Fortune's Fool - Mercedes Lackey [61]
The thick stone walls of the castle, built to withstand the assault of any foe the Katschei could imagine, give immediate relief from the desert heat. The snow maiden sighed involuntarily as they penetrated deeper into the corridors, with Yulya’s quiet sobs making a melancholy counterpart to their footsteps.
“I’m Ekaterina—Katya,” Katya said, into the uncomfortable silence. “Marina,” and “Klava,” the other two volunteered. Yulya just whimpered.
The room that Marina brought them to must once have been one of the Katschei’s audience chambers—although it was possible that this chamber might have once held the Katschei’s own collection of captive girls. Although there were no windows, it was illuminated brightly enough, with glowing lanterns spaced at intervals along the walls. The light that came from them was a cool blue, which made all of them look just a touch cadaverous. It was furnished very simply, with heaps of pillows and low cots. There were books here, neatly arranged in a bookcase that looked out of place. Yulya went straight to one of the cots and lay down on it. Marina went to a chest and rummaged around, coming up with an outfit just like her own, in green. Taking the hint, Katya changed into it, and realized that no matter what it looked like, it was very cool and practical. Wardrobe taken care of, the three of them arranged themselves on pillows as far from Yulya as possible.
“I don’t suppose you’ve tried to escape?” Katya asked.
Klava rolled her eyes. “Marina is a snow maiden,” she pointed out. “Even if we could escape, she wouldn’t last very long out there in the desert.”
Katya nodded. “Still,” she persisted. “Did it ever even look like there was a way to escape?”
“Nothing that I ever saw,” Klava said, after a moment of thought. “Some of the Katschei’s servants were still here when the Jinn took this place, and they simply accept him as the new master. Some of them came back. And the Jinn has servants of his own, and a lot of them are human. You didn’t see them, but he has lots of soldiers.”
Katya pondered. “Does he stop you from exploring this place?”
Marina shook her head. “That’s how we got all the books. He doesn’t bother with us as long as we don’t try to kill ourselves or try to escape in any obvious way. And don’t worry,” she added, “I can tell when he’s about, invisible. Right at the moment we can talk about anything.”
“Right,” Katya said, and set her chin. “Then let’s talk about how we are going to get out of here.”
Chapter 10
When three days went by without so much as a word, Sasha began to worry. When a week had passed, he became certain that Katya was in trouble. And when a fortnight had come and gone—
—that was when he decided that he was going after her.
He sent only a short message to his brothers and father. I will be traveling and am not certain where. Unlike Katya’s duty, the tasks of the Fortunate Fool had never yet involved an emergency. With luck, nothing would fall apart in his absence.
So hear me, my Luck. Let nothing fall apart in my absence.
He took the message with him out to the innkeeper, who had sent messages on for him before. The man looked at the folded, sealed piece of paper, then at him, and nodded. “Tinker just came in this morning. Heading to Vasilygrad.”
“Perfect,” he replied, and handed over a half-dozen silver coins. The innkeeper would keep one, give one to the tinker, and promise the rest when the tinker returned with proof of delivery. The man would do as he promised of course. The innkeeper was a good judge of men.
Then again, you didn’t cross someone married to a witch. It was pretty obvious now why no one ever stole things from this inn.
Sasha had no real idea of where he needed to go, but that had never stopped him in the past. Now, if ever, was the time to rely on the Luck of the Fortunate Fool, the Luck that would put him in the right place, at the right time, without fail.
He went straight to the innkeeper’s wife after sending on his message. As she was