The Tower of Bashan by Joshua P. Simon

Author:Joshua P. Simon [Simon, Joshua P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781500668761
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 22849766
Publisher: Createspace
Published: 2014-07-27T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

Rondel shivered in the cool night, slightly nervous in anticipation of what awaited them. He had been unable to think of anything else except the tower all day.

I can’t believe we’re finally going to see the real entrance, he thought, walking along the path to the tower.

“Where are all the vendors?” whispered Andrasta in Juntarkan. Empty stalls, quiet alleys, and deserted pathways stood eerily on the blue marble in the area around the tower. “For that matter, where is everyone else?”

Rondel nodded toward the princess. “I imagine she emptied the area before our arrival for safety reasons.” She walked fifty feet in front, surrounded by guards and a very nervous looking little girl.

It’s fine, Lela. Just stay calm.

More guards stood mindfully on either side of the path leading to the tower.

“That must have gone over well with the vendors.”

“Especially since they’ll be forced out again in a few days when the prince holds his big party. So, what does that tell you?”

“That she’s serious about winning you over to her side.”

“And she’s just as desperate as Lela said. Both good signs. See, the girl’s still doing her part even with the Beladeva connection. You remember what you need to do?”

“Yes, assess the guards and physical obstacles first. Then work my way toward the lock at the door all while scanning the symbols on the walls leading to the entrance.”

“Right. I’ll look at as many of the glyphs as I can, especially around the frame, but since I’ll also have to talk to the princess I doubt I’ll be able to study things as well as I’d like. I’m relying on you to get what we need.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll get it.”

* * *

Rondel walked quickly through the recently painted, fake entrance of the tower, obviously enhanced to appeal to tourists. The true entrance was hidden away from the public, accessed through a secret door in the back.

Not a single jewel adorned the walls in the hidden area, yet the polished granite sparkled under torchlight as if made from gold.

The space was vast, bizarrely so he realized, extending for several hundred feet at a width half as large. How is that possible? From the outside, the base of the tower isn’t near this size. He glanced at the floor, ceiling, and walls to confirm that neither sloped into the earth or upward into another level. Not a single pillar supported the weight at the room’s center, an impossible feat of engineering considering what resided above him.

Not impossible. Sorcery.

To his right, Mira gestured, the slightest hints of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “Please, study the space as you like.”

He smiled. “I believe I will, Your Majesty.”

He drifted over to the nearest wall, examining the carved glyphs by sight and touch, trying to ascertain those of importance over ones used purely for decoration. He imagined he moved slowly in the eyes of the princess, but in his mind not slow enough. He hoped Andrasta was doing her part.

Eventually, he reached the opposite end of the space where floor-to-ceiling double granite doors stood.

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