The three of them sat in the office together, the room dark but for some small light from the lamps in the hall and a chamber candle which Dorcus had lit and set on the desk between them. They sat each in a chair, sipping on hot tea as they discussed their plans."So, they will arrest you, then?" Benjamin reconfirmed after rehashing some of their previous conversation."Yes, I think that's best," Eliezer agreed. "It may cause Adrien some serious problems if they don't find me, and I would hate for them to come here and find the two of you along with me.""Will they kill you?" Ben asked, his heart unwilling to ask anything less direct."No, I don't believe so," his friend assured him. "Although, I think they'd like to."

He made his way speedily through the hidden passages down narrow, winding stairways to the dark dungeons deep below High Palace, saluting no man on the way.The rough and unfinished halls of the prisons below were primarily made up of crudely carved out tunnels winding through the uncut earth. It was much busier in those burrowed halls than it had ever been, their uniquely distinguished guest attracting a myriad of government officials and their guards.He eased his pace as he approached the door leading to the prisoners' hall. He could hear voices coming from behind the door as the men engaged in celebratory remarks of lighthearted banter and cheerful mockery. His heart sank.'How can I go in there with such revelry?' He slowed his pace almost to the point of standing still,

She waited by the gates of High Palace, watching the faces as they entered there. The guards wandered about, patrolling the masses as they flooded into the castle.The King had sent out an invitation over the airways: there would be a public trial of Eliezer Webber, the former Ambassador of the Kingsmen and a nefarious enemy of the state. High Palace would be opened at noon and accessible to all. It was a rare opportunity. High Palace had not been made open to the public in years, and King Zephyr himself was a recluse to his p

Blackridge watched as Kallida stepped out and addressed the accused. "State your name for the record, please, sir.""Eliezer Horatio Webber," he replied humbly."And, Mr. Webber, could you please state your occupation for us?" Kallida requested, arching around the front of the floor with his hands folded in silent consideration."I am a Kingsmen clergyman," Eliezer stated, his eyes watching Kallida as he circled around him."Mr. Webber, as a Kingsman, do you consider lying and deceit to be immoral?" Kallida asked him with a quick glance and a clever smile."I do," Webber replied simply."Then tell me why, Mr. Webber, you have lived for the past twenty years under false pretenses and a fraudulent identity!"'Kallida's a fool if he thinks this will work. Painting Eliezer as two-faced and self-interested is about as credible a cause as claiming that the sky is grey because it has clouds in it. The fault in the approach is with Eliezer, himself. The man is too meek to be believed as a conm

He sat with his back against the wall, his knees bent, and his hand pressed against the ground beneath him, slowly brushing over the rough and compact dirt. He sighed and closed his heavy eyelids. 'Lord, I'm tired.'  "Hey, there! No sleeping!" Benson barked from the other side of the prison's bars.