The Tenth Power by Kate Constable Page A

price; they were prepared for this. ‘Two silver bits.’
    ‘Make it six, that might jog my memory.’
    ‘Four.’
    The weaselly man shrugged, and Tonno handed over the silver pieces.
    ‘They got him gagged and guarded, up in Traitors’ Tower. That way – the tower in the south, overlooks the grave-pits. Where they keep the dangerous ones.You won’t get in there just by asking.’
    Tonno began to thank him, then stopped. Instead he said, ‘If you want your freedom, there’s an open door to the sewers.’
    The four men looked at one another. One of them chortled. ‘Freedom?What’s that worth?There ain’t nothing for the likes of us out there. In here they feed us and give us a dry place to die.’
    ‘Your friend know you’re coming for him?’ The weaselly man gave a ghoulish grin. ‘Maybe he’d rather stay here.’
    ‘He’s not sick,’ said Tonno through clenched teeth.
    A sour-faced man chuckled. ‘Maybe he weren’t sick before. But I’ll bet you a gold bit he’s sick now.’
    With one swift movement, Tonno jerked him to his feet. ‘Liar!’ he snarled.
    Halasaa laid a hand onTonno’s arm. Peace, my brother!The man is ill.
    Tonno gave the sour-faced man a shake, like a dog with a rat, then threw him aside. As he and Halasaa made their way down the stinking corridor, he said fiercely, ‘Darrow wouldn’t let himself get sick.’
    Darrow is strong, and quick-minded. Do not fear for him.
    Tonno grunted and they walked on. But both were more anxious for their friend than they were prepared to admit. ‘All these Gellanese are liars, curse them. Can’t trust a single one of em.’
    There is good and bad inside every Gellanese, my brother, just as there is inside every other person.
    ‘Every person? So there’s good inside Samis, is there, may his bones rot?’
    Even Samis is not wholly evil. He wishes to unite Tremaris, and for the lands to help each other. That is a wish we all share.
    Tonno snorted.
    A group of lazars were shuffling into a cramped dining hall where some kind of slop was being ladled out of vast cauldrons. Half a dozen Protectors in their green and brown skirt-coats, and some lazar-guards with chequered armbands, lounged against the walls, looking bored and yelling abuse. One of them glanced up asTonno and Halasaa passed the doorway. His eyes met Halasaa’s.The man stared at him, unblinking, then his eyes flickered away, as though he was willing them to disappear.
    Strange , mused Halasaa, as he hurried afterTonno. He seemed to know us, and yet he let us pass by.
    Tonno walked faster. ‘Mebbe they don’t care if anyone breaks in. Everyone inside these walls is going to die, no matter what.’
    We will not die, my brother. And nor will Darrow.
    They made their way cautiously through the Lazar-House, until they emerged onto a bare, windswept terrace. The dull red flagstones underfoot were slippery with snow, and the edge of the terrace dropped away steeply, with no wall or guardrail. Far below spread a bleak field, dotted with stones and ringed by a high wall. The sky was a leaden canopy above the city, almost low enough to touch.
    Fighting the wind, Tonno peered over the edge of the precipice, then recoiled. At the foot of the cliff were dozens of bodies, sprawled where they had fallen. The deep cold had preserved their flesh; no one had collected the corpses for burial or burning. ‘These Gellanese don’t respect the living, nor the dead. Look at that! Just throw the bodies over and leave them there to rot!’
    Halasaa looked sombre. I wonder how many throw themselves down, rather than wait for death.
    Tonno turned away with a shudder and stared up at the round tower that reared above the terrace. It was a grimy reddish-brown, the colour of dried blood. ‘This must be Traitors’Tower.’
    They found a blackened door; it was locked, but Tonno’s sturdy fisherman’s boot made short work of the rotting timbers. The two lazar-guards inside were taken by surprise. Tonno felled one