“I wouldn’t worry about her getting out,” said Argoth. “I’d be worried about her kind getting in.”
“Nothing’s getting in here,” said Droz.
“Of course not,” said Argoth, hoping he might provoke Droz into revealing more of the defenses. “Who would dare?”
“We’ve got archers in the wings of the entrance,” said Droz. “Men on the wall above. Nobody is getting in.”
“And have you set a crossfire up in here?”
“You don’t need to worry, Captain,” said Droz. “We’re tight as a drum.”
Argoth nodded. They’d planned for everything but a traitor in their midst.
Droz led them to the back of the chamber and through an arched opening. Argoth glanced up as they walked through the short passage. The heavy portcullis hung there. It would not be made solid. No, they’d want holes in it so they might shoot arrows at whoever was caught behind it.
Another lever was set into the wall of this chamber. Argoth supposed it would release only the lower portcullis. There was a stench in this rear chamber. “What is that?” asked Argoth.
“Bones,” said Droz. “The man has the noxious flatulence of the Dark One himself. I think the designers of this tower wanted to suffocate their prisoners. There’s no second window and, therefore, no cross breeze. So what do we do? The best I could come up with was to order the man to release his poisonous vapors back here. They still waft out to torment us, but at least their potency has diminished by a degree.”
Argoth wrinkled his nose. “I tell you what: forget the crossfire. Just put Bones at the door.”
“I’d put him out,” said Droz, “if the man wasn’t such a good swordsman.” He motioned at the numerous squares on the floor with handles in them. “Mind the covers.”
“Murder holes?” asked Hogan.
“Exactly.”
Droz lit and handed both Argoth and Hogan an oil lamp, then held his aloft to reveal the stairs.
“Here’s another thing,” Droz said. “They spent a fortune making this small fortress; you’d think they’d make it safe for the guards. But no, the fifth stair will try to kill you. Just mind its slope as you go by.”
They descended the stairs. Argoth stepped over the fifth one. The stairs followed the curve of the tower wall to what looked like an empty cellar that lay directly below Bones’s stink chamber. This chamber too had murder holes in the floor.
It also had an iron grate door set into the floor on one side. Droz lifted the bar on the door and took them down another staircase. This stair opened onto a flat area about ten feet deep. At the end there was yet another grated door. Two massive iron bars held it shut.
Droz unbarred the door and opened it outwards toward himself.
There was a whistling somewhere above. Argoth suspected it was a window. He glanced back up the stairs and saw nothing but darkness. There was an odor on the air. Old urine and excrement and something else he could not identify. So it wasn’t as tight as Droz wanted them to believe.
The light of their three lamps was only strong enough for Argoth to see the grated doors of the first few cells.
“The woman’s down at the end,” said Droz. “I’ll wait here.”
“Actually,” said Argoth, “I think we’ll accomplish more alone.”
“I don’t like it,” said Droz.
“If you want to rouse the warlord to discuss our methods with him, go ahead. Or maybe we can wait until he wakes. Of course, she doesn’t have many hours left in her. If she dies tonight . . .”
Droz grunted. “You like to push it, don’t you?”
“No, Droz. We just need some answers.”
“Fine,” said Droz, “But that means I lock you in.”
“Thank you,” said Argoth. “We’ll ring the bell when we’re ready.” Argoth dropped his voice to barely a whisper. “I expect you’ll want to watch. But, please, don’t uncover one of the murder holes directly above her cell. If she is Sleth, she’ll know you’re there. In fact, I’d recommend against opening any of them. Your stink will come through, and she’ll not say a word.”
Droz looked at him, and Argoth couldn’t tell if it was suspicion or curiosity behind those eyes. But then he nodded, locked the grated door behind himself as he left, and retreated back up the stairs.
Hogan stepped forward toward Purity, but Argoth restrained him, and motioned at the murder holes in the ceiling. They waited for the time it would have taken Droz to walk back