Jormanric."
"Is it true?" He barely recognized his own whisper.
Keiro smiled. "Make up your own mind."
"Tell me."
"No." His oathbrother held the Key in one fist. "It's your choice. I don't justify myself to anyone."
His heartbeat was so loud, it hurt. It filled the Prison, thudded down all the corridors, in all the cells.
He flung the sword down. Keiro dived for it, Finn kicked it away. Suddenly they were fighting, all Finn's breath gone in a vicious punch to his stomach, Keiro's ruthless skill flooring him. Claudia was shouting, Gildas roaring in anger, but he didn't care now; scrambling up, he flung himself on Keiro, grabbing for the Key. Hindered by the fragile crystal Keiro ducked and then punched again; Finn had him around the waist and down, but as he closed in, Keiro gave a kick that sent him reeling back.
Keiro roiled, picked himself up. Blood welled on his lip. "Now we'll see, brother," he hissed. He touched the black eye of the bird.
A light.
It was so brilliant, it burned their eyes.
It widened around Keiro, it swallowed him, and there was a noise in it, a whine that was painful, a sharp discordant note that cut off instantly.
The light spat out.
And Keiro was still there.
In the shattered silence the Warden's laugh was cool and regretful. "Ah," he said. "I'm afraid that means it won't work for you. Probably the metal components in your body render the process invalid. Incarceron is a closed system; its own elements can never leave."
Keiro stood stock-still.
"Never?" he breathed.
"Not unless the components are removed."
Keiro nodded. His face was grim and flushed. "If that's what it takes." He stepped toward
Finn and said, "Get your knife."
"What?"
"You heard"
"I can't do that!"
Keiro laughed sourly- "Why not? Keiro the Nine-Fingered. I always wondered what
Sapphique's sacrifice was all about."
Gildas groaned. "Boy, are you suggesting—"
"Maybe more of us are born of the Prison than we thought. Maybe you are, old man. But I won't let one finger keep me here. Get the knife."
Finn didn't move, but Attia did. She brought a small blade she always wore and held it out to him. He took it slowly. Keiro laid his hand on the floor, the fingers spread out. The metallic nail looked just the same as the others. "Do it now," he said.
I can t...
"You can. For my sake."
They looked at each other. Finn knelt. His hand was shaking. He put the edge of the blade to Keiro's skin.
"Wait," Attia snapped. She crouched. "Think! It may not be enough. As you said, none of us know what we are made of inside. There must be another way."
Keiro's eyes were blue and blank with desperation. He hesitated.
For a long moment he stood there unmoving, and then he closed his hand and nodded slowly. He looked down at the Key and held it out to Finn.
"Then I'll have to find it. Enjoy your kingdom, brother. Rule well. Watch your back."
Finn was too shaken to answer. A distant hammering made them all look up.
"What's that?" Claudia asked.
Jared said quickly, "It's here. Evian made his attempt and is dead. The Queen's guards are at the door."
She stared at her father. He said, "You must come back, Claudia. Bring the boy. I need him now."
"Is he really Giles?" she asked harshly.
The Warden's smile was wintry. "He is now."
As his words ended the screen went blank. A ripple of movement ran down the corridor;
Finn looked around anxiously. Bricks clattered from the vault.
Then he looked up and saw the tiny red Eye whirr and click on him.
"Oh yes," the voice said softly. "You have all forgotten about me. And why should I let any of my children go?"
34
He woke and found them all around him. The old, lame, the diseased, the half-made men. He hid his head and was filled with shame and anger. "I have failed you," he said.
"I have journeyed so far and I have failed."
"Not so," they answered. "There is a door we know, a tiny, secret door. None of us dare crawl through, in case we die there. If you promise to come back for us, we will show you."
Sapphique was lithe and slender. He looked at them with his dark eyes. "Take me there," he whispered.
"What happened?" Jared gasped. "The Prison has interfered," the Warden hissed with fury. His fingers moved swiftly over the controls.
"Well, stop it! Order it to—"
"I cannot make Incarceron obey me." The Warden glared at him. "No one has done that for centuries. The Prison rules, Master. I have no power over it." Then in a voice so low
Jared barely heard, "It laughs at me."
Appalled, Jared stared at the blank screen. Outside, a fist pounded again on the bronze doors. A voice thundered, "Warden! Open this! The Queen demands your presence."
"Evian made a poor job of his assassination," the Warden said. He glanced up. "Don't fear, they won't get in. Even with axes."
"She thinks you were involved."
"Maybe. It is a good excuse to be rid of me. There will be no marriage now."
Jared shook his head. "Then were all finished."
"In that case, Master, I could do with your help." The gray eyes were fixed on him. "For
Claudia's sake we need to work together."
Jared nodded slowly. Trying to ignore the furious banging, he came around to the controls and examined them carefully. "This is so old. Many of the symbols are in the Sapient tongue." He looked up. "Let's try talking to Incarceron in the language of its makers."
THE PRISONQUAKE was swift and sudden. The floor buckled; walls crashed down. Finn grabbed Keiro; together they fell back against a door that gave under their weight, flinging them inside.
Claudia scrambled after them, but Attia said, "Help me with him!" She had Gildas doubled up, gasping. Hurriedly Claudia climbed back, wriggled his arm over her shoulders, and they struggled with him to the cell, where Finn hauled them in and slammed the door tight, he and Keiro wedging it with a split timber.
Outside, rubble cascaded down and they listened to it in dismay. The corridor was surely blocked.
"But you do not think you can lock me out, I hope?" Incarceron laughed its rumbling laugh. "No one can do that. I am inescapable. "
"Sapphique Escaped." Gildas's voice was a rasp of pain, but he spat the words out. His hands clutched his chest; they shook uncontrollably. "How did he do that then, without a
Key? Is there another way out, that only he discovered? A way so secret, so amazing, you can't block it? A way needing no gate and no machinery? Is that it, Incarceron? Is that what you fear, always watching, always listening?"
"I fear nothing.
"Not what you told me," Claudia snapped. She was breathing hard; she glanced at Finn.
"I must go back. Jared's in trouble. Will you come?"
"I can't leave them. Take the old man with you."
Gildas laughed: his body convulsed into wheezing gasps. Attia gripped his hands; then she turned her head. "He's dying," she whispered."Finn," the Sapient croaked.
Finn crouched down, sick with the prickling behind his eyes. Whatever injuries Gildas had were internal, but the shiver of his hands, the sweat and pallor of his face were only too clear.