Lannon had often wondered how, when the time came, Clayith would be able to kill. For wasn't that what Knights always did-kill Goblins? What were the Knights thinking when they chose Clayith Ironback, who would not hurt a bee that stung him? Had they somehow missed seeing that huge part of his personality, or had Clayith disguised it from them?
"Just tell me what to do, Lannon," said Clayith.
Lannon laughed, and marveled at his own progress. Less than a year before he had been an isolated lad with no friends. Now he had someone looking up to him, thinking of him as a leader.
"That's okay, Clayith," he said. "I'm not actually in charge here."
"A skull-and-bones formation, then," Clayith said, chuckling.
"Huh?" said Lannon.
Clayith frowned. "Its…leaderless. That's what I meant. A dead unit, so to speak." Clayith shook his head, as if to clear it. "I don't care!" he muttered, half under his breath, and then turned away.
"Are you okay?" said Lannon.
Clayith turned back, smiling in his kindly way. "I'm sorry, Lannon. Sometimes my thoughts get mixed up. Its…the dark."
"The dark?" said Lannon.
Clayith cleared his throat. "I mean-that's what I call it when I blank out."
"Clayith's crazy," said Jerret, with a laugh. "He talks to himself sometimes, like an old man. Don't worry about it, Lannon. He's totally harmless."
Lannon nodded, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. "It's alright. I don't mind if you do that, Clayith."
Clayith's mouth formed the words dead unit one more time, and then he clamped his lips together for a moment, before adding, "I'm watching your back, Lannon. Let's go!"
"What's our plan?" said Jerret.
Vorden thought for a moment. Then he looked to Lannon and said, "It's your call this time. What should we do?"
Lannon hesitated, thinking carefully. He tried hard to come up with something brilliant, while the others fidgeted impatiently, but at last he gave up and settled for something simple. "We should split up, at first," he said. "Jerret and Clayith can go on to the Temple and wait for us. Then, after a bit, we'll follow them. Once we're all at the Temple, Timlin can sneak in and check the place over. If it's clear, we'll all go in and…I guess just go on from there together."
"Why split up at first?" said Jerret, with a look of distrust.
"We won't get in as much trouble if we're caught," said Lannon. "It would look very suspicious if Blue and Red Squires were all sneaking around in one group. And our best chance to be seen is when we're journeying to the Temple."
Jerret nodded. "I guess that's true."
"Good plan," Vorden said. "But what about Aldreya?"
"She's in the Library," said Jerret. "We saw her on the way up. Should we have her go with us, or should we just forget about her?"
"She can go with us," said Vorden.
"She's pretty," said Jerret, smiling. "She can go with me and Clayith."
"She's from the East Tower," said Vorden, giving him a hard stare. "If you two got caught with her, the Knights would know something's up."
"Is that your real reason?" said Jerret. "Or are you afraid I'll ruin your chance to get close to her?"
Vorden's face was stony. "What are you talking about, Jerret? Have you ever heard of the Sacred Laws?"
"Sure," said Jerret. "But they don't mean much, apparently. We're going to be breaking them anyways."
"Show some manners," Vorden said coldly, straightening his clothes. "I have no interest in Aldreya other than…for the sake of this mission, I guess."
"You're a tough one to figure out, Vorden," said Jerret, "Sometimes you seem cut from rough cloth, and other times you seem like some well-to-do snob with your neat hair and talk of manners. I can’t understand you."
"Why?" said Vorden. "Because I believe in what Dremlock stands for, even if I'm forced to break the Sacred Laws when I know it's the right thing to do? I just don't like what you're hinting at."
"Fine," said Jerret, with a shrug. "I guess I won't mention it again." Then he mumbled, "I must have touched a sore spot or something."
Vorden glared, his hands knotted into fists.
"Anyways," said Lannon, in an effort to change the subject before the situation turned ugly, "I just hope the hidden passage to the Divine Essence isn't guarded by those Dark Knights like that Garndon fellow."
"Dark Knights?" said Jerret, with wide eyes.
Clayith stepped forward, staring at Lannon with an odd, troubled expression-as if Lannon had said something confusing or appalling.
"Don't say such things!" Clayith hissed.
"Never mind," said Lannon, feeling his body recoil. Something about Clayith's expression, or way of standing, made Lannon feel almost physically ill. Did Clayith hold some hidden, important knowledge?
"I guess I wasn't supposed to mention that," Lannon added. "So forget I said anything about Dark-"
"Quiet!" Clayith put his finger to his lips.
"You're better off not knowing," said Timlin to Jerret, with a giggle. "That's our secret. Right, Lannon? Right, Vorden?"
"Not anymore," said Vorden, sighing.
After Jerret and Clayith left, the Blue Squires sat around for a while talking things over. The wind howled fiercely outside the tower, and now and then puffs of glittering snow would blow in from beneath the window shutters. They agreed that the Red Squires seemed trustworthy-though all three boys noted that Clayith seemed to be acting a bit strangely. But Clayith always had been somewhat quiet, and they reasoned that this was probably just a side to him they had never seen before. He was, after all, the kindest Squire any of them knew.
At last they crept from their chamber and headed downstairs. They went down two floors and then encountered a Red Squire-his sash well decorated with gold ribbons-standing outside his quarters in the hallway. He was an Olrog, about eighteen years old, and already his beard was as wide as his chest. They had seen this Squire before many times, but didn't know his name. (They barely knew any of the older Squires in the East Tower, though they had lived so near to them for almost a year.) He regarded them with suspicion in his grey eyes.
"What are you boys up to?" he said. "Shouldn't you be in bed? If Taris catches you wandering about it will spell bad business for you."
"We heard a noise outside the tower," Vorden said quickly. "It sounded like a crash or something."
"You sure it wasn't ice breaking off from the ledges?" said the Grey Dwarf. "I hear that a lot. Sometimes it wakes me up in the night."
"Could have been," said Vorden, "now that you mention it. Why didn't we think of that? Well, I guess we'll get back to sleep."
"Alright," the Olrog said. "Just watch yourselves. I don't know what you're up to, but Taris knows everything that goes on in this tower. Nothing escapes his eye. He has spies that lurk in the shadows. You can't see them, but they can see you. They're always watching. He won't always act right away, either, if he catches you breaking the rules. Sometimes he’ll wait for a while and see what you're up to. He knows you're down here, Squires. Make no mistake about that!"
"Then I guess we better hurry back to bed," said Vorden. With that, he started back towards the stairs. The others followed.
Glancing back, they saw the Olrog enter his quarters and close the door. Vorden stopped them with a motion of his hand.
"It's okay," he said. "He's gone to bed."
"I wonder what he was up to," said Lannon.