The Fallen World

House Konnen - Part 2

     A flight of stone steps ran steeply downwards, and then they came to a series of narrow tunnels blocked at intervals by gates of iron bars and grim looking guards. Soon they came to a straight length of tunnel with prison cells on either side and each of the questers was pushed into their own cell, the door slammed shut behind them. The Captain then told them to back up to the doors and put their wrists through so that they could be freed, Jerry and Lirenna being released with a quick slash of a knife through the leather laces tying them. Then the soldiers left, leaving just a couple of guards to keep an eye on them.

     Thomas looked at the deep, angry red grooves left in his wrists, and looked across the corridor to see Lirenna doing the same, occasionally rubbing them to try and get the circulation back. “Well, so much for the direct approach,” he said gloomily. “Now what?”

     “Now we wait,” replied Diana. “They’ll soon realise we’re not spies. They'll probably be all ashamed and apologetic and treat us really nicely to make it up to us."

     “You hope,” said Matthew. “Not that it matters. We can’t really do anything else at the moment.”

     “Do you still think it was a good idea to stop me using spells in self defence?” Thomas asked Lirenna. “Look where it’s got us.”

     “You can’t fight a whole city,” replied the demi shae. “If we’d tried to fight, we might all be dead by now instead of just prisoners.”

     Thomas was still scared and angry, but knew in his heart that she was right and he nodded slowly. He looked over at Jerry, who’d tied a hanky at the corners and was wearing it on his head. He looked ridiculous, but he seemed much happier now and his usual cheerfulness was returning fast.

     “Don’t worry,” he said. “Did you see the way they were looking at Lenny and me? They’ve obviously never seen a nome or a shae before, which means there aren’t any up here, and that proves we’re from Tharia. Therefore we can’t be spies.”

     “You’re being logical,” pointed out Shaun gloomily, “and most people don’t think logically. In fact, many people have a deep mistrust of people who think logically.”

     “Who could they possibly be at war with up here?” asked Thomas, anxious to change the subject. “I mean, this is Kronos, a dead moon! There’s nobody else up here!”

     “We don’t know that,” replied Jerry. “Given that it’s possible to survive on Kronos with the aid of magic, there could be any number of communities up here, all refugees who fled from some social upheaval or other. In fact, all the moons could be inhabited.”

     “They mentioned people called Traldians,” mused Lirenna, “but are they human, members of some other Tharian race, or creatures unlike anything we’ve ever seen before who live only on the moon?”

     “If they think we’re Traldian spies, then the Traldians must be human, or at least fairly human looking, mustn’t they?” ventured Matthew uncertainly.

     “I wonder what they’re going to do with us?” said Thomas gloomily.

     “Don’t think about it,” advised Diana. “Look, this time yesterday, we were trapped in a steel prison, faced with the prospect of a slow, lingering death. Now we’re back in civilization, of a sort, and in a situation that offers endless opportunities if we can take advantage of them. Our situation has improved immeasurably.”

     Maybe, thought Thomas, but it’s still a pretty lousy situation. He couldn’t bear the thought that he’d been separated from his spellbook, his most precious possession. He felt a great numbing fear at the thought of thick, grubby fingers flicking through it, creasing the pages and leaving smudgy fingerprints all over it before idly tossing it into a corner to be kicked around and chewed by rats. He knew the fear was irrational. Anyone who even glanced at it would recognise it as a spellbook and spellbooks were much too valuable to be mistreated, but the fact that it was out of his sight and protection gave his imagination free reign to work overtime. The fact that they’d taken their Holy Rings of Courage as well didn’t help, and meant that he was close to feeling real panic for the first time since being given them by the PriestKing of Samnia. That seemed a thousand years ago now.