The Invisible Chains - Part 2: Bonds of Fear Read Free Page B

him. Could you open the
    door for me?”
    “No,” said the page, as if this refusal was personally hurtful to
    him.
    “No?”
    “No.”
    22
    Andrew Ashling
    “You have the key though?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Where is it?”
    “I have hidden it, sir.”
    “I see. Well... eh... Do you know who I am?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Then you do know that I am indeed a personal friend of the lord
    governor?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “And you know that friends visit each other all the time, don’t
    you?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “You also know that friends like to tell important stuff as soon as
    possible to their friends, don’t you?”
    “Yes, sir”
    “Good. Just keep him saying ‘yes’ and then spring the question.
    He will say ‘yes’ out of sheer habit.”
    “So, if you had something important to tell to one of your little
    friends, you would tell him immediately, wouldn’t you?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Well then, I am a friend of the lord governor and I have something
    important to tell him. You understand?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Right. To tell him my important news I must be able to speak to
    him, mustn’t I?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    Bonds of Fear
    23
    “And he is in the war room, isn’t he?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Well then, to get to him I must go through the door, mustn’t I?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “And you know where the key is, don’t you?”
    “Yes, sir”
    “So, in order for me to get through the door, you must open it for
    me, mustn’t you?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “See, the conclusion is inescapable. You have to open the door for
    me.”
    “No.”
    “No?” Bortram asked, stunned.
    “No,” came the monotone and morose answer.
    At that moment Hemarchidas came into the entrance hall.
    “Bortram, where is Anaxantis? Why are you wasting time talking
    to that page?”
    “He has locked the door and he refuses to open it.”
    “Nonsense,” Hemarchidas said resolutely. “Boy, open that door
    now. Immediately.”
    “No,” Rahendo said sullenly.
    “Why not?”
    “He said to let nobody through.”
    “Yes, of course he said that, but he meant unannounced visitors,
    servants, messengers and such. Not his close friends. Obviously.”
    24
    Andrew Ashling
    “Come back around noon. Understood?” Rahendo said.
    “What?” Hemarchidas yelled.
    “Come back around noon. Understood?”
    “I heard you the first time, you impertinent young fool.”
    Rahendo looked sadly at the ceiling, as if what he wanted to
    convey was somehow written there.
    “He said ‘Let nobody through. And I mean nobody. Tell them to
    come back around noon. Understood?’ So: Come back around noon.
    Understood?”
    “Are you slow, boy?”
    “No.”
    “Then open that blasted door. Now.”
    “No.”
    “Give me the key.”
    “No.”
    Hemarchidas looked exasperatedly at Bortram, who was
    chuckling at the sight of his friend getting the same stubborn
    treatment as he himself had experienced a few minutes ago.
    “It will keep till midday, Hemarchidas. Let’s go. Maybe he really
    doesn’t want to be disturbed. You know how he gets.”
    Hemarchidas threw his arms in the air.
    “I suppose so.”
    Leaving, Bortram turned around and winked at Rahendo.
    “We’ll come back around noon. Understood?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    Bonds of Fear
    25
    “So the question is who will be his agent in the event Demrac fails?
    Is he already here? Has he been embedded in the army from the very
    beginning? Or will he arrive by the time his intervention could become
    necessary? Could it be one of my friends? One of those with weaknesses?
    “Damn it. I hate to be blind. Lorseth is probably riddled with father’s
    spies and informers, and I have exactly nobody in his entourage.
    Mother might still have some contacts in Ormidon and maybe even
    in father’s army, but I have no secret means to contact her, and I dare
    not endanger her position in Soranza. If that is where she is. Ehandar
    had informers in the Royal Administration. Precious few though. I have
    his