Chapter 73 "Good day for a breakout” (Episode Two, Chapter Thirty-three) - Saturday, September 10, 1882, 7:00 P.M.
Surrounded by armed ogres, Cetan just raises his hands and waits to see what happens next. Pox leaden blankets, bad beef, he's see it all before. The ogre officer barks orders at his men, then heads inside with Rene. The ogres march the Cetan, Abby, the four shepherds and the lone sheep through several corridors and down a long staircase into a sub-basement. They are locked into a large stone room, sixty-by-forty-feet in diameter with a fifteen-foot high ceiling. The room is lit by magical light.
Chains and manacles are situated on the dozen stone pillars placed every ten feet. Other chains and manacles are along the wall. Their captors however make no attempt to lock them up. The only other thing in the room are a series of buckets, half of them filled with water, the other half, based on the smell, are apparently for waste. The large oak doors have a small iron grate on them, where they see an Ogre stand on the opposite side once the doors are shut and locked.
Cetan tries to talk to the Ogre saying, "The King is in danger." in every language he knows. Just hoping "King and Danger" might spark something. The Ogre turns and yells through the grate in an angry voice. Although the words are not known to Cetan the meaning is clear: "Shut Up!" Cetan turns and says, “What'd you think Abby? Looks like I can provoke the Guard, maybe he'll do something stupid?”
Abby paced the cell several times, frustrated and angry. If it hadn't been for the shotgun pointed at her she could have used the comprehend languages potion. But at the moment the movement to draw it probably would have gotten her shot. But now... Abby poked through a couple of the seals to get herself a longer duration and began to talk quietly to Cetan in Nubian, pitching her voice to reach the guard. Sounding defeated and shamed she said, "The King will die because we failed. So many in his household will die. It's like the French knew we were coming to warn him about them." She sniffled, she hoped convincingly. "Everyone will die and we'll be stuck in this cell forever."
The guard outside turns his head and looks into the cell. It is not one of the guards who had marched them to this place but another one entirely. "You speak our language?" he states, clearly surprised by this. Abby looked at him for a moment, appearing to puzzle over his words. "Only a little. It is a... pretty language. My," she paused as if searching for the right word, " Mother's sister married an Egyptian man. He showed us a little. They talked too fast when we came here, I... failed to understand. The Frenchman (she used the English word for Frenchman) who brought us said he would speak for us. But he was false, and now the King will die because we failed. The French will sneak in and poison him."
He replies, "We can watch the French. They will not sneak any where near the King. The King from our home country will be here tomorrow, we will not let harm come to either of them." Abby says, "They were going to sneak in pretending to be Meren, the nature priest who was bringing the special sheep and some of the shepherds. We arrived with her, we were protecting her from them." He says, "Then their plan will fail. The nature priest and her sheep are in the room with you. We know you are here so you can not be somewhere else."
She sniffled again and looked at the Ogre hopefully. "Your King will be here tomorrow? Can your countrymen protect the Egyptian King until then? No one here will know the French are sneaking in with the sheep to poison the feast." He says, "Yes, our King was with the Egyptian King's daughter up in Zakazik. They are both expected to be here tomorrow."
"Thank you. But I am afraid that the French will know this, and will try to sneak in another way now. One we do not know about. But your words give me some comfort. But the King is displeased with his daughter. She married his enemy. Will he accept her and your King here when he is so angry?" The ogre replies, "I cannot speak for the daughter, but he will welcome our King. Egypt is currently in a civil war, he has need of my King's army."
Abby nodded and stayed quiet for a moment. "I am sorry. I am very afraid. I have fear for the King and the people here, and I have fear for myself and my friends. I do not know what the false man Rene told your countrymen about us. I know only that we are locked up and he believes he has won. That he stopped us from warning the King. I fear he still has surprises to reveal." In Nubian Abby said, "My companion Cetan can't understand you, I will tell him in my language what you have said. I thank you."
Then she turned to the others switched to English, saying, "The guard outside our cell says that his Nubian countrymen will protect the King. That since Meren and the shepherds are in here too that if others try to come in pretending to be them it would be known they are imposters. I'm still afraid that we haven't been taken seriously enough and the French may still sneak in and poison the King.”
Elsewhere, Ruby is returned to the cell she had been in before. Mina is already waiting for her there. "Nana! Have you been questioned yet? I must admit, the Grand Vizier seemed much more relaxed than he did back in the hotel. I kept my cool, you'd be proud," Ruby grinned. Mina nods and, for the first time in Ruby's memory, totally loses her composure. She says, "I had the misfortune of being questioned by the Queen. She made it clear that this is her opportunity to have me killed Ruby. We have to make sure this war is peacefully ended within the next twenty hours or we're dead."
Ruby's face dropped. "Well, that's not good. Would the King go along with the Queen even when we are proved innocent?" Mina replies, "Well no, he has the authority. But he's so angry over Neferka's wedding that unless she stands before him and begs his forgiveness...well...maybe we should try to find some sort of escape contingency plan." Ruby nods. "It would be wise to do so Nana. It's always a good idea. Between the two of us, and George, we will figure that part out. The Princess assured me that if things went wrong she would return here for me. But we'll see. So let's take a look around here." Ruby checks the locks and windows.
They quickly find that the bars on the windows are not only solid but there also appears to be some type of magical protection over them. Ruby checks the locks on the front bars. She realizes that she probably could pick the locks, but refrains as it is obvious from the sounds that at least two guards are on the opposite side of the door. She quietly says, "Nana, let's pay attention to when the guards come and go. We may need this information later." She squeezed her grandmother's arm. "We'll get out of this, we always do."
An hour has gone by when Mina head off to use the bathroom. She then calls for Ruby in a very excited voice. Ruby arrives to see her Grandmother lying on the floor. She calls over "Ruby, this two-foot-square section of floor sounds hollow underneath. It is probably a crawl space for the plumbing pipes and for the plumbers to work!" "Hmmm, that may work! Let me see." Ruby gets on the floor next to her grandmother and inspects the tile her grandmother pointed out.
After a while examining she uses some makeshift tools to lift up the tile and looking down, it appears that both women would have little to no difficulty in going. Mina comments "We should probably stay here until we know what has happened to George. Our escaping while he is still captured would not go well for him." Ruby says, "Yes Nana you are right. We should use this as our last resort. Even if we escape here it'll be difficult getting out of the city and if we get caught... well, I don't think they'll wait on those death sentences." Mina laughs and says, "I think that I could safely get us to blend into the streets of Cairo without getting caught." Ruby looks towards the door. "I do wonder what happened to George. I'm getting worried." "As am I," Mina states.
While the door to the plumbing shaft is still open Ruby hears the sound of distant voices coming from below. Listening closely, Ruby is almost positive that the female voice is that of her ally Abigail Marsters. Ruby listens carefully, waiting until some time has passed from hearing any guards. "Abby?" She calls out softly through the floor, not wanting to alert any guards. Although faint, Abby hears Ruby's call. It occurs to her that the ogre outside the door might hear Ruby too, and would definitely hear it if Abby calls back up. She tells the others, I “I am out of magic and my friend Ruby is calling from above." They see a grate in the roof, fifteen feet high alongside one of the pillars, that the sound is coming from.
Ruby puts her ear to the floor, listening carefully. She stills hear Abby speaking but not to her. "I'm not sure she can hear us Nana. But at least we know she's safe. For now." She sits up. "Do you have any spells that might help us now? I don't think I do." Mina says, "No, but if we rest for a while we could both replenish our magic." Ruby exclaims, "Rest? REST? How are we supposed to rest in here?? Too much is going on! I don't think I could sleep Nana, no, not at all, not until I know George and our other friends are safe." Nana says, "Well, I could hypnotize you into sleeping." She does so.
Sunday, September 11th, 1882, 5:00 AM.
Ruby and Mina awaken, hearing sounds outside their bedroom in the comfy prison they are trapped in. With assistance from Mina's hypnosis, Ruby was actually able to get a full night's sleep. Out in the living room, George is delivered to the room. The last twelve hours have been rather tedious for him, consisting of three hours of questioning by the French, eight hours of solitary confinement in a barren room (most of which he slept during), and then one more hour of interrogation. Frustrated with his answers, they returned him to this room.
George manages a weak and weary smile. "Hello my dear Ruby. Sorry I was a bit delayed in getting to you. The French had a few hundred questions to me' he quips with another nod to Mina "Alright in here Mina?" She replies, "Yes and no. We're on a tight time table. Unless the Princess and her husband appear before the King in another twelve hours or so there is a high probability that I will be executed, and possibly the two of you as well. Other than that I'd say that everything is fine."
George smiles again. "So, pretty much a average Saturday night with Miss Ruby West." George follows with a quick kiss for Ruby. "So we need to get out of here. I suppose you two have figured a way to get out?" Mina replies, "We believe so, and think that Abby and some of the others may be trapped here too." "Well, that will be good. So I think our first measure will be to find Abby. Once we are all together we must get out and fid the princess." replies George.
Ruby says, "I'm almost positive that Abby's down below. But she didn't respond so she may be more closely guarded than we are. As for the Princess, she did promise me she would show up here if there is trouble. And I believe her... mostly. If it's true, she's probably on her way here now. So even if we COULD get back to the City, we probably couldn't find her."
Mina says, "The Princess is not our responsibility, Abigail and the others are. That, and the fact that I wouldn't want to give the Queen the personal satisfaction of executing me." Ruby says, "We won't let that happen Nana, I promise. So I guess what you are saying is that you don't think we should wait, we should break out now? Break out, find Abby, and get out of here." "Sounds like a plan," she replies.
George asks, "Ok, so what do we know of the guard situation? How did we know Abby was below us?" "I heard her speaking. I whispered down to her but I didn't hear her reply so I assume she is being more closely guarded than we are. We can squeeze in here." Ruby points to the loose tile, "But I don't know where it will lead or how we get Abby out. The guards come in here to check on us every once in a while but they are constant so we should have enough time to slip out." "Ok, I think what we ought to do, is slip down to her room, bring her up the tunnel and then escape from our room since we have the lighter guard." suggests George.
Meanwhile, approximately sixty feet below, Cetan and Abby awaken as the Guards enter their cell to replace the water and waste buckets while bringing them a meager breakfast. In her dreams, Abby had been laying in the warm sun surrounded by the sweet scents of hay and heather. Cal had been next to her, talking idly about nothing important and holding her hand against his heart. It was a far cry from the dank Egyptian cell she woke in. In Egyptian she asked, "Is the King well?" She hears no response. She then notes that it is a different ogre now guarding the door, his back to the grate covered opening.
Abby said, very quietly to Cetan, "I need to learn my spells." She took a small book from the inside of her jacket and sat down. "If they don't question us soon, we're going to have to think of a way out of here. Ruby obviously didn't hear me answer her last night, so we may be on our own down here." She took the time to study, carefully selecting her spells for the day. Once that was finished, she broke another of the seals in the potion from Alsoomse and drank the small portion.
She spoke to the guard this time, asking very diffidently, in Nubian, "Sir, is the King well? Will we be answering questions soon?" He turns and in an gruff voice replies, "Yes, the King is well. YOUR attempt to murder him has failed. Now move away from the door if you know what is good for you. Your execution will come soon enough."
Cetan also meditated for a while. He asks Abby if she has a plan. She replies, "The only plan I've got is to not be executed in Egypt. I haven't got a clue how to accomplish it. But I heard Ruby, so we're not alone here. Since we didn't get freed last night after she figured out we were here, I can only guess she's a prisoner as well. I don't regret doing what we did, but I sure as hell don't want to have traded my life for the ones we saved. At least I hope we saved them. I don't know what that Rene bastard has been doing."
It takes Ruby, George and Mina minimal time to get the tunnel exposed and explore downward. Ruby and Mina easily make it through the nearly vertical passageway, using bed sheets as a makeshift rope. George manages it too with a little help from the ladies. They soon find themselves at downward "T" intersection, where the vent goes both east and west, with iron grates on the ground every 20 feet. Following smells (specifically the smell of sheep) they soon find themselves looking down into a barren cell fifteen feet below that has Cetan, Abby, a sheep, and four shepherds contained within it.
"Sheep? why do they have a sheep locked up? Surely they haven't been in prison that long" whispers George. "I have no idea why they have sheep locked up," Ruby comments. "But if they can't answer, we'll crawl a little further and see where else we can exit." Ruby leans carefully over the grate. "Abby... can you hear me?" she whispers as quietly as she can. "Look up."
Cetan nudges Abby and looks up, just in case she didn't hear that. "Hmmm, Abby not say'em much." Cetan whispers up to the two legs, "Cetan, have heap big plan. Me break'em down door, cast'em mist, and run like mad bear is following..." "Will you please, please quit with the pigeon English? I'm here, the guards have sharp ears," she said quietly looking up. She says, "We had a prisoner who betrayed us. He's somewhere in the palace probably trying to pull the plan off."
The others fail to hear here, having continued on through the horizontal ventilation shaft. They soon are looking down through a grate upon a corridor immediately outside of where Abby and the others are imprisoned. There is a lone ogre guard on duty. Ruby looks back to her companions, giving them the quiet sign. Then she softly mutters a few words, casting sleep upon the guard below her. Ruby’s watches as the guard falls back and slowly sinks to the floor. Those inside the cell hear the "Clunk" as he falls back and watch the back of his head disappear downward through the window.
Ruby shifts back in the shaft and looks over the grate separating her from her friends. "Well, that should help with our daring escape," she comments to those below in a louder voice as she works to open the grate. "Abby, it looks like you made some friends!" With Mina and George's assistance they manage to get the grate above Abby's cell removed. They are still fifteen feet above the ground below
Ruby peeks her head into the cell. "Morning, fellow captives. Good day for a breakout, isn't it?" she grins. She gives a look around the cell. "My, you all must have been very naughty, this cell is positively bare! Anything here we can use? Well, actually, first, Abby, have you made some new friends? I'm not sure we can get the sheep out of the cell here. Or the centaur." Cetan suggests that If fifteen feet is a problem he can help with that. Letting the two legs stand on his back should make it easy to climb up.
"I guess we're committed now," Abby said with a shake of her head. "You all don't let grass grow under your feet, do you? Meren, we got you into this, and I wish we'd been better prepared. I'll do my best to get you out, if that's what you want." Meren discusses the situation with her three companions in a language that Abby does not know. She then turns and says, "I will go with you, but my male companions will remain here to protect the animal."
While Meren discussed the situation with the others, Abby turned to Ruby. "I don't remember if you met Cetan earlier," she said nodding to the centaur. "He came in with Alsoomse on the train. Meren is the druidess and the men are the shepherds we came to protect. We stopped the plan from going off, but we had a prisoner who betrayed us at the Palace entrance. He know the language the guards spoke when we didn't. I have no idea what he told them but it got us tossed in here."
While Ruby moved ahead, George stayed at the grate where the guard was seen. George carefully lifts the grate out and surreptitiously peers down the hallway. If no one is there he will drop down into the hallway. George approaches the guard, who is sound asleep, but will probably waken once the spell is worn off. He notes that the lock looks aged, one that Ruby should have little to no trouble picking from this side of the door. George calls up quietly into the vent, "Ruby, I need you here to pick the lock on the door." George then searches the guard for perhaps keys, a weapon or some other means of securing the guard while keeping an eye and ear alert down the hall.
George finds six things on the guard: A key ring with four keys, a leather pouch with Egyptian coins, a large knife similar in size and shape to the Bowie knife, a statue of a Nubian deity, a piece of amber with a flower petal encased inside it, and a ring that appears to be magical in nature as it changes size when George removes it from the larger man's hand.
George takes the knife and quickly cuts some of the guard's clothing and binds his hands and gags him. He then gathers the remaining items and pockets them as he turns to the door, trying each of the four keys in the lock. The second key works. The group are immediately reunited. Mina asks about Ben and Alsoomse. George helps Mina and Ruby down from the vents.
As Mina asks about Ben and Alsoomse George quickly looks around the second "cell" and begins to inspect the hallway. The corridor ends 100 feet to the left. The rooms appear to be more cells. To the right the corridor hits a "T" intersection, the left being a narrower corridor with a dirt rather than stone floor and the right being a staircase up.
Abby says to Ruby and Mina, "They didn't come with us. They decided to see what they could do by watching the fanatic, Abdullah. I hope they got somewhere since we only managed to stop the immediate plot." "Wait, what plot?" asks George as he motions the group down the hallway. He holds up a hand to stop them at the end of the hallway as he peers around the corners, especially at what is at the top of the stairs.
Abby says, “Long story short, some of the French wizards planned on sneaking in to the Palace using mundane disguises and poisoning last night's feast. They would have killed the King and a lot of other people." She nodded toward Meren and said, "They meant to waylay the druidess and the shepherds and assume their identities to get into the Palace. We stopped that, but we had a French prisoner. He betrayed us at the door since he spoke Nubian and we didn't." "That bastard! He'll get his, before this is through," Ruby says angrily.
Ruby continues, "I guess now we try to get out of here. I wonder, should we go up back in the vents or try to get around out here in the hallways. If we do that, at the very least we need a plan, like getting some uniforms or something like that. I'm pretty good at being quiet but we have a big enough group of us that we aren't going to be really quiet." Mina interjects "Cetan won't fit through the air duct, so we're better off using the main hallway. I can cast a Sleep spell, should we run into more guards." She replies, "Well, I wasn't sure our new friend was joining us. If we get caught we will surely be killed. Where as now, there's maybe only a 99% chance of that. Let us check out the dirt path first before going up those stairs."