Prisons of Ice and Fire

The City Of The Eye

We arrive at The City Of The Eye in less than two hours from our departure and I'm standing next to the gangway as the prisoners make fast the ship and lower the plank.

I'm getting some strange looks from some of my compatriots, but most of them that know me can see it is not my doing. As I'm not usually nervous or quiet, they are mostly grinning and trying not to laugh. They know this is not my choice; I follow the code, I'm not a shirker but I wouldn't volunteer for anything.

The Bosun practically has to push me as if I am 'walking the plank'.

The movement of the boat doesn't help me as much as it should bearing in mind how used to it I am: I land in an unceremonious heap at the feet of the monk waiting for me and I can almost hear the Bosun seethe behind me.

The monk bends down and helps me to my feet and I find myself looking directly into his eyes... all three of them. Luckily he doesn't see my reaction as within a second he has turned and is dragging me by the hand up the steps into the City.

After many steel steps and much turning we stop outside a doorway and the monk finally lets me go as he needs both hands to unlock the door. As he does this I'm fumbling for the piece of paper the Bosun gave me. I finally draw it from my pocket just as he finishes and turns back to me. I waive it like a flag of truce but the monk just shakes his head and waves me inside.

After I enter, I hear the door shut behind me. I briefly turn my head back to the door to check what to do but there is no-one there: the monk must be still on the other side.

I turn my head back: the passage way is fairly dark, but I can see it opens into a lit room after less than twenty yards. Holding the piece of paper in my outstretched hand like some feeble kind of sigil to ward off evil spirits I make down the corridor.

When I get there, the room is surprisingly familiar: a desk behind which is a seated man and beyond, another door. The man looks up. He is normal: dressed in clothes rather than a robe, and has only two eyes.

"Ah no need for that." he says, and looks back down, although through the shock it takes me a few seconds to realise he means the paper.

I'm putting the paper back in my pocket as the other door opens.

"Come in." says the woman standing there.

Once through the door I realize that the woman is as nervous as I am; she is standing stock still clasping her hands together so tightly that the fingers are showing white.

"I’m sure you have many questions, but I’m afraid I don’t have time to answer them." she says matter-of-factly.

I can just about manage a nod.

"In order to gain some trust I’ve written a few things down for you to read later. But I’m afraid for now you will just have to do as I ask." she continues.

I nod again as she hands me a small note.

"Put it somewhere safe." she adds uncomfortably as I remain dumbstruck and immobile.

Snapping out of my trance I put the note in my shoe.

"These are your ‘official’ instructions," she recites, handing me more paper.

"Show these to whomsoever asks to see them. Your cargo is being loaded as we speak. Good day, and good luck." she concludes and with that I am ushered back through the door.

The man is still sat at his desk and ignores my re-entry. The monk is standing on the threshold of the room waiting to escort me back to the ship.

I can see the Bosun order the men to unfasten the ship and hold it as I'm still two flights of stairs from the plank. I am still two paces from the deck before he orders the men to release the ropes. I leap the last three feet to safety seconds before the plank slides off of the City structure and dips to an impossible angle.

Sprawled on deck, the Bosun's men are on me before I can begin to get to my knees and they proceed to frog march me to the Captain's cabin at a jog, my feet barely touching the ground.

Tossed to the floor with the door slamming behind me, I am just about up as the Captain takes the papers from my hand. I stand up straight, waiting to be questioned, but after he has perused the papers, he just throws them back at me and returns to his desk.

He begins to write, and without looking up just says,

"Well go, and I hope for your sake we aren't late."

No-one is waiting outside the Captain’s Cabin, so I take the time to fold the papers carefully so they don't tear any more than they already have: there is no point putting them in my pocket as I must go immediately to the store to redeem my old clothes for the ones I'm wearing.

Safely back at my bunk I slip off my shoes. I put the instruction papers I'm still holding in my shoe as I turn down my bed. When finished I retrieve both the instruction papers and the extra two sheets I was given. I'm sure a couple of the others have been sent to watch me, so I don't disappoint them by closing my bunk curtain.

I begin by reading the instructions.