I think," Jeanne said, "that he's here to get Delosto close the Dark Kingdom out Shut up the castleand come join him Outside. And, incidentally, ofcourse, kill all the slaves."
Maggie stared. 'Kill them all?'
"Well, it makes sense. Nobody would needthem anymore."
"And that's why you were escaping now," Maggiesaid slowly.
Jeanne gave her a quick, startled glance. "You'rereally not as stupid as you seem at first sight, you know?"
"Gee, thanks." Maggie shifted on her branch. Aminute ago she'd been thinking how good it would feel to get away from the twigs poking her. Now she suddenly wanted to stay here forever, hiding.She had a very bad feeling.
"So why," she said, forming her thoughtsslowly,"doesHunter Redfern want to do thisright now?"
"What do youthink? Really, Maggie, what do you know about all this?"
Four Wild Powers,Maggie thought, hearing Delos's old teacher's voice in her mind. Who willbeneeded at the millennium, to save the world-or todestroy it.
"I know that something's happening at the millennium, and that Delos is a Wild Power, and thatthe Wild Powers are supposed to do something-"
"Save the world," Jeanne said in a clipped voice."Except that that's not what the Night People want.They figure there's going to be some huge catastrophe that'll wipe out most of the humansand then they can take over. And that's why Hunter Redfern'shere. He wants the Wild Powers on his side insteadof on the humans'. He wants them to help destroythe human world instead of saving it. And it lookslike he's just about convinced Delos."
Maggie let out a shaky breath and leaned herhead against a branch. It was just like what Deloshad told her-except that Jeanne was an uninterested party. She still wanted not to believe it, but she had a terrible sinking feeling. In fact, she had a strange feeling of weight,as if something awfulwas trying to settle on her shoulders.
"The millennium really means the end of theworld," she said.
"Yeah. Our world, anyway."
Maggie glanced atP.J., who was swinging her thin legs over the edge of a branch. "You stillokay?"
P.J. nodded. She looked frightened, but not unbearably so. She kept her eyes on Maggie's face trustingly.
"And do youstill want to go to the castle?"Jeanne said, watching Maggie just as closely."Hunter Redfern is a very bad guy to mess with.And I hate to tell you, but your friend Prince Delosis out for our blood just like the rest of them."
"No, I don't still wantto go," Maggie said briefly. Her head went down and she gave Jeanne a brooding look under her eyelashes. `But I have to, anyway. I've got even more reasons now."
"Such as?"
Maggie held up a finger. "One, I've got to. gethelp for Cady." She glanced at the motionless figure clinging trancelike to the fir's trunk, then held upanother finger. "Two, I have to find out what happened to my brother." Another finger. "And, three,I have to get those slaves free before Hunter Redfern has them all killed."
"You have to what?"Jeanne said in a muffled shriek. She almost fell out of the tree.
"I kind of thought you'd react that way. Don'tworry about it. You don't have to get involved."
"I was wrong before. You areas dumbasyoulook. And you are totally freaking crazy."
Yeah, I know, Maggie thought grimly. It's probably justas well I didn't mention the fourth reason.
Which was that she had to keep Delos from aiding and abetting the end of the world. That wasthe responsibility that had settled on her, and she had no idea why it was hers except that she'd been inside his mind. She knew him. She couldn't justwalk away.
If anybody could talk to him about it and convince him not to do it, she could. She had absolutely no doubt about that. So it was her job to try.
And if he was really as evil as Jeanne seemed tothink-if it was true that he'd killed Miles... well, then she had a different job.
She had to do whatever was necessary to stophim. Distant and impossible as it seemed, shewould have to kill him if that was what it took.
"Come on," she said to the other girls. "Cady, do you think you can climb down now? And, Jeanne,do you know a way into the castle?"
The moat stank.
Maggie had been glad to find Jeanne knew a wayinto the castle. That was before she discovered that it involved swimming through stagnant water and climbing up what Jeanne called a garderobe butwhat was all too obviously the shaft of an oldlatrine.
"Just kill me, somebody," Maggie whispered halfway up. She was soaking wet and daubed with un thinkable slime. She couldn't remember ever beingquite this dirty.
The next moment she forgot about it in her worryabout Cady. Cady had managed the swim, still doing everything she was told asif she werein a trance. But now she was getting shaky. Maggiewondered seriously whether this sort of activity was helpful to somebody who'd been poisoned.
When they werefinally at the top of the shaft,Maggie looked around and saw a small room thatseemed to be built directly into the castle wall. Everything was made of dark stone, with a cold and echoing feel to it.
"Don't make any noise," Jeanne whispered. Shebent close to Maggie, who was helping support Cady.
"We need to go down a passage and throughthe kitchen, okay? It's all right if slaves see us, butwe have to watch out for them."
"We've got to get Cady to a healing woman-"
"I know! That's where I'm trying to take you."Jeanne clamped a hand on P.J.'s shoulder and steered her into a corridor.
More stone. More echoes. Maggie tried to walkwithout her shoes squishing or smacking. She wasdimly impressed with the castle itself-it was grandand cold and so huge that she felt like an insect making her way through the passage.
After what seemed like an endless walk, theyemerged in a small entryway partitioned off bywooden screens. Maggie could hear activity behind the screens andas Jeanne led them stealthily forward, she caught a glimpse of people moving onthe other side. They were spreading white tablecloths over long wooden tables in a room thatseemed bigger than Maggie's entire house.
Another doorway. Another passage. And finallythe kitchen, which was full of bustling people. Theywere stirring huge iron cauldrons and turning meaton spits. The smell of a dozen different kinds offood hit Maggie and made her feel faint. She was so hungry that her knees wobbled and she had to swallow hard.
But even more than hungry, she was scared. They were in plain sight of dozens of people.
"Slaves," Jeanne said shortly. "They won't tell onus. Grab a sack to wrap around you and come on.And, P.J.,take off that ridiculous hat."
Slaves, Maggie thought, staring. They were alldressed identically, in loose-fitting pants and topsthat were like short tunics. Jeanne was wearing thesame thing-it had looked enough like clothes from Outside that Maggie hadn't really focused on it before. What struck her now was that everybodylooked so... un-ironed. There were no sharp creases. And no real color. All the clothes were an indeterminate shade of beige-brown, and all thefaces seemed just as dull and faded They were like drones.
What would it be like to live that way? she wondered as she threw a rough sack around her shoulders to hide the dark blue of her jacket. Without any choice in what you do, and any hope for thefuture?
It would be terrible, she decided. And it mightjust drive you crazy.
I wonder if any of them ever ...snap?
But she couldn't look around anymore. Jeanne was hustling through a doorway into the open air.There was a kind of garden here just outside the kitchen, with scraggly fnut trees and what lookedlike herbs. Then there was a courtyard andfinallya row of huts nestled against the high black wall that surrounded the castle.
"This is the really dangerous part," Jeanne whispered harshly. "It's the back, but if one of them looks out and sees us, we're in trouble. Keep yourhead down-and walk like this. Like a slave." Sheled them at a shufflingrun toward a hut.
This place is like a city, Maggie thought. A cityinside a wall, with the castle in the middle.
They reached the shack. Jeanne pulled the door open and bustled them inside. Then she shut the door again and sagged.
"I think we actually made it." She sounded surprised.
Maggie was looking around. The tiny room was dim, but she could see crude furniture and piles ofwhat looked like laundry. "This is it? We're safe?"
"Nowhere is safe," Jeanne said sharply. "But wecan get some slave clothes for you here, and we can rest. And I'll go get the healing woman," sheaddedas Maggie opened her mouth.
While she was gone, Maggie turned to Cady andP.J. They were both shivering. She made Cady lie down and had P.J. help her go through one of the piles of laundry.
"Get your wet things off," Maggie said. Shepulled off her own hightops and shrugged out ofher sodden jacket. Then she knelt to get Cady'sshoes off. The blind girl was lying motionless on athin pallet, and didn't respond to Maggie's touch.Maggie was worried about her.
Behind her, the door opened and Jeanne camein with two people. One was a gaunt and handsome woman, with dark hair pulled untidily back and anapron over her tunic and pants. The other was ayoung girl who looked frightened.
"This is Laundress." The way Jeanne said it, itwas clearly a proper name. "She's a healer, and the girl's her helper."
Relief washed through Maggie. "This is Cady,"she said. And then, since nobody moved and Cady couldn't speak for herself, she went on, "She's fromOutside, and she was poisoned by the slave traders. I'm not sure how long ago that was-at least a couple of days. She's been running a high fever andmost of the time she's just sort of sleepwalking-"
"What is this?" The gaunt woman took a step toward Cady, but her expression was anything but welcoming. Then she turned on Jeanne angrily."How could you bring this-thing-in here?"