"But if I can get away, he can't claim to be Lord of Macindaw. As long as I'm alive, he's stalemated and he gains nothing by killing my father. On the contrary, he'll probably keep him alive as a hostage. Until the Scotti get here, Keren must play his hand carefully. If he's too obvious, the countryside would rise up against him. But once he's established as Lord of Macindaw, it'll be a different story. Then, by the time the Scotti arrive to support him, it'll be too late."

"How did he poison you?" Will asked, and Orman shrugged.

"I have to eat and drink. Who knows? I've tried to be careful and have my food prepared separately. But they may have got to my servants. Or maybe they got their damn poison into the water." He gestured to the books on the Black Art that lay on the work table. "I've felt it coming on for days. They do it slowly, you see. I've been going through those damn books trying to find some clue, some antidote, but so far without any success."

Will looked at the books as the other man pointed to them. "Oh, I see," he said. "I thought…" He didn't finish the thought. Orman smiled grimly at him.

"You thought I was a sorcerer? You thought I was behind my father's illness?" he said. Will nodded. There was no point in denying it.

"It seemed a logical theory," he said.

Orman nodded wearily. "As I said, when a person is unpopular, it's so easy to think badly of him." He rose from the chair, moving painfully. "Now my best hope is that you are a Ranger, because I need help getting away from this castle, and I doubt if a simple jongleur would be up to the task." He paused and then added, "I assume that Lady Gwendolyn is also more than she seems?"

"How did you…" Will began, then stopped, realizing he had said too much. Orman smiled.

"Don't assume that because a person is unpopular, he's also stupid," he said. "The two of you turned up virtually at the same time then Lady Gwendolyn had you summoned to her rooms. Very convenient. And then you both just happened to go riding at the same time. I'm not a fool."

Events had moved so fast in the past few minutes that Will had forgotten about the need to warn Alyss to stay out of sight. Making a decision, he apprised Orman of the situation, telling him of the surprising appearance of John Buttle. The castle lord frowned thoughtfully.

"That is a problem," he said. "He's one of Keren's men, of course-a new recruit. Keren seems to find every unattached thief and murderer who drifts through the shire. They gravitate to him. At the same time, he's getting rid of the men who might be loyal to me. I'll send Xander to pass your message to her. Best if you aren't seen by this man Buttle either, I think. Then let's think about how the three of us can get out of here."

He reached for a small silver bell on his table and rang it. There was a pause, then the door opened and Xander entered. Quickly, Orman gave him his instructions while Will dashed off a short note for him to carry to Alyss. The clerk, looking worried, folded the note into the top of his jerkin and left the room. Another thought had been nagging at Will. He voiced it now.

"The Night Warrior-the apparitions in Grimsdell Wood-is Keren behind them as well? What does he gain from them?"

"Oh, you've seen them, have you?" Orman asked. Then he shrugged. "To be honest, I don't know. Perhaps this former healer Malkallam is behind them all. Or maybe it's Keren. Maybe they're even working together. Then again, Keren may have simply taken advantage of the apparitions to use the old legend to his own advantage."

He shuddered in pain again. "In any event, we're going to have to find out what Malkallam is up to," he said. Will looked at him, a question in his eyes, and he elaborated.

"He may well be the only one who can heal me. I need you to take me to him."

"Are you mad?" Will's voice rose in pitch as he reacted to Orman's statement. "You think Malkallam will help you? He's a sworn enemy of your entire family!" But Orman merely shook his head, the effort seeming to take a lot out of him.

"Only if you believe in fairy tales," he said. "I don't believe Malkallam is behind all this. I don't believe he's a sorcerer. For years, the man worked as a healer-an herbalist-and a very good one. But then something went wrong and he disappeared from sight. People said he went into the forest and surrounded himself with dark forces and apparitions."

"What went wrong?" Will asked, and Orman shrugged. The minute he did so, he regretted it, giving vent to a little grunt of pain before he answered.

"Who knows? Maybe somewhere along the way, people started confusing his abilities with sorcery. It's happened before, you know-someone develops a skill that's a little out of the ordinary, and before too long, people start believing it's magic." He paused for breath and looked meaningfully at Will. "As a Ranger, you should understand that."

Will was forced to agree. It was exactly the way many people thought of Rangers. And, he realized, he and Alyss had already seen that a lot of Malkallam's so-called sorcery consisted of elaborate mechanical tricks. But still…

"Can you afford to risk it?" he asked. "You're assuming an awful lot, after all."

Orman gave him a thin smile. There was not a great deal of amusement in it.

"The question is, can I afford not to risk it? Malkallam is the only person within hundreds of kilometers who might have the skill to recognize this drug and find an antidote. Without him, I'll sink into a coma and eventually die."

Will frowned thoughtfully as he digested this statement. The castle lord was right, he realized. Malkallam was a last throw of the dice. There was no other way for Orman to turn.

The door opened to admit Xander. The moment the secretary entered the office, Will saw the look on his face and knew he had bad news.

"My lord, I couldn't reach her. Keren's men are everywhere," he said.

Orman cursed as another seizure struck him. As Xander moved toward his lord, Will stepped to block his way. He felt a cold hand tighten around his heart.

"You mean they stopped you?" he said, then added, with a scathing note of condemnation, "You didn't even try to reach her, did you?"

The little secretary met his gaze unflinchingly. "I didn't try once I saw them, because I knew they'd see me. And I didn't want to implicate the Lady Gwendolyn," he said.

Will reached out and grabbed the little man's jerkin in both hands, pulling him closer.

"You coward!" he told him. "What do you mean, implicate her?"

Xander still met his gaze without any sign of fear. He made no effort to break free from Will's grip.

"Think about it, Ranger. I'm seen hurrying to take some kind of message to Lady Gwendolyn. Then, within an hour, the three of us escape from the castle. Do you think Keren won't put two and two together and realize she's working with you?"

Slowly, Will released his grip and the secretary stepped back, smoothing his crumpled collar. He was right, Will thought. Any attempt to warn Alyss would only endanger her at the moment. Yet if she were to run into Buttle, if Buttle recognized her… somehow, he would have to get word to her.

"I've got to help her," he said.

Orman shook his head wearily. "It's too late for that," he said. "If Xander's right and Keren's men are everywhere, he may be about to make his move. We have only a few minutes to get out of here."

Will's anger boiled up and overflowed. "Is that all you can think about?" he demanded. "Your own precious skin? Well, to blazes with you! I don't run out on my friends when they need me."

Orman said nothing. But Will was surprised as Xander took a step toward him and laid a hand on his arm.

"Lord Orman is right," he said. "Your best chance is to get him out of here right away. If you're caught in the castle, there'll be nothing to stop Keren from killing all of you, don't you see?"