Chapter 9 - Part II

The University on High had finally made its move and had chosen this spider-spy, this Secondsword to do their bidding. No doubt her in-laws, her late husband's sister and her family, would be making their way back from Pho-boteth, would also be arriving before the major moon set for the year, having lost their noble sponsor to be there.  Lady Zaexyl implored her sister-in-law to stay and continue her studies, that she would continue as her benefactor, but the woman noted only that she would first return to say goodbye to her brother.

There were too many complications on the horizon.  Reiba knew she had to hurry and complete her project before the Secondsword or her sister-in-law returned.  She cursed her late husband.  It was he, afterall, who put everything into motion when he uncovered her notes in her study.  He had not understood what he found, thankfully, but his trespass cost him his life in the end.  And now time was running out to make sense of those notes.

Tonight, she would make her last ditch effort to salvage her work.  She donned thick grey, woolen trousers, a grey linen tunic and knee high boots made of some strange material out of the Outer Crest.  Har'bort, rubber, as they called it.  As she descended into the prison, Reiba noticed that the prior carnage had been well washed away.  The modest furniture had been replaced and the pools of blood were a mere memory.

"Leave me." she ordered her guard as she entered the hallway of cells.  He complied readily, handing her a torch before rapidly climbing the stairs back to the courtyard.  When his mistress demanded her privacy, he was not fool enough to disobey.

The cells Onion and Cedric had once occupied were now vacant; the only tribute to their time there being the noticeable lack of dust accumulation that existed in other cells.  Until late, the holds of the Lady Zaexyl Archne were not well used.  That is, excepting the last in the long hallway.

Unlike the other cells, this one was enclosed entirely in stone; solitary confinement for the worst traitors this lair once held.  Now it held her secret.  Her staff was ignorant of its contents save her guards who thought a thief, infected with a dangerous and contagious disease, dwelt within those walls. 

A small click of the door lock gave way with the turn of her heavy brass key and she was soon in the cell.  As the torchlight filled all corners of the room, a sharp hiss was expelled from a crouching form as it scurried behind the stone privy.  The room stunk, though the privy was not likely the cause.  Tens of bowls and plates lay, scattered across the floor; food and soup entirely untouched.  Each in their own stage of decay.  Ignorant of who or what lay on the other side of the slot on the door, Lady Zaexyl's guards fed the creature daily as if it were human.

"They might be fooled, but you and I both know you are nothing close to human." she whispered with equal parts derision and concern.  When its eyes had adjusted to the light that flowed from the torch, it rose from its hiding place.