No more flashbacks... sorry guys :) So... here you go! Once again, sorry for any typos... Happy reading! A huge thank you to all my reviewers!
Chapter 7
Silk had the overpowering urge to kick something but he restrained himself and tried desperately to calm his mind. The fear had burned away, and a terrible hungry anger took its place. The contents of Khelvor's message chilled him to the bone, but his anger seared through his body and chased out the chill, leaving him shaking slightly.
Khelvor's message hinted strongly that Liselle was dead, but Silk knew otherwise. There was no point in kidnapping a dead person, and Silk doubted very much that Khelvor would kill the girl he once loved obsessively unless there was something Liselle had never told him. He also doubted that Khelvor still had such strong feelings for her. No, it made more sense that Khelvor harbored a fiery anger towards Silk himself. Forcing himself to look at the note again, he tried to extract what information he could from it.
Liselle was Hunter, so she'd told him, but the fact that Khelvor knew was decidedly disconcerting and only proved that his old friend had indeed been watching her. The rest of the message was understandable, but the last sentence sent another shiver down his spine. 'She's quite tame now.'
To be Hunter, one had to pass certain tests, and Silk knew one of them was a proficiency in self defense. Even asleep, Liselle should have been able to wake up and fend her kidnapper off. There was only one way that he could think of to take her without a serious struggle: poison.
His eyes fell on the pitcher of water and the spilled glass on the bedside table. Upon closer examination, he found nothing distinguishing about it, but he knew someone who could tell him if it was poisoned. Pocketing the parchment, he made his way to Sadi's room with the pitcher of water.
He didn't bother knocking, but opened the door and entered uninvited. "Sadi!" He hissed at the sleeping eunuch.
Sadi groaned and rolled over. "Kheldar? What do you want? And who let you in here?"
"I did. I need you to tell me something," he held out the pitcher. "You have some way of telling if a substance is poisoned, right?"
Sadi had sat up and was shrugging on a robe. "Yeah, there's a solution, but it only picks up common poisons. Why would you want that, anyways? What time is it, Silk? I'm pretty sure Belgarath didn't mean for us to leave this early."
"I'm not going anywhere," Silk said bluntly.
Sadi turned around to look at him. "What?"
"You heard me, now what about that solution?"
Sadi looked at him shrewdly before going to his bedside table and picking up a little bottle of clear liquid. "Here, put two drops of that in whatever you want to test," he handed the little bottle to Silk, but paused when he saw the pitcher he held. "What happened?"
Silk ignored his question and let two drops fall into the innocent looking water. "You keep this by your bed?"
Sadi nodded. "Yes, I check all the water that they give us at these inns before I drink out of them."
Silk looked up at him, surprised. "That's a good idea," he muttered.
"What happened?" Sadi repeated.
Silk held the pitcher forth so that Sadi could see its contents. "What do you say?"
Sadi peered in and nodded. "See the discoloration? It's been tampered with. Where'd you get that?"
Silk ignored him again and noted the bluish tinge the water had taken on. "Thank you, Sadi. Tell Belgarath we'll catch up."
"We?"
Silk turned to leave, but Sadi caught his arm. "What's going on, Silk?" Sadi asked insistently.
Silk looked at him speculatively. He didn't know why he was trying to hide anything from the man. Indeed, it was probably better that he tell the rest of his companions, but Khelvor's message was too personal to trust the man to leave Liselle alone if Silk involved others in his quest of rescue. "Nothing," Silk replied to Sadi. "I noticed myself feeling a little strange after I drank this, so I figured I'd bring it to you."
Sadi's expression turned from curiousity to worry. "We should find out what it is, then. I have an antidote to almost every common poison, and we can't have you dropping dead on us."
Silk silently berated himself. Every moment he wasted was another moment that Liselle could be dying. "No, I'm fine. I only had a little sip," he insisted, knowing it would not do any good.
"A little sip of a good poison can be just as potent as a cup full." Sadi had taken the pitcher from him and was subjecting it to an array of more clear solutions.
"Sadi, really, I'm perfectly fine,"
Sadi looked up abruptly from his testing the water. His eyes were searching. "Silk, if you want to go, all you have to do is ask." He said quietly.
Silk looked at him, relieved, and nodded. He turned to the door, and was halfway out when Sadi called out to him again. "Silk, did you actually have any?"
Silk turned and shook his head. "No," he said truthfully.
Sadi nodded. "I'll see you later then,"
Silk made to close the door behind him, but paused. "Thank you, Sadi."
Sadi knew exactly where to go. Silk could take care of himself, but Sadi wanted to be sure that the man didn't get them all into trouble, and he didn't particularly feel like creeping around after the spy all morning long. Instead, he made for Liselle's room, knowing the girl would be able to keep track of Silk with ease.
Shivering slightly, he rapped his knuckles smartly against the door and waited for an answer. He didn't get one.
Cautiously, he tried the doorknob and found to his surprise that it was unlocked. Maybe she packed up already, or perhaps she had gone off with Silk. The room spoke otherwise, however. The first things he noticed were the daggers that lay on the dresser. He was almost positive that neither of the two Drasnians would leave without them, and Liselle was no where to be found.
A suspicion began to form in his mind, and the sight of the missing pitcher and spilled cup confirmed his fears. He'd found out what the substance in the water was, and at the time, it had puzzled him, but now he understood. The 'sleeping potion' as many called it was a solution that would induce almost immediate and deep sleep for about four hours. He knew people who used it for insomnia relief, but it was more commonly used as a tool in kidnappings.
Sadi didn't waste time, but went immediately to Belgarath's room and knocked loudly on the door. He could understand Silk's choice of action, but Sadi had an obligation to the whole group. The door opened quicker than Sadi thought it would, and a grumpy Beldin came into view. "What do you want Sadi? Are the others down yet? Are they waiting for us?"
Sadi shook his head. "No, I think we've got a bit of a problem."
"Oh dear, we've got plenty of those already. Tell them we don't want it."
Sadi smiled wryly. "I would if I knew where they were."
"Who?" Asked Belgarath, elbowing his brother out of the way.
"Silk and Liselle." Sadi replied smoothly.
Belgarath cursed. "Do you have any idea of what happened?"
"It looks to me like Liselle was kidnapped and Silk went after her." Sadi explained.
"By himself?" Beldin growled.
Sadi nodded. He explained to them about Silk's visit and the water with the sleeping potion in it. "Then I figured that Liselle would be able to keep an eye on him, so I went to her room and found her missing and her room had plenty of evidence to suggest kidnapping. Silk did look bothered when he was talking to me, and we all know about him and Liselle."
The two sorcerers spent a good minute reeling off expletives, and Sadi waited patiently for them to finish. "What shall we do?" he prompted them when they'd fallen silent.
"Well, first I want to see her room. Beldin, go get Pol and see if she can find either of them with her mind, she's better at it than we are. Sadi, come with me." Belgarath ordered, pushing past Sadi into the hall.
Muahahahahha... I love writing Beldin... he's so much fun to write! anyways, Reviews anyone?
