69

You wake up in great discomfort; every muscle of your body feels knotted and bruised. You force open eyelids clogged with dried sweat, and look with dread at your wretched surroundings. You are lying on the hard stone floor of a prison cell. Over by the far wall, beneath a window criss-crossed with iron bars, is a low wooden bunk covered in filthy rags. Cockroaches, some the size of field mice, scuttle along a foul-smelling gutter that disappears into a grating in the floor. (Erase from your Action Chart all Weapons, Special Items, Gold Crowns, and your Backpack and all its contents, but note them down elsewhere in case you should find them again later.)

You discover that your hands are free and slowly pull yourself upright into a sitting position, resting your back against the cell door. A faint draught from the corridor outside provides the only relief from the stifling heat and bad air of the cell. In the distance you can hear footsteps approaching. Then there is a jangle of keys and the creak of hinges. A door closes with a dull thud. More footsteps; they are getting louder. They come to halt outside the cell door and a loud voice bellows out: ‘Sleeping on duty, Sefrou? You’ll wake up on the other side of this door if the captain catches you!’

The chair scrapes along the ground, and a startled voice, full of indignation, replies: ‘Curse you, Hadj! The Zakhan doesn’t want the Northlander taken to the Grand Hall until sunset. You’ve cheated me of two hours sleep.’

‘Shut up, Sefrou,’ snarls the first voice, ‘and listen hard. I’ve just come from the armoury. Some interesting trinkets were found on the Northlander, worth a great deal of gold I’d say. Seems a pity to let them go to waste, eh?’

The two guards chuckle greedily and discuss at length the good time they will be able to have in the city, once they have sold your equipment.

‘I’ll take a peek at our friend,’ says one of the guards. ‘I wonder if he’s enjoying our hospitality.’

A spy-hole slides open above your head and you hear a gasp of shock. ‘He’s gone! He’s gone! By the Majhan, we’ll lose our heads!’ You suddenly realize that you cannot be seen so close to the door.

‘Let me see,’ hisses the other guard, eager to see for himself. You hear the click of a key in the lock; this could be your chance to escape.

If you wish to attack the guards as soon as the door opens, turn to 138.

If you wish to move away from the door and stand in the middle of the cell, turn to 85.