Kate followed, then Hogarth. Ishwar waited until finally Nick growled and also dropped into the dark tunnel. Ishwar came after and worked some counterweight to return the cover stone to its place.
In the darkness ahead, Simon paused to make a show of removing a stone from his boot. In fact, he quickly drew the gold key from his coat pocket, keeping it hidden from Ishwar with crafty sleight of hand, and dropped it into his right boot.
Ishwar smiled approvingly at the fire that burst from Nick’s hand to light the darkness. “Good trick. The light is unnecessary. Go forward. There is only forward now.”
“I’ll keep it if you don’t mind.” Nick let Ishwar pass in front of him so he was bringing up the rear and could keep an eye on the wizened man.
Simon stamped his boot back on. “Kate, what more can you tell us about this Walker chap?”
“He traveled with my father occasionally, as I mentioned. Died in India on my father’s last expedition there. Or so I thought. He had been an infrequent hunting companion of my father. When I was a little girl, he would come out to Hartley Hall at times for shooting parties, like many people did.”
“And what did you think of him?”
“He was a brute. He treated animals harshly. I saw him beat horses. Once Aethelstan, Aethelred’s mother, bit him and Walker went to shoot her.”
“Did he?”
“No. I stopped him long enough for father to come and smooth things over.” Kate grinned with righteous anger. “He deserved to be bitten, and worse.”
Ishwar said, “You brought your father’s key, yes?” When no one replied, the old man smiled. “Do you not trust me, Miss Anstruther?”
Kate looked back, “Shri Ishwar, do you know where my father is?”
“No, Miss Anstruther. I haven’t heard from him in the years since he hid the Stone here. You have not either?”
“No.” Kate shook her head. “Why not simply destroy the Stone?”
“No!” Ishwar leaned forward with a look of distress. “No, Miss Anstruther. Your father knew the karma from such an atrocity. The Stone is a great relic and more important than our lives.”
“More important than your life maybe,” Nick muttered.
Ishwar didn’t even glance at the sour man. “Hide it far away. If Gaios finds it again, then hide it again. As many times as necessary.”
Kate shook her head in confusion. “Why would he hide it here so close to Baroness Conrad’s home? He knew she was in league with Gaios.”
“He believed he had killed the Baroness years ago in revenge for her slaughter of his expedition. He was wrong.”
“My father battled with the Baroness?”
“Yes, Miss Anstruther. He came here many years ago trying to find more information about Gaios’s plans. She trapped his expedition and killed most of them.”
Kate exhaled heavily. “Damn it, he never told me.”
“Your father believed she was dead. And he believed the intrinsic power of this temple would help hide the Stone from the potential gaze of an earth elemental, even one as powerful as Gaios. He was wrong again. But even the great Gaios must have his limits. He obviously cannot tell the hunter the exact location of the Stone, or it would be on its way to England now. He only knows that it is somewhere here in this vast temple city. That is why Walker tortured the poor monks who reside here, but they did not know.”
“But you know?”
“I do. I helped your father put it here three years ago. And I have watched it ever since.”
Simon noticed Kate pulling her coat tighter. He knew her chills were not completely from the cold. The memories of her father were near and she was unnerved by them. “How did you contact us in England, Shri Ishwar? Do you have a key of your own?”
“I have this.” Ishwar hopped, showing a small silver chain around his bare ankle. Dangling from the chain was a metal trinket shaped like the compass or sunrise rune from the key. “Your father made these speaking charms and gave me one. It is drained of aether now and useless. Fortunately, I reached you, Miss Anstruther, and you came. And you will keep the Stone safe with your life, as I have done.”
As they continued, the tunnel grew narrow so they had to drop to their hands and knees, and crawl, pushing their packs ahead of them. The oppressive sense of surrounding earth began to trouble Simon, but he refused to show it. The dirt of the tunnel scraped both shoulders and the top of his head. He could not turn or look back. He only knew that Kate was there by her breath, and he could hear the sounds of the others crawling behind. The pale light of the tunnel grew even smaller ahead so he had to drop to his chest and wriggle through an opening barely wide enough for a human shape.
The other side opened into a broader chamber that allowed him to stand. He stooped to pull Kate out and she took a deep breath of relief. Hogarth struggled from the tunnel as if it were giving birth to an elephant.