Castle Perilous Read Online Free Page B

of obligation held him back. He chafed at them.
    He shook his head, turning to the window. On the other side of the sky a blue-white sun was setting. Here, the freedom of nothingness was comforting. But he knew he could not stay. He had many tasks before him.
    â€œTell me this,” he said. “Do you remember your name?”
    No.
    â€œThat is good.”
    After taking one last look at what lay about him, he strode toward the window and stepped inside it.
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    Southern Barbican — Near The Keepgate House
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    Two lords and a lady sat inside a tent at a table made of rude planking. A draft from the breach in the outer wall, very near, ruffled the cloth walls of the tent.
    At one end of the table stood an imposing mountain of a man, wearing battle dress executed in the style of the Eastern Empire, and the finery of it spoke of the highest rank. He wore a burnished helmet of bronze, set with blue stones and decorated with bars of white enamel. His long-sleeved tunic was of vermilion wool, bordered at hem and cuffs with gold embroidery. The massive breastplate shone like a golden sun, and a blue cape flowed over his shoulders and down his back like a cataract.
    The other men were dressed for battle as well, though in more utilitarian style: suits of mail under long sleeveless tunics, on which were emblazoned their respective coats-of-arms. The lady occupied one side of the table by herself. She wore a long cloak dyed a bright orange. Behind her stood a man in a long hooded gown.
    From outside came the gruff voices of soldiers, the rattle of wagons, the whickering of destriers.
    â€œYou say we have begun undermining the inner palisade?”
    Prince Vorn turned to Lord Althair, who sat nearest him.
    â€œLast night, though work progresses slowly, by hand. We must use the bore sparingly, since its noise could give us away. Moreover, the spell that runs the engine does not work well below the earth. Bores are meant for walls above ground.”
    â€œEven in its proper element,” Lord Dax, seated to Althair’s right, remarked, “your bore did not excel. Three months to breach the outer wall.”
    Vorn turned a withering dark eye on him. “Three months to bite through stone that is more like metal than metal itself.”
    Dax lifted a silver flagon of wine to his lips, pausing to mutter, “True,” before drinking.
    Lord Althair, a thin-faced man with light brown eyes, scratched his long nose with a finger. “We started last night? I suspect they have already begun to countermine. Incarnadine has anticipated our every move. We have taken inordinate casualties.”
    â€œMost of which have been from among my best regiments,” Vorn said.
    â€œYour regiments make up the bulk of our combined forces, so it’s hardly surprising. That is why we three have formed an alliance with you. Without aid, we could never have begun to take Castle Perilous.”
    â€œThen why complain?”
    â€œI do not complain. I state facts.”
    â€œYou would do well not to state the obvious.”
    Althair’s lips drew up into a pout.
    â€œTo business, then,” Vorn said, drawing up a chair and sitting down. “The Spell Stone. I should like to hear again what its function is and how we may go about locating it.”
    Lady Melydia of the House of Gan, a woman of delicate features and bold blue eyes that glowed with a curiously discordant intensity, inclined her head toward the man standing to her left. “Osmirik will tell you.”
    Osmirik reached up and drew back his hood. His hair was long and black, matching his beard. “If it please His Royal Highness . . .”
    â€œIt would please me if you were brief this time.”
    â€œI shall endeavor to obey His Royal Highness.”
    Vorn snorted and leaned back.
    â€œThe Spell Stone may be likened to the keystone of an arch,” Osmirik said, “without which the arch would collapse. It is the