The Wolves openly despised the house guards as soft, half-trained, and untrustworthy. The house guards considered the Wolves bloodthirsty maniacs. Loyalty to the Wizard and the Wolves' superiority as fighters kept the peace between them.
Now the little procession of four tramped down another succession of halls and stairways, to the wing of the castle that held the Great Hall with the view-balls and sky-bridges. The entrance had two doors, separated by a small room with benches along one wall. Here the house guards and other people not admitted to the Great Hall were allowed to wait. The outer door was guarded by Wolves. The inner door was guarded by fear of the Wizard's magic and of the punishments inflicted on those who broke important rules. They not only died, they died slowly, at the hands of the Wizard's executioners, the Wolves, and sometimes even the Wizard himself-or so the tales ran.
Serana settled herself on the bench, doing her best to seem perfectly calm under the eyes of four Wolves. Blade wished he didn't have to leave her out there, with a job to do that would need a cool head, good timing, and some strength. The cool head and the timing she had, but Blade wondered about the strength.
Unfortunately, they had no choice, because there was no way to get a Wolf outfit for Serana. Disguised as a house guard, she had to wait outside the Great Hall. Doing anything else would give the alarm at once. If the alarm went up before the assistant on duty activated the sky-gate to Kassaro, Blade and Serana could hope for nothing better than a quick death. Here in the Great Hall, so close to the Wolf barracks, they wouldn't even be able to get out and strike down the Wizard before they died. It would be a bloody and futile ending.
One of the Wolves opened the inner door and the other led Blade through. The door shut behind them, and they were in the Great Hall. It stretched two hundred feet from the door to the huge stained-glass window at the far end, lit by flickering lanterns on iron brackets and thick candles in chandeliers. On one side ran the shelves holding the crystals for the skybridges in their chests, on the other side the shelves holding the view-balls. A carved plaque under each ball or chest showed where it was tuned to reach.
Between the shelves were curtained alcoves with shelves for books and scrolls. These were the private studies of the Wizard's assistants. One of them was sitting at his desk as Blade entered. He saw Blade, rose, and came toward him.
«What is your pleasure, Lord Blade?» the assistant asked, bowing politely. The Wizard's assistants wore medieval-style academic gowns with hoods. This one had his hood thrown back, revealing an apple-cheeked face under close-cropped brown hair. Blade recognized the assistant as one of the youngest, pleasant and unfailingly polite. It was almost a pity that the young man had to die. On the other hand, his death at Blade's hands would be cleaner than the one awaiting him from his master, if Blade escaped.
«I wish to go to Kassaro with these two Wolves,» said Blade.
«Kassaro? Yes, my lord. Do you wish me to activate its view-ball and see what the weather may be?»
Blade shook his head. «We won't be out in it that long. You can spare yourself the trouble.»
«Yes, my lord.» The assistant turned away and went to the shelf where an iron chest sat above a plaque reading KASSARO. He took the chest down, set it on the floor, pulled two steel locking pins, and opened the lid. The two fist-size square-cut crystals lying on their bed of red velvet seemed to double the light in the hall.
It was just his imagination, Blade told himself. The crystals didn't really glow, not until they'd become active. Yet it was still hard for him to be completely calm and clearheaded in the presence of the crystals. What they represented was simply too awesome to grasp easily, even though he'd been trying now for months. It was a feeling Blade didn't have very often, and didn't like when he had it. He still remained powerless to resist it when he saw the crystals.
The assistant was now placing the crystals in the center of the hall, on a green rug with a pattern of silver rays. If Blade and the Wolves had been riding out on heudas, the assistant would have taken the crystals down to a large room near the stables. As it was, they could simply walk across the skybridge from the hall.
As the assistant began the slow, regular breathing that would put him into the activation trance, Blade estimated distances and times. The two Wolves were standing close together, between Blade and the door. Both wore back-plates and breast-plates and helmets and carried slung crossbows. One had a sword, the other had an oversized mace, and both carried daggers.
It wasn't going to be easy to put them out of action fast enough, but it wouldn't be impossible. As long as the assistant didn't have time to deactivate the crystals and break the skybridge-
The young man began the slow chanting of the arcane syllables that accompanied the mental effort involved in activating the crystals. A hand rested lightly on each one.
Slowly the crystals began to glow, then to vibrate slightly. A faint humming began, rapidly growing louder.
The Wolves' attention was now totally on the crystals and the man sitting behind them. Even the Wizard's Wolves never quite got used to seeing the Wizard's «magic» at work. It was a pity they couldn't be struck down now, when they'd be completely off their guard. Blade knew he had to wait, until the assistant rose to his feet, clear of his trance, and pronounced the sky-bridge opened. Then it would be good for at least half an hour. Nothing that happened to the assistant could affect it, unless he had the chance to deactivate it. He wouldn't need much of a chance, either. A single minute would be enough. Blade had to have both Wolves down within that minute, or-
Suddenly the crystals flared up to twice their former brightness and vibrated so fiercely they seemed to blur. Then the glow steadied and the vibration faded away. The Great Hall was silent for a moment. Then the assistant shook his head and rose to his feet.
«Lord Blade, the way to Kassaro is open.»
«Thank you,» said Blade. As the words left his lips, both hands shot out, gripping the assistant by the collar and one sleeve of his robe. Before anyone could react, Blade spun the young man around, rammed a knee into his back, then flung him violently at the two Wolves. He sprawled almost at their feet, and they sprang apart. Blade followed the assistant and was on the first Wolf before the man could draw a weapon.
Blade's first slash glanced off the man's helmet and tore his sleeve. The second drew blood from his left arm. Before Blade could strike again the Wolf raised his mace and swung savagely. Mace and sword met with a clang and a spray of sparks. The sword flew out of Blade's hand, but he moved smoothly into another attack, gripping the man's weapon arm by wrist and elbow, then heaving violently. The Wolf screamed as his elbow shattered, then screamed again as Blade brought a knee up into his groin.
The Wolf's screams echoed up and down the Great Hall. As if in reply, there was a burst of shouting at the entrance, cut off instantly by a squealing crash as the outer door slid shut. Serana had done her job. The Great Hall was sealed off.
The other Wolf realized what the closed door meant as quickly as Blade. He charged off down the hall like a sprinter, waving his sword and shouting. Blade saw the first Wolf was out of the fight, but the assistant was crawling on hands and knees toward the crystals. Blade's sword came down, and the assistant's body jerked like a gaffed fish as his head rolled away across the carpet. Then Blade dashed after the second Wolf.
The man was through the inner door before Blade caught him. Swords clanged fiercely in the entrance chamber, and Blade heard Serana scream. He heaved the inner door open, to see the Wolf backing Serana into a corner a step at a time. Her rough and ready swordsmanship wouldn't keep her alive much longer, not against a trained Wolf. Fortunately it wouldn't have to.