Below the girl, a lone guard stood in the midst of the room, his head canted slightly to one side as though listening. One hand rested on the hilt of his short sword while the other gripped the scabbard. Emriana knew that any movement on her part would disturb the dust coating the top of the beam, causing it to sift downward-right on top of the man below her.
"Anyone there?" the guard called out, uncertain, craning his neck to peer into the shadows of the library. There was no answer, of course, because when Emriana and Pilos had entered the chamber to flee the guard and his companions, it had been perfectly dark.
Which is why I managed to bump into a shelf and knock over a whole stack of books, Emriana recalled. Oh yes, Emriana Matrell, you are a first-class sneak, she silently taunted herself.
She wanted to throw up from fear.
From the shadows beyond the guard's torch, there was a slight scuffling sound.
"Who's there!" the guard demanded, more forcefully.
A cat appeared, its eyes reflecting the torchlight, a mouse caught in its teeth. It let out a low growl as if to warn the human away from its meal, then slunk back into the shadows.
The guard snorted and his shoulders sagged, obviously relieved. "Stupid cat," he mumbled, turning to go. "Scared the demons out of me." He stomped out of the library, pulling the door shut behind him, leaving Emriana in blessed darkness. She heard the click of a lock turning, and all was quiet.
The girl sighed in relief and thanked Tymora for the luck of a cat. She then eased herself back down from the timbers in the ceiling, dropping to the floor. She began smoothing her dress in the darkness, knocking the dust from it, just as Pilos reappeared, dispatching himself from the nearby wall. His pendant still shone with a soft, pearlescent light. The glow had vanished when the guard had first interrupted them and the young priest had magically melted into the wall. The way in which he had done that fascinated Emriana.
"I need to cast spells like that," she muttered as the young man moved beside her. "I bet you were a lot more comfortable in there than I was hanging half upside down."
Pilos grinned. "You looked like you were having fun," he said wryly. "I thought for a moment that his torch was going to scorch your backside."
Emriana groaned at the possibility. "I guess it's a good thing the ceiling's so high," she remarked.
"Or that he was so short," the young man came back.
Emriana chuckled then took a deep breath. Her heart was still pounding. "Where are we?" When she saw the glint in her counterpart's eye, she added, "And don't say a library. You know what I mean-how close are we?"
Pilos paused with his mouth open then nodded as he let his grin fade. "Close," he said. "We're at the right depth, at any rate."
"Why would there be a library down here, so far below the surface?" Emriana wondered aloud.
"Maybe the guards in the prison get bored and need something to read," Pilos quipped. Emriana shot him a glare. "I'm sorry," he said, straightening his features once more. "I'm very nervous. I tend to joke when I feel that way."
"It's all right," the girl said, understanding all too well how he felt. "But it won't be very funny if we get caught."
"I know" he said, and she could sense that his seriousness had returned. "Truthfully, if Lord Wianar is as powerful a wizard as the rest of Chondath fears, the Generon is probably loaded with libraries, all filled with spellbooks."
Emriana had been about to reach for one of the musty tomes on the closest shelf, but upon hearing the priest's comment, she jerked her hand away.
No telling what magical traps are laid on these books, she thought.
Turning back toward the man accompanying her, Emriana said, "We're running out of time. Let's see about getting that door opened."
Together, they moved toward the portal that led back out into the hallway from which they had arrived. While Pilos held his pendant close, Emriana examined the latch. She slipped one of her enchanted throwing daggers free of the place where she had secreted it in the small of her back and went to work. With a few subtle twists of her wrist, the blade of the dagger manipulated the latch perfectly, and there was a faint click as the catch released.
Emriana motioned for stillness; then she pulled the door open just a crack and listened. All was silent and nearly dark in the hallway beyond. She put her eye to the crack and peered about, but there seemed to be no one there. Carefully, she pulled the door open a little more and stuck her head out. The passage was indeed empty, dimly lit by flickering torches spaced at distant intervals.
"Let's go," she whispered to Pilos, and as one, they slipped out of the library. Emriana pulled the door shut behind them.
As Emriana followed the route Pilos had divined was the correct one, she studied the walls. The architecture was familiar, and she realized that she had seen its like when she had used the scrying crystal to locate Xaphira's possessions. That revelation both soothed and frightened her.
On the one hand, it means we're getting close to the prison, she thought, listening for sounds of others. On the other hand, it means we're getting close to the prison guards.
The pair of interlopers reached an intersection, and Emriana turned to Pilos expectantly. The young priest scratched his head, frowning, and he shrugged.
Emriana groaned. Pilos's spells had proven quite useful to that point, but without another divination of some sort, they could become lost, wandering aimlessly through the bowels of the Generon. But standing in the open while he cast another augury was risky. She was just about to whisper a suggestion that they retreat to the library and perform the divination there when sudden motion caught her eye.
Emriana's heart nearly skipped a beat.
Junce Roundface stood in the middle of the intersection, having simply appeared there. Blessedly, he faced away from the two intruders, and the moment he showed up, he began walking, his boots clicking loudly on the paving stones of the hallway.
He had not seen them.
The girl held her breath as the assassin strode away from her, down the hall and out of sight around a corner. It was only after she let herself exhale again that she realized she had one of the throwing daggers in her hands. She decided to keep it out.
"Come on," she hissed to Pilos, who looked as pale and shocked as she felt. "That's Junce. We have to follow him!"
The Abreeant nodded, and silently the pair darted forward, cutting through the intersection with a cursory glance in either direction. Emriana tried to remain as quiet as she could, but behind her, Pilos's every footfall brought a scuff or click that was driving the girl crazy.
He's even breathing too loud, she thought.
He's doing the best he can, Hetta chided, nearly making Emriana jump. Her grandmother had been strangely silent for so long, the girl had almost forgotten she was with them. Without his spells, you would never have made it this far.
Chagrined, Emriana answered, I know. I'm just scared.
She turned, halted Pilos, put her mouth to his ear, and whispered, "Try to roll your feet with each step, heel to toe, heel to toe." She felt the young man nod, and she continued on her way. After her advice, the priest's steps were quieter.
When they reached the turn Junce had taken, Emriana pulled up again. She peeked around it cautiously, afraid to expose too much of herself to anyone watching. The new passage ended only a short distance away, as an open doorway. Beyond the wide doorframe, Emriana could see the bars of several prison cells. The whole place was lit with flickering torches.