To End All Wars by David Tallerman

Author:David Tallerman [Tallerman, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aethon Audio
Published: 2020-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

F orbes didn’t appear that afternoon as Forrester had thought he might, or in the evening. Perhaps he genuinely believed that Forrester was too enervated to see him; perhaps he was taking satisfaction from making him wait and fret. Meanwhile, Abhaya, when she came with his meals and to check his bandages, was withdrawn and wouldn’t meet his eye. By the time he settled down to sleep, Forrester was despondent and anxious for the next day.

Campion had been right; Forbes wouldn’t have liked his not showing. He wasn’t used to noncompliance, even of so passive a variety. Forrester might have bought himself a reprieve from further physical ordeals, but Forbes was perfectly capable of coming up with torments of the mind. Hadn’t every debate with the man had the feel of an obstacle course run through machine gun fire?

Forrester remembered what he’d told Abhaya: I’m not without my resources . That had been an exaggeration at best. A keen intellect and the ability to hobble were not exactly the makings of an escape attempt. The truth was, he’d had the ideal opportunity, with his captors fast asleep and the doors wide open, and its like would not come again. If Forbes was set on keeping him here, he was sure to have taken appropriate measures.

All right. Assume that he wouldn’t get another chance during the day, while he was outside this room. That left the night and figuring out a means of opening his perpetually locked door. The simplest one, to try and overpower Abhaya for her key, he rejected immediately. His freedom wasn’t worth mistreating a woman, especially one who’d shown him decency. Beyond any squeamishness, though, he found that his thoughts slipped from the plan almost as he considered it.

Anyway, a solution that relied on Abhaya’s imprisonment would do him no good. Her absence was bound to be noted, and once they were hunting him, he’d be done for. What were his alternatives then? He could see none. He evidently couldn’t talk his way out; he’d learned with Abhaya how inadequate his powers of persuasion were. He could think of no subterfuge that would necessitate them taking him away from Sherston. He hadn’t the faintest clue of how to pick a lock, and opening the door by brute force was a fruitless prospect.

There was no question, Abhaya had been his one hope. If only he’d been less hasty, not so confrontational. If only he’d taken the time to convince her, rather than imagining he could cajole her. Now it was too late.

He’d determined to escape, but in truth he’d achieved nothing. And soon he would have Forbes to deal with once more.

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