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.''You mean your uncle might be another emperor?''Oh no.The most direct line of descent is through my father.'She gave a half-smile.'I'm potentially the next empress.'He looked at her in amazement.'Perhaps you find that offensive, being anti-royalist?' she added.He blinked and recovered his tongue.'Why do you think that I'm particularly anti-royalist?''Well.the way you've always looked at me.Or rather didn't look at me.until now.''That!' He seemed genuinely astonished.'That was because I'm.uh, shy.Not because of titles.''Oh,' Arnella said.'I just wondered.I mean you seemed to have no trouble looking at that Brown girl.''Well why not? She seemed friendly and it was polite.But I don't think she's.I mean I think you are much more.''Yes?' Suddenly it seemed very important that she know what he really thought of her.He flushed.'Since I first saw you I thought you were the most.' He looked down at his drink and frowned.'I think I may have had too much of this.' he said, then slumped forward striking his head on the table with a thump.She reached out to him, trying to stand as she did so, and found her own legs would not support her.She sank backward, looking around dizzily for help.Falstaff was also collapsed over his table, a tankard of wine on its side forming a pool under his head.Jaharnus, her uncle, and Thorrin were slumped in their chairs, heads lolling on their shoulders.The locals they had been talking too were simply watching them in silence.The last thing she remembered was the innkeeper looming over her.'You should have turned back when you had the chance,' she heard him say as though from a great distance.Then everything was swallowed up by a velvet blackness.CHAPTER 20TRIALArnella fought her way slowly back to consciousness.Dimly she became aware of lying on some hard surface and voices around her, then someone raising her head and forcing water between her lips.She coughed and spluttered and blinked gummy eyelids open.A blur lit by grey light resolved into Brockwell's concerned face.'Hello,' she said faintly, her tongue feeling thick and useless in her mouth.He smiled down at her.'Hello.How do you feel?''I think.that wine was a little strong.''It was drugged.''Oh.' She was still drowsy and the implications of his statement took a few moments to sink in.'The innkeeper?''Yes.And everybody else in the village as well, apparently.'She made herself breath deeply, trying to clear the cobwebs from her mind.'My uncle?''He's here, and the professor and Falstaff and Jaharnus.They're still feeling rather groggy, but I think they'll be all right.They drank a little more than we did.''But why did they do it? And where are we?''I don't know, but I'm sure they'll tell us soon enough.We're in a sort of prison, so it looks like they're prepared for this kind of thing.You can see if you sit up - not that there's much to it.'With an arm from Brockwell she sat up, resting her back against a rough wall.Her head swam for a moment, then she began to take in her surroundings.The cell was quite large, with stone-slab floor and block walls.A small, heavily barred window let in pale grey light.'Is it morning or evening?''Morning by my watch.It must have been quite a powerful dose they gave us.They weren't taking any chances.'The cell held half a dozen low, rough, wooden trestle beds, covered by thin, straw mattresses.Falstaff lay on his back on one snoring, while her uncle and Jaharnus were sprawled on their sides.Thorrin was half sitting up, head cradled in his hands.The forth wall of the room, opposite the windows, was formed out of a thick latticework of bars, let into which was an equally sturdy door.Beyond that was a dark, stone-flagged corridor and a second row of bars.Behind them stood a figure dressed in a pale frock coat and striped trousers who was staring across at her.'Hello, I hope your feeling better now,' he said.'Doctor? How did you get here?''Well at Qwaid's insistence, we've been following you rather closely for some time.We saw you arrive and settled down to wait in an empty barn to see what you'd do next.Unwisely, as it turned out.''Why? How did they catch you?''Drorgon had procured some tempting local tree fruits as we went along.We ate them while we waited.And that was the last thing I remembered until waking up here.A salutary lesson: crime does not pay.'She stared at him aghast.'They drugged the fruit on the trees to catch seekers?''Apparently so.They must have been watching us all the time as well, since they evidently found us quickly enough.''That's.frightening.''It does suggest a rather unwelcoming attitude to strangers, doesn't it?'She now noted the two figures still slumbering on pallets in the cell with him.'Where's your friend? Is she.all right?''Peri? She's fine, as far as I know.Gribbs took her back to Qwaid's ship to ensure my cooperation.''Do you think they can do anything to help us?' Brockwell asked practically.'Unfortunately the locals seem to have removed anything that remotely resembles a weapon, or that might be useful in aiding our escape.And that includes all our communicators.So even if they could help, they won't know exactly where we are.We were taken before Qwaid sent an update on our latest position.Gribbs must be getting quite worried about us by now.'Gribbs turned back from the communicator.'It's no use, Mr Alpha.He still doesn't answer.''So Qwaid is still functioning as efficiently as ever, I see [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]