“No one's getting released,” Maddigern said. “You are held under the King's law.”
The seer, too, ignored Finn's plea. “You saw him kill Dostagio? He did this deed before your eyes?”
“No, he did not. What of it? You have no say in this. I don't need your spells.”
“Tread easy, my friend. You are not on steady ground here.”
Some understanding, some knowledge shared, passed between the two. Finn saw this happen, saw that though Maddigern would not back down, he would not, for the moment, push the magician too far. There was caution, distrust, even loathing between this pair, but there was something else there as well.
“You should not have taken him out of the palace. That was a fool thing to do.”
“I have reasons for what I do, Captain/Major. I do not have to explain them to you.”
“This trickster came back and killed Dostagio, First Servant To His Majesty, and Most Esteemed among the Gracious Dead. That should concern you, I cannot see how it would not!”
Too late, the Badgie knew he should not have spoken these words. Finn could see him draw in a breath, run a hand across his mouth. He could see, as well, the seer's eyes, see his face go rigid, see the dire warning there.
“This is-a matter of the King's justice,” Maddigern said, looking at the floor. “I will handle it myself.”
“I have still not heard how this killing came about.”
“He came back to the palace. Murdered Dostagio, and came back again. Through another way.” With that, he briefly met Oberbyght's eyes.
“So I have been informed.”
Maddigern looked somewhat surprised. “I say again, stay out of this. I'll see the matter quickly done. The King will be distressed, but that will be that. Dostagio will be discovered in an alleyway.”
Oberbyght shook his head. “You are a foul and disgusting creature, Maddigern. You have a great liking for all of this.”
“I only serve. As you do, seer.”
Oberbyght stepped away, his mouth distended as if he tasted something vile.
“This time you will not serve. This time, it is you who will step aside.”
“Be damned, Oberbyght!”
The bristles on the Badgie's chin began to quiver as if they had a life of their own.
The seer stood perfectly still. His eyes met Maddigern's, and the Badgie turned quickly away. “You dare not do your magic on me!”
“I did nothing to you. I am a mirror, my ignorant friend. If you saw something that made you squirm, that is your reflection, not mine.
“No, don't speak. Listen, and let your blood cool. You need say no more than you've said about this fellow's ventures, for if he's strayed somewhere he shouldn't be, it is I who must deal with him now. In my own way.”
“I see no need for that.”
“Yet I do. And if it is done, what does it matter how it is done? You want more wretches to meet your needs? They are not hard to find, you don't need these.”
“And that one?”
Oberbyght frowned. “Dostagio is dead. What would I need him for? I shall take Master Finn with me now. Leave the girl where she is, but she need not be so tightly bound that she loses her limbs. Although I'm sure you are not concerned with that. Leave the mechanical fiend in its cage.”
Oberbyght raised his voice so the Guardsmen could hear. “Post guards in the hall, but tell them they are not to come in. That goes for you as well. Until I think on this, consider that I shall leave a few-very small spells about.”
Oberbyght paused. “Do leave them alone, Maddigern. Is that clear enough for you?”
“Do as you will. And don't think I'll forget. You have said things this day that cannot be so easily unsaid.”
“Then I won't bother to try.” The seer's face split in a warm and generous smile. “Loose the fellow, please. And bring Master Finn to me. We'll be having our little talk, up there… “
It was only a very small gesture, hardly a nod, barely a motion at all, but enough to raise the hairs on all the Badgies there, for none of them wanted to think about what might lie in Obern Oberbyght's lair
FORTY-NINE
There were doors, locks, latches and blocks. Bolts, bars, narrow twisting stairs. Finn had been down in the dark and narrow maze beneath the palace; now he was learning there was also an up.
The seer, Obern Oberbyght, in the kindness of his heart-a kindness that cheered Finn not at all-had given Finn time to let the blood flow back into his limbs, which were cold to the touch after Maddigern had so fiercely bound them up.
And why not? For he never intended to loosen them again…
Thoughtful though he might be, the seer had given Finn no time at all to look to Letitia's care, only a glance between them before he was gone. Finn could only think of her still in torment, her flesh chilling cold beneath the tight, unyielding cords.
No guards at Finn's back, no warnings or threats. No one to stop him but the pleasant, stout, and clearly deadly seer. Finn made no effort to get away. He had seen what happened to the Badgie Guardsman in their cell. He had surely not forgotten what this happy sorcerer had done to him before. There would come a chance-he had to believe this was so-and when that chance came, he would take it, whatever risk that entailed.
Though Finn had heard very little of the talk between the Badgie and the seer, it was clear their meeting had been most intense. Maddigern, cruel, cunning, past the edge of madness, had nevertheless backed away from Oberbyght in the end.
There's hope in this, he told himself. This pair cannot be done with one another, there is too much enmity for that…
It seemed near forever before Obern Oberbycht came to a halt, took a silver key from his ring, and rattled it in a brass lock set in a heavy oaken door. Spiderwebs of cold, intense blue light danced along the silver key. The lock began to crackle, shiver and glow.
Oberbyght cursed beneath his breath, words in a tongue that made Finn's stomach turn.
The seer jerked out the key, frowned, gave it a sniff, polished it against the fabric of his robe.
“Damned thing's not a thousand years old. They don't make them like they did anymore.”
The sorcerer tried again. This time the lock protested with only a sizzle or two, before the key slid into place.
“After you, Master Finn.” The seer stood aside and waved a welcoming hand. “The place is a mess, but nobody comes here but me.”
Oberbyght loosed a hearty laugh. “A whimsy, you see. The jest here being no one could possibly come here but me. Why, you'd find a patch of grease on the floor if they tried!”
Finn wasn't nearly as amused as the seer, but the point was quite clear.
Oberbyght was right. The place was, indeed, a terrible mess.
“It's home,” said the seer. “It's not much, but it serves me quite well.”
“It is-very nice, really,” Finn said. “I expect there's an excellent view from up there.”
“I suppose. Never been up there myself. Sit, Finn. I'll find us a jug of ale.”
Finn sat, while the seer moved about, humming to himself.
As the sorcerer said, it was nothing much, but there was room to move around, if one was careful where he stepped. The room itself was perfectly round-no great surprise, as Finn had climbed the twisted stairways of lofty towers before.
A wooden ladder led to a trapdoor above, no doubt leading to the view the tower's owner didn't care to see. Past it, there would be a circular floor, a shoulder-high wall, and all one cared to see of Heldessia Town and beyond.
Inside the seer's quarters, covering nearly every wall, were high wooden shelves filled with books, tomes, ancient scrolls, yellowed piles of paper stacked precariously high. Finn was sure they'd been there long before he, himself, was born-or possibly his father's father sometime before that.
There were vials, pots, jars, a trail of gummy fluids hardened on the floor. Strange, unfamiliar smells, foul and aged odors that had long since eaten into the stony floor.