In fact, if he had known that the Magistrate could discern lies, he might have simply told the truth about why he undertook the recovery of the Sarkonagael for Elana. He certainly didn't know that she was an agent of Myrkyssa Jelan (actually, Myrkyssa Jelan herself!) at the time, and the magistrate must have accepted that as a mitigating circumstance against the crime of treason. The charges of murder and conspiracy were brought into question by Lady Milyth's false testimony, so all that would be left were charges of theft and burglary. "And those," reflected Jack, "are not capital crimes. I should therefore be incarcerated in the Nevin Street Compter for some inconvenient period of time until I arranged my escape, not awaiting death in ten days in the most secure facility available to the city authorities. What a dismal prospect!"
Jack reexamined his fetters again, hoping that there might be a way to remove them. If he could regain his magical abilities, he could remove himself from the situation in the blink of an eye. Within an hour he'd be aboard a ship bound anywhere else on the Inner Sea, Impiltur or Procampur or Westgate or Marsember or anywhere but Raven's Bluff. Unfortunately, the manacles still defied his skill.
"A fiendish device, unnecessarily cruel and entirely uncalled for," he mumbled. The infernal reverberation of the ceaseless surf held no answers for him, so he closed his eyes and dozed off for a time.
He was awakened by the approach of someone in the hallway above. Anticipating his crust of bread and flagon of water, he groped around in the darkness for his flask and stood up with a rattle of chains. But the light seemed dimmer than that carried by the guard on his rounds, and the motion above somewhat more furtive. Quietly the bolt securing the trapdoor was drawn back, and the cover to his cell opened stealthily.
A woman's voice whispered, "Jack Ravenwild?"
"Yes! Yes! I am he!" Jack replied.
"Good." She stood up and moved away. Jack suddenly feared that, having gone to some trouble to locate him, his mysterious guest now intended to leave him exactly where she had found him, but then she whispered, "Bring a light," to another person or persons above.
A moment later, she returned holding a small lantern to look in on Jack. He squinted up at her, shielding his dark-adapted eyes against the light. The Lady Mayor Amber Lynn Thoden crouched at the top of the cell.
"Hello, Jack," she said. "We have some things to talk about."
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The Storm Gull glided silently past the quiet wharves of the city, lanterns lighting the way at bow and stern. The hour was late; the docks, so crowded and busy during the day, were virtually abandoned. Not a single person could be seen in the halos of streetlights glowing through the soft rain. Jack wrapped a borrowed cloak closer to his body and considered whether it might not be better to leap into the water and swim for it. Icy eel-infested waters seemed a better proposition than continuing on his current course.
He looked around, furtively studying his captors. The Lady Mayor-no, Myrkyssa Jelan-stood at the helm of her sloop, guiding the boat confidently up the Fire River. Jelan had abandoned her pose of Lady Thoden as soon as she'd escorted Jack from the depths of Ill-Water and boarded her dark cutter. Beside her, the Shou mage Yu Wei stood stock still, engaged in some inner meditation that left his face even more expressionless and serene than usual. A half-dozen very capable-looking people rounded out the crew-Hathmar Blademark, a drow swordsman; a cold woman called Amarana, who wore the emblem of the night goddess Shar; and a short, powerful Tuigan in leather and iron, who introduced himself to Jack.
"I am called Tenghar," he had said. "I will kill you if the Warlord wishes it done."
Several others worked the boat's sails and sounded the waters as the sloop glided upstream.
"Kel Kelek! Take the helm!" Jelan waited while one of the other men, a tall and rangy Nar with a frightening pattern of facial tattoos, clambered back to take the ship's wheel. She tapped Yu Wei on the shoulder and then addressed Jack. "Master Ravenwild, if you would be so kind as to join me in my cabin?"
"I would be delighted, my dear," the rogue replied with false joviality.
No point in allowing her to see how nervous he was with this development. When Jelan had abducted him from prison in the guise of the Lady Mayor, he'd been anxious to leave regardless of the circumstances. Certainly, anything was better than death row. Now he suspected that the Warlord would make the cost of her generosity known to him.
"At least she is unlikely to simply silence me in some permanent means," he muttered. "That she could have done without removing me from my cell."
He followed the warrior and her sorcerous advisor down the narrow companionway and into the sloop's rear cabin. The Shou (no, Wa, Jack reminded himself) decor was unchanged, a delicate and spare arrangement of white screens and paper lanterns with a wide dark table of gleaming wood set at knee height so that one could sit on the floor and eat or work comfortably.
Illyth Fleetwood sat dejectedly on the floor. The girl looked up sharply as Jelan, Yu Wei, and Jack entered the room. "Oh, Jack!" she cried. "They've got you too!"
"You might say that," Jelan said with a small laugh. "Do not worry, Illyth. No harm will come to either Jack or yourself as long as Jack improves his behavior."
She was still dressed in the handsome dress and fillet of the Lady Mayor, but as she talked she undressed to reveal dark leather armor and steel beneath her robes. Jack recalled his brief flirtation with the Lady Mayor on the first night of the Game, amazed that he hadn't spotted the resemblance then, but the disguise was so skillfully done, including mannerisms and posture and voice, that it seemed that Elana-Jelan-the Lady Mayor were really three different women altogether.
"Extraordinary," Jack breathed. "The Hawk Knights comb the city for any sign of you, yet you stand in the very center of the city and direct their search."
"Who could expect it?" Jelan said. "But tonight the deception ends."
She unbuckled her sword belt, leaned the weapon against one wall, then knelt behind the table. Jelan indicated the opposite place with a tilt of her head. Jack sat down a little awkwardly, while Yu Wei took up station somewhere behind him, standing silently by the door. Illyth moved over to sit beside Jack.
"You are probably considering your escape already," Jelan began without preamble. "No matter. I only require your services for the next few hours, and if you do what I need you to do, I'll gladly let you go."
"I fail to understand why I am so important to you, my lady."
"For one thing, you agreed to hear her out, after you were warned that you should not do so unless you were prepared to accept what must follow," Yu Wei said. "We are not forgiving of broken promises."
"You retrieved me from Ill-Water to make me abide by my word?" Jack asked in amazement. "I didn't tell anyone that I had learned your identity. It was in my own best interests to keep your confidence."
Jelan smiled in a predatory manner. "I am not so forgetful of my obligations as you are, Jack." She began to let down the braids in her hair, shaking the rain from her dark tresses. She kept her gaze on Jack's eyes, refusing to allow him to look away. "Where I come from, that would be reason enough to justify the trouble I went to this evening, but, as it so happens, I do have a specific purpose in mind for you."