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CHAPTER 6

      THE BRAWNY sergeant of the guard peered into the dim hallway. "Why have they let the torches go out," he muttered, "This place is dark as the inside of my stomach."

      He tapped at a low door, and it swung open at his touch. Inside, the room was utterly dark. "Hullo?" he said doubtfully.

      "Enter."

      The sergeant recognized the voice, and it made him jump.

      He saluted the darkness. "Your Majesty, I was sent for."

      "Come forward."

      With the slightest hesitation, the sergeant stepped into the room. He'd always thought of himself as a brave man, but this darkness made him uneasy.

      Close beside him, the voice said, "Your name?" and at the same moment the sergeant felt a light touch on his cheek and neck. He went rigid. Something terrible had him in its grip, and despite his strength he could not break free. His jaws worked uselessly; he swallowed again and again; he was having trouble drawing his breath.

      Finally he gasped out, "A-Arm, sir. S-sergeant of the royal guard." Then his throat contracted, and no more words came.

      "Your name is Arm, and you are my arm to command." The voice seemed to come from every part of the room.

      Then the stricture released him, and Arm could speak again. "S-say your command," he mumbled, "And it will be done." He felt dazed; what had come over him? Was he getting the fever? Had he eaten something bad at dinner? He gritted his teeth and remained at attention, staring straight ahead into the blackness.

      The voice said, "You will go into the forested part of the North Country and bring back an escaped criminal. A young woman with long black hair and yellow eyes. I want her found at once. Do you understand me, Arm? Take as many men as you need, but find her — you'll know her by her yellow eyes."

      "I obey."

      "And . . . you must also look for a hunting falcon. A peregrine. If the bird is dead, I want its body. You can't mistake it. The jesses on its feet are studded with silver bells and each one ends in a silver medallion marked with the Royal Seal."

      Nausea was rising at the back of Arm's throat — no, it was inside his head! Something horrible was happening to him. His whole body was seized by a violent itching. He wanted to cough, to sneeze. "The king's order will be fulfilled," he croaked, but he was so overcome that he could hardly gasp out the ritual words.

      "One thing more, Arm . . ." The touch on his neck came again, and there, in the dark, a dreadful pressure enclosed him. A great, clammy hand wrapped around his mind and suffocated it. He was wrung dry and then refilled with a corrupted element. Vileness entered his veins, his bones. Something was eating his mind!

      Arm experienced, rather than heard, what came next. "Bring me either the woman or the falcon. And kill every other living thing you find with her: every man, every woman, every animal, every bird. Kill them — and bring the bodies to me."

      Arm could not answer the voice, because it was destroy ing him. His knees buckled. Oh, his bowels were turning to water! He was being masticated, swallowed, dragged downward into the dark, and . . . away.

      At last the Voice said, "Go now."

      An empty creature staggered into the hallway. The sergeant was gone, and there was nothing left of him but suffering. Where there had been a simple, ignorant soldier, there was now a living instrument of the king's will, a weapon for destruction.

      What was left of the man — his body — began to vomit on the hallway floor. That often happened to those who survived such meetings.

      Inside the darkened room, King Dur stretched full-length on his cushioned couch. It was done. But he was weary; it was so hard to stop before he killed.

      However, the effort was worth it. Arm would do his bidding now, or die attempting it. And the falcon should be easy to catch. Then, once she was in his hands again, Hawk would come to ransom her. He must.

      Dur closed his eyes and slept, smiling. His people knew better than to disturb him now.

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