The minotaur’s place of confinement was a cage like those used by traveling shows to contain their exotic animals: a metal cage with bars, a single gate, and grass and straw piled on the floor. Kaz did not pace to and fro. Instead, he was sitting, staring sullenly at the meat and grain mixture his jailers had left him. It was hardly an appetizing dish, and Huma wondered if it tasted as horrible as it looked.
Two knights guarded the cage, and they quickly blocked Huma’s way.
“May I question the prisoner?”
“That is for the Lord Commander to do. Any who wish to watch may do so.”
“May I at least speak to him?”
The two knights looked at one another. They were no doubt wondering why one of their number would wish to speak with a minotaur prisoner. At last, the one who had spoken the first time replied, “Not without the Lord Commander’s permission.”
By this time, Kaz had heard the voices. He was slow in reacting, possibly because he was not sure whose voice he was hearing. Then, he suddenly turned and leaped up against the bars.
“Huma!”
The two sentries started, and the one apparently in charge turned and banged a mailed fist against the bars—far enough away that the minotaur could not grab it. “Be silent. Beast! You’ll have your chance to talk when the inquisition meets.”
Kaz snorted angrily. “I had thought the knights an honorable band, but I see that honor is something very few of them possess!” He raised a long, muscular arm through the bars, his hand open as if in supplication. “Huma! Free me from this cage!”
The knights stared at Huma with narrowed eyes. “He seems to know you well. How is that?”
“We have met and traveled together. He is not the Dragonqueen’s slave. He is his own creature. He is a friend.”
“A friend?” The guards looked at Huma in amazement—and much disbelief. Other knights were beginning to gather, curious as to what the shouting was all about.
The other guard finally spoke. “Perhaps, Caleb, we should notify Taggin.”
“I will not interrupt him now.” Caleb, a tall, plump man with a carnivorous look, pointed at Huma. “If I did not know better, I might think you a spy for consorting with mages and minotaurs. As it is, I think you are just a fool. If you want to speak to this creature, ask Taggin. I would lock you up until the inquisition, if I had my way.”
There were murmurs of agreement, and Huma was startled. He had gone from favored visitor to seeming outcast in the space of a few seconds.
“What is going on here?”
Everyone, even Kaz, froze at the sound of that voice. It was Lord Taggin, clad in his formal dress armor. At least twenty years had slipped from his face. He was now the very image of authority.
“You men have become rabble of late. I can see that I am going to have to make some changes.” Taggin turned to Huma. “I’m told you have some knowledge of this minotaur.” Behind the commander, Buoron looked down. “We will begin the questioning in half an hour. I expect you to be present and to have your facts prepared. Understood?”
“Yes, milord.”
Taggin turned to the sentries. “As for you, there are tenets of the knighthood that you seem to be failing. I expect both of you to learn from this incident.”
The Knight of the Rose did not wait for them to answer. Instead, he walked past them and up to the cage. Kaz glared down at him. Taggin seemed unimpressed.
“Know this, minotaur. The basics of the knighthood stay the same. Your hearing will be impartial. You will be given every chance to prove yourself and to prove what this knight says of you. I will promise that.” Kaz did not reply, save for the mere ghost of a nod. Taggin spun around and headed toward his quarters.
“You never cease to amaze me with your ability to become the center of attention, Huma.”
Huma and Buoron looked up as they entered the knights’ living quarters. Magius, in full splendor in his robes of red, stared at them from across the room. Again, Huma wondered at the change. Had Magius really returned to the Order of Lunitari, or was this merely another of his whims?
“The mage returns to the land of the living,” Buoron remarked dryly.
The mage stirred. “Really, Huma, the only thing more foolish than you parading around in sheets of metal is the company you tend to keep. Myself excluded, of course.”
“If you have nothing worthwhile to say, Magius, then don’t say anything.” Huma surprised himself by his comment.
Magius ignored the barb. “I see the minotaur has succeeded in getting into trouble. We really do not have time for this. Had I not required the rest, we could have been gone by last night.”
Buoron smiled nastily. “You go nowhere without Lord Taggin’s permission.”
“Won’t I?”
“Not with me, Magius. Not unless Kaz is freed.” Huma added.
The mage sighed. “Very well. I do hope it won’t take long. I know how long and boring inquisitions can be.”
“Huma, is this filth really your friend?” Buoron interjected.
“If you can believe it. I still hope to find the old Magius underneath there.”
For once, the magic-user had no retort. He merely looked at Huma and then studied something interesting on his staff.
“Are you coming with me, Magius?”
His childhood friend looked up. “To an inquisition? Hardly. They might decide to put me on trial. I shall await the outcome here.”
Huma let out a sigh, although whether it was from relief or worry he could not say.
Unlike the formal inquisitions of Vingaard Keep, the sessions at the outpost were quick, straightforward, and to the point. Kaz was questioned about his whereabouts for the last half-year. His crime against his former masters and his subsequent meeting with Huma were gone over in minute detail as Lord Taggin looked for some slip that might prove the minotaur untrustworthy.
In the course of the questioning, many facets of the minotaur’s past came out. He had been one in a long line of champions in his clan. He had even been given the name of one of his more remote ancestors, a powerful fighter who had been ruler of the race for twenty-three years before finally falling to defeat.
Kaz, though, had grown up in a time in which no true ruler commanded the minotaurs. As Huma had learned, those who controlled the race now were, in turn, puppets of the Dragonqueen’s commanders. Each minotaur, male or female, was conscripted into the swelling ranks of the Dark Queen’s armies upon reaching fighting age. There were never enough of the race in any one unit to create an atmosphere of rebellion. Kaz’s people were severely punished for even the smallest infractions.
The tall warrior admitted he had done his share of fighting. It was part of his nature. Yet he had slowly become sickened by the senseless slaughter around him. There was no honor in much of what he was forced to do. The ogres cared not whether they faced an army or village. All who stood in their path were to be destroyed.
Kaz then went into detail about that final incident, when he had come across the butchering ogre captain. For a brief time, the knights in attendance were solely on his side.
The news of the collapse of the Solamnic lines and the chaos that followed brought renewed anger from those knights. From there, Kaz described the attack on the citadel of Magius and the flight that had resulted in the separation of Huma and Kaz.
Perhaps the highlight of the questioning occurred when Kaz described Huma’s brief but bloody encounter with the warlord. The tide of feeling again flowed toward Huma. Those who had frowned on his odd friendship began to look at him with renewed respect.
After Kaz, Huma spoke. He did not plead with the knights, only spoke to them of the minotaur’s acts of bravery and justice. He also pointed out that honor was just as important to Kaz as it was to the knighthood.
Lord Taggin looked extremely tired when all was said and done. Standing and facing the minotaur, who was bound and under guard. Lord Taggin took a deep breath and said, “The minotaur Kaz has cooperated in all ways. He has given us a good look at the workings of the Dragonqueen’s forces, and his words are confirmed by Huma, Knight of the Crown. By rights, he has earned an honorable death.”