“Yes, I drugged his breakfast so that Zollin couldn’t fight me. It was actually very effective. It seems if he can’t think, he can’t do magic. He becomes as helpless as a baby.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Quinn asked.
“No reason,” Hausey lied, not trying to hide his deception. “I’m afraid I must leave you here,” he said outside Zollin’s quarters. “I have a message to deliver to the King.”
Quinn looked at Hausey, who stared right back. It was as if the commander was trying to communicate through that look, but Quinn wasn’t getting the message. Then Hausey walked away, and Quinn was left standing in the hallway. He opened the door to Zollin’s rooms. They were dark and quiet. He went inside and found Zollin sleeping. His son hadn’t bothered getting into the bed, he had just lain down across the covers, fully dressed, and fallen asleep.
“Zollin,” Quinn hissed. “Zollin, wake up.”
“What?” Zollin said in a groggy voice.
“Wake up, son, we don’t have much time.”
“Time for what?” he asked.
“Listen to me. Commander Hausey just had a talk with me. I didn’t understand it all, but he was obviously sending you a message.”
“What?” Zollin said rubbing his eyes.
“I need you wake up, son. This is important.”
“Are you feeling okay?”
“I feel fine. Better than I have in weeks actually, thanks to you. Now listen. Commander Hausey was going to see the King, but he stopped by the sick room, and I was awake. He asked if I was going to come and see you. I told him I didn’t know where you were and he offered to walk me up, insisted on it really. Then he told me he put you on trial and that he drugged you. Do you remember that?”
“Yes, it was in Felson, when we were going to fight the dragon.”
“Good. He told me he put the drugs in your breakfast, and then he said he had to deliver a message to the King.”
“So? What are you trying to say?” Zollin asked.
“I don’t know,” Quinn admitted. “But after the shouting match you had with the King, I think you may be in danger.”
“No, I talked to King Felix last night. We both apologized, everything is good between us.”
“So why did Commander Hausey feel like he needed to tell me about drugging you?”
“I don’t know,” Zollin said.
“Well, we’d better figure it out fast. Breakfast won’t be long in coming. The kitchen staff were already hard at work when we came up here.”
Zollin couldn’t imagine why Hausey would tell his father about the trial at Felson. It had been a difficult time for Zollin, but he’d slept through the trial, he remembered that. Kelvich had to use some foul-smelling drug to rouse him. He wondered if it was really possible that someone he trusted, like King Felix, could betray him. Then he thought of Mansel. Whatever his friend’s purposes were, he had slain Kelvich and tried to kill Quinn. Zollin wouldn’t have thought such betrayal was possible, but obviously it was.
“Okay, well, at the very least I’m not eating breakfast,” Zollin said.
“What could happen if you were drugged again?” Quinn asked.
“Kelvich said I was helpless. I suppose they could do anything they wanted with me if I were drugged.”
“Yes, but what would they want to do? How would it benefit them?”
“I don’t know,” Zollin said. “I mean, they could hand me over to Offendorl, but I practically volunteered to do that already, and the King said that it wouldn’t really help matters.”
“You giving yourself up to the Torr might not, but perhaps if the King hands you over he has a better bargaining position. Or maybe he isn’t planning on giving you to the Torr; maybe he wants to throw you in the dungeon or give you to one of the other kings.”
“Either way, we can’t let that happen,” Zollin said. “We could sneak out of the city. I can get us across the river.”
“That’s only a short-term solution,” said Quinn. “We need to think this through.”
“We don’t have much time. It’ll be dawn soon. And the King told me he’s planning to start negotiations at dawn.”
“But Commander Hausey was returning with a message for the King when he woke me up.”
“What are you saying?”
“I think whatever the King is up to, he’s already at it. He may have been working on it before you even came to see him.”
Zollin was frightened. He didn’t like intrigue; it was foreign to him. He had always been an honest person by nature, and dealing with someone who wasn’t intimidated him. He realized the only way to discover what the King was doing would be to play along.
“I’ll have to fake it,” Zollin said. “I’m supposed to join the King at dawn. He asked me to give him counsel in the negotiations. Whatever he’s got planned, I’ll just have to play along until they unfold.”
“But by then it might be too late,” Quinn said. “I don’t like it.”
“We don’t have a choice. If things get out of hand, you’ll have to help, but don’t do anything that could get you hurt. I don’t want you taking any more chances on my behalf.”
“Zollin, you’re my son. I would die if it would save you. That’s just the way it is. When you have children someday you’ll understand that.”
“I doubt that I’ll live long enough to have children.”
“Don’t say that. We’re going to get out of this. What if we just confront the King? There’s nothing he can do to you.”
“No,” Zollin said, “but he might do something to you. Besides, we don’t know how deep this deception goes. For all we know, he may have surrendered the city. The castle could be surrounded by enemy troops right now.”
“So who do we trust?” Quinn said.
“Commander Hausey, maybe. I just don’t know.”
“What about Mansel?” Quinn said.
“What about him? He tried to kill you, dad. He killed Kelvich. He killed Kelvich and I didn’t even know it. I was so busy chasing the damn dragon that I let Kelvich die and I didn’t suspect a thing.”
“You couldn’t have known that Mansel would do something like that. Mansel has been under a terrible curse. When I was under the spell I was planning on handing you over to the witch. I doubt Mansel even knew what he was doing.”
“That doesn’t make it okay that he murdered Kelvich,” Zollin said, his voice rising.
“No, it doesn’t,” Quinn said in a calming tone. “And I doubt that Mansel will be able to forgive himself once he realizes what he’s done.”
“Why do you always take his side?” Zollin said. He could feel the old resentments and jealousies that had plagued him in Tranaugh Shire rising to the surface once more. “I’m sorry I’m not like him, but I’m your son. He’s just your apprentice.”
“Don’t misunderstand me,” Quinn said patiently. “I’m not excusing Mansel and I’m not taking his side. He threw me overboard in the Great Sea and all I had was a wooden bucket to keep me from drowning. He has a lot to answer for, but when he threw me overboard, the shock somehow broke the witch’s spell. Maybe almost dying did the trick for him. If it did, then we may have an ally that no one knows about and that we know we can trust.”
“But how can we know that the spell’s broken? How can we really trust him?”
“It’s easy,” Quinn said. “If he can say anything bad about the witch, we’ll know her hold on him is broken. When you’re under her power, nothing seems important except being with her. If he’s still in her power, he won’t say anything negative about her, or let us say anything.”
“All right, let’s go. But we need to be careful. I don’t want to lose you, dad. I love you.”
“I love you, too, Zollin. I’m incredibly proud of you. We’ll figure this out together, okay?”
Zollin nodded and the hurried from the room. The sky was just beginning to lighten, and only the servants seemed to be moving around the castle. They made it back down to the sick room without being questioned. Inside, Zollin lit a lamp so they could see. Commander Corlis and Mansel were still asleep.
“Wake him up,” Zollin whispered.
Quinn shook Mansel and said his name in a whisper by the big warrior’s ear. Mansel’s eyes fluttered open. He looked at Quinn and the shame on his face was plain to see. Tears welled up in the warrior’s eyes.