To Lirenna's vast relief, the guard's eyes began to glow with adoration and he dropped to his knees before her. “My lady, forgive me!” he begged. “I meant no disrespect!”
You are forgiven,” said the demi shae, breathing a sigh of relief as she pulled her shirt closed again. “Now unlock this cell and let them out.”
“No, wait!” said Shaun urgently. “Di’s right. Even if we did escape from here, there’s nowhere to go without the key. We’ve got to stay here for the time being.” He turned to the guard. “Do you know anything about a key that opens the door to a teleportation chamber leading back to Tharia?”
The guard ignored him. “Answer his question,” Lirenna told him. “You will obey all my friends as you would obey me.”
“Yes, Mistress,” the guard replied. “I’ve never heard of any such thing. I’m sorry.”
“Damn!” said the soldier in disappointment. “That’s it, then. We definitely can’t leave this cell. There’s no point leaving this cell if we can’t get off Kronos. They’d just catch us again.”
“So what do we do?” asked Jerry. “We’ve got a secret ally in this guard until the spell wears off, so how do we use him?”
“Sorry, Jerry, but we haven’t got a secret ally,” replied Thomas. “You’re forgetting his Lordship’s Ring of ESP. He already knows all about it.”
“Not necessarily,” pointed out Lirenna excitedly. “He can’t use it all the time. To use a ring like that, you have to be left alone, free to concentrate. You can’t use it if you’re doing something else at the same time. What if he’s occupied at the moment, attending a staff meeting or something? He won’t know about what we’re doing yet.”
“But he will,” replied Shaun. “The next time he reads our minds.”
“Unless...” broke in Jerry excitedly, “Unless we’re wearing those Amulets of Mind Protection! Then he can read our minds as much as he wants to, and he won’t read anything except what he expects to find there.”
“But they took them from us, along with all our other stuff!” wailed Diana. Then she brightened as a new thought struck her and she turned to the guard. “Do you know where Lord Basil keeps all the things he took from us? And what’s your name, by the way?”
“My name’s Duncan Sowly, Mistress. The things you want will probably be in one of the treasure rooms, which are locked and guarded at all times. No-one gets in there without his Lordship’s permission.”
“But if you had to get in there without anyone knowing, could you do it?” asked Lirenna.
“For you, my lady, I would try anything,” replied the guard, bowing low before her.
“It has to be soon, as soon as possible,” pointed out Thomas. “Even if he hasn’t used his ring on us yet, he could do so at any moment. Every second counts.”
“I’ll go immediately,” replied the guard, “and I’m afraid you must leave your friends now. The others will know something’s wrong if I come back without you.”
“He’s right,” agreed Diana, squeezing her brother’s hands. “We have to go, but we’ll be back every day to check up on you, and we’ll make sure Duncan here brings you some decent food. I love you!”
“We love you too,” called back Matthew. “Good luck.”
“And don’t forget what we said about escaping if you get the chance!” added Shaun.
YOU ARE READING
The Fallen World
FantasyLost and alone, disheartened by failure and wanting only to go home, Thomas Gown and his companions face the darkest hour of their lives when they stumble across a remnant of the once mighty Agglemonian Empire. There they make a stunning discovery t...
