The Gates of Winter - Mark Anthony [173]
Despite the motley nature of the army, everyone had their place. The Embarrans were more than stout warriors; they were superb engineers. Under the command of Durge and Sir Vedarr, they made quick work of shoring up the walls. They fashioned sledges that rolled on logs, so that massive stones could be hauled to and fro, then raised into place with levers, and they mixed mortar from limestone and clay found not far from the keep. They also built a series of sluices that brought water from a nearby spring, and they engineered pumps that moved the water to a cistern at the top of the keep, where it could be used to put out fires.
The runespeakers proved invaluable as well. That first day, under Oragien's lead, they went to an abandoned quarry down the valley. There they spoke the rune of stone again and again, splitting slabs of slate into smaller pieces. Soon there were shingles enough to repair the roofs of both barracks and keep. After that, they spent their time inside the keep and along the wall, speaking the runes of wood and stone until their voices were hoarse. Thanks to the power of the spells, even the heaviest beams and most massive blocks remained cooperative as the engineers moved them into place.
The witches wove their own spells, and though they were subtle magics, they were powerful. They blessed the waters of the spring so that they ran clean and pure, and so that a drink would lend a tired man energy and strength. At the base of the great wall grew patches of brambles, and the witches spent long hours weaving the threads of the Weirding, encouraging the thorny bushes to grow thick and to a great height, until soon they were like a wall themselves.
Grace took part in weaving these spells when she could, helping to guide the coven's magic along with Senrael and Lursa—who had managed to retain her position as the coven's Maiden. When Grace asked how she had resisted the advances of the knight she had been dancing with, Lursa had winked.
“He thinks I didn't resist, that's how.”
Grace gaped at her. “You mean you cast a spell of illusion on him?”
“A very small one, sister. Sex is more than enough to befuddle the mind of the average man; magic is hardly required. It was simple to make him believe he was getting quite a bit more than he really was.”
Senrael let out a cackle. “That's my girl! You deserve a man of peace for a husband, not a man of war.”
However, as Lursa and Senrael moved away, Grace noticed how the young witch's gaze traveled across the courtyard, falling upon a knight who was sharpening his sword—it was he. He looked up and waved at Lursa, his eyes lighting up, and a smile touched the young woman's lips. Grace smiled as well; something told her Lursa did not plan to keep up the illusion forever.
Later that day, Grace found herself speaking with Aldeth. Like everyone, the Spiders had been keeping busy. They had scouted out the keep and surrounding land, and Aldeth had important news: He had found a secret passage.
The entrance lay in the basement of the keep, concealed behind a block of stone cleverly hewn to look like part of the wall. Aldeth and Samatha had followed the narrow passage beyond as it turned and twisted for nearly half a league through the dark. At last they had come upon another door, only it was sealed with a rune, and so they had been forced to come all the way back to the keep to fetch one of the runespeakers.
Master Graedin had traveled back through the passage with them, and he had been able to decipher the runes carved into the door, speaking them to release the spell that locked it. Once it opened, they found themselves looking out over Shadowsdeep.
“The door lets out partway up a steep crag,” Aldeth said, “but there looks to be a faint path winding down into the vale. Someone could use this passage to enter Shadowsdeep unseen.”
“And someone has,” Samatha added. “I saw footprints in the dust near the doorway. At least one man came this way in recent years.”
Grace realized she knew who it was. “It was Falken. He came to Shadowsdeep two years ago,