The Ruby Knight

mortar, and they began to carry building stones up the curved stairway to the door at the top of the tower.
    ‘Before you begin, gentlemen,’ Sephrenia said, ‘I’ll need to see her.’
    ‘Are you sure of that?’ Kalten asked her. ‘She might still be dangerous, you know.’
    ‘That’s what I have to find out. I’m positive that she’s powerless, but it’s best to be certain, and I can’t do that unless I see her.’
    ‘And I’d like to see her face one last time as well,’ Count Ghasek added. ‘I can’t bear what she’s become, but I did love her once.’
    They mounted the stairs, and Kurik prised the heavy chain away from the door with a steel bar. Then the count took yet another key and unlocked the door.
    Bevier drew his sword.
    ‘Is that really necessary?’ Tynian asked him.
    ‘It may be,’ Bevier replied bleakly.
    ‘All right, My Lord,’ Sephrenia said to the count, ‘open the door.’
    The Lady Bellina stood just inside. Her wildly contorted face was pouchy and her neck wrinkled. Her tangled hair was streaked with grey, and her naked body sagged in unlovely folds. Her eyes were totally insane, and she pulled back her lips from her pointed teeth in a snarl of hate.
    ‘Bellina,’ the count began sadly, but she hissed at him and lunged forward with her fingers extended like claws.
    Sephrenia spoke a single word, pointing her finger, and Bellina reeled back as if she had been struck a heavy blow. She howled in frustration and tried to rush at them again, but suddenly stopped, clawing at the air in front of her as if at some wall that none of them could see.
    ‘Close it again, My Lord,’ Sephrenia instructed sadly. ‘I’ve seen enough.’
    ‘So have I,’ the count replied in a choked voice and with tear-filled eyes as he closed the door. ‘She’s hopelessly mad now, isn’t she?’
    ‘Completely. Of course she’s been mad since she left that house in Chyrellos, but she’s absolutely gone now. She’s no longer a danger to anyone but herself.’ Sephrenia’s voice was filled with pity. ‘There are no mirrors in that room, are there?’
    ‘No. Would that pose some threat?’
    ‘Not really, but at least she’ll be spared the sight of herself. That would be too cruel.’ She paused thoughtfully. ‘There are some common weeds hereabouts, I’ve noticed. There’s a way to extract their juices, and they have a calming effect. I’ll talk with Occuda and give him instructions for putting them in her food. They won’t cure her, but they’ll make it less likely that she’ll hurt herself. Lock the door, My Lord. I’ll go back inside while you gentlemen do what needs to be done. Let me know when you’ve finished.’ Flute and Talen trailed after her as she walked back towards the castle.
    ‘Hold it right there, young man,’ Kurik said to his son.
    ‘Now what?’ Talen said.
    ‘You stay here.’
    ‘Kurik, I don’t know anything about bricklaying.’
    ‘You don’t have to know all that much to carry stones up those stairs.’
    ‘You’re not serious!’
    Kurik reached for his belt, and Talen hurried over to the pile of squared-off stones at the back of the stable.
    ‘Good lad there,’ Ulath noted. ‘He grasps reality almost immediately.’
    Bevier insisted upon being in the forefront of their work. The young Cyrinic laid building stones almost in a frenzy.
    ‘Keep them level,’ Kurik barked at him. ‘This is a permanent structure, so let’s make a workmanlike job of it.’
    In spite of himself, Sparhawk laughed.
    ‘Something amusing, My Lord?’ Kurik asked him coldly.
    ‘No. I just remembered something, that’s all.’
    ‘You’ll have to share it with us later. Don’t just stand there, Sparhawk. Help Talen carry stones.’
    The embrasure into which the door was set was quite thick, since this tower was a part of the castle’s fortifications. They built one wall flush against the door as the count’s sister shrieked insanely inside and pounded wildly against the door which they were sealing. Then they began a second wall tightly against the first. It was mid-morning when Sparhawk went into the castle to tell Sephrenia that they had finished.
    ‘Good,’ she said. The two of them went back out into the courtyard. The rain had ceased now, and the sky had begun to clear. Sparhawk looked upon that as a good omen. He led Sephrenia to the stairs that half encircled the tower.
    ‘Very nice, gentlemen,’ Sephrenia called up to the others, who were putting the