“I don’t know,” Jack sobbed. “It was something the goblin kisser gave me. It”—he nodded—”one of the others called it “Silverthorn’“
Arutha looked rapidly around the room but could see no one who recognized that name. Suddenly one of the priests said, “It has returned.”
Several of the priests began incantations, then stopped, and one said, “It has won past our wards.”
Lyam said to Tully, “Are we in danger?”
Tully replied, “The dark powers may directly control only those who have willingly given themselves over to them. We are safe from direct attack here.”
The room began to chill as the torches flickered madly, and shadows deepened on all sides. “Don’t let him take me!” Jack shrieked. “You promised!”
Tully looked to Lyam, who nodded and indicated that Father Julian should take charge.
The King motioned for the Tsurani guards to give the priest of Lims-Kragma room. The priest stood before Jack and asked, “Do you find in your heart the earnest desire to receive our mistress’s mercy?”
Jack couldn’t speak for terror. Through tear-filled eyes he blinked, then nodded. Julian began a low, quiet chant and the other priests made quick gestures. Tully came over to Arutha and said, “Stay calm. Death is now among us.”
It was over quickly. One moment Jack was sobbing uncontrollably, then abruptly he slumped down, prevented from falling only by the chains. Julian turned to the others. “He is safe with the Mistress of Death. No harm can come to him now.”
Suddenly the very walls of the chamber seemed to shake. A black presence could be felt in the room and a high-pitched keening began, as something inhuman shrieked in outrage at being robbed of its minion. All the priests, as well as Pug and Kulgan, mounted a magic defense against the invading spirit, then suddenly everything was deathly quiet.
Tully, looking shaken, said, “It has fled.”
Arutha knelt beside the bed, his face a stony mask. Anita lay with her hair falling upon the white pillow like a dark red crown. “She seems so tiny,” he said softly. He looked at those in the room. Carline clung to Laurie’s arm, while Martin waited with Pug and Kulgan next to the window. In silence Arutha’s eyes beseeched them all. All looked down on the princess, except Kulgan, who seemed lost in thoughts of his own. They stood the deathwatch, for Nathan had said the young Princess wouldn’t last the hour. Lyam was in another room attempting to comfort Anita’s mother.
Suddenly Kulgan moved around the bed and, in a voice made loud by the hushed tones of the others, asked Tully, “If you had a question and you could ask it only once, where would you go to ask it?”
Tully blinked. “Riddles?” Kulgan’s expression, his bushy grey eyebrows meeting over his prominent nose, showed he was not attempting some tasteless jest. “I’m sorry,” said Tully. “Let me think . . .” Tully’s aged face furrowed in concentration. Then he looked as if some obvious truth had struck. “Sarth!”
Kulgan tapped the old cleric in the chest with a forefinger. “Right. Sarth.”
Arutha, who had been following the conversation, said, “Why Sarth? It is one of the least important ports in the Principality.”
“Because,” answered Tully, “there is an Ishapian abbey near there that is said to house more knowledge than any other place in the Kingdom.”
“And,” added Kulgan, “if there was any place in this Kingdom where we could discover the nature of Silverthorn, and what would counter it, that would be the place.”
Arutha looked helplessly down at Anita. “But Sarth . . . No rider could reach there and return in less than a week and . . .”
Pug stepped forward. “I may be able to help.” With sudden authority he said, “Leave the room. All of you, except Fathers Nathan, Tully, and Julian.” He said to Laurie, “Run to my rooms. Katala will give you a large red-leather-bound book. Bring it at once.”
Without question Laurie dashed off, while the others vacated the room. Pug spoke softly to the priests. “Can you slow her passage through time without harm?”
Nathan said, “I can work such a spell. I did so with the wounded Dark Brother before he died. But it will gain us only a few hours.” He looked down at Anita, whose face had already taken on a cold blue appearance. Nathan touched her forehead. “She grows clammy to the touch. She fails fast. We must hurry.”
The three priests quickly fashioned the pentagram and lit the candles. Within minutes they had prepared the room and soon the rite was done. The Princess lay, apparently asleep, in a bed engulfed by a rosy glow seen when viewed askance. Pug led the priests from the room and asked for sealing wax to be brought. Martin ordered it and a page ran off. Pug took the book he had asked Laurie to fetch. He re-entered the room and paced around it, reading from his tome. When he was finished, he stepped outside and began a long string of incantations.