The Mage in the Iron Mask - Brian Thomsen [30]
"And one less dwarf to blight Mulmaster," the other added, as they ventured further into the keep's bowels, toward the entrance to the sewer.
Rassendyll could smell the stench of sewage getting closer when he heard the guard who was carrying him complain: "Gee, I must be out of shape. This dwarf is getting awfully heavy."
Rassendyll prayed that the spell would last just a little while longer.
The guard stopped for a moment, and the masked prisoner expected to have his presence revealed at any moment.
One guard opened a trap, releasing an aromatic draught of sewage stench. The other guard shifted the weight of his burden and carefully, so as not to entangle himself in the shroud's downward descent, dropped what he thought to be the corpse-filled sack down into the sewer below.
Before the sack made its splash in the water below, Rassendyll thought he heard an alarm sound in the chambers above. His disappearance had been discovered, but he was already on his way down the drain and out to sea.
5
Under Currents
In the Tharchioness's Boudoir in the Tower of the Wyvern:
"Your majesty," the ambassador said in urgent hushed tones, momentarily forgetting the breaches of protocol that he had just committed.
"Silence, worm!" the First Princess of Thay ordered. "My husband is on his way. My spy in the Tower of the Blades believes that he intends on confronting me with evidence of our conspiracy."
"But your majesty-"
"Silence! Do you wish to join the ranks of your predecessors? Don't try my patience! I must concentrate before he gets here. It will require all of my feminine wiles to distract him."
"The prisoner escaped!" the ambassador blurted out, just as the Tharchioness's backhand made contact with his doughy cheek.
"What did you say?" she asked, her hand poised to strike again.
"My spy in Southroad Keep just informed me that all havoc has broken out due to the escape of a certain prisoner. Two guards have already been executed for gross incompetence."
"Have they recovered the prisoner yet?"
"Not according to my sources, your highness," the ambassador answered, his head still ringing from the last blow.
"Is there anything else I should know, worm?"
"Only that the last words of the executed guards were that they were sure he was dead-drowned, or something."
"Did they find the body?"
"No," the ambassador answered cautiously. "They believe it was washed out to sea."
The Tharchioness stroked her own brow seductively.
Well, this does change things, she thought. No body, no evidence. No evidence, no conspiracy. It would appear that my dear husband has snatched a stalemate out of the jaws of victory. I will have to comfort the dear lad.
The Tharchioness let loose a fiendish laugh, and continued to apply her makeup. The ambassador took the opportunity of his mistress's distraction to escape from her boudoir with his life in hope that she had already forgotten his several infractions of protocol.
Once in the safety of the public hallway, the ambassador breathed a sigh of relief at having cheated death yet again.
* * * * *
In the Courtyard Between the Towers of the Blade and the Wyvern:
"What do you mean he's gone?" the High Blade demanded.
"We believe him to be dead, sire," Rickman explained. "My experts believe that the sheer weight of the iron mask would have made it quite impossible for him to swim, and that he would undoubtedly have drowned before he even reached the open sea."
"How can we be sure?" Selfaril demanded.
"We can't, sire," the Hawk captain conceded. "The men responsible for this severe foul-up have already been executed."
"That is not good enough," the High Blade blustered. "Your Hawks have been slipping. First, they could not hold onto a possible witness to our plans, even though you yourself thought him to be nothing but an itinerant thespian. Now, they have allowed the prisoner to escape."
"There was no way he could have survived, your highness. It is obvious that we underestimated the suicidal lengths