Regida charged out into the torchlit courtyard. In a shadowed alcove, she caught sight of Kehnan’s long black hair falling across his pale blue tunic, half-shadowed in the early evening gloom. His massive body was slumped in the corner of the alcove–its posture far from natural.
Hurrying to his side, Regida called out, “Kehnan! My lord Kehnan!” When the big man gave no reply, she drew closer and shouted, “Sabit has escaped!”
“Escaped? Impossible” Kehnan roared, turning to face her. A disheveled chambermaid emerged from his shadow and fled into the night. “Impossible! I could barely break those chains with my own strength. There’s no way Sabit could have done so. You are mistaken.”
Regida glared at Khenan, the reflected torches flashing in her eyes. “I followed our trail back to the dungeon, without seeing trace of the necklace. The guard was not at his post, but a smear of of blood stained the floor. The guard’s body lies dead inside the cell. Sabit’s chains hang empty. The old woman is gone, too. Her wounds still bleed, so I was able to track them through the catacombs. They found their way into the laundry. That opens onto this very the courtyard. Didn’t you see them?“
Regida could see the look of realization emerge on Kehnan’s face. “The laundry? They might have covered themselves with robes …” He looked frantically around the courtyard, then rushed to the main gate of the palace. The guards were closing it for the night. The portcullis was already down and the great wooden doors were being pushed closed.
Beyond the iron bars lay one of the busiest streets in Bahteel, still filled with dozens of cityfolk even at this hour. Hands gripping the bars, his knuckles white, Kehnan saw amidst the traffic two orange robes lying discarded in the dust.
He threw his head back and let out a roar, giving voice to the agony just beginning to kindle in his heart.
—END—
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Wayfarings of Sabit: Agony is copyright (c) 2018 by Michael S. Miller. All rights reserved. New chapters post every Thursday (and the occasional Monday). You can support this and other stories on Patreon: https://patreon.com/michaelsmiller Find more sword and sorcery fiction at http://ipressgames.com/fiction/.