Incarceron Part 97

"Did you think I didn't feel it? Do you think I didn't suffer, not knowing what to do, how to change it? Aware that with every word I spoke I was deceiving her; every day, just by being there, by letting her think she was mine."

"She ... that is what she will not forgive."

"Don't tell me how she thinks!"

John Arlex came and stood over him.

"I have always been jealous of you. Is that not foolish? A dreamer, a man without family, so fragile a few blows would kill him. And the Warden of Incarceron is sick with envy."

Jared managed to say, "I... am very fond of Claudia ..."

"You know, of course, there are rumors about you."

The Warden swung away abruptly and sat down again.

"I don't believe them; Claudia is willful but not stupid. However, the Queen does, and let me tell you Jared, at the moment the Queen is screaming for revenge. On anyone. Evian is dead, but the plot obviously included others. You, for one."

He shivered. "Sir, you know well that is not so."

"You knew about it. Didn't you?"

"Yes, but..."

"And you did nothing. Told no one."

He leaned forward. "That is treason, Master Sapient, and could easily have you hanged."

In the silence someone called outside. A fly buzzed in and droned around the room, hitting the gla.s.s and fumbling against it. Jared tried to think, but there was no time.

The Warden snapped, "Where's the Key?"

He wanted to lie. To make something up. Instead he kept silent.

"She's taken it with her, hasn't she?"

He didn't answer. The Warden swore.

"The whole world thinks Giles is dead. She could have had everything, the Realm, the throne. Did she think I would let Caspar get in her way?"

"You were in the plot?" Jared said slowly.

"Plot! Evian and his naive dreams of a world without Protocol! There has never been a world without Protocol. I would have let the Steel Wolves deal with the Queen and Caspar, and then had them executed, simple. But now she has turned against me."

He was staring blankly across the room.

Jared said gently, "The story you told her ... about her mother."

"That was true. But when Helena died the baby was sickly and I knew it would die too. And what then of my plans? I needed a daughter, Master. And I knew where to get one."

He sat in the armchair opposite.

"Incarceron is a failure. A h.e.l.l. The Wardens have long known that, but there is no remedy, so we keep it secret. I thought I would rescue one soul from that, at least. In the depths of the Prison I found a woman who was so desperate she was willing to part with her newborn girl. I paid well. Her other children survived because of it."

Jared nodded. The Warden's voice had sunk; he seemed to be talking to himself, as if he had justified this endlessly to himself over the years.

"No one realized, except the Queen. That sorceress took one look at the child and knew."

A sudden understanding came to Jared.

Fascinated, he said, "Claudia always wondered why you agreed to the plot against Giles".

"Was it because the Queen ..."

He stopped, not knowing the words, but the Warden nodded without looking up.

"Blackmail, Master Sapient. Her son was to be the one to marry Claudia. If I had not agreed, she taunted me that she would tell Claudia publicly who she was, disgrace her before the whole Realm. I could not have borne that."

For a moment there was a wistful distance in him, a stillness. Then he raised his head and saw Jared's look and his face went cold. "Do not feel sorry for me, Master. That's something I do not need."

He stood. "I know she's gone into Incarceron. For this Finn. There's nothing for you to betray. And she has taken the Key."

He laughed bitterly. "It's as well she took it. There's no way out without it."

Suddenly he stalked to the door. "Follow me."

Startled Jared stood, fighting down a shard of fear, but the Warden stepped out into the corridor and waved the guards away impatiently. The men looked at each other.

One said uneasily, "Sir, the Queen has issued orders that we stay with you. For your protection."

The Warden nodded slowly. "My protection. I see. Then please remain here and guard this door after I enter. Allow no one to follow us down."