I do not like to remember that trip.
Not that I was awake for much of it--for which I am grateful. I kept sliding in and out of consciousness, and believe me, the were much more welcome than the I knew that Chovilun Fortress lay at the base of the mountains on the Akaeriki River, which bisects the kingdom, but I didn't know how long it took to reach it.
All I can report is that I felt pretty sick, nearly as sick as I'd been when I fell into Ara's chickenyard. Sick at heart as well, for I knew there was no escape for Meliara Astiar after all; therefore I resolved that my last job was to summon enough presence of mind to die well.
Not, of course, that the truth would ever get to Branaric. The Merindars had captured and held a kingdom by a winning combination of treachery, bullying, and lying. I had made the Baron look silly during that episode at the inn, and I knew he was going to take his revenge on me in the privacy of his fortress, making it last as long as possible. And every weakness he could get me to display was going to get noised as excruciatingly as possible over the entire kingdom--especially aimed at Tlanth.
So my only hope, therefore, was to make him so angry he'd kill me outright and save us both a lot of effort.
These were my cheery thoughts--not that my head was any too clear--as we clattered into a stone courtyard at last. The ever-present rain had nearly drowned me. My hands and feet were numb. When the guards cut me loose I fell like an old bundle of laundry onto the stone courtyard, and once again hands gripped my upper arms and yanked me upright. This time I made no pretense of walking as I was borne into a dank tunnel, then down steep steps into an even danker, nasty-smelling chamber.
Not that I was awake for much of it--for which I am grateful. I kept sliding in and out of consciousness, and believe me, the were much more welcome than the I knew that Chovilun Fortress lay at the base of the mountains on the Akaeriki River, which bisects the kingdom, but I didn't know how long it took to reach it.
All I can report is that I felt pretty sick, nearly as sick as I'd been when I fell into Ara's chickenyard. Sick at heart as well, for I knew there was no escape for Meliara Astiar after all; therefore I resolved that my last job was to summon enough presence of mind to die well.
Not, of course, that the truth would ever get to Branaric. The Merindars had captured and held a kingdom by a winning combination of treachery, bullying, and lying. I had made the Baron look silly during that episode at the inn, and I knew he was going to take his revenge on me in the privacy of his fortress, making it last as long as possible. And every weakness he could get me to display was going to get noised as excruciatingly as possible over the entire kingdom--especially aimed at Tlanth.
So my only hope, therefore, was to make him so angry he'd kill me outright and save us both a lot of effort.
These were my cheery thoughts--not that my head was any too clear--as we clattered into a stone courtyard at last. The ever-present rain had nearly drowned me. My hands and feet were numb. When the guards cut me loose I fell like an old bundle of laundry onto the stone courtyard, and once again hands gripped my upper arms and yanked me upright. This time I made no pretense of walking as I was borne into a dank tunnel, then down steep steps into an even danker, nasty-smelling chamber.
( Sherwood Smith )
[ Crown Duel ]
www.QuoteSweet.com