<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">世界之脊 第 23 章 一秒钟的正义尝试</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">第 23 章</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">一秒钟的正义尝试</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">"死狗，这是你在这里的最后一餐 " 站在沃夫加牢房外的两个守卫中的一个说。 这家伙向食物上吐了吐口水然后把盘子推了过去。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">沃夫加好象根本没听到他的话一样没做出任何反映。 他无法相信他在逃脱了路斯坎的嘉年华后竟会在这样一个不知名的小领地被杀。 这对他是个打击，也许是他自找的。 不，他没有伤害女人, 当然, 但是近几个月，自从他在冰风谷打了凯蒂布莉儿的脸，离开崔斯特和其他朋友后的行为，已经远离了他内心所承认的价值。沃夫加和崔斯特不也曾为沃夫加犯的相同的罪行杀了怪物吗? 他们不也曾经跟踪着显然埋伏商对的巨人进入世界之脊的广大地域吗? 他们宽恕过那些巨人吗? 宽恕？沃夫加该得到吗?</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">这些念头冲击着大个男人的内心，在路斯坎，他能逃脱是因为他是无辜的，而现在，他对于逃脱正义与道德的审判毫无信心，也毫无感觉，然而如果他们真的想要杀他, 为什么不能用那些他所犯下的罪行来惩罚他呢? 有那么多可供选择。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">那些巡逻的守卫经过过道时，他注意到了他们的谈话： “ 一个肮脏的孩子——来自那样的，嘿嘿，你知道的。”</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">“马萝达女士一定很痛吧, 那么大 ！”</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">沃夫加楞在了那里，因吃惊张大了嘴在黑暗中坐了有很长时间。 现在他不再是毫无感觉，相反他开始把所有的迷惑集中在一起思考。 他从守卫的早先交谈知道弗林戈领主和玛萝达女士只是最近才结婚的，而且现在她却有了孩子, 显然不是弗林戈领主的。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">沃夫加几乎整件事的荒谬大笑了出来。 他成为了这个不贞的女士给弗林戈领主的对于她怀孕的合理借口。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">“倒霉 , ”他嘟囔着, 但是他知道这不仅仅是因为倒霉。正是罗丝和厄图带给他的黑暗过去导致他作出了这一连串的错误选择，作在了这个黑暗的牢房里。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">够了，他该反抗了。 不是为那些罪行, 而是为了忠于自己的内心。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">*****</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">她无法安然入睡,甚至无法闭上眼睛。弗林戈，她的丈夫，离开了她回到了自己的房间, 因为她声称自己不舒服，拒绝了他近一步的求爱动作，当然，这不是真的，事实上，他的调情让她很舒服, 如果不是因为想到孩子和关在牢房里的野蛮人, 这将会是很愉快的一次。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">玛萝达发现自己开始喜欢上弗林戈, 他是一个温和又相当好的男人。然而她仍然有那么一点不敢正视这个新的发现,认识他的英俊外表，还有他的吸引力,——虽然这一部分因他几年来受他专横的姐姐影响而被埋葬了一些。玛萝达看到了这点，她知道,她能够发掘出弗林戈最好的部分并和他过的很好。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">然而，女人发现她无法宽容她自己。 她的愚蠢的行为带来了这个孩子, 这也引来了她丈夫的怒火。而也许即将来临的对于无辜的野蛮人的行刑将给她更大的打击,正是这个男人从莫里克的身下解救了她，而他，即将被残酷的杀死。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">在沃夫加被抓住后，玛萝达试着使自己的想法合理化, 提醒她自己这个男人的确是一个抢劫过往马车的强盗, 同样她告诉自己野蛮人很有可能杀过许多人, 也许甚至强奸过其他女人。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">但是玛萝达自己也知道，这些念头站不住脚。 尽管他抢劫了她的马车，但是她已经对他有了公正的了解。 她的谎言导致了这一切，这个男人将被处死，而他的所做并不足以使他受到如此的刑罚。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">玛萝达在黑暗中陷入了沉思，想着自己是世界上最坏的人。在稍后的时间里，她几乎没有发现自己正在朝一个方向移动, 赤着脚拿着蜡烛，她在前往泰米格斯特的房间，在门口听到老男人熟睡的声音使她感到安心,她掂着脚走了进去。 身为管理人，泰米格斯特在一个大铁环上套着城堡里所有的钥匙。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">马萝达在管理人桌子上面的一个钩上发现了那个铁环，然后安静的拿走了钥匙,瞥了一眼泰米格斯特，生怕他被这一点点噪音吵醒。安静的，她离开了房间，并没有吵醒老男人, 然后穿过礼堂和仆人的房间,来到了厨房。 在那里她看到了地上通往下一层的门, 被结实的锁住，以至于再强壮的男人，即使一个巨人也无法打开它， 除非他有钥匙。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">马萝达摸索着，一把一把的尝试着所有的钥匙，直到她最后打开了全部的锁和插销。 她停了下来,集中思考,试着找出一个完整的计划。 然后她听到了旁边房间中守卫的笑声, 她通过门上的缝隙看到他们正在玩骨子。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">玛萝达走向了储藏室的门，一个直接通到城堡外的舱口。这并没有多大的空间，尤其是在现在这样涨潮的时后，但是只能这样了。像往常一样，这里没有上锁，女人小心的拉开了活门。 向下滑进了肮脏的下水道，她在污水中赤足前行, 双手提着裙子好让上边不留下明显的痕迹。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">沃夫加被钥匙开门的声音吵醒了,并注意到走廊里闪动的微弱灯光。已经在黑暗中失去了时间概念的野蛮人认为行刑的早晨到了。而当看见马萝达女士站在门口看着他时吃了一惊。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">“你能原谅我吗?” 她小声的问到，紧张的看着自己的双肩。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">沃夫加只是吃惊的看着她。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">“ 没想到他会雇佣法师去找你,” 女人解释着 “我认为他将会让这件事去，而且我将会是 ——”</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">“安全的, ”他替她说完。 “你认为你的孩子会是安全的。” 现在轮到马萝达吃惊了。“ 你来干什么?”沃夫加问到。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">“你本来可以杀了我们 ,” 她答复。“我是指我们在路上时，或者当你做完了你被指控的行为后。”</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">“就像你说的，真相 , ”沃夫加提醒到。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">“你本可以杀死莱恩，让你的朋友做他想做的事 , ”马萝达继续说道。“ 我至少欠你这么多。”令沃夫加惊异的是，她转动了钥匙。沿着梯子爬上去然后向左走 , 穿过仓库, ”她指着自己解释：“我就是这么近来的。”留下另一根蜡烛后，她转身跑开了。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">沃夫加给了她离开的时间, 不想跟着她, 因为如果他被捕捉了，他并不想让别人怀疑她。他拉下了牢房墙上的一个烛台，用尽量安静的把锁撬坏，使它看起来就像是被撬开的，然后他穿过走廊沿着梯子爬进了厨房。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">同样，他也听到在一个附近的房间中玩骨子的守卫的声音，因此，他无法像刚才一样把锁弄坏。他重新锁上了门。 让他们认为他是在魔法的协助下逃跑的。 穿过走廊后, 就像马萝达告诉他的一样, 沃夫加勉强的挤过了舱口, 发现他站在城堡底部潮湿岩石上的一根栖木上。 石头被海水磨得非常光滑。沃夫加无法指望在上面行走, 这里也没有其他明显的通道,即使有，现在也被潮水完全淹没了。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">沃夫加跳进了冰冷的海水中。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">*****</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">马萝达藏在厨房中，当她看到沃夫加小心翼翼掩饰她的帮助时时，赞许的点了点头。 她以同样的安静锁上了仓库，擦去了赤足留下的脚印，小心的把钥匙放回了泰格斯勒的房间里。稍后，她回到了自己的床上，感到心里的内疚也有所减少了。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">*****</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">水面上吹来刺骨的寒风，但是刚刚装扮成佣人的莫里克还是在出汗。 他潜行在通往奥克城堡吊桥旁石壁的阴影里。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">“他们为什么要把城堡建在岛上？”盗贼嘟囔着, 当然他现在的处境比回答这个问题要麻烦的多。 一个守卫靠在城堡大门上的城墙边。 他很有可能已经睡着了, 但是莫里克找不到靠近他的方法。吊桥被整夜燃烧的火把照亮，桥面上没有任何阴影可以躲藏。 莫里克必须游过去。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">小个子男人怀疑的看着黑暗的水面。 游过去后，他的伪装会被彻底的破坏，即使能保住伪装，莫里克也不是一个擅长游泳的人，而且现在，不知道水下会有什么样的怪物。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">莫里克认识到他在沃夫加仅剩的时间里什么也做不了了。 他决定早晨会去刑场，但是或许只能是和野蛮人告别, 他没有办法在不危害自己的前提下救出大个子野蛮人。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">不，他决定，他甚至不会去刑场。 “这能有什么好处呢？” 他喃喃自语到。 如果捕捉沃夫加的法师在那，他甚至可能辨认出莫里克。“我会记得我们在一起时的美好时光的。永别了,我的大朋友 ”,莫里克悲伤的说到。“我现在回路斯坎--”水被搅动的声音打断了莫里克的思考。 一个很大的黑影从水里向岸上爬来，莫里克的双手房在了腰间的匕首上。“莫里克?” 沃夫加问到，他的牙齿因寒冷上下打架。“你在这里做什么?”</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">“这正是我想问你的！” 盗贼吃惊而愉快的喊到。“我，当然，正要开始援救你 , ” 盗贼骄傲的补充到, 弯下身把沃夫加拉了上来。 “以后在解释这些, 现在 , 让我们抓紧上路。”</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">沃夫加不打算和他争论。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">*****</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">“我会调动全成的守卫去抓他。” 弗林戈公爵在第二天早上发现沃夫加逃跑后发怒的许诺到，他本来计划要在早上处决野蛮人的。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">守卫向后退了退，害怕弗林戈会把气撒在他身上, 的确，男人的表情看起来像是要杀人一样。马萝达拉了拉他的手臂。“镇定点,我的领主，”她说。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">“镇定？”弗林戈公爵甩开了她的手。“谁放跑了他？”他对守卫大叫。“让他来代替沃夫加。”</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">“没有人 ,”马萝达在被吓的发抖的守卫开口前答到。弗林戈怀疑地看着她。“不要因为我惩罚任何人, ” 女人继续说到。“我不想看到有人因为我流血。 这样只能让事情更糟。”</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">年轻的领主稍微平静了一些，坐回椅子凝视着他的妻子，这个全世界他最想保护的女人。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">经过一段时间凝视着美丽、天真的面容的思考后,弗林戈点头表示了他的同意。“ 搜寻所有的地方”,他命令守卫,“包括城堡下的地牢。把他活着抓回来。”</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">前额上布满了汗珠的守卫赶紧弯腰退了出去。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">“亲爱的，别害怕。”弗林戈公爵对马萝达说。“我将重新雇佣法师进行搜索。 野蛮人逃不掉的。”</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">“别，我的领主, ” 马萝达请求。“不要再雇法师或者其他人。” 她吸引了所有人的目光，包括普里西拉和泰格斯勒。“我受够了，”她解释到。“事情已经发生了，我不想再回想起那件事。别在想过去的事了，就让他死在山里吧，我们现在应该想想未来，计划一下我们什么时候要自己的孩子。”</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">弗林戈继续凝视着她。 慢慢地,非常慢慢地，他的头点头，马萝达舒了一口气靠回椅子。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">*****</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">目睹了这一切后，泰格斯勒更加相信他的看法，毫无疑问就是马萝达放走野蛮人的。 这个聪明的老家伙, 当他看到女人看见沃夫加被押过她面前时的反应后就开始怀疑了。 他决定什么也不说,这只会使他的领主痛苦。 无论如何，孩子会被处理掉的。</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">但是泰格斯勒一点也没感到轻松多少, 尤其在他看见普里西拉的表情后。她是最多疑的一个, 而且泰格斯勒害怕她在嫉妒马萝达所提到的“他们自己的孩子”的继承权。 虽然泰格斯勒决定什么也不说，但是普里西拉·奥克似乎只会以使别人痛苦为乐。马萝达提到的未来恐怕不那么明朗。</P>
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<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">Chapter 23<BR>THE SECOND ATTEMPTED JUSTICE</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">"Here's your last meal, dog," said one of the two guards standing outside Wulfgar's cell. The man spat on the food and slipped the tray in through the slot.<BR>Wulfgar ignored them and made no move for the food. He could hardly believe that he had escaped execution in Luskan, only to be killed in some nondescript fiefdom. It struck him, then, that perhaps he had earned this. No, he hadn't harmed the woman, of course, but his actions of the last months, since he had left Drizzt and the others in Icewind Dale-since ho had slapped Catti-brie across the face-were not those of a man undeserving of such a grim fate. Hadn't Wulfgar and Drizzt killed monsters for the same crimes that Wulfgar had committed? Had the pair not gone into the Spine of the World in pursuit of a giant band that had been scouting out the trail, obviously planning to waylay merchant wagons? What mercy had they shown the giants? What mercy, then, did Wulfgar deserve?<BR>Still, it bothered the big man more than a little, shook what little confidence he had left in justice and humanity, that both in Luskan and in Auckney he had been convicted of crimes for which he was innocent. It made no sense to him. If they wanted to kill him so badly, why not just do it for those crimes he had committed? There were plenty of those from which to chose.<BR>He caught the last snatches of the guards' conversation as they walked away down the tunnel. "A wretched child it'll be, coming from such loins as that."<BR>"It'll tear Lady Meralda apart, with its da so big!"<BR>That gave Wulfgar pause. He sat in the dark for a long while, his mouth hanging open. Now it began to make a little more sense to him as he put the pieces of the puzzle together. He knew from the guards' previous conversations that Lord Feringal and Lady Meralda were only recently married, and now she was with child, but not by Lord Feringal.<BR>Wulfgar nearly laughed aloud at the absurdity of it all. He had become a convenient excuse for an adulterous noblewoman, a balm against Lord Feringal's cuckolding.<BR>"What luck," he muttered, but he understood that more than bad luck had caused his current predicament. A series of bad choices on his part had landed him here in the dark with the spiders and the stench and the visits of the demon.<BR>Yes, he deserved this, he believed. Not for the crimes accused, but for those committed.</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">*****</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">She couldn't sleep, couldn't even begin to close her eyes. Feringal had left her early and returned to his own room, for she had claimed discomfort and begged him to give her a reprieve from his constant amorous advances. It wasn't that she minded the man's attention. In fact, her lovemaking with Feringal was certainly pleasant, and were it not for the child and the thought of the poor man in the dungeon, it would go far beyond pleasant.<BR>Meralda had come to know that her change of heart concerning Feringal was well founded, that he was a gentle and decent man. She had little trouble looking at Feringal in a I fresh way, recognizing his handsome features and his charm, though that was somewhat buried by his years under the influences of his shrewish sister. Meralda could unearth that charm, she knew, could bring out the best in Feringal and live in bliss with the good man.<BR>However, the woman found that she could not tolerate herself. How her foolishness had come back to haunt her in the form of the baby in her womb, in the simmering anger within her husband. Perhaps the most bitter blow of all to Meralda was the forthcoming execution of an innocent man, a man who had saved her from the very crime for which he was to be horribly killed.<BR>After Wulfgar had been dragged away, Meralda tried to rationalize the sentence, reminding herself that the man was, indeed, a highwayman, going so far as to tell herself that the barbarian had victimized others, perhaps even raped other women.<BR>But those arguments hadn't held water, for Meralda knew better. Though he had robbed her carriage, she'd gotten a fair glimpse into the man's character. Her lie had caused this. Her lie would bring the brutal execution to a man undeserving.<BR>Meralda lay late into the night, thinking herself the most horrible person in all the world. She hardly realized that she was moving sometime later, padding barefoot along the castle's cold stone floor with the guiding light of a single candle. She went to Temigast's room, pausing at the door to hear the reassuring sounds of the old man's snoring, and in she crept. As the steward, Temigast kept the keys to every door in the castle on a large wrought iron ring.<BR>Meralda found the ring on a hook above the steward's Dresser, and she took it quietly, glancing nervously at Temigast with every little noise. Somehow she got out of the room without, waking the man, then skittered across the audience hall, past the servant's quarters, and into the kitchen. There she found the trap door leading to the levels below, bolted and barred so strongly that no man, not even a giant, could hope to open it. Unless he had the keys.<BR>Meralda fumbled with them, trying each until she had finally thrown every lock and shifted every bar aside. She paused, collecting herself, trying to form a more complete plan. She heard the guards then, laughing in a side room, and paced over to peer inside. They were playing bones.<BR>Meralda went to the larder door, a hatch really, that led to the outside wall of the castle. There wasn't much room among the rocks out there, especially if the tide was in, which it was, but it would have to do. Unlocking it as well, the woman went to the trap door and gently pulled it open. Slipping down to the dirty tunnels, she walked barefoot in the slop, hiking her dressing gown up so that it would carry no revealing stains.<BR>Wulfgar awoke to sounds of a key in the lock of his cell door, and a thin, flickering light outside in the corridor. Having lost all track of time in the dark, he thought the morning of his torture had arrived. How surprised he was to find Lady Meralda staring in at him though the bars of his locked cell.<BR>"Can you forgive me?" she whispered, glancing over her shoulder nervously.<BR>Wulfgar just gaped at her.<BR>"I didn't know he'd come after you," the woman explained. "I thought he'd let it go, and I'd be-"<BR>"Safe," he finished for her. "You thought that your child would be safe." Now it was Meralda's turn for an incredulous stare. "Why have you come?" Wulfgar asked.<BR>"You could've killed us," she replied. "Me and Liam on the road, I mean. Or done as they said you done."<BR>"As you said I did," Wulfgar reminded.<BR>"You could've let your friend have his way on the road, could've let Liam die," Meralda went on. "I'm owing you this much at least." To Wulfgar's astonishment she turned the key in the lock. "Up the ladder and to the left, then through the larder," she explained. "The way's clear." She lit another candle and left it for him, then turned and ran off.<BR>Wulfgar gave her a lead, not wanting to catch up to her, for he didn't want her implicated if he were caught. Outside his cell, he pulled a metal sconce from the wall and used it to batter the lock as quietly as he could to make it look as though he had broken out of his own accord. Then he moved down the corridors to the ladder and up into the kitchen.<BR>He, too, heard the guards arguing and rolling bones in a nearby room, so he couldn't similarly destroy the locks and bars up here. He re-locked and barred the trap door. Let them think he'd found some magical assistance. Going straight through the larder, as Meralda had bade him, Wulfgar squeezed through the small door, a tight fit indeed, and found a precarious perch on wet rocks outside at the base of the castle. The stones were worn and smooth. Wulfgar couldn't hope to scale it, nor was there any apparent way around the corner, for the tide was crashing in.<BR>Wulfgar leaped into the cold water.</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">*****</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">Hiding in the kitchen, Meralda nodded as Wulfgar heightened her ruse by securing the trap door. She similarly locked the larder, washed all signs of her subterranean adventure from her feet, and padded quietly back to return the keys to Steward Temigast's room without further incident.<BR>Meralda was back in her bed soon after, the terrible demons of guilt-some of them, at least-banished at last.</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">*****</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">The breeze off the water was chill, but Morik was still sweating under the heavy folds of his latest disguise as an old washerwoman. He stood behind a stone wall near the entrance to the short bridge leading to Castle Auck.<BR>"Why did they put the thing on an island?" the rogue muttered disgustedly, but of course, his own current troubles answered the question. A lone guard leaned on the wall above the huge castle gate. The man was very likely half asleep, but Morik could see no way to get near to him. The bridge was well lit, torches burning all the night long from what he had heard, and it offered no cover whatsoever. He would have to swim to the castle.<BR>Morik looked at the dark waters doubtfully. He wouldn't have much of a disguise left after crossing through that, if he even made it. Morik wasn't a strong swimmer and didn't know the sea or what monsters might lurk beneath the dark waves.<BR>Morik realized then and there that his time with Wulfgar was at its end. He would go to the place of torture in the morning, he decided, but probably only to say farewell, for it was unlikely he could rescue the man there without jeopardizing himself.<BR>No, he decided, he wouldn't even attend. "What good might it bring?" he muttered. It could even bring disaster for Morik if the wizard who had caught Wulfgar was there and recognized him. "Better that I remember Wulfgar from our times of freedom.<BR>"Farewell, my big friend," Morik said aloud sadly. "I go now back to Luskan-"<BR>Morik paused as the water churned at the base of the wall. A large, dark form began crawling from the surf. The rogue's hand went to his sword.<BR>"Morik?" Wulfgar asked, his teeth chattering from the icy water. "What are you doing here?"<BR>"I could ask the same of you!" the rogue cried, delighted and astounded all at once. "I, of course, came to rescue you," the cocky rogue added, bending to take Wulfgar's arm and help pull the man up beside him. "This will require a lot of explaining, but come, let us be fast on our way."<BR>Wulfgar wasn't about to argue.</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">*****</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">"I shall have every guard in this place executed!" Lord Feringal fumed when he learned of the escape the next morning, the morning he was planning to exact his revenge upon the barbarian.<BR>The guard shrank back, fearing Lord Feringal would attack him then and there, and indeed, it seemed as if the young man would charge him from his chair. Meralda grabbed him by the arm, settling him. "Calm, my lord," she said.<BR>"Calm?" Lord Feringal balked. "Who failed me?" he yelled at the guard. "Who shall pay in Wulfgar's stead?"<BR>"None," Meralda answered before the stammering guard could begin to reply. Feringal looked at her incredulously. "Anyone you harm will be because of me," the woman explained. "I'll have no blood on my hands. You'd only be making things worse."<BR>The young lord calmed somewhat and sat back, staring at his wife, at the woman he wanted, above all else, to protect.<BR>After a moment's thought, a moment of looking into that beautiful, innocent face, Feringal nodded his agreement. "Search all the lands," he instructed the guard, "and the castle again from dungeon to parapet. Return him to me alive."<BR>Beads of sweat on his forehead, the guard bowed and ran out of the room.<BR>"Fear not, my love," Lord Feringal said to Meralda. "I shall recall the wizard and begin the search anew. The barbarian shall not escape."<BR>"Please, my lord," Meralda begged. "Don't summon the wizard again, or any other." That raised a few eyebrows, including Priscilla's and Temigast's. "I'm wanting it all done," she explained. "It's done, I say, and on the road behind me. I'm not wanting to look back ever again. Let the man go and die in the mountains, and let us look ahead to our own life, to when you might be siring children of our own."<BR>Feringal continued to stare, unblinking. Slowly, very slowly, his head nodded, and Meralda relaxed back in her chair.</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">*****</P>
<P style="TEXT-INDENT: 2em">Steward Temigast watched it all with growing certainty. He knew, without doubt, that Meralda was the one who had freed the barbarian. The wise old man, suspicious since seeing the woman's reaction when Wulfgar had first been dragged before her, had little trouble in understanding why. He resolved to say nothing, for it was not his place to inflict unnecessary pain on his lord. In any event, the child would be put out of the way and in no line of ascension.<BR>But Temigast was far from easy with it all, especially after he looked at Priscilla and saw her wearing an expression that might have been his own. She was always suspicious, that one, and Temigast feared she was harboring his same doubts about the child's heritage. Though Temigast felt it not his place to inflict unnecessary pain, Priscilla Auck seemed to revel in just that sort of thing. The road to which Meralda had referred was far from clear in either direction.</P>
