The Rings of Salammis

Closure - Part 6

     As they walked, Saturn and Seskip fell a little behind the eager and enthusiastic Zanda, and Saturn was able to whisper low without the younger proctor hearing. "You know, I could forget what I saw back there. I heard the rak's voice myself, while passing by in the corridor outside, my sensitivity to such things being greater than yours. I almost accepted his offer myself, so I have some sympathy for you. One little slip in a lifetime of faithful service. If it was up to me I would give you another chance."

     "And what would you want in return?" asked Seskip, hardly daring to hope.

     "Your testimony that I had a legitimate reason for being here. You could tell the Director that I wasn't after the secret of immortality after all. I'm here on an important mission. A vital mission. No time to explain and all that. I saw a chance and I had to take it while I could. We'd both be heroes. A chance to leave our mistakes behind us. What do you say?"

     Seskip licked his lips with a dry tongue. "It would have to be a very, very good reason. The Director would be unlikely to believe it."

     "He will believe it if you tell him. I might be lying to save my skin, but you are the Head Proctor. Trustworthy and incorruptible."

     Seskip tensed up at the sneer in his voice. "Or I could just kill you," he countered. "My guilty secret goes to the grave with you."

     "You forget that they'll read your mind when you return, to see if you've stumbled across the secret of immortality. Do you have the skill to hide the truth from a mind probe? I do. I am stating the simple truth when I say that there is no human being in the world who knows more about telepathy than I do. I can help you conceal your guilt. I can make the mind probe see whatever I want it to see. Take your chances on your own if you like. My fate will be easier to bear knowing that you'll be sharing it."

     Seskip was silent for a few moments. He toyed with the idea of killing Saturn and Zanda and going back to the rak, but now that he was back in his right mind he recoiled in horror at the very thought. To kill a loyal proctor who was bravely doing his duty! He had fallen, yes, but he would not fall that far. Besides, now that he was thinking clearly again, he doubted very much that the rak would keep its promise to him. He would very likely suffer a fate much worse than simple demagestration. No, he only had one option and he knew it, but it was still several more moments before he could bring himself to speak the words.

     "Zanda, go on ahead. There are matters Saturn and I must discuss in private."

     "Master?" said the proctor in confusion.

     "Go on " snapped Seskip impatiently. "We will catch you up."

     "Yes, master," said the younger man, and he hurried off down the corridor, leaving the two older men alone.

☆☆☆

     Thomas tensed anxiously as he watched the image of the ring in the scrying mirror. The radiance of escaping magic had reached its peak and was now beginning to fade. That meant that there could be very little time left before the spells powering it failed, and there was still no sign of the proctors. "Come on," he muttered, as if he could speed them on by willpower alone. "Come on. Where are you?"

     "Maybe they've all been captured," suggested Prup Chull. "Breaking people out of a magic proof prison guarded by wizards can't be easy."

     "Yeah," agreed the wizard unhappily, "but Seskip's the Head Proctor. That's got to give him an edge."

     He stood and began pacing up and down, the nervous energy that filled him needing an outlet in some kind of physical activity. "I can't stand waiting. Never could. I want something to happen before I burst! Even if it's only the ring failing, leaving them stranded back there. At least that would be an end to the waiting."