The Clock and the Candles by Anthony Dean

Author:Anthony Dean [Dean, Anthony]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-08-10T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

On the night of the new moon, Roland slipped soundlessly into the river. He walked out until his feet could no longer touch the bottom, and then be began a slow sidestroke. He was careful not to splash, and he was careful to keep his clothes, boots and bag of supplies balanced on his head and above the water. The bag in particular needed to stay dry.

He made slow progress. The current tried to push him to the east, but he kept his eyes on the Prison Maximus a mile to the south and corrected his movements so that he crossed the river in a mostly straight line.

When his feet could touch bottom near the south bank of the river, be walked slowly until he reached dry land once again. He dressed and placed his bag upon his back and crossed the short distance to the entrance of the old Royal Tomb. King Adolphus had ordered the construction of a massive barricade in front of the grand entrance shortly after King Vincent had been laid to rest. But Roland knew of another way in.

He walked around to the east wall. His elven eyes were able to discern some shapes in the darkness, but he mostly worked by feel. He was certainly unwilling to use a torch or a glow sphere for illumination where he might be spotted by the guardsmen who patrolled the grounds of the Prison Maximus.

From the corner of the wall, he counted up seven layers of stone and found the correct row. He then began to walk, and he counted off twenty two stones. His hand came to rest on a stone that was flat on its right side. Roland smiled. It even felt different than the others, although he imagined it looked the same as any other stone in the light. He pressed his palm against it with steady force, and the stone gave way under his hand and moved inward half an inch.

Roland heard counterweights release on the other side of the wall. A small section of stones near his knees began to sink into the ground. When they stopped moving, they left a rectangular gap large enough for a man to crawl through. Roland pushed his pack into the opening and then crawled through himself. A few seconds after his boots cleared the opening, the counterweights engaged again and the section of wall rose until it closed the gap completely and came to rest with a dull thud.

“Hopefully the exit button is still operational as well,” Roland said aloud, even though there was no one to hear him. He reached into his pack and found a glow sphere. He squeezed it until it began to cast light, and he then held it up and away from his face.

The room he occupied was small, and it was filled with the pulleys and wheels and gears that raised and lowered the section of wall he had just passed through. Although he had memorized his route,

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