The Orchid and the Emerald by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-01-26T20:30:56+00:00

chapter 37

the Haunted

“Enter!”

Cautiously, they stepped over the threshold into the dim room. The door suddenly slammed shut; a rusty bolt groaned into place. Dark figures behind them blocked escape.

The only source of light in the large room came from a small fire in the far corner.

A gauze curtain concealed the speaker, only his outline visible in the dim light. “Your lives are forfeit.” The casual verdict made their blood run cold. Surprisingly, the words were spoken in English with a Manchester accent.

“Can I not beg you to consider otherwise?” William entreated, feeling there must be a human connection possible, especially with a fellow Englishman.

Nate was about to say something when William caught his eye. The British officer shook his head slightly from side to side. He pleaded with the concealed shape, “We ask leave only to pass through your land.”

“Through to where?” A coarse barking sort of noise that could have been laughter came from the shrouded figure. “There is nothing after our land.”

Becoming slowly accustomed to the gloom, they could detect many more beings in the shadows of the large room. An audible shuffling filled the space as the figures closed in on them. William glimpsed a handless specter, another shuffled on stumps, and yet another hobbled on a crutch. What manner of beings were these?

“We journey to the Sacred Land,” William said.

“The Sacred Land? Well then, my English friend, surely you are already doomed. We’ll do you a favor and end your suffering here and now and take your miserable possessions for ourselves. I like the dog.” Pax lay near William, resting on his front paws, watching.

A large man angled into position behind William and Nate. With a full black beard, swarthy face, and fierce, closely set eyes, half his head covered in a stained turban, he held a pistol in one hand and a long curved sword in the other, the likes of which neither man had ever seen before.

Nate shifted uneasily. The Brit had better get this right or, he felt, their remaining time on earth was going to be quite short.

William measured his words carefully, his voice wavering. “My guide and I beg your pardon and your leave. We only entered your land in the most dire need, to avoid the pursuit of a Spaniard, most likely an inquisitor, who endeavors to prevent us from acquiring the black orchid.” The loud mutterings from the shadows chilled William to the bone.

“The flower we seek not for ourselves, or for fortune, but as the cure for a mysterious sickness which afflicts my daughter, the same strange sickness that took my wife’s life. Your consideration and your kindness in this are requested.”

The shrouded figure sat unmoving. After several moments, the apparition slowly retreated into the shadows to confer with a knot of figures. Nate shot William a curious glance.

Their muted conversation ended, and the man moved back to the curtain.

“Inquisitor, you say? We await the arrival of any inquisitor here and, indeed, would welcome him with open arms.” The vestige of a laugh accompanied the next uttering, “Those of us with arms.

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