Free Incarceron (Incarceron, Book 1) by Catherine Fisher Page B

the metal links were white-knuckled.
    Finn did not look down. He knew what was below nothing bur blackness and heat that rose and scorched your face, bringing strange drowsy fumes it was unwise to breathe.
    As she inched forward, the Maestra's voice came back to him, hard and cold. "If they don't bring ... the crystal? What then?"
    "What crystal?" Keiro asked slyly.
    Finn said, "Shut up." Ahead in the dimness he could see the Civicry--three men, as agreed, waiting by the weighing platform. He edged up close behind the Maestra. "Don't even try to make a run for it. Jormanric will have twenty weapons trained on you."
    "I'm not a fool," she snapped. Then she stepped onto the Spike.
    Finn followed, taking a deep breath of relief. It was a mistake. The fumes of the heat haze choked his throat; he coughed.
    Keiro pushed past him, sword drawn, and grabbed the woman's arm. "On this."
    He shoved her onto the weighing platform. It was a vast aluminum construction, dragged here in pieces and reassembled with immense difficulty for occasions like this, though in all Finn's time with the Comitatus he had never seen it used. Jormanric didn't usually bother with ransoms.
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    "Look hard at the marker, friend." Keiro turned silkily to the Civic leader. "Not such a lightweight, is she?" He grinned.
    "Perhaps you should have kept her on a stricter diet."
    The man was stocky, muffled in a striped coat, bulky with concealed weapons. Ignoring Keiro's taunt he came and glanced at the needle on the rusting dial, exchanging a swift, snatched look with the Maestra. Finn recognized him from the ambush. The one she'd called Sim.
    The man gave Finn a filthy glare. Taking no chances, Keiro pulled the Maestra back and held his dagger to her neck. "Now pile it on. And don't try anything."
    In the moment before the treasure began to be poured, Finn wiped sweat from his eyes. He swallowed again, trying not to breathe too hard, wishing desperately he had tied something over his mouth and nose. Faint, horribly familiar, the spots of redness began to swim before his eyes. Not now, he thought frantically. Please.
    Not now.
    Gold was slithering and rattling. Rings, cups, plates, elaborate candlesticks. A bag was upended and silver coins cascaded out, forged probably from the ore smuggled by traders; then a deluge of delicate components robbed from dark and unfrequented parts of the Wing--broken Beetles, Eye-lenses, a Sweeper with its radar mangled.
    The needle began to move. Watching it, the Civicry dumped a sack of ket and two small pieces of the precious ebony wood
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    that grew somewhere in a stunted forest even Gildas had only-heard rumors of.
    Keiro grinned at Finn.
    As the red needle edged across, a heap of copper wire and Plastiglas went on, a handful of crystal filaments, a patched helm, and three rusted foils that would certainly snap at the first good blow.
    The men worked hurriedly, but it was clear they were running out of goods. The Maestra watched tight-lipped, Keiro's knifepoint whitening the skin under her ear.
    Finn's breath was ragged. Prickles of pain sparked behind his eyes. He swallowed and tried to whisper to Keiro, but he had no breath and his oathbrother was watching the last sack--of useless tinware--being placed on the heap.
    The needle swung over.
    It stopped short.
    "More," Keiro said quietly.
    "There's nothing more."
    Keiro laughed. "You love the coat you're wearing better than her?"
    Sim tore the coat off and flung it on. Then, with a glance at the Maestra he tossed his sword and firelock after it. The other two men did the same. They stood empty-handed and each of them watched the needle quiver.
    It didn't quite make the mark.
    "More," Keiro said.
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    "For God's sake!" Sim's voice was harsh. "Just let her go!" Keiro glanced at Finn. "This crystal. Is it there?" Dizzy, he shook his head.
    Keiro smiled icily at the men. He pressed the blade; a glistening trickle of dark blood edged it. "Beg, lady."
    She was very calm. She said, "They