Romna nodded. He did not seem surprised. He walked across the dais,
laying his harp on the table, and went into another room. He came back
almost at once with a hacksaw.
"Bend your neck," he said to Starke.
The metal of the collar was soft. When it was cut through Starke got
his fingers under it and bent the ends outward, without trouble. His
old body could never have done that. His old body could never have done
a lot of things. He figured Rann hadn't cheated him. Not much.
He got up, looking at Beudag. Beudag's head was dropped forward, her
face veiled behind shining hair.
"There's only one possible way out of Crom Dhu," she said. There was no
emotion in her voice. "There's a passage leading down through the rock
to a secret harbor, just large enough to moor a skiff or two. Perhaps,
with the night and the fog, you can slip through Rann's blockade. Or
you can go aboard one of her ships, for Falga." She picked up the
candle. "I'll take you down."
"Wait," Starke said. "What about you?"