The Mage in the Iron Mask - Brian Thomsen [100]
"Well, it's not like he's going to need to do much seeing or breathing," the thespian offered, "given his current condition and all."
The master traveler chuckled. His friend did indeed have a point. Taking a deep breath, he heaved the now heavier corpse back onto his back, and the two travelers set off through the door that they had not used to enter the chamber.
* * * * *
As luck would have it, the traveling twosome made the right choices in the dark, and in a matter of minutes they had located the open hole to the sewer.
"Whew!" Passepout said aloud as he looked down the hole. "This really stinks."
"Then this must be the place," Volo replied, unceremoniously dropping the iron-masked corpse down the hole. After a few seconds they heard what sounded like a far-off splash, at which point they knew that the man whose last goal had been the rebuilding of the Mulmaster navy, was embarking on his final journey out to sea.
"Where to now?" Passepout asked. "I'm hungry."
"Back to the surface, I guess," Volo said guardedly.
The master traveler was not surprised when, seconds later, the orb's luminescence went out completely. It was possible that the spell that Mason had cast on it had been adversely affected by the magic-leeching mask… or perhaps it had simply fulfilled the task that had been assigned to it.
Volo turned his attention to keeping his frightened friend from panicking, and frantically tried to formulate a plan that would return them to the daylight and salvation. The master traveler had no desire to spend the rest of his days in total darkness, no matter how few they might turn out to be, but there was equally no sense in wandering around in the dark without the benefit of a torch or talisman.
As Passepout began to cry, the master traveler tried to think harder for a possible solution.
* * * * *
In the Bedchamber Shared by the High Blade and the Tharchioness, in the Tower of the Wyvern:
Rassendyll entered his brother's bedchamber, prepared for the next trial of the neverending night.
"I've been waiting," the Tharchioness said seductively, "and you know how I hate that."
"We have a slight problem," he said, still no more than a step inside the chamber. "I was attacked in my study."
The Tharchioness drew her hand up to the talismanic brooch that rested nestled between her silken breasts. "Are you all right?" she asked, her voice the epitome of concern.
"Yes," he replied. "I was meeting with an old associate of my father whom I have decided to take on as an advisor. Together, we subdued the blackguards."
The Tharchioness's ears perked up at the word "blackguards."
"Did you say blackguards, as in more than one," she inquired.
"Yes," Rassendyll replied, "one of mine and one of yours."
The Tharchioness's fingers began to massage the broach in a nervous, rhythmic pattern. "What do you mean?" she asked, her voice breaking slightly.
"It appears that one of your ambassadors and the captain of the Hawks seemed to have been planning a coup," Rassendyll replied, repeating the story that Honor and Mason had advised him to tell.
"Are you sure you are all right?" she asked, kneeling up on the silken sheets of their marriage bed. "I don't know what I would do if you had been killed."
"I'm just a little winded and a bit tense from the ordeal," he replied, "so I think I will be sleeping alone tonight."
The Tharchioness thought quickly and knew the proper response.
"I understand," she said sweetly, "but will you at least kiss me good night?"
Rassendyll assessed the shapely form of the woman who was his brother's wife, his eyes immediately drawn to the talismanic brooch that seemed to be casting off an aura of some kind.
She noticed his eyes' fixation on the brooch, and said, "Do you like it? I had it specially made."
"It's very nice," he replied, wondering what the focus of its enchantment was, "but I should be going."
The Tharchioness pouted, and said, "The kiss?"
"Of course," he replied, stepping forward to comply.
The Tharchioness stood before he could bend over, and quickly enveloped