Gideon did not answer him.
Mordred motioned to the man just behind his right shoulder. "This is General Grimwald. He replaces General Rommil as the commander of my army."
Gideon met the man's icy gaze with his own. "You two will be working closely together," Mordred continued. "In fact, General Grimwald will be my eyes and ears as you lead my army after the boy. If Grimwald tells me you've behaved badly, meaning you spared the boy or led my men on some goose-chase, then it will go badly for your child. Is that clear?"
Gideon nodded, but said nothing.
Mordred's smile faded. "And let's get used to the fact that you serve a new master now. You will address me as lord from now on. Is that clear?"
Gideon gritted his teeth tightly. "Yes…my lord."
Mordred's smile returned slightly. "Very good, Gideon. Just think when this is all over, you and your infant can travel far away. Then the two of you can reminisce about the child's mother and all of your exciting adventures while in my service." Mordred turned as Gideon clenched his fists, trying desperately to control his temper. "General, he's all yours."
General Grimwald stepped forward with a smirk playing on his thin lips. His long gray mane trailed down his back. He looked down at Gideon, clearly meaning to make his authority felt through his taller stature. "Come with me, warrior. We have a meeting to attend."
Levi Bonifast lowered the brass spyglass from his right eye with a puzzled look on his face. "I don't get it," he said, his brow furrowed.
"Did you see him?" Ethan asked.
"I did. On one of their training fields. They seem to be forcing him to fight for Mordred's amusement." He turned to the others. "I'll bet Mordred's just keeping him around to toy with him before he kills him."
Seth piped in from the bushes next to Ethan. "I'm telling you, it's a trap, and Gideon is the bait. Mordred has to realize Ethan will come for his mentor and friend. He's going to be waiting for us if we try to take him."
"Dung has been working hard for nearly two weeks on this," Ethan said. "He assures me the escape will come off without a problem."
"The escape, maybe," Seth said, "but it's actually getting to Gideon and freeing him that I'm concerned about."
Ethan sighed. "It's not like we don't have a plan."
"It's not like we've got a good one, either," Levi complained. "But you know me; I'm crazy enough to try just about anything. So long as I'm not the one in the tunnels with the rat." He glanced at Seth.
"That's right, Captain…send the blind man to do the hard stuff." Seth grinned.
Ethan relaxed a bit. "Then we're set to go? Dung's little rat friends told him Mordred has moved the priest into the lower dungeon."
Levi peered through his spyglass over the walls of the city toward the training field where Gideon had been seen. "They must be taking him back to his cell, then. We'll move just as soon as night falls."
Seth stared blankly ahead and smiled. "My favorite time of day."
General Grimwald led Gideon into the palace through one of the lower entrances which directly accessed the training fields behind them. Gideon watched the army of Mordred sparring in the heat of the day, sweat glistening on bare backs and matted hair. He caught a fleeting glimpse of the giants, like those seen by Ethan on the slaver ship, as they sparred barehanded with their giant fellows. The ground vibrated with their efforts even from so great a distance away.
Gideon passed through the archway after the General, entering torch-lit darkness beyond. A labyrinth of tunnels wound through the nether regions of the palace where all manner of menial tasks were tended to. Animal keepers passed them, carrying food as well as soldiers on their way to the fields to work through the mandatory half-day of training as Mordred prepared for war.
As they made their way further, Gideon began to smell sweeter aromas filtering out to them from the kitchens. Mordred had not spared any expense on his own luxury, and the old palace cooks were the best in all the House of Nod. Gideon's undesirable predicament had at least afforded him the best comforts. Within several weeks, he had already replaced the weight shed during his torturous journey across the Azure Sea in Rommil's care. He'd even been allowed to see his son through thick glass from some distance away, but only with Mordred's assurance that demons waited to kill should he attempt any rescue.
General Grimwald strode ahead of him, a graceful man, but not as bulky as Hevas Rommil had been. Although he'd only just met him, Gideon sensed cunning about the man-more a snake than a charging rhinoceros as Rommil's way had been. Grimwald's mission to watch Gideon like a hawk and report back to Mordred left his infant son at even greater risk. If Gideon failed to put his best effort forward in pursuing Ethan, or at least appeared to be holding back, Grimwald would send word to his lord, and the child would die.
Gideon held no illusions about that fact. Mordred had given the order to kill Sarah as easily as ordering his dinner. With many towns and villages burning in Nod, and their men, women, and children scattered lifeless through the streets, Gideon knew his new master would have no difficulty killing his son. In truth, Gideon wondered if Mordred would ever allow him to leave, as promised, once Ethan was dead.
That thought and the murderous act itself had stolen his sleep the past few weeks during his recovery. He'd woke many nights, in visions, on the verge of doing the deed, Ethan kneeling before him with a pained expression of bewilderment on his boyish face. Gideon's blade trembled in the air mere inches from taking the boy's life. Then he woke yet again in a cold, drenching sweat. It would have been bad enough to watch Ethan fall from a distance. But how could he manage it if the situation brought them into close quarters, and Gideon had to deliver the final blow?
"In here," Grimwald said, pulling Gideon's thoughts back to the present.
They stood at the end of the main passageway with an iron door before them. Grimwald banged upon it. The sound reverberated through the chamber beyond, giving Gideon the impression they would be entering some great hall for their meeting.
A slide near the top of the door moved aside, revealing a pair of dark eyes. They darted from General Grimwald to Gideon and then back again. The slide moved back into place, and Gideon heard the clank of a locking bolt being released. Then, the door swung open for them.
One guard manned the door. Another guard stood by with his hand upon his sword. "General Grimwald," the door guard announced to the room, "and the priest, Gideon."
The room opened up with a high domed ceiling, but was not as broad as Gideon had expected. Vents placed in the top of the dome allowed for fresh air and the evacuation of smoke from the torches and candles lit everywhere in the room. Large tapestries hung upon the stone walls, but there was not a single window. Gideon surveyed the tapestries, but did not recognize the scenes depicted in the ornate decorations.
A large round, wooden table dominated the floor space, leaving barely enough room for anything else. Soldiers of high rank sat in the chairs, waiting for him and General Grimwald to arrive. Gideon followed the silver-haired Wraith General around the circular perimeter of the room until they came to the last pair of vacant chairs.
They took the high back wooden chairs, and Grimwald began to speak. "Men, this is the priest, Gideon, who will now serve Mordred in the search for the Deliverer of Shaddai." Then to Gideon, "These are Lord Mordred's Wraith Generals." Grimwald gestured toward each in turn as he gave their names. "General Thornblodd, General Unekind, General Vickus, General Strom, General Complaince, General Overdun, General Lieswell and General Cinderfall."
Gideon did not nod to them. As much as Mordred tried to make it the case, these were not his allies. He saw himself now as simply a traitor, nothing more. He had sunk to the lowest depths and there would be no return for him. Only the hope of preserving Sarah and their love, by saving the child's life, remained.