The Keeper Read Online Free

with his palm, which caused Delph and me to jump nearly out of our chairs. Delph accidentally spilled some of his water. Harry Two immediately started lapping it up.
    “Now you must give me news of good old Wormwood,” said Thorne as he washed down a mouthful of food with the contents of his goblet. I wasn’t convinced he was drinking simply water, for he filled his goblet from time to time from a silver flask resting at his elbow. “For instance, who is Chief of Council now?” he asked.
    “Thansius.”
    “Good for him. Well done, Thansius.”
    “So you knew him?” I asked.
    “Yes. He was a good friend of Virgil’s too.” He took a sip from his goblet.
    “And Morrigone’s,” I added.
    This had a remarkable effect on the Wug. The color drained from his face and he choked on his draft. Regaining his breath, he said, “Morrigone, eh?”
    “If it was a long time ago that you left, she might have still been very young. Or perhaps not even born yet.”
    “Yes, I do believe that she was born actually.”
    Watching him curiously, I said, “Morrigone is on Council now.”
    He chortled, but there was no mirth in his eyes. “What else?” he asked.
    Delph said, “Well, we been building this —”
    I cut in. “I worked at Stacks, as a Finisher, as I said. Delph was at the Mill.”
    Delph shot me an inquiring glance, but I ignored him. The truth was I didn’t want Thorne to know about the Wall. If Thorne was an Outlier or his mind had been taken over by them, the last thing I wanted was for him to learn about the enormous wall we were constructing around Wormwood to keep those very Outliers out!
    I decided to get to the most important issue I wanted to ask him about. “I never heard of any other Wug heading into the Quag. It is forbidden.”
    “Many things were forbidden,” replied Thorne in a more sober tone. “And yet you appear on my doorstep. What cause brings you into the mysterious Quag?”
    “Curiosity,” I said immediately. “We wanted to see what was in here.”
    “And beyond,” added Delph. My kick was too slow to forestall him.
    “There is nothing beyond the Quag,” said Thorne sharply, eyeing us warily.
    “So you’ve been to the other side of the Quag?” I asked innocently.
    “No, I’ve never been past here.”
    “Then how do you know there —”
    He rose abruptly. “I believe that we all are extremely tired. Now your sleeping quarters are ready.” He grunted and the same large ekos appeared.
    “Luc here will show you where. Off you go and pleasant sleep to you both.” He hurried away.
    Luc grunted once. Harry Two gave a bark in reply. Apparently satisfied that we understood, Luc turned and walked through the passageway. We hurried after the creature with grass for skin and grunts for words.
    Delph whispered, “Are you sure ’bout all this?”
    “I’m sure of nothing, Delph. Absolutely nothing.”
    I had never spoken truer words.

W E WERE LED to a chamber that was cold and filled with shadows that seemed to flicker and move about. There was one torch on the wall and a lit candle on a wooden box next to a hard pallet on which lay a blanket and a pillow.
    I looked at Delph, who stood in the doorway.
    “Is it just the one, then, for the both of us?” he said, eyeing me nervously.
    When I shot him a glance, I had to hide a smile because his face turned scarlet and the big Wug quickly glanced away.
    Males.
    However, Luc was already pulling on his arm and pointing farther down the passage and grunting quite madly.
    “Guess not,” I said with a tiny wave. “Suppose these are just my digs.”
    I thought I saw Delph let out a sigh of relief, which I wasn’t quite happy about for some reason.
    He said, “Look, anything comes up, just give a holler. I’ll be here faster than … well, pretty bloody fast, I can tell you that,” said Delph, somewhat anticlimactically.
    “Brilliant, you do the same,” I said, feeling uneasy even as I said the words.
    Delph disappeared with Luc,