Cassandra

VII. Secrets Must Be Kept

    Following the curve of the tunnel I advanced forward, and coming around the corner found that the tunnel continued on out of sight. It seemed to continue straight, sloping gently as it went on, and some way ahead of me I could make out the flicker of the Briarwood's torches. Ducking back against the wall, I smothered my glowstone's light in my skirt, praying that they hadn't glimpsed it. I knew that the stone's light, though dim, would still be painfully visible in the pitch blackness of the tunnel. I would just have to go on without a light, and pray that there weren't any traps or other obstacles in my way which I would be unable to see in the darkness.
    Though I had stopped being afraid of the dark years ago, walking in complete blackness was an uncomfortable experience. I had to admit to myself that it was still more than a little frightening. There was no way to see in front of me, and I was constantly afraid that I was about to run into something and hurt myself. At last I gave up trying to walk upright, and instead dropped to my knees, groping out in front of me with my hands. Because of this I moved slower than the distant torches, and as we continued on the Briarwoods slowly gained on me.
    At first I kept expecting to meet some change, but the tunnel seemed to continue on forever, plunging gently downward with no sign of stopping. The endless unchanging monotony of the tunnel slowly lulled me into security, and I stopped being afraid of bumping into things. Thinking about the crushing weight of earth above me made me feel dizzy, and I tried in vain to calculate how far down we were. Without the sun it was difficult to tell time, and in spite of my best efforts to keep track, I soon lost all sense of how long I had been down here. All I knew was that I was underground, heading more or less in a southerly direction.
We must have been walking for several miles without any sign of change when at last something happened. The Briarwood's moving torches had stopped, and they were now standing still in the middle of the passage. I slowed down, moving forward cautiously, careful to keep quiet. Finally I came to stop, not daring to come any closer. Vaguely I could make out that the Briarwoods had come to a door, though I couldn't from this distance tell what it looked like, or where it might lead to. It seemed like they were in the process of opening it and going inside.
Sure enough, a few moments later their torches disappeared, the light cut off by the door closing behind them. I decided to risk getting caught. Still afraid of using my glowstone, I groped my way forward until my hands met solid resistance. The door under my hands seemed to be smooth and very cold to the touch, and when I tried to listen through it I couldn't make out any sounds. Pushing against it yielded no results, the door was locked, and after debating with myself for a moment I decided to risk a little light. The glowstone's radiance revealed a thick metal door, made of the same brassy acid resistant metal alloy, and I could see that the reason I had been unable to open it was because the door was barred. Something I hadn't noticed in the dark. It was easy enough to lift the metal bar, and after that the door easily yielded to my pushing, swinging open slightly.
Once again smothering my glowstone, I pushed the door all the way open. The room that lay beyond was completely black, and after a moment I pulled my light out again. The light revealed a round, dome shaped chamber, completely covered in bolted plates of acid resistant metal. In the center of the room a trench was sunk three feet down into the floor, and a sloping ramp on this side of the room dropped down into it. On the other side of the room another ramp appeared, climbing out of the trench and up to another platform like the one I was standing on, where another door could faintly be seen. The entire room was empty, the door across from me closed, and it was obvious that the Briarwoods had gone straight through.
Awed and feeling a bit overwhelmed, I slowly entered the room, trying to take in the magnitude of this construct. This was like nothing I had ever even begun to imagine: a tunnel that snaked down deep under the earth, a pit full of stone melting acid, and now a giant chamber constructed entirely out of bronze. What in the Nine Hells could this all be for? This was huge! I was sure it must be outrageously expensive, no metal like this was mined anywhere in Whitestone, it would have to be imported from gods only knows where. A vague sense of dread settled over me as I wondered what could possibly drive them to such lengths, such extravagant expense, for no material gain that I could see.
Going to the nearest wall I tapped it with my knuckle, and it let out a dull ringing sound, a ripple of faint tremors running through the metal plates. As the faint warbling vibrations ended, I realized that there was another sound echoing around the chamber: the sound of distant footsteps. Out in the passage behind me I could see a light, not actually reaching into the room, but still visible in the distance. Instantly my heart jumped into my throat, and I felt the spike of alarm sharpen my senses. There was no more time to look around, I had to get out of here, time was up. Leaping down the ramp, I crossed the room, heading for the door I had seen faintly in the wall.
All this time I had trusted to luck, and luck had served me well, but now fortune was quickly turning against me. The door I found was not metal, but a block of solid whitestone, thick enough that tapping it yielded no hollow sound. Searching the doorframe and nearby walls gave me no clue how to open it. As far as I knew, the Briarwoods had walked through solid rock, for I could find no other way to get past it. I was cornered, no way forward, and no way back.
After struggling against my inevitable fate for a few moments longer I finally resigned myself, turning toward the metal door, thrusting my glowstone deep into my pocket, and waiting patiently for what ever was coming. As the footsteps drew nearer, the faint high pitched sound of whistling warbled around the inside of the chamber I was trapped in, and I realized that it must be Ripley. No one else was cheerful enough to whistle in Castle Whitestone these days. Yellow torchlight filtered through the half open door of the chamber, and the next moment Anna had pushed into the room, her whistling faltering when she saw me.
"Oh..." Anna said slowly, a marked flavor of distaste in her tone. "I should have known it was you..."
I felt embarrassed warmth creeping up my neck, and endeavored to draw further back into the non existent shadows, feeling horribly exposed under the torchlight. At that moment I wanted nothing more than for the coppery floor to open up and swallow me. I didn't dare answer her, and stood silent.
"Well you've certainly gotten yourself into a bit of trouble." Ripley continued after a moment's awkward silence, in which it became abundantly clear I wasn't going to talk. "Take her back up to the castle, and one of you go get Silas. He'll want to know that his little pet has misbehaved."
As she said this, her tone cold and disdainful, she stepped out of the doorway. Four of the re-animated servants shuffled into the room, bringing with them a large block of whitestone that they had been carrying, and they dropped it into the strange trench that ran through the center of the room. I only had a moment to wonder why they were bringing whitestone all the way down here, when I realized that two of them were crossing the room to seize me. Unwilling to let them touch me I tried to get away, but the foul things moved with startling speed, and as they seized me roughly by the arms their grip was painfully strong. Both of them reeked of death, and I felt bile rise in the back of my throat as the stench hit me, reminding me of the time my brothers had found a half rotten bird in the garden. A mingled sense of revulsion and resentment stirred within me, prompting a struggle for freedom, and I fought to escape as hard as I could.
For a moment Anna watched me struggle, a faint smile playing about the corners of her mouth. But at last my two captors exerted their own terrible strength, driving me to my knees, and holding me down.
"Take her away." Ripley said crossing the room, and pushing me softly to one side. She bent down, her fingers sliding under the edge of a saucer sized metal plate that I had thought was bolted to the floor, and she lifted it. Underneath I saw a small white gem, similar to an opal in its color, and I just had time to see Anna lay her hand on it before I was dragged away. Twisting my head back over my shoulder, I saw the slab of whitestone which I had been unable to move slide up out of sight, briefly revealing more tunnel beyond it. Before I could see any more, one of the dead servants that had accompanied Ripley closed the brass door of the room, blocking my view.
As the door closed behind me, it completely blocked the light from the torches that had accompanied Anna, and the tunnel was plunged into darkness. My two undead escorts didn't seem to be inconvenienced in the least, and continued with sure footsteps, as if the brightest summer sunlight lit the hallway. For me however it was a torturous journey, walking in darkness, the stench of death filling the air around me, stifling me until it was a trial just to breathe. Other shapes, half sensed but never fully visible, passed us in the darkness. I could see absolutely nothing, and I never heard any breath except my own, but I could tell when they were there. Maybe it was a faint draft, or some other sixth sense, but somehow I knew.
Finally, after what felt like weary days of walking blindly in the dark, I felt us turn around the bend that meant we had reached the fork in the path. Though I couldn't see it, I could tell by the strong acidic smell that we were walking past the passage that went down to the acid pits. Tracking the feel of the earth under my feet, I could tell when we left the tunnel and stepped into the family crypt, the packed earth changing to smooth stone, while the air took on a more dusty flavor. But even though I knew where we were, I still couldn't see it, and the lingering smell of rotting flesh still hung in the air around me. The winding stairs that descended down from the wine cellar above were very narrow, and I was forced to walk with one of my captors in front of me, and the other behind me.
Even the faint light filtering through the cellar's outer doors was more light than my eyes were accustomed to, and I blinked as we stepped out into the cellar, momentarily blinded. The two abominations that lead me along didn't seem to care, continuing without stopping. On this journey there was no need to use the outer doors, and I was dragged up the short flight of stairs into the servant's wing. I was in fact, back in the same hallway where I had distracted the dead guard by tossing a copper piece, the same hallway where I had seen blood smears without any bodies all those years ago.
The rest of the journey seemed to take only moments, and before I knew where I was I had been dragged to my father's study, (Lord Briarwood's study now), and planted firmly in a chair by the fire. Looking around the study, it hardly felt like the same place. The untidy mess of papers on Father's desk was gone, and there was nothing on it except an ink well, one piece of parchment laid exactly in the center of the desk, and a quill pen neatly placed next to the parchment. All the books had been rearranged in alphabetical order, and the stacks of scrolls had been straitened. But worst of all, where tapestries and portraits had previously occupied any unused space, there were now empty stone walls.
I waited in silence for what ever was coming next, lost in looking around the study, a place I had only visited twice since my return to the castle five months ago. There were too many memories here, things I would rather forget all about. A musical voice, and the sound of approaching footsteps, interrupted my thoughts. Silas and Delilah both entered the room a few moments later, accompanied by Ripley and a handful of soldiers, all of whom were still alive. As they entered Silas let out an irritated ejaculation, his hand rising instinctively to shield his face from the bright autumn sunlight that streamed in through the study window and illuminated a patch of the carpet.
"Close that." Lady Briarwood demanded sharply, and one of the guards hastened to obey, tugging the curtains closed noisily. At once Silas seemed to grow more comfortable, blinking a few times, as one does when momentarily blinded by a bright light. Delilah gave him a sympathetic pat, and strolled away to the other side of the desk, checking to make sure that the curtains were completely drawn. Apparently satisfied, Delilah dropped her arms, and both her and her husband turned to look at me.
Up until now I had managed to keep up something like a rebellious spirit. I had submitted to what I knew I couldn't escape from, and silently resented it, but Lord Briarwood's entrance into the room felt like being plunged into a cold bath. My resentment died in a moment, and the full implications of what I had done suddenly dawned upon me. I had disobeyed him! My father and dearest friend, I had betrayed his trust, wandered where I knew I shouldn't, and twisted his words to my own wicked ends. Guilt washed over me, a seed of cold nausea settling in the pit of my stomach. I felt sick.
"Leave us." Lord Briarwood commanded sternly.
"Wait." Lady Briarwood said softly, speaking to the guards, while her eyes never left my face. "One of you go and fetch Anders. Say that I would like to speak to him at once." At last her eyes broke away from my face, and an unmistakable hint of menace entered her tone. "If he should refuse to come, bring him, whether he is willing or not. The rest of you may go, and if you should disturb us, it will be at your own peril."
"Yes my lady." The guards all said in unison, and they left the room, their faces completely unreadable.
"You too." Lord Briarwood said, turning to Anna who had remained behind. "If you would be so kind as to leave us, this is not a matter that concerns you."
"I'm really starting to wonder if this whole venture is really worth all the trouble it's caused me..." Anna said coolly, crossing her arms, and remaining inert in the center of the room.
"You will be compensated appropriately for your inconvenience, as promised." Lady Briarwood put in silkily. "Have we not proved to be good on our word?"
"True..." Anna said thoughtfully. "As long as I leave this place better off than when I entered it, I'm content."
"As to that, you need have no worries." Silas said. "You will most certainly be better off."
"I'll remember that promise." Ripley said with a tight smile that didn't look at all friendly, and she swiftly left the room.
"Insatiable shrew..." Delilah muttered angrily, and a chill washed over me at the deadly look on her face.
"She has her uses." Silas said in a soothing tone. "Admittedly few and far between..."
"It's beside the point," Delilah said dismissively, turning her attention back to me. "Currently we have her to deal with."
    Until now nobody had bothered to think about me for the last five months. I had silently observed the tension between Delilah and Ripley, Professor Anders' slavish devotion to both Lord and Lady Briarwood, while they unmistakably looked down on him, but nobody had paid any attention to me. Anders had ignored or mistreated me, as his fancy dictated, Ripley had degraded me, Lady Briarwood had showed me casual affection, but that was all. This was different. A chill washed over me as they both examined me, and I looked away, feeling a wave of guilty heat creep up my face.
"Look at me." Lord Briarwood said sternly.
I tried to meet Silas's eyes, but I could only hold his gaze for a moment before I was forced to look away. A long weighted silence filled the room, I could feel myself shrinking under it, the cold lump in my stomach growing heavier. With startling speed Lord Briarwood lunged forward, shoving me back against the chair, his face inches from mine. I gripped the arms of my chair, and turned my face away, a dose of poisonous fear shooting through me. Delilah let out a scornful laugh, her eyes scorchingly cold.
"Perhaps you've lost your touch my dear." She said to Silas, walking up behind him and massaging his shoulders affectionately.
"Look at me!" Silas commanded, his voice booming right in my face, causing me to flinch. Unwillingly I turned and looked at him. A shiver ran through me as soon as I met his gaze, followed by complete numbness. "How dare you pry into our private business..."
    "I'm sorry." I whispered shuddering. Moving with uncanny speed Lord Briarwood seized me, dragging me from my chair, and throwing me to the ground at his feet.
    "I took you under my wing!" He thundered, kicking me in the gut with sickening force. "I clothed you, I spared your life, I gave you a place at my table. And you betrayed me. Why did I even allow you to live? I should have slaughtered you, a deceitful, filthy little liar such as you! Slit your throat, and thrown your carcass to the dogs, just like I did to the rest of your family. But instead I chose to spare you."
The hissing venom of his voice cut me to the core, and I let out a sob, repentant tears blurring my vision. A spike of aching pain, that had nothing to do with the throbbing pain of being kicked, slowly sank through the center of my chest as he spoke. Anything would have been easier than this: being stabbed with knives, eaten alive, drowned, burned, anything. He was right: I was nothing. I was worse than nothing, it would have been better if I had never been born.  
"I'm sorry..." I sobbed, unable to find any other words within me but those two. Tears overcame me, and I clung to Silas's leg desperately, crying uncontrollably.
"You can apologize all you like." Silas said, yanking his leg out of my grip, and kicking me away from him with savage ferocity. "My forgiveness is earned."
Silence once again filled the room, and my desperate sobs were the only thing that broke the stillness. Delilah had strolled away to the window, and she was now standing stark against the dark velvet curtains, humming softly to herself. Releasing me from his gaze, Silas went back to his desk stood at its corner, deep in thought. I had't dared to move, and was still curled up in the exact same position on the floor, completely crushed. Suddenly Delilah turned towards the door, as if she was expecting someone to walk through it at any moment, even though I had sensed no sign of change. A moment later one of the Briarwood's guards entered, followed by Anders, and I wearily lifted myself into a sitting position.
"My lord..." Anders said cheerfully, advancing forward confidently. "My lady."
"Anders..." Delilah said softly, leaving the window, her voice icy calm. The Professor halted in his tracks at the sound of her voice, and for a moment I saw a flicker of fear in his eyes as he noticed me on the floor. But it was gone in a flash, and he smiled as cheerfully as before, bowing low.
"How may I be of service?" He asked jovially.
"You could start by doing the tasks we've already given to you..." Silas said, his voice completely expressionless, his eyes dead.
"Which I have faithfully done."
"Don't lie to me..." Silas said warningly.
"What's this about?" Anders said, his show of confidence slipping, and his eyes darted fearfully back and forth between Lord Briarwood and his wife.
"I think you know what this is about." Silas said, still expressionless.
"I- I don't know what-" The Professor spluttered.
"Anders!" Delilah said sharply, and the glass ink bottle at the corner of the desk shattered, sending ink and shards of glass across the desktop. The unexpected sound caused both the Professor and I to flinch. Lady Briarwood turned, pacing away across the room, and I could see her shoulders heaving.
"I don't know what this is about! I've faithfully-" The Professor began.
"We didn't ask you to speak." Lady Briarwood said, interrupting him before he could finish, and she flicked her wrist, muttering under her breath. The sound of the Professor's voice vanished. His mouth still moved, but the sound was gone, and after a moment he stopped trying.
"That's better..." She said, lowering her hand with a smile. "I was getting so tired of your meaningless prattle..."
"To anyone but a fool our arrangement would seem simple." Silas said. "You carry out your allotted tasks, and we reward you appropriately.What you don't seem to understand is that failure will also be rewarded. If we give you a task, a very simple task, and you do not complete it, that deserves punishment. But I would have thought that keeping an eye on one girl would have been easy enough. We trusted you with a responsibility. You were to make sure that she couldn't find her way into places not meant for her to see, keep her quiet, busy, out of harm's way, and guard against her trying to escape, however unlikely that was. It seemed simple enough. Yet somehow she has managed to evade you, and from what I have been able to read, has had full range over the castle for some time..."
For a moment Silas paused, crossing his arms and regarding Anders thoughtfully, as if he was nothing more than a cut of meat. I could see Anders wilting under his scrutiny. All this time he had been completely unable to speak, for when he tried no sound emerged from his mouth, and even though I hated the man I did feel a kind of grudging pity. I wouldn't have traded places with him for all the gold or jewels the world could give me. 
"But that is not the point." Silas said. "If it were nothing more than a few forbidden excursions, it would matter very little. However, our project beneath the castle was the one thing above all others which she was never to see, under any circumstances. But because of your failure, she managed not only to see the mausoleum, but the distillery as well."
"Hours Anders. She was completely untracked for hours" Delilah added, her voice bitingly cold. Anders by this time was completely cowed, and he stood with slightly hunched shoulders, waiting for his fate. A disgusted expression disfigured Lady Briarwood's shapely mouth for a moment, she raised her hand and flicked her wrist.
"Thank you my lady..." The Professor said, massaging his neck as if he had just been freed from a noose.
"Well speak up." Lady Briarwood said, growing impatient. "I assume you've got some pitiful excuse to say for yourself."
"Does He--" Anders hesitated, his voice trembling fearfully, and he swallowed nervously. "Does He know?"
"Secrets must be kept Anders." Delilah said, her voice becoming strangely methodical, as if she were repeating some kind of mantra. "He is far from happy."
The Professor shuddered, and tried to speak, but nothing more came out than a faint whimper. He was clearly terrified.
"And now, because of your failure, we are all burdened with the consequences." Silas said. For a moment his eyes fell on me, and I felt the same shiver run through my body, followed by numbness. "I have some influence with her, but I have no power to remove memories. This is a deadly misstep, and none of us can fix it easily." 
"We could kill her..." Anders said, and as he looked at me a faint flicker of life came back into his eyes. A sick sense of joy in tyrannizing over me, transferring the shame of being dominated away from himself.
"No!" Lady Briarwood said with strange vehemence. "No, don't kill her..."
Quickly she crossed the room, putting a finger under my chin, and gently tilting my head up. For a moment our eyes met, and I saw something there, something I couldn't quite put my finger on. It wasnt' sadness exactly, but there was grief in it, and even though there was also a kind of warmth, it wasn't affectionate. I only had time to catch a glimpse of this, and realize that it was a familiar expression, before she broke eye contact. She didn't release me, but her eyes were fixed on my mouth instead.
    "Give her something to keep her busy, and she'll behave. Isn't that right?" She said thoughtfully. "And after all, you might come in useful one of these days."
    "We've already talked about this." Silas said. "If I remember correctly, we both agreed that it was too dangerous."
    "I suppose." Delilah said with a shrug. "But what we have been doing clearly isn't working. And after all, you have to admit: Cassandra's sphere of influence would extend much farther than our own. Sometimes the reward is worth the risk...You should have more faith in your powers."
    "Weren't you just telling me that I was, how did you put it? 'Loosing my touch'?"
    "I was only teasing." Lady Briarwood said blithely, going to her husband and playfully ruffling his hair. "Of course I believe in you."
    Lord Briarwood didn't immediately respond, and sat with his arms crossed at the edge of the desk, regarding his wife. She ran her fingers though his hair, a half smile playing about her mouth. Confidence almost oozed from her, and it wasn't difficult to see that she was quite certain that she was going to have her way.
    "I love you..." Silas said thoughtfully, his arms dropping to his sides in defeat.
    "Of course you do."
    "But this is all your doing. This is for you to manage, and I don't want any part of it..."
    "Yes, yes, I know." Lady Briarwood said, waving her hand dismissively, and planting a quick peck on his cheek. She stood up, turning back towards Anders, and her brief gayety evaporated. Her face was cold and stern. "You may go, and until you have proved more fit for the task, I will relieve you of your position as Cassandra's steward. Be thankful that no harsher punishments were given, you keep your privileges and a place in His service."
"You are too kind my lady." The Professor said, bowing low.
"He will not forget this Anders." Lady Briarwood replied warningly. For a moment I thought I saw Anders flinch again, but he had recovered much of his former self control, and if there was any fear in him, it was well hidden.
"Of course." He said.
"Send in the guards when you go."
With a final bow, Anders left the room. A moment later one of the Briarwood's guards entered the room. Advancing ten measured paces into the room, he stopped facing the desk, with his hands behind his back and his shoulders straight.
"Send a messenger to fetch our correspondent, the young priest, I forget his name..." Delilah said.
"Yes my lady."
The guard exited the room again, leaving me alone with the Lord and Lady. Neither of them paid me the slightest attention, as Delilah drew her husband away to one corner of the room, whispering with him under her breath. I felt very small and insignificant. Heavy silence once again settled over the room, and the time seemed to drag, having no measure. My right leg fell asleep.