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47
Inuichuk, the Knight Lord, sat against the wall, his eyes closed, and thought. While he thought, everyone stayed very quiet. Romeo and the Sheriff had taken seats at one of the several heavy, wooden tables scattered around the large room. The African, Joseph, stood quietly near the bars at the front of his cell, his eyes cast down at the ground by his feet. David leaned back against the stone wall that divided the Joseph's cell from the neighboring cell, and stared down into his folded hands.
I was struck by how perfectly still everyone was. No one moved at all. Looking around the room was like looking at a wax display of these people. Even I could feel a stillness that struck me as something new to this place. There were no involuntary movements or flutters. If I didn't will myself to move, I stayed perfectly at rest. It was an odd sensation to note.
"There are three mysteries," Inuichuk finally said. I looked over and he still had his eyes closed and hadn't moved from his repose. "First," he continued, "there is the mystery of the Whim. We do not know who sent it, but it must have been someone that knows more about our situation than we know. Second, there is the question of the business in which the Fates are engaged. Fates seek always for Glory, for their notion of the culmination of history. This Maker Song must fit that pattern somehow. How does that touch our current situation? Third, there is the mystery of Al's death at the hands of these Fates, too cnincidental to be a coincidence. Do you agree?" he asked, opening his eyes and looking out at the people around him.
"That sounds exactly right to me," said the Sheriff.
"Yes," agreed David.
"Let us talk about the Third item," Inuichuk said, pausing to take in and then exhale a deep breath. "I think it is logical to conclude that the Fates know about Wayne. As far as we know, Fates have no special ability to see ghosting humans. Ghosting Dread, however, know many secrets. We have reason to believe that they can, in fact, detect ghosting humans, even as we have ways to detect them. Agreed?"
The knights in the room nodded in agreement.
"What is a ghosting Dread?" I asked. Whatever it was, it sounded awful.
"The Dread are our enemy," said Mila.
"Well, Knights need monsters," said the Sheriff with a sigh.
"There are many here in this Hall, my friend," said Inuichuk, "who are older than any others who walk the streets outside. I am one of these. I can assure you, these monsters you mock are real."
"I meant no offense," said the Sheriff, smiling. "Just ignore me. I don't wait well."
"So, the enemy still works alongside our traitor," David said. "Simon can send him home if he's warned."
"The Dread, as we call them, are not our enemy," said Joseph, not looking up from the ground.
"Shut up," David growled, calm and menacingly. "You don't talk unless we ask you too."
"This is what has happened," Inuichuk said, ignoring the traitor. "Wayne has been discovered by the Dread. Somehow, he betrayed his identity and that of his family. Al was killed by the Fates at the command of the Dread. This was either an attempt at blackmail or simply a mocking gesture of cruelty."
"What?" I asked. "Romeo came to the station. I was only one of several detectives on duty. The clerk on duty could have called any one of them."
"Could he have asked for you by name?" David asked, looking over at me. "Do people do that?"
The thought hadn't occurred to me. The clerk hadn't said that Romeo asked for me by name. Would she have told me? "It's possible," I said.
"And, as soon as you saw him, this terrible feeling came over you?" David already knew the answer when he asked the question.
"Yes." It was true.
"That was the Dread. He was shadowing you," said Inuichuk. "He was watching you, oppressing you. This is their way." He looked over at Joseph who did not look up. "This is where they get their name," the Lord said.
"You were railroaded into that bakery, Al," David said. "Sorry."
I tried to remember. I had wanted to leave. I remembered that. Nevertheless, I had made the decision to follow Johnny, who turned out to be Romeo. I had made the decision to go into the bakery. Right? I was almost positive, but there was doubt. I could remember the heavy, negative funk that had weighed on me. A creature? Some monster on my shoulders? It was so hard to believe.
"This is what happened," Inuichuk said. I had to admit, he might be right. "Now, the Fates and their plot," he continued. "The Dread always look and learn. This is their way. The Dread have learned some secret that is valuable to the Fates, a secret that touches on this Maker Song. The Fates, however, are beings of principle. Their values twist and turn, but they will only agree to a thing if they think they are serving the good and the right. The Fates have become convinced that what this Dread asks of them is good and right, and they are willing to do it in exchange for information about this Maker Song. What have they agreed to do?" The last question was directed at Joseph. Inuichuk stopped and stared at the African.
"They have agreed to help the k'mek and the pa'shok reclaim what is theirs," Joseph said. "They have agreed because it is right."
"What's this?" asked the Sheriff. "Who agreed to help the whom reclaim what?"
"These are secrets of the Order," Inuichuk said. "We will discuss this no further here. It is enough."
"I have to be honest, I never understand a word you boys say," the Sheriff sighed. He leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling.
"So," Inuichuk continued, "we have the question of Simon. Who brought our Sword Master into this before we had a chance to explain it to him?"
"If I had known when he was here that these were connected, Lord, I'd have told him..." David began.
"You were following our plan, David," the Lord interrupted. "I understand this. Someone else has sent this Whim and gotten him involved in spite of us. Who has done this? Does anyone here have any knowledge to help us discern this?" He glanced around the room and then stared at the Sheriff.
"Me?" the Sheriff laughed. "I'm sure it had nothing to do with me."
Inuichuk looked over at Joseph, who had looked up to meet his eyes. "Joseph?" he asked.
"I know nothing of a Whim," he answered calmly.
Inuichuk looked around, but no response was forthcoming. "This troubles me greatly," he said. "It could be a Dread trick to trap our Sword Master. One wonders, however, why they would want him involved." Again he looked around the room.
"Lord," David said, "let me go to Simon. I'll explain these things to him and return."
"We can't just have the whole town spooking around the world," the Sheriff said. "These trips are frowned upon, Inuichuk. You know that. The ravens will only take so much without some explanation."
"I need to warn my son," David said. "Surely you can understand that, Farrokh."
"It's not a lack of compassion, my friend," the Sheriff said.
"No," Inuichuk said finally. "Wayne is there for us. Simon is well-trained. We will trust this in their hands."
"Lord..." David started.
"No. I have decided," Inuichuk stood and walked briskly from the room, his seven companions close behind.
David slid down the wall and sat on the ground, burying his head in his arms, and said nothing.
"We know the way out," the Sheriff said. I looked over at him and he motioned that I should follow him. Romeo was already up and sticking close to him. I wlaked over and joined them.
"Say nothing of what you've heard here," Percy said, blocking our way. "Sheriff, you will explain to them our rights and the importance of secrecy."
"Your secrets are safe with us, friend," the Sheriff answered with a smile. Percy stepped aside and, much to my relief, Sheriff Freddie led the way back out of this forboding place.
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