After wasting most of the morning knocking swaggering, loudmouthed fools down a notch or two, he prepared to pull a stocky, blond-haired youth named Garbhach from a cell. Tossed in the gaol with a smattering of other rioters a phase or so before, Garbhach had quietly nursed his wounded leg and caused no trouble. Dien hoped Garby would prove to be a welcome respite to the belligerent ruffians he’d spent the morning with.
“You finally releasing me?” Garbhach asked, rubbing his arrow wound as Dien unlocked the cell door. Most of the cells in the front area of the gaol had a section of wall replaced by bars and a partially-barred door. Garbhach’s cell was no exception. It made the prisoners easier to watch and Dien did not like surprises.
“Not today,” Dien said. “Dubric’s got you slated for a full moon. You’re only a quarter or so done.”
“I swear on the Goddess’ name, Dien, I dunno what came over me that day. I truly thought them Knights was gonna hurt those milkmaids.”
Dien nodded and opened the door, keeping his attention locked on Garbhach. Everyone involved in the riots had shown sudden and forthright remorse for their irrational anger and fear. Many, like Garbhach and his brother farther down the dark hall, had been honest souls before the dark times and Dien felt a flash of guilt every day for keeping them locked up. But duty was duty and the law was the law. Without ensuring that troublemakers met their responsibilities, civilization would have fallen into madness a long, long time ago. “Only a little more than a couple phases to go, Garby,” he said. “You’ll be out before you know it. Right now though, I gotta take you to the gaol office. You’re not gonna give me any trouble, are you?”
“No, sir,” he said. “I’ll do whatever you say.”
Dien jangled a pair of wrist irons. “Hands on the wall then, far apart, and feet way back so you’re leaning forward.” Securing a prisoner, even with wrist irons, was a tricky undertaking for a lone man. Bigger and far stronger than most of the prisoners, Dien had never minded forcing the irons on. But Garbhach was perhaps a finger-width taller, a stone heavier, and fifteen summers younger. Better to be cautious than cocky.
Watching Dien out of the corner of his eye, Garbhach leaned against the wall, his hands splayed far apart. “This far enough back?”
“Should do,” Dien said. The boy leaned forward far enough to offset his balance. “Lift your right hand and balance yourself on the left.”
Garbhach complied and Dien snapped the iron on his right hand. Holding the loose shackle, Dien walked around behind the prisoner, dragging Garbhach’s shackled hand upwards. Any sudden movement would knock Garby face first against the wall. “All right,” Dien said, standing on the left, “We’re gonna switch. Put your right hand on the wall in front of you and lift the left one.”
Garbhach did as he was told and a moment later both irons were in place. “Goddess, I hate these things,” he said.
“Me too,” Dien said. “Let’s go.”
Sighing, Grabach walked from his cell, his hands chained in front of him.
Once Garbhach settled into the chair, Dien snapped the leg irons on as well and ran a chain around the big lad’s chest. “What do you want to question me about?” Garbhach asked as Dien snapped the chest lock closed.
“We had a murder here in the gaol night before last,” he said taking his own chair and opening his notebook.
“That money counter? The snooty one?”
“Yep. Him. Did you see or hear anything that night?”
Garbhach shrugged. “Not so much that night, but when the pages interrogated him he bawled like a baby after they left. Little bastards tricked him. Wasn’t very fair.”
Nothing in life is fair, Dien thought. “What about later?”
“A couple other counters came to see him, a few girls visited other prisoners, and the kitchen lackey fed us all. Nothing else happened until the middle of the night.”
Dien leaned forward. Several prisoners had mentioned the two accountants, the girls, and Hort, but none had noticed anything during the night. “What happened?”
“He had a visitor.”
“Who?”
Garbhach closed his eyes and opened them again. “Let me go, and I’ll tell you what I know.”
Dien sighed. “Bull piss. I can’t let you go, Garby, you know that. Don’t make me make you talk.”
Garbhach stared at him, his eyes pleading. “I miss my girl, Dien, and she’s not gonna stand for this much longer. We were supposed to get married next moon, but I dunno if she’s even still talking to me. I gotta set things right and I can’t do it locked up in here. I saw who came to Jelke, or rather what came to him, and I ain’t talkin until you let me and my brother go.”
“Dammit, Garby...”
“No, damn you and Dubric. You know I ain’t never caused no trouble b’fore and still you treat me like a criminal. Been livin’ and workin’ in this castle my whole life with never the least bit of fuss. The one damned time I get a little confused you shoot me in the leg and lock me up. Piss on that. A man ain’t meant to be locked up, Dien, you know that as well as I do. An animal maybe, but not a man. I ain’t never hurt no one and I ain’t gonna, but I ain’t gonna spend the next three blasted phases locked up. Not when I know what done killed that counter.” He clenched his fists and said, “Beating me ain’t gonna make no difference. You’ll have to kill me and still I won’t talk.”
“I could increase your sentence. Keep you both in here for a whole damned summer!”
“Yeah, I suppose you could, but you won’t. You’re a fair man, and I know you wanna catch what killed that counter. All I want is a little freedom for me and my brother.”
“Tell me what you know and I’ll decide if it’s good enough to give you a reprieve.”
“No. I ain't exactly sure who the bastard is, but it’s enough to get you close, and you’re not gonna be happy to hear it. I can’t be sure that you’ll let me go afterward. You’ll be too angry.”
“That bad?” Dien frowned as his heart clenched. The damned kid sure seemed like he was telling the truth.
“That bad. Sorry, sir, but it’s a dilly.”
The two big men stared at each other for a moment and at last Dien stood. “I can’t let you both go, I just can’t, but I can let you get your life back. But if I find out you gave me total horse piss I’m throwing you back in here.”
“Fair enough,” Garbhach said after a moment of deliberation. “I saw him. Walked right by my cell, he did, coming and going.”
Dien unlocked all five locks and Garbhach rubbed his wrists. “He’s a young fella, couple summers or so younger than me, I think. Tallish, but that’s hard to tell when you’re lyin on a bunk. Everyone looks tall. Had brown hair, I saw that fer sure in the torchlight right outside my door. I’m sure it was him what did it because he had a streak of blood on his cheek.” Garby drew a curved line on his face with his finger.
“Who was it?” Dien asked as he noted the description in his book.
“Dunno his name but I’ve seen him around. He’s not one of my crowd, sir, he’s one of yours.”