‘Thank you for that,’ said the Prince. ‘That is comforting. If du Bas-Tyra returns to word my daughter is out of the city, he will almost certainly return me to the comfort of my apartments and the good ministry of my wife. I couldn’t ask for better news than to know my daughter in safety with the son of Borric of Crydee.
‘Now, you must go. The guard will rouse or another will come soon, and you must not be here. Return the wineskin and cloak as you found them. The guard must think he fell asleep. No matter what else, no one must know you saw me. If word reached the city I was near death, foolishly loyal men might seek to free me. Bloodshed on behalf of one already near death is pointless. Promise you’ll not mention this visit to anyone?’
They both said they would keep silent.
With surprising strength, Prince Erland demanded, ‘Not even to one another, lest someone overhear. Your oath!’
Jimmy blinked in surprise, but said, ‘By Ruthia and Banath, my oath, highness.’
Flora repeated the same oath and the Prince relaxed somewhat. ‘Good. Now go.’
Jimmy quickly returned the cloak and wineskin to the guard, taking a moment to pour a bit on the man’s face and down his tunic so that his sergeant would be less inclined to believe any stories about unexplainable slumbers, and turned to look back before he closed the cell door. He saw the Prince seem to shrink, becoming even smaller as he lay back and closed his eyes, and something in his heart twinged.
The two Mockers moved swiftly back to the large cell, not meeting anyone on the way. Inside they found the floor covered with sand.
‘Where did this come from?’ Flora wondered. ‘I swear it wasn’t here before.’
Jimmy looked up at the ceiling nervously, but it seemed solid. Then he looked over at the hole in the centre of the cell and saw a flood of sand pouring down through it. Oh, he thought and his heart sank. Asher had kept mumbling about ‘Something . . .’ Apparently the ‘something’ he’d forgotten was how much of the potion to use. Maybe only a part of a drop, while Jimmy had dumped the entire contents! It looked as if the potion was far more powerful than Jimmy had anticipated.
Which might just mean that the ceiling would be coming down imminently.
‘Let’s go!’ Jimmy said, giving Flora a shove.
She turned and gave him one back.
‘Now, Flora! Before this whole place comes down on us!’
The girl stared at him, her eyes wide. ‘Magic!’ she said. ‘You used magic!’
‘What else?’ he asked and thrust the rope into her hands. ‘Now go!’
By the time she turned to him, she was up to her waist in falling sand. ‘Don’t tell me you went to Alban Asher.’
‘At this point I’ll say anything you want, Flora!’ He waved her down. ‘Go! So that I can go. Please!’
The last thing she said before she disappeared into the hole was, ‘For the love of Banath, Jimmy, he’s a drunk!’
‘As if I didn’t know it,’ Jimmy muttered, taking hold of the rope.
This would be one of those times when the magician’s spell didn’t work as expected. Not exactly the way he’d planned for his name to pass into legend. But since, for the most part, this exploit had been a success Jimmy supposed he could accept this one little mishap. He pulled the cloth over his face, closed his eyes and went down the rancid shaft for the last time.
Laughing Jack smacked Jimmy hard enough to knock him down, then yanked him back up by his collar and shook him, hard.
‘Enough,’ the Nightmaster said.
Jack snapped a look at him, showing his teeth.
‘I said, enough,’ the Nightmaster repeated, quietly, but with an edge in his voice.
Laughing Jack let Jimmy go so suddenly the boy staggered.
‘You can go.’
Jack nodded, his expression showing his disagreement. Then he glared at Jimmy and turned and left, closing the door behind him.
They were in the upper room of a supposedly abandoned house in the Poor Quarter, and they could hear the floor creaking with every step the Nightwarden took as he walked away.
The Nightmaster shook his head and tsked. ‘You are too bold, Jimmy the Hand. Do you know that almost half a tower came down today? Straight down it fell, right into the west half of the dungeon. It’s a miracle that no one was killed.’
The Nightmaster’s face was bland, but Jimmy could hear a smile in his voice. It was all he could do not to smile in return.
‘Word is you were at the bottom of this mess,’ the Nightmaster went on. ‘And the Upright Man is most upset that you have, once again, disobeyed direct orders. Do you know what those orders were?’
Jimmy thought it best to deny that he did, so he shook his head.