The door opened. Jaine felt arms slip under hers and drag her into damp darkness.
She saw the flash of fire and felt the heat of Tolerance’s last attempt at charring her before the door closed and blocked the light. From behind the door, she could hear Tolerance’s frustrated coughs.
Realized she had not breathed during these last long seconds, Jaine gasped and felt the floor for her dictionary. The stones of the floor were rough from limited use.
“Hel- *cough* -lo?” she sputtered. “Thank you?” Victoriously, Jaine’s fingertips brushed the leather of her dictionary, which she reclaimed and clutched to her chest.
She heard a match strike and smelled sulfur. A dim light which grew as flame caught onto torch.
“My Lady Jaine,” a voice said. Jaine didn’t recognize the voice until she saw Bedlam’s teeth gleam into a smile.
“Oh…good gracious…”
“…loveliness and vivacity. I am so lucky to find you here, my lady, for though I knew we would meet again, I had only hoped it would be so soon.”
Jaine stood shakily. “Yes, how adventitious it was that you wander university dungeons.”
“Oh, it wasn’t lucky at all.” Bedlam smiled wider. “I was looking for you.”
“You are right – that is decidedly unlucky.”
The light had grown so Jaine could view her surroundings. They were at the
end of a hall, with crude etchings decorating stone walls. Moisture seeped through
the mortar.
Bedlam made a disapproving sound. “Here I save your life, and yet you act
repulsed by me. Should you not thank your savior?”
“I should, though I am. Thank you, Bedlam.” She curtseyed.
“You are welcome. Now, follow me.”
Jaine followed. She was glad to know the right direction out of the dungeon,
especially considering that she needed to return to the ogress’ tower before her
freedom expired.
Bedlam led her down one hall and through another, up one set of stairs, and, to Jaine’s concern, back down another set.
“I didn’t know the university is so large,” Jaine said.
“It isn’t. There are several underground tunnels which lead away from the
university. I know them all.”
“How clever of you. Where does this way take us?”
“Where you want to go.”
Silence pervaded. “But,” began Jaine, “I haven’t told you where I want to
go, and you certainly can’t decipher my mind as you haven’t bothered understanding
my words. How do you know where I want to go?”
Bedlam turned to her and smiled. “I lied. This is actually where I want to
go, but people go farther with me when they think that I’m taking them where they
want. The odd thing is, they usually have no preconceived desired direction.
We have come quite far already, and you’ve just assumed I was taking you where you wanted. It wasn’t until you asked that you thought I might take you a different way.
People are so trusting.”
Jaine had paused during this speech, aghast at her own naiveté. Then she ran in direction they had come.
Bedlam caught her quickly, but suffered several blows from her dictionary
before he was able to bind her wrists. Jaine was carried several paces before she
submitted to walking behind her captor.
“Beguiling sycophant,” Jaine muttered. “Bilkering, fraudulent, prevaricating
fabricator.” Synonyms always made Jaine feel better. “But they are inaccurate, and
far too complimentary,” she sighed. “Witless, naïf, gullible, credulous, artless to the ostensible…”
“You’re not talking about me anymore, are you?” asked Bedlam.
“No,” replied Jaine mournfully.
“Too bad. I liked it.”
They walked in silence through the rest of the tunnels. Eventually they
reached a door with light peaking though the crevices, and when Bedlam opened it, Jaine had to blink many times for her eyes to adjust to the abundance of nature. They were in the woods, or a forest, and though she spun around to look, Jaine could not see a clearing. There were only trees, rocks, and shadows to guide her, and Jaine could not make a map from any of them. Contrary to popular belief, the sun did not always set in West. The window in the ogress’ cave faced West, and a pine tree grew on the horizon, directly in the middle of the view. Jaine was sure she had noticed the sun sometimes setting to the right and sometimes the left of that tree, and she knew that it often changed times of setting and rising. Who could possibly navigate by such a fickle celestial body?
Thus abandoned, Jaine postponed her escape.
They strode through the forest until they reached a path. Following a path encouraged Jaine, until she realized the path inclined, and they were climbing a large hill. Jaine’s foot slipped on loose rocks and she fell painfully on one knee.
“You must be tired,” Bedlam consoled. “After all, you’ve been running through my mind all day. Shall I help – no? No need to glare, my lady; It isn’t becoming. We have almost reached our destination, though. I would let you rest, but it is almost sundown.”
When they reached the top of the hill, Bedlam led Jaine to an arrangement of stones, set up like an alter. A post stood out from the middle of the stones, and Bedlam tied her to it.
Curiosity burst forth from Jaine. “Where are we? And why did you bring me here?”
“Who is to say?” he responded.
“You, as you brought me here.”
“Well, I’m not actually supposed to tell you.” Bedlam considered. “But since you won’t be around much longer…”
“You’re leaving me here to die?”
“Who knows…”
“You, again. However, if you have a change of decision, or at last construct
a decision out of your bog of irresolution, you could untie me and take me home. Then you don’t have to reveal any confidence, or bother about who is or isn’t saying, knowing, or vacillating on essentials.”
“I could, but that jeopardizes my ambiguity. Think of what could happen to
my career if I upheld something!”
“Truth and justice would indeed stand shocked,” agreed Jaine. She adjusted her bonds against the post, but could not loosen them. “Would you concede on revealing the purpose of my presence here, though?”
Bedlam considered. “I suppose it doesn’t matter now that you are already here. My superiors commissioned me to leave a virgin sacrifice on the Mount of Enlightenment, and you were the only one I knew.”
“What!”
“…Which, that is your own fault, by the way. I offered you freedom from such
conservatism earlier, but you clung to your inhibitions. How outdated of you.”
“Outdated? You’re the one sacrificing me to a monster!” Jaine’s voice rose and her face flushed.
“Sacrifice sounds so like you are going to be eaten or mangled,” worried
Bedlam. “Don’t panic so much.”
“Are you saying I’m not going to be eaten?”
“Well… you probably are. I’m not sure. Who’s to say.”
“Oh!” Jaine fought tears, and felt as though she had something stuck in her
throat.
“Oh?”
“Go away.”
“Really? Some company might be nice for you in your last few hours.”
“Hours? I have hours?”
“Who knows.”
“Go away!”
“But I could-”
“Get-get-get out! Ah! No one should see me decend to stultiloquence. Leave
me in peace!” Jaine turned her face away from him.
“If you wish. Don’t take it too hard, though. I’m just following orders.”
“Your willing subordination to malevolence does not comfort me.”
“Well, it does me. Who knows. Maybe I’ll see you around.”
“Who knows…” whispered Jaine.
Bedlam left her.
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