Kirsten nodded, “Good, what else?”
“Oh, how Rankstine seems to have some kind of manipulative mind control over the townsfolk, making them build his wall,” Max said.
“Great. Let’s try to let him think we already know exactly what Rankstine’s plans are. Maybe he’ll give us clues or hints that will allow us to piece together what we need to know,” Kirsten said.
Britt, Max and Bo nodded as they pulled the barn door open. Kirsten held the lantern up near her face as they entered the room. The guard eyed them warily as they formed a half circle around him.
“You can beat me all you want, I’m not telling you nothing,” the guard stated firmly.
“You don’t really need to tell us anything,” Kirsten replied in a knowing tone. “We already know everything.”
“Impossible,” the guard spat.
“You’re a smart person, aren’t you?” Kirsten said, kneeling to meet his gaze. “You’d have to be in order to be granted such a prestigious role, to guard an important person like Rankstine.”
The man raised an eyebrow and said, “Yes, I am. And pre-stiggus too, like you said.” He fumbled through the word as he spoke.
“So, a smart person like you will know we aren’t lying when we tell you we know how the governor’s been able to track us while we’re in the city,” Kirsten said.
The guard’s eyes darted from Kirsten to Britt, Max and Bo one at a time, their expressions firm and unchanging.
“He’s in possession of a powerful orb,” Kirsten continued. “It shows him where everyone is throughout the whole city. He would know if we went to Grandwood and where he could find us, even if we were trying to hide from him.” She paused letting their knowledge of the orb settle into the guard’s mind. “But the orb doesn’t show him where we are right now. For all your governor knows, you’re still doing your duty, spying on us,” Kirsten held her breath, hoping she was right in guessing how far the orb’s reach stretched.
The guard’s face went pale, but he responded quickly saying, “You know if he decides to take the orb with him and come closer to this place, he’ll see where we are and what you’re doing to me. The orb has a limited distance of projection but he can easily move it.”
Kirsten glanced at the others, now sure of the orb’s limited scope. “But he wouldn’t do that. He needs to keep an eye on the townspeople and make sure none of them are disobeying him.”
“But they won’t disobey him. They’re caught under a spell. Merglan himself helped cast it. Rankstine uses the crystal around his neck to keep the spell’s hold on them. The crystal’s so powerful that it works on everyone in the whole city,” the guard bragged.
“Not everyone,” Kirsten said.
The guard looked confused.
“Billson directly disobeyed his orders. He was disciplined earlier today,” she said.
The man flushed red with irritation. “The effects may be fading, but it still works. Those stupid people are building us a fortress, aren’t they,” the spy said through gritted teeth.
“For the kurr?” It was the first time Kirsten asked him a question, but the man was so worked up she didn’t think he’d notice.
“Not just the kurr,” the guard continued. “A northern stronghold for Merglan’s growing army. It will be the first time in history the kurr, orc and humans have banded together to fight against the evil monarchy controlling the five nations.”
“Merglan would richly reward a governor and his men for accomplishing such an important task,” Kirsten said trying to keep the man talking.
He nodded, “I’ve been promised my own castle and title as a baron. I asked the others just this evening what they’d been promised,” he smiled. “I was the only one who’d been promised baron papers.”
“No doubt Rankstine would stay in Grandwood,” she said.
“Someone loyal to Merglan will need to stay in command of the north.”
“Did he tell you where you’d be given a castle?” Kirsten asked.
“Brookside,” the man said.
“How would you get there? By boat or by horse?” she asked.
The man opened his mouth to respond but suddenly held his tongue when he realized what Kirsten was doing. “Hey, you’re just trying to get me to tell you how to escape the barriers.” He shook his head and started to laugh, “You thought you could trick me into telling you, but I’m not that stupid. I said before; I won’t be telling you nothing.”
Kirsten rose to her feet and said, “Very well. That’s all we needed to know. Sleep tight.” She turned and led the others out of the barn closing the door behind them. As they walked back to the house, they could hear their prisoner shouting for them to come back and let him go.
As they entered the house, Max laughed, “That couldn’t have gone any better! He literally told us everything we needed to know, and not once did he notice he was doing it.”
“I honestly thought he might tell us how to escape the barriers,” Kirsten said kicking the wood floor with her heel as she halfway skipped with joy.
“He told us everything else,” Britt said.
“Yeah, he told us the orb has a limited scope,” Max began counting the information on his fingers. “The crystal was used to cast a mind control spell on everyone,”
“That’s fading,” Bo added.
“That’s fading,” Max repeated. Holding up a third finger, he continued, “Why the townspeople are building a wall and why the kurr are assembling here. He even let it slip that there were other guards with him earlier tonight. They must have captured Thomas and taken him to the church as a prisoner.”
“Yeah. It was almost too easy,” Kirsten said.
“You know you could have a future in interrogation,” Bo said. “When this is all over, you could be a valuable asset to the Watch. The watchmen could use more watchwomen in every town.”
Kirsten’s cheeks reddened, “Thanks, but I’ll focus on this first.”
Bo smiled, nodding, “Yeah, getting rid of Rankstine is much more pressing.”
