What's with the Q/A thing?

Well, whenever someone leaves a non-hypothetical question in their review (and I don't count "How can you hurt Danel?" as an non-hypothetical question, by the way), I answer them here, to the best of my ability. Just as I have done with yours. *smile*

Don't you think the plot should move faster? Lauryn isn't even in Corus yet.

*considers* It is slow, no? I guess I just had a bunch of stuff I wanted covered before we reach the conclusion of Lauryn's story. Rest assured, Lauryn has officially arrived in Corus for this chapter.

The Goddess of Purple Coats: You're suggestion is a good one (not revealing who's perspective each segment is from and just leaving that up to the readers to figure out), but for the sake of lessening confusion, I'll leave the names up. However, I'll probably utilize your advice when I go back over this fic in the future (when it's finished). Thanks.

Where did you come up with the Screwy thing?

Ah, but I didn't. We humans were creative enough to make that up all on our own, hundreds of years ago. Go to google and type in 'torture devices' as a search. You'll find lots of appalling things that way. One device was called the wheel. Basically, the victim's limbs were broken in several places (every couple of inches or so, I suppose), and then the person's limbs were woven through the spokes of a wooden wheel (think of a wagon wheel). And of course they're still alive during that. And another method involved (You can stop here if you wish) hanging a person upside down and then sawing them from between their legs and down into their chest. Since they're hanging upside down, most of the blood is toward the head, and they last longer.

Author's Note: On a lighter note, Lauryn and her gang have arrived in Corus, where she'll make an interesting (and not so unexpected for some of you perceptive people out there) discovery. Onward.

29. A Surprise And Then Some

Nobles' Bane: Chapter 27

"Fire! The stables are on fire!" someone screamed.

Bedlam broke loose as people rushed in all directions: some running away, some running towards.

It worked, Travis. We're in, she spoke into her pin, ducking, darting and becoming one of those people who were running away.

Kenric broke out in front of her and motioned for her to hurry. "Come on! Before they leave the building and get lost in the crowd!"

Just as they approached, a figure ran out of the cabin designated for the castle servants.

"Lousan! Lousan, wait!"

The woman slowed, glancing around with confusion. She saw Kenric and gasped. "My Lord Tonerian! Where have you been--"

"Lousan, listen. There is little time."

Lousan glanced at her, puzzled. Lauryn saw the woman's eyes widen as she took her black clothes and green sash.

"Lousan, it's me. Alisse."

Lousan glanced at Kenric uncertainly. "I'm afraid I'm not familiar with--"

"Please. I was a servant here for a little while, just until I--"

"Hey, Lousan! What's happening?"

Lauryn glanced up to see Morna and Delice approach them. She shook her head with frustration. "There isn't time for this!"

"I'm sorry for any confusion we've caused you," Kenric quickly said to the servants, "but we need your help. This," he motioned to Lauryn, "is a member of Nobles' Bane. We've come to free her friends, the other members of Nobles' Bane. As an undesirable son to my father, much of the castle has been forbidden to me. But not to you. You serve, you listen, you endure. And you know where my father's dungeon is."

Lousan was looking at her with something akin to shock. "Alisse was a member of Nobles' Bane?" Apparently, she remembered who Alisse was.

Lauryn glanced at them earnestly. "Please help us. I never worked here long enough to learn where the dungeons are. And there is no time for a thorough search…"

Morna, face pale, shook her head. "I would help, but I don't know where they are."

Lauryn gazed at Lousan. But the older woman hesitated on the step of fear and indecision.

"I'll help you."

Lauryn turned to Delice gratefully. "Will you?"

Delice nodded. "I was sweeping out the General's room one day when I accidentally… There's a secret passage hidden in one of the room's walls. I wasn't able to explore it completely, but I'm sure it leads to the dungeons."

Lauryn blinked. "The way into the dungeons is through the General's room?"

"There used to be another way," Lousan murmured quietly, "but King Duane had it closed off."

Lauryn now better understood Lousan's reluctance to help. They would actually have to parade through the General's inner chambers to reach the dungeons…

"Why don't you just instruct us on how to get in, Delice?" Lauryn offered. "I'm sure Kenric and I could figure it out. There is no need for you to be present."

But the young woman shook her head. "The passage way isn't that simple to open. You may be there for awhile, figuring it out. You said there wasn't anytime."

She was right of course. She nodded. "Very well. Let's go."

~*~*~

Travis

"The General's men have put out the fire, my lord."

He frowned. "How many of my men have you been able to assemble on such short notice, Tiran?"

His most faithful man's face became shadowed. "A little over a dozen. Two, at best."

Less than two dozen of his own men against at least several companies worth of men available at Aleyn's behest. Not good.

He sent out a questioning probe towards his sister.

I need more time, Lauryn's voice whispered against his collar.

He sighed. He had been afraid of that.

And… she hesitated, if you can somehow arrange for The General's absence in his chambers, it would be incredibly helpful.

So. The rumors he had heard were true. The entrance to the dungeon lay through Aleyn's chambers. If it were possible for Travis to feel any more disgust for the General than he already did, that revelation would have clinched it.

I'll see what I can do, he replied.

Thanks, love. Then she was gone. He was in the midst of murmuring a prayer to Mithros when someone prodded him in the shoulder.

"Lord Travis?" Jessup ignored the strange look that Travis' man Tiran gave him. "We're willing to help with whatever needs to be done" He motioned to himself, Caleb, and the several others who had decided against staying behind with Nathan and watching their captives.

"You might want to reconsider, seeing as how we're fatally outnumbered."

Jessup and Caleb shared a side-long glance, and Cecil shyly stepped out from behind Caleb to speak. "I think we can do something about that."

~*~*~

Lauryn

It was shockingly easy to navigate through the castle. Lauryn wore a light cloak over her black clothes, and no one gave her a second glance. Kenric drew more uneasy gazes than she did. Luckily, those who were still inside the castle were too distracted to do much: they preferred running through the halls, yelling at one another and trying to figure out what was going on. If Lauryn had been the one in charge, she would have been ashamed of all the chaos and pandemonium running amuck.

"When news of the captures finally arrived, General Aleyn sent some of the soldiers away to their respective fiefs," Delice said as a way of explaining the unusually under-guarded corridors. She snuck a look at Lauryn. "The General was in quite an outrage, you know."

"He didn't hurt anybody, did he?" Lauryn said guiltily.

"Just a couple of his own soldiers who happened to get in his way," Delice reassured her. "We know better than to cross him during one of his rages." Delice suddenly started, her eyes wide. She realized who was present. "Lord Tonerian, I apologize. I didn't mean any offense to your father--"

Kenric's expression was slightly dark, and he shook off Delice's apology. "No matter."

Delice looked at Lauryn uncertainly before continuing on her way. "Almost there--"

They all froze.

Then, "What is it?" Lauryn whispered.

Kenric raised a hand to motion for silence. They quietly listened to the rest of the distinct, almost cacophonous drum beats sounded from somewhere outside the castle.

"An attack," Kenric finally murmured. "The guards at the gate are signaling a cry for defense against a siege."

"A siege? Now?" Lauryn said in disbelief.

Kenric listened to a new round of drumbeats. Lauryn even heard something that sounded like a horn blast.

"Yes, now. Apparently," Kenric raised his eyebrows, "the citizens of Corus have gone mad and are battering against the castle defenses. And," he let in a strand of his own disbelief into his voice, "they're actually breaking through."

For a moment, Lauryn was at a loss. A siege? Now? How in the gods' names was she going to get Axe and Danel out of a besieged castle--

Oh.

This was Travis' second distraction, his way of drawing General Aleyn out of his chambers.

As if conjured from her thoughts into the very air, the General suddenly appeared in a fury. Kenric grabbed her and pushed her behind a doorway, barely managing to hide himself as his father and a quartet of soldiers rushed past.

When the way was clear, Delice motioned them out. "Lucky for us, those four were the men who guard the General's door. Come on."

They hurried behind her, watching the empty hallway uneasily as she unlocked the General's door to lead them into his suite. The door led them into a parlor, a sitting room or study of some sort. As Kenric closed the door behind them, Delice strode through a door at the right and brought her into the bedroom. She immediately headed over to a musty pile of clothes in a corner of the room. She knelt, picking up a rusty ring mail shirt and shaking dust and dirt off it before hanging it carefully on a hook protruding from the nearby wall. Then she bent over to pick up a helmet.

"What are you doing?" Lauryn asked, perplexed as she watched Delice hang the helmet on a hook above the mail shirt with the care one usually utilized while handling a newborn baby.

Delice didn't even glance at her while she straightened the helmet on its hook. "The weight must be balanced exactly, or the door won't open."

"I… see."

Kenric drew closer, standing beside Lauryn as they both watched Delice pick up an old, worn scabbard and hang it on the wall beside the mail shirt and helmet. "Interesting," was the only comment he offered.

Finished, Delice turned to Kenric. "Your sword, my lord."

With a raised brow, he offered it to her, hilt first.

She took the weapon with both hands, raised it above the empty scabbard, and then sheathed it in a rushed, unpracticed manner.

There was an audible clunk. The helmet, hanging delicately on its hook, vibrated as the wall beside it moved and slid open.

Lauryn blinked as Delice returned Kenric's sword to him. "Well, then."

Just as she was about to duck into the opening, she thought she saw movement back in the General's study. She froze, listening. But there were no other movements or noises, so she shrugged and allowed Kenric to pull her into the passageway.

It was dark and distinctly cold. Go figure. No, of course General Aleyn couldn't have a warm, nicely lit dungeon…

She nearly slipped and fell atop of Kenric twice, nearly breaking their necks on the stone steps they were descending. She craned her head over his shoulder and squinted at Delice who stood in front of Kenric. "Why are we stopping--"

Kenric quickly covered her lips with his hand. He moved a bit to the side, allowing her to see the sharp turn of the staircase they trod on, and beyond the bend there was flickering lights and sounds of laughter.

"Guards," he mouthed to her. "Let me go." He moved forward before allowing her to protest. She and Delice huddled in the darkness while listening quietly. There were gasps of surprise, followed by Kenric's voice. He was saying something about his father. Lauryn grimaced when she heard the clanging of swords, even though she expected it.

"I still can't believe it."

Lauryn glanced at Delice, who was staring at her.

"It really is you, isn't it Alisse? You're really…"

Lauryn grimaced under her scrutiny. "Is it that hard to believe?"

The servant's eyes widened. "Yes," she said quite honestly.

"Lauryn?"

She jumped to her feet as Kenric motioned towards her. "Are you all right?"

"Don't worry." Kenric looked to Delice. "There's another door we need for you to open."

Delice frowned. "Another door?"

Kenric stared at her as he comprehended the girl's surprise. Then he glanced at Lauryn. "It's a damn thick door. Breaking it down is going to be easy."

When she studied the door herself, she knew that Kenric was right. It was one of the thickest doors that she had ever seen, made of strong, sturdy wood. Strips of metal reinforcements lay horizontally across the wooden surface. And the thought of even considering trying to pick the heavy lock on that monster of a door made her want to hit her head against a wall.

Would Axe's Gift even be able to blow this thing up?

She turned to Delice. "Are you sure you don't have a key?"

The servant shook her head. "Not for that door."

"Perhaps I could be of assistance."

All three of them jumped at the sound of the foreign voice.

Lauryn squinted into the darkness of the corridor just beyond the small room that Kenric had taken over from the guards he had killed.

She fingered her knife hilt tautly. "Nathan?"

"No." And then Lord Athaniel of Conte stepped into the light.

And Lauryn understood who she had seen in General Aleyn's study just before she had entered the passageway that led them here.

Kenric stepped in front of her, eyes narrowed warily. "What are you doing here?"

"I followed you," the noble simply said.

"Why?"

"I wanted to strike a deal," his eyes slashed towards Lauryn here, "with the last member of Nobles' Bane."

Lauryn gently pushed Kenric aside as he reached for his sword hilt. "You have the key that'll get us through that door? How?" she asked when the lord nodded.

"It was only a part of the effort to aid in Janah's safety. I have a copy of all of the General's keys." He held up a key ring and picked out one of the keys from the bunch. "I've never been able to figure out which door this key opened. Until now."

She eyed the key hanging between the noble's fingers. "And what do I have to give you in return for the use of that key?"

"I only want--"

Noisy yells broke the flow of Lord Athaniel's answer. "Athaniel! Athaniel, where are you!"

The Queen appeared in the doorway, and Athaniel skin went pale. "Janah, wh-what are you doing here?"

But her Highness wasn't listening to her carekeeper. She was glancing around the small room, eyes widened with horror.

"The-they're dead! Oh, no! My Janah Athaniel!" The Queen picked up her skirts and rushed over to one of the men Kenric had cut down. She kneeled over the dead man to peer into his face. "Jonathan? You don't need to make any more candles. Come back, Jonathan. Jonathan?"

Jonathan?

Lauryn rocked back on her feet, feeling as if she had just been hit with lightning. She didn't even notice Kenric grabbing at her frantically.

Candles. Janah Athaniel. Jonathan.

Things were almost too clear.

And she understood why she had mistaken Lord Athaniel for Nathan when he had been standing in the shadows.

They looked alike. The same black hair, the similar features.

Why hadn't she seen it before?

She regained herself and was able stand without Kenric's helping hands. "Lord Athaniel, what did you say you wanted in return for the key?" she demanded sharply.

The lord glanced up from his efforts to calm the Queen. "Her safety," he murmured, drained. "Whatever else happens tonight… promise me that you won't harm her."

She nodded. "Very well."

And he handed her the key, too concerned with Janah's care to give her a second glance.

She was pushing the door open when someone spoke.

"What's that?" Lord Athaniel whispered into the sudden chilling silence.

From somewhere not too far away, there were noises of a great many foot treads.

People were coming their way.