her, Naja will explain about the walking dead and the half people. She can fill you in on everything.”
“Walking dead?” Quinn blinked. “Does that have to do with the murders down here? Is that what you’re talking about?”
“That’s right,” Merritt said. “The enemy is animating the dead with magic and using them to assassinate important wizards. If you see a dead person walking, use wizard’s fire.”
Quinn wiped a hand across his mouth. “This fits with some of the pieces I’ve already put together.”
“You hear a lot of talk from wizards and officials using the sliph,” Magda said. “Have you heard anything that would give you any idea who the traitors or spies might be?”
Quinn gestured toward the table at the back of the room. “Let me go through some of my notes and entries. I’ve talked to a lot of people. Now that I have a better idea what I’m looking for, I might be able to pull out some important details. After I heal Naja, of course. I’ll let you know tomorrow if I find out anything meaningful.”
“Good.” Merritt stepped closer to his friend. “Listen to me, Quinn, this is all very dangerous. We’re not sure who was torturing Naja, but they are surely the same people responsible for killing so many of our friends and fellow gifted. I don’t want you taking any chances. You need to keep this all secret for now.”
“I understand,” Quinn said as he gestured out the doorway. “There are empty rooms up off the tower. My relief watch is due down here soon. I’ll take Naja up to one of those rooms right now to keep her out of sight. As soon as my relief shows up I’ll go heal her. From the look in her eyes, it will likely take all night.”
“Thanks, Quinn. You’ve got it all right. Naja will fill you in after you heal her. We’re going to need your help, then, to get to the bottom of things and catch the traitors before they kill us all. There are a lot bigger things going on than you realize.”
“I’m glad you came to me,” Quinn said. Magda could see in his eyes that he meant it.
Merritt turned to Magda, putting a big hand under her arm. “I need to get you up to your room. You need rest to recover.”
“Recover from what?” Quinn asked. “I meant to ask what happened?”
“We’ll tell you tomorrow when we talk again,” Merritt said as he started Magda toward the door. He obviously was getting concerned by her fading strength.
On the way to the door, Naja stopped them. She squeezed Magda’s arm. “Thank you both. I’m going to return your confidence in me, I swear. I’m going to help you.”
Magda smiled and touched Naja’s cheek. “Thank you, Naja.”
Out in the immense, round tower outside the room with the sliph’s well, only a few torches burned higher up on iron landings at intervals in the stairs curving up around the stone walls. The openings at the top revealed a night sky clouded over to hide the stars and the moon. Magda looked up at Merritt in the near darkness.
“What is it that you need to do? You told Quinn that you needed to work on something.”
“I need to work on a way to stop the dead and the half people. We don’t have any time to waste. When I get you to your room I need to have another look at the cloth hanging that you took out of Isidore’s maze. I need to see the specific alterations she did to the keeper spells.”
“Because it stopped the dead?”
Merritt nodded. “Because it stopped the dead. I need to do some experiments and try some things.”
Chapter 79
Shadow meowed and came running when Magda opened the door. The black cat rubbed against her leg, and then against Merritt. Magda leaned down and briefly scratched the cat’s back.
“Have you been a good girl, little one?”
The cat answered, as if she had understood the question, with a long mew.
“I guess that neither one of us has had dinner.”
“You need to eat,” Merritt said as he waved an arm, lighting the lamps in the apartment, “but it can wait until tomorrow. Right now you need to sleep more than you need food.”
Magda put a hand on his shoulder. “Thank you, Merritt. As terrifying as everything seems right now, it’s comforting to have you on my side in all of this.”
Merritt smiled. “Thanks to you, we now have the key. That’s a monumental achievement that is going to be a great asset, and I couldn’t have done it without you. It’s all the better for having your strength.”