Masquerades - Kate Novak [114]
"Kimbel!" Victor called from down the hall. "We haven't got time to waste!"
The geased servant's head snapped back at an unnatural angle as if against his will. He turned to the door and exited the room without looking back.
Olive breathed as silently as she could. She did not move from her hiding place until the sound of Kimbel's footsteps had faded into nothingness.
*****
When Alias and Dragonbait returned to the Tower, Durgar was still out sifting through the ashes of Melman's home, no doubt making sure the treasure found in the basement was thoroughly catalogued before it could be looted. The two adventurers left a message for the priest and hurried to Mintassan's.
There they found Jamal in the middle of a lesson with Kel. The boy seemed much more subdued. Apparently the young Night Mask had gotten a look at Melman's branded face when he had brought the former Night Master his lunch, and now he was seriously rethinking his original career choice.
Mintassan sent Kel off to study on his own. Once the boy was gone, Alias told the actress and the sage of the afternoon's adventure just as she intended to relate it to Durgar-not mentioning Victor's second key. She felt just a hint of guilt deceiving Jamal, but the alternative, she knew, was to have the key and the croamarkh's reputation called into question in Jamal's very next street performance.
Mintassan, eager to get a glimpse of the quelzarn, asked if he could join the next party down to the lair.
"You're on," Alias agreed. She'd been secretly hoping the sage might be enticed into lending his expertise to the expedition. "I was hoping we might make it down there again before high tide."
"Then we'd better not waste any time," the sage replied. "Jamal, you game? We'll take a shortcut." He took up Jamal's hand in his right hand and Alias's in his left hand. Jamal snagged Dragonbait's arm. "Silver path, Thunn Bridge," the sage intoned.
Alias felt a buzz in her ears, and a moment later she, Jamal, Dragonbait, and Mintassan all stood in the center of the bridge over the River Thunn. Although she realized Mintassan must possess far more powerful spells than teleportation, the swordswoman was a little taken aback by how casually he used it. "A little showy, aren't you?" she teased the sage.
"Just lazy," Mintassan retorted with a grin. He moved over to the edge of the bridge and peered at the riverbank through the fog. "Where's this door?" the sage asked.
"It's hidden from the view of the bridge by some rocks," Alias explained. The fog was no thicker than it had been this morning, but Alias was unsuccessful in locating the rocks. The rocks, along with the sandbank, were already under water. "It could be tricky getting back in. We'll have to do some wading."
"In the Thunn's current, with a sea serpent in the water!" Jamal exclaimed. "Better count me out."
"Which way does the door open?" Mintassan asked.
"Out," Alias explained, realizing with disappointment that the water would make the door very difficult if not impossible to budge.
"I could pass us though the door with a dimensional portal," the sage suggested.
"Most unwise," a voice said from behind them, and out from the mists stepped Durgar, flanked by a large contingent of the watch. "But then you were always a bit reckless, weren't you, Mintassan?"
"Not everyone wants to bve to be as old as you, Durgar,"
Mintassan taunted.
Durgar smiled coolly at the sage. He held up the note Alias had left for him at the tower. "This door is the entrance to the alleged Faceless's lair?" he asked Alias.
The swordswoman nodded. "I obtained this key from a Night Mask," she explained, handing over the magical key that Melman had given her. Briefly she described how she, Dragonbait,