‘I’ve something for you,’ the woman said in a voice with a thick northern accent; she held out an envelope. ‘From Kirin.’
He recognized her then for Kirin’s servant, the drab who had admitted him to the old woman’s house some weeks before. Heavy-breasted and thick-waisted, with features so stuporous that they looked masklike.
She pushed the envelope at him. ‘Kirin said I was to give this to you if anything happened to her.’
Korrogly opened the envelope; inside were two ornate keys and an unsigned note.
Mr Korrogly,
If you are reading this, you will know that I am dead. Perhaps you will not know by whose hand, though if you don’t, then you’re not the astute individual I reckon you to be.
The keys open the outer gate of the temple and the door to Mardo’s private apartment in the main building. If you wish to learn the nature of the great work, go with Janice to the temple as soon as you have received this. She will be helpful to you. You dare not wait longer, for it’s possible that others will know what I know. Do not involve the police; there are cult members among them. The cult has become afraid of the temple, afraid of what has happened there, and most of them have no wish to come near the place. However, the fanatics will be anxious to protect Mardo’s secrets.
Once in Mardo’s apartment, if you search carefully, I know you will find what you need to save your client.
Be thorough, but be swift.
Korrogly folded the note and looked at Janice, who, in turn, regarded him with bovine stolidity; he could not for the life of him think how she would be helpful.
‘Do you have a weapon?’ she asked.
Ruefully, he showed her his bandaged hand.
‘When we reach the temple,’ she said, ‘I’ll take the lead. But keep close behind me.’
He was about to ask how this would be an advantage, when she pulled a long knife from her jacket; the sight of it made him reconsider his options. This might be a trick, a trap set by the members of the cult.
‘Why are you helping me?’ he asked.
She looked perplexed. ‘Kirin asked it of me.’
‘You’d put yourself in danger simply because she asked?’
She continued staring at him for a long moment; at last she said, ‘I’ve no love for dragons.’ She tugged at her blouse, pulling the hem up from the waistband of her skirt, then turned away from him, exposing her naked back; the smooth pale skin below her shoulderblades had been branded by an iron in the shape of a coiled dragon; the flesh surrounding it was puckered and discolored.
‘Zemaille did this to you?’ asked Korrogly.
‘And more.’
Korrogly remained unconvinced; the more fanatical of the cult members might have adopted such mutilations as a fashion.
‘Are you coming?’ Janice asked, and when he hesitated, she said, ‘You’re afraid of me, aren’t you?’
‘I’m wary of you,’ he said.
‘I don’t care if you come or not, but make up your mind quickly. If we are to go the temple, we need to make use of the cover of darkness.’
She glanced about the room, then crossed to a table on which stood a decanter of brandy and glasses. She poured a glass and handed it to him.
‘Courage,’ she said.
Shamed by this, he drank the brandy down; he poured a second and sipped it, considering the situation. He questioned Janice concerning her mistress, and though her answers were circumspect, he derived from them the sense of an old brave woman who had done her best to thwart the evil ambitions of Zemaille. That, too, shamed him. What kind of lawyer was he, he thought, to refuse to risk himself for his client? Perhaps it was the effects of the brandy, perhaps a product of the self-loathing he felt concerning his failure to provide Lemos with an adequate defense, but for whatever reason he soon began to feel brave and resolute, to perceive that unless he did his utmost now in Lemos’ defense, he would never be able to practice his profession again.
‘All right,’ he said finally, taking his cloak from its peg. ‘I’m ready.’
He had expected Janice to be pleased, to approve of his decision, but she only grunted and said, ‘Let’s just hope you haven’t waited too long.’
