The Palace Job (3 page)

"I know." Kail sighed. "Tomorrow, then. Assuming the warden is as blood-crazy as he seems."

Tomorrow. Follow the plan. It will be okay.

"Where have I heard
that
before?" Kail shook his head and pulled himself back up onto the top bunk.

She'd caught the brief flash of his white teeth in the darkness, though, and the smile meant a lot that night.

When the prisoners lined up at the supply station desk that morning, Warden Orris was there alongside Tawyer. The change in routine had the prisoners nervously murmuring to each other. The warden greeted each prisoner as Tawyer switched the shackles for the leg-chain, handed them their broom, and called out their assignment.

"Morning, Rastik. How's block C treating you? Lewerryn, you take it easy today, you hear? Haha!"

"Got it?" Kail murmured to Jeridan as they neared the desk. Loch was in front of them.

"Of course." Jeridan rocked gently and bumped into Kail, who staggered and pushed him back into place. A small, cloth-covered bundle disappeared into the sleeves of Kail's worksuit.

"Morning, Loch!" Orris said jovially. "Let's hope you run into less trouble today than yesterday! Haha!"

Loch stepped up to Tawyer and wordlessly held out her shackled arms.

"Not today, I think," Warden Orris said easily. "The lady lost a broom, nearly fell, got into a fight. She can keep the arm shackles on today. Hell, those Urujar are more comfortable in chains anyway, right?"

Tawyer chuckled weakly. "I have to sign off for each pair of shackles—"

"Just mark it down, Tawyer. Here, let me put my initials by it." Orris grabbed the pen. "There. Take her legs, though. Can't wear your leg shackles
and
the leg-chain."

"Right, sir." Tawyer didn't meet Loch's stare as she stepped onto the stand to have her leg shackles removed. "Here, I'll just—"

"No, no, Tawyer. Give her
this
leg-chain, here." Orris produced one with a smile. "Fasten it good and tight, too. I'd be real sad if anything should happen to her."

Tawyer fastened the leg-chain. "Where would you like—"

"The Tooth, I think." Warden Orris nodded thoughtfully. "She was so eager to get there yesterday, after all. Put them on the lower grid. In fact, why don't you go ahead and walk them there yourself?" He gave Loch a wide smile. "You take care now, girl."

Tawyer did Kail's shackles and leg-chain in silence, then snapped a single-use flying charm secure on his shoulder and followed them to the hatch nearest the Tooth. He carefully fastened each of their leg-chains to one of several vertical pipes labeled with different grid sections. They climbed down a short metal pipe along a rusted iron ladder, their leg-chains squeaking and rattling beside them.

At the bottom, Tawyer had to float a bit to get around them. "Go on," he muttered. "You know which way it is."

"He's gonna kill her," Kail said conversationally.

"That kind of talk gets a man a night dangling down under, Uru."

They started moving, Loch in the lead since her chain was connected to the pipe ahead of Kail's. They followed the pipe along the narrow walkway, the cold morning air still tasting of the metal of the grid.

"You think the warden can kill two prisoners in one week and not be investigated?" Kail asked. "When the heat comes down on the warden, who do you think he'll blame?"

"You just stay careful." Tawyer prodded Kail with his truncheon. "Can't blame the warden for getting angry. Bynkodar's hell, all she had to do was show a little respect!"

"Oh, damn, Tawyer, you're right," Kail said as he and Loch turned a corner on the pipe, their leg-chains protesting the uneven fittings with shrill screeches. "I guess she has to die. What was I thinking?"

They reached the Tooth. From the upper grid, standing level with the top, it was a violet jewel. The sun hadn't risen above the rim of the city yet, and the Tooth shone with a clear brilliance as the sun's light caught it directly.

"Lower grid," Tawyer said sharply.

Loch and Kail moved to the junction where the upper grid linked to the special frame that locked the Tooth into place on all four sides. A vertical pipe led down to the lower grid, which connected to the frame below as well.

"You think about what you did to make the warden so mad." Tawyer gestured for them to head down. "Maybe he'll change his mind."

"See," Kail said thoughtfully, "I don't
know
what I did to make him so mad. I
know
it wasn't sleepin' with his mama, because I was sleeping with
your
mama last night."

"Shut your fat mouth!"

"That's not what your mama said. Man, she couldn't get
enough
of my mouth. And your mama's a screamer, too—"

The truncheon came whistling down at Kail's head, and Kail dove back. The truncheon clanged off of the pipes instead, and then Loch's shackled arms crashed down on Tawyer's wrist.

As the truncheon clattered on the pipes, Loch's palms slammed into Tawyer's temples. Then she looped her shackles over the back of his neck, yanked down hard, and brought her knee up.

"So, today it is," Kail said as Tawyer hit the ground. He pulled a small bundle out of his sleeve, passed Loch what looked like a pair of thick cloth slippers, and produced another pair for himself.

Loch shot him a look and pulled on the cloth slippers.

"Yes, I always use it," Kail said, "every time. Because it always works."

Loch raised an eyebrow as she got to her feet.

"Swear to Gedesar, if I run into a guard who doesn't fall for it, I'll find a new one." Kail reached into his sleeve again, produced a thin metal wire, and bent down to work on the leg-chain. A moment later, it snapped free. "Here, let me see yours."

With a wry smile, she reached down and yanked hard, and the special leg-chain Warden Orris had saved for her snapped clean away.

"Or that," Kail allowed, and then, grinning, reached into the bundle to produce a pair of pipefitter's tools. "Shall we?"

Orris pounded the desk so hard that his hand throbbed. "Guards!
Guards, get in here!"

As warden, he had access to several powerful artifacts. He'd taken a vicious pleasure in pulling out the flat disc of polished ivory, laying it flat on the table, breaking a vision charm over the artifact, and watching as the dust sprinkled down and the pale ivory surface resolved into a view of the grids. He shifted through the divining crystals set throughout the Cleaners until he found the perfect view of the Tooth, complete with Tawyer, Kail, and Loch herself.

Then he watched in helpless rage as she took down Tawyer with brutal efficiency, broke the chain he'd prepared for her, and got to her feet. She and Kail began to do something with metal tools on the pipes of the grid.
His
grid.

But he was still master of the grid, and he had a few surprises of his own. It had been awhile since the Cleaners had seen
real
discipline.

Orris reached into his desk and drew out a narrow wand of polished glass. At its tip was set a single gem, a muddy green-black whose whirling pattern constantly shifted.

A pair of guards came into the room, and one of them asked him what he needed. He ignored them.

Instead, he looked down into the polished ivory surface at Loch. "Time to dance, little princess." Then he touched his personal signet ring to the wand.

The screams that echoed up from the grid made the whole office vibrate, or perhaps it was the magic itself that shook the very underside of Heaven's Spire. Orris felt a lustful rush as he stared into the ivory, watched the writhing tendrils of scarlet  fire snake across every metal surface on the grid. Every prisoner at work would curl up in helpless torment or fall screaming from the pipes until their metal leg-chains caught them. Then they would dangle, twitching in agony while the pain raced down their chains.

Loch and Kail flinched, and waited.

After half a minute, the scarlet flames flickered and died.

Loch grinned, turned to the divining crystal that she had to know he was using to watch her, and waved.

The nurse sighed as the vibrations ran through the clinic. The containment magic was wonderful for neutralizing prisoners, but there were always injuries. He was going to have prisoners complaining of all sorts of aches and pains for the rest of the day, and the warden hated it when the nurse used supplies.

He looked down at his only overnight prisoner, a man who'd lost a fight in the dining hall and was shackled to the bed for treatment. "Count yourself lucky," the nurse said conversationally, leaning in to check the unconscious man's pulse. "Better to be in here than down there this—"

The man's shackled hand shot up, closed around the nurse's throat before he could pull back out of reach, and yanked him down toward the bed.

"Key," the prisoner growled.

The nurse tried to pull back, realized that that wasn't going to help his breathing, and sputtered frantically. "Can't escape!" he gasped. "They'll kill you as soon as you go up!"

The prisoner grinned horribly. "Not going up."

Orris watched helplessly as Loch and Kail started working on the pipes again.

It can't be," he murmured again. "She played me.
She played me!"
He thrust the crystal wand at the ivory plate and focused his will again, but the magic required time to gather its strength. Orris hurled the wand and spun away as it shattered against the wall. "Get down there and... No!" With sheer force of will, he lowered his voice. "No. Tend to the prisoners." He pulled his grandfather's saber from the wall, unsheathed it, and tossed the scabbard aside.

"I'll deal with Loch myself."

His pronouncement was ruined when another guard burst into the room. "Sir! Sir!"

"You don't get
paid
to run around screaming, guard!" Orris barked, brandishing the saber. The intruding guard flinched back, sputtering. "I know damn well the security wards were activated!"

"That's not why I'm here, sir," the guard cut in, still eyeing Orris's saber nervously.

"Well, why the hell
are
you here?" Orris shouted, bustling forward and urging the guards out of his way with flourishes of his grandfather's saber.