When James finally exits the sewers, Jiron indicates the door and says, “It’s locked. Can’t hear anything from the other side.”
“Can you open it?” he asks.
Taking out a knife, he says, “There’s only one way to find out.” He moves to the door and begins working on the lock. James closes the trapdoor to the sewers, in an attempt to block off the stench, but soon realizes that they’re the source of the intense odor. That could cause a problem as they move through the Keep.
Click!
He looks to Jiron who has a smug expression on his face. “It’s open?” he asks him.
Jiron nods in reply.
James cancels the orb to avoid it being seen as Jiron begins to slowly push the door open. The hinges squeal as it opens, protesting after long years of not having been used.
It’s dark on the other side of the door. Jiron moves out and says, “Need the light.”
Soft light fills the room as the orb springs to life once again and partially illuminates the passage running outside. “Come on,” Jiron says. “It looks empty.”
The passage extends in both directions, doors lining both sides at three foot intervals. Each door is wooden, sturdily built with a small window at eye level, as well as a lock similar to the one Jiron had just opened.
“Looks like cells,” James guesses.
“Must be in the lower dungeon under the keep,” Miko says. Turning to James he asks, “Would this be where they’re holding Pytherian?”
Shaking his head, James replies, “I wouldn’t think so, but you never know.”
“Which way?” asks Jiron.
“One’s as good as another,” replies James.
So Jiron leads them down to the left. All the cells are quiet, no sound comes from them. James pauses at one of the doors and holds the orb to one of the windows to see what’s inside. Within the room lies a skeleton wearing scraps of clothing that’s all but rotted away. A shackle is attached around one of its legs and is secured to a ring set into the wall.
“Poor guy,” he whispers as he moves to follow Jiron down the passage. The level of undisturbed dust on the floor and doors tells James this area of the dungeon hasn’t been used in a very long time.
The passage suddenly ends at a wooden door, slightly different from the others. When Jiron checks it, he finds it locked and begins working on the lock. When they hear a ‘click’ again, he opens the door slowly.
On the other side, they find a stairway leading up into darkness. Jiron begins to climb the stairs with the others right behind him. The top of the stairs opens up onto another corridor running the same direction as the one below. This area shows the same signs of disuse as the area below. There’s also another door across from the stairs down.
Jiron glances back to James who indicates the door. Taking out his knife, he begins to work at the lock until they hear the familiar ‘click’.
On the other side of the door, is another flight of steps leading up. Again Jiron leads the way until they come to where the stairs end at a stone wall.
When James sees the wall, he says, “Jiron, back away and let me look at it.”
“Another secret door?” Miko asks.
“Possibly,” he replies. He hands the orb to Miko as he begins to inspect the walls. Pressing lightly upon the stones, he finds one loose and glances at the others. “I think I may have found it,” he says as he presses on it.
The wall begins to slide to the right and they are suddenly bathed in bright light from a torch on the opposite walls.
They hear a gasp from the other side and Jiron is through in a flash. “Don’t kill him!” James whispers as he passes by.
He hears a crash and then Jiron says, “It’s just a servant.”
James and Miko leave the stairs just as the wall begins to slide closed once more. They see Jiron with a man held at knife point against the wall. The man is obviously a servant and at his feet are the broken remains of a chamber pot that had been full. A disgusting mess, but after the sewers, it has little effect on James’ senses.
Coming to the servant, James says, “Do you understand me?”
The servant looks back blankly, clearly not understanding and completely terrified.
“What are we to do with him?” asks Jiron.
James looks down the corridor in either direction. It looks identical to the corridors below, except this one looks to be currently used. Across from them is an open doorway with a flight of stairs leading up. To their left, the corridor extends further down, a couple of torches spaced along its length gives off some light.
“Knock him out,” James tells him.
Jiron strikes the poor man in the back of the head and he slumps to the floor, unconscious.
James goes over to one of the cells and looks in. Finding the cell empty, he has Jiron open it and put the man inside, tying him up and gagging him.
When Jiron leaves the cell, he holds up a four inch ring with several keys attached to it. He tries them and finds the one that fits the lock to the cell where the servant lies. Locking the door, he turns back to James.
James moves to the door before the stairs and looks up. Not seeing anyone, he closes the door and turns back to the others. “Let’s go down this way,” he says indicating the corridor of cell doors.
“Why?” asks Miko.
“He was removing a chamber pot from somewhere down there,” he explains. “I doubt they would supply one to an ordinary prisoner.”
“You think Pytherian is down there?” Jiron asks.
“Maybe,” he replies. “Only one way to find out, though.” Turning to Miko, he says, “Stay by the door and let us know if anyone comes.”
“No problem,” he replies as he puts his ear to the door.
James takes the torch from the wall and begins to make his way down the corridor, looking in through the windows of the cell doors. The first ones he checks are empty, but then he comes to one with someone lying on the floor, dead. From the looks of him, he didn’t die all that long ago. A rat looks up at him from where it’s chewing on a part of the poor man’s exposed leg. From the size of the missing section, the rats have been eating for a while.
Disgusted, he continues on, finding more empty cells until he at last comes to the end of the corridor. The second to last cell contains a man of average build. When James looks in through the window, the man lifts his head up and looks back. He can see sitting over in a corner, another chamber pot similar to the one the servant had been carrying.
“Who are you?” asks James.
The man’s eyes open wide when he realizes James isn’t another guard. He comes to the door and cries, “Help me!” He brings his face to the window and looks pleadingly to James.
“Who are you?” James asks again.
“My name’s Braelin,” the man tells him. “We don’t have much time, let me out!”
James looks to Jiron who shrugs. “Do you know Pytherian?”
The man just looks at James with a blank expression, then he cries, “Yes! Yes I do.”
“Who is he?” Jiron asks as he looks in the window at the man.
The man looks at both of them then sinks down to the floor and begins sobbing. “I don’t know, I don’t know.”
“Why are you locked in here?” James asks him.
“For having an affair with Cyel, the Lord’s daughter,” he says with resignation. “We loved each other, but she was betrothed to another. They’re going to execute me in the morning.”
He looks up from the floor and says piteously, “Please, please get me out of here.”
James brings Jiron away from the cell and gives him a questioningly look.
Jiron just sighs and says, “You can’t save everyone. This man broke the law and he’s going to pay for it. If you let him go, you put our mission in jeopardy.”
“I know,” he says with resignation. He goes back over to the window and says, “I’m sorry.” As he walks away, the man inside begins crying and wailing for them to help him.
They go back down the corridor to where Miko is watching the door. He sees them returning and asks, “What was all that about?”