At Sword's Point by Katherine Kurtz, Scott MacMillan Page A

four times a year they used to gather here at the castle." Anton sat up cross-legged on his bunk. "It must have been something to see."
    "It was," Karl said.
    "Oh," said Anton, "you've seen photos?"
    "Better," Karl replied. "The caretaker is my uncle. He gave me a tour of the place about two years ago."
    "Really? God, I'd love to see the rooms upstairs. They're supposed to have been spectacular." Anton's request hung in the air for several long seconds before Karl replied.
    "I could ask my uncle for the, keys, if I thought I could trust you." He looked levelly at Anton.
    "What do you mean, 'trust me'? What's that supposed to mean?" Anton sounded almost offended.
    "Just this: Erik and I—"
    "Don't tell him, Karl," Erik's voice interrupted, coming up from beneath Anton's bunk, challenging him to be part of their secret. "It could get us in trouble."
    "I give my word of honor, as a von Tupilow, that I will not betray any confidences given to me this evening."
    Looking at Anton's face as he spoke, Karl knew that it was time to spring the trap.
    "You have a scar on your face." Involuntarily, Anton's hand reached up to the thin white line that ran, razor-straight, across his cheek. "Do you belong to a dueling fraternity?"
    "I am a member of the Student Corporation Lutzow. Why do you ask?" Anton said cautiously.
    "Because I am going to ask you to swear on the honor of Germany never to betray what you may see here." Karl stared deep into Anton's eyes, looking for a flicker of hesitation. He saw none. "Do you swear?"
    "I swear it," Anton said.
    Karl took a deep breath and looked at Erik sprawled across the bunk below Anton. Erik shot Karl his lopsided grin and gave him a thumbs-up.
    "Then I'll go get the keys." Karl turned and vanished down the stone stairs that led to the castle courtyard.
    Anton leaned over the edge of his bunk, trying to get a glimpse of Karl's partner. "Hey, Erik, have you ever seen the castle before?" he asked.
    "No," Erik lied. "I haven't. It will be a first for both of us tonight."
    "What did you mean when you said it might get you and Karl into trouble if I saw the upper floors of the castle?" Anton asked.
    "Karl and I are here to help clean up and restore some of the rooms as they were before the war. If word got out that someone was restoring an SS shrine, we could all be in big trouble." Erik could faintly hear Anton's blood pulsing through his veins as he lay on the bunk above him.
    "Well, you certainly don't have to worry about me on that score," Anton said. "My grandfather was in the SS, and after the war the Russians shot him and confiscated our estates. Besides, that was long ago. Now all of this is 'just history,' as they say at the university." Anton dropped down onto the stone floor next to the bunks as Karl came in with a key ring and three flashlights.
    "Here," he said, handing each of them a flashlight. "We're going to need these. My uncle turns off the power at ten." As if on cue, the lights in the dorm went out.
    "Well," Anton said in the darkness, "let the tour begin."
    Flicking on his flashlight, Karl motioned for Anton and Erik to follow.
    "After the war, the British tried to destroy the castle, but they weren't totally successful," he said. The beams from the three flashlights bounced off the white tile walls of the shower room as Karl led them through the dorm and into a long passageway. "They smashed up everything they could get hold of, and then they tried to set fire to the castle before they left," At the end of the passage Karl took them up another flight of stone stairs.
    "So was everything destroyed by the British?" Anton asked.
    "Oh, no. In 1944, the SS crated up a lot of stuff and loaded it onto trucks, then drove up into the hills, where they hid it in some caves. Afterwards, when they came back, they had my Uncle Stephen brick up the doors to all of the rooms on the top two floors. The British managed to break into all of the rooms, except one." Karl shone his flashlight on an