The Abduction by J. Robert King Read Free Book Online Page B

homily on marriage.
    On this side of the pupil, though, was a cocked crossbow poised on a wooden stand. Its quarrel was trained downward, pointing to the spot where Eidola and Piergeiron stood.
    Noph almost flung wide the trapdoor and rushed in, but he noticed a string tied to the door. It was threaded through an eyelet in the floor and then rose up to the trigger of the crossbow. He eased the door downward an inch, and watched as the quivering line loosened. The trigger settled back in its place.
    Clever. Whoever had placed this crossbow here had rigged it to go off if the trapdoor was opened. Cleverer, still, there was another string attached to the trigger. It was tied to a clockwork mechanism. As Noph watched, the string wound slowly around the clock spindle, and the trigger tightened.
    “…The crossbow is already in place….”
    So, even now, the lizard-woman is conspicuously sitting in the crowd, thought Noph, with a solid alibi for the moment when the quarrel flies and the lady or the lord is slain….
    He had another minute at most—a minute to cut the first string, climb into the loft, and cut the second.
    He reached for his dagger and pulled it forth—or tried to. The peace strings held the damned thing in place. He yanked harder, but he didn’t have the strength of a Piergeiron to snap them. Groaning in frustration, Noph fiddled for a moment more, trying to untie the tangle. Thirty seconds … The clockwork string tightened….
    Noph reached up past the trapdoor, feeling for where the first line was attached. His hand followed the string to another eyelet that was screwed into the top of the door. A yank on the eyelet told him this knot was secure.
    Nineteen seconds…
    Noph gingerly rolled his fingertips across the string, his nails slowly fraying the fibers apart.
    Eight seconds…
    A grunt and a yank. The frayed string broke loose of the eyelet. Noph flung back the trapdoor. It boomed loudly, but he did not care.
    Two seconds … The crossbow trigger drew back, trembling.
    Noph lunged for the clockwork mechanism. A crooked nail in the floorboards caught his toe, and he fell.
    One second … The trigger clicked….
    Noph snatched the base of the crossbow stand and wrenched it. The quarrel shot away. It pinged off the edge of Ao’s pupil and darted down into the crowd. A woman’s scream came up to him, followed by the shout of a man.
    Noph leapt to his feet and peered out the pupil. Below, an old dowager clutched a bleeding arm.
    The bolt had missed Lady Eidola and Piergeiron. They were safe.
    “The whole of Waterdeep will owe you a debt of gratitude.
    Except that Waterdeep had confused the details….
    Someone pointed up toward the Eye of Ao and shouted: “Assassin!”
    Noph went white. As other faces turned toward him, he backed away into the dark chamber. He was no assassin.
    He was the hero who stopped the murderers. Once the people saw the evidence … once they saw the stand and the strings and clockwork mechanism, they would understand the truth….
    The cries of the congregation were interrupted by the I fuss of a line of smokepowder, lit by the candles beneath the eye.
    Smokepowder?
    Boom!
    Searing heat. Noph was thrown against a very hard wall. He groaned and crumpled amid orange flames. They died back as quickly as they had come. Bleeding, Noph struggled to smother the fire on his cape.
    Numbly, he realized what had happened. The woman who had set up the crossbow had trapped it to explode once it had gone off, destroying the evidence other crime, destroying the evidence of Noph’s innocence. Crossbow, stand, and clockwork machine had been blasted apart. “Assassin! Assassin!” came the cries from below.

Chapter 5 Where Trust Is Placed
“Assassin!”
    Piergeiron clutched Eidola protectively to him and looked up toward the Eye of Ao. The crossbow bolt had come from there. In the pupil of the Eye was the frightened, hopeful face of young Noph.
    The Open Lord’s heart sank. What treachery was