Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Ladon
I didn’t expect the stone door to swing open—it looked immovable—but that was exactly what happened when two of the nameless threw their full weight against it. Half of the nameless entered first while the others waited for us.
I hated giving them my back, but they didn’t give us much of a choice. Aven and Bianca led while Emilie and I trailed behind, Marco and Mira tucked between us.
Once everyone had entered the tunnel, they slowly pushed the door closed.
Complete darkness, fell, and Emilie sucked in a sharp breath.
While our sight was limited, everything else was heightened.
I heard feet shuffling, smelled musty air, and felt a body press into mine.
The texture of the hair tickling my chin told me it was Emilie, and I grabbed her upper arm to hold her steady.
A blue light appeared. And then another, and another.
With nine mage lamps hanging from the hands of our escorts, I could finally see the space we were in—which wasn’t much space at all.
The tunnel was roughly five feet wide and less than seven feet tall.
If I held my hand up, I could brush the stalactites above my head.
I’d have to watch where I was walking since some of them hung low enough to hit my face.
It should’ve been a relief to get inside, away from the freezing wind, but an inescapable chill settled in my bones within these tunnels. It had only been a few minutes, and I was already desperate to leave.
“What are we waiting for?” I grumbled.
Emilie covered my hand on her arm with her own. Her touch brought a little comfort, but the walls still closed in on me. Thankfully, we moved forward.
The tunnel turned at random, and some sections were wider while others were even narrower.
During the narrow parts, we had to file one by one until the tunnel opened up again.
It was miserable, and I had to concentrate on my breathing so it wouldn’t become obvious that I was suffocating inside these walls.
I hadn’t decided what to make of the nameless yet, but whether they were friend, foe, or somewhere in between, I wouldn’t let them see my weakness.
Periodically, I checked in with Emilie. Knowing how much I was suffering, I had to assume she was too. She frequently reached back for my hand, especially in the sections where we had to walk single file, and I was all too happy to give it to her.
After the last time, I could feel how badly she was trembling, so I didn’t let go.
“I’ve got you, princess,” I told her quietly as we shuffled forward.
Eventually, we found ourselves in a cavern large enough for us to sleep for the night. The nameless hung their mage lights on posts that jutted out from the dark stone walls. It seemed this room had been used before, if not frequently.
“This is where we’ll stop for the evening,” the apparent leader of the nameless told us as he laid out a sleeping sack. My group began to settle into the opposite corner.
“We should take turns keeping watch,” Aven said to me, low enough that the nameless couldn’t hear. We were still skeptical of Jesse and his henchmen, even if they had agreed to meet with us.
“I’ll take the first watch,” I said, knowing how unlikely it was that I could ever fall asleep inside these tunnels with strangers by our side.
Despite the damp cold, we didn’t light a fire since there was no proper ventilation for the smoke. Without heat to cook, we were forced to eat dried meat and room-temperature broth. My soldiers didn’t complain; most were used to the less-than-ideal circumstances.
When it was time to tuck in for the night, I took a seat and rested my back against the wall, perfectly positioned to not only keep an eye on the nameless, but also on Emilie and the others.
Emilie was nestled between Mira and Bianca, her eyes still wide open and staring at the ceiling long after everyone else had fallen asleep.
“Emilie,” I said softly, and her eyes flicked to me. “Sleep.”
Her chest rose and fell in an effort to relax. She spoke so quietly I could hardly hear her words. “I can’t.”
It was silly of me to even suggest it, considering I couldn’t sleep either. It was hard enough in my own bed, let alone under these conditions. “Try,” I urged.
Her eyes fluttered closed, and I don’t know how long it took before I heard her even breaths, assuring me that she had finally surrendered to sleep.
Time moved at an agonizing crawl while I tried to think of anything other than the cramped space. The dark depths that led back to our cage. The pieces of ourselves we had left behind…
Gods help us. I was more determined than ever to get inside, grab Vessina’s venom, and get the hell out of Murvort before I lost my mind.
Someone stirred, and it shook me from my haunted thoughts. Mira sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes. “What time is it?”
I shook my head. “I’m not sure. If I had to guess, we still have a few hours left before morning. You should try to rest some more.”
“Have you been awake this whole time?” she asked, voice laced with concern.
“Yes.”
She pulled back the blanket and rose from her mat, approaching me while stretching her limbs. “Take my spot. I’ve had enough sleep, and I’m happy to relieve you.”
“It’s fine,” I said. “I don’t think I’m capable of sleeping right now.”
She nodded like she understood, but then she said, “At least try. Tomorrow is an important day, and you need rest. We all do.”
I glanced at the spot where she had previously been lying and noticed Emilie clutching the blanket closer to her chest. She was probably missing the warmth on her right side. If I couldn’t sleep, at least I could keep her comfortable.
“Thanks,” I told Mira. Then I lay down beside Emilie.
I couldn’t be nearly as close to her as I wanted, but I slipped my arm under the blankets to hold her hand. Her fingers clenched before she relaxed again, interlacing her fingers with mine. Even though she was asleep, she still somehow knew whose touch she’d found.
It brought me a sense of peace, and I closed my eyes, brushing the back of her hand with my thumb until I, too, surrendered to sleep.
I woke to Emilie’s hands gently shaking my shoulders. “Ladon, wake up.”
My brows pinched together before I shot up to a sitting position. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said softly. “We’re going to start moving soon. Do you want something to eat?”
I nodded and rubbed the sleep from my eyes.
Everyone else was already up and preparing to move.
The nameless were standing like statues, and as I took a small bag of nuts and dried berries from Emilie, I wondered if they ever ate.
Aside from the one who initially greeted us, I hadn’t seen the others remove their masks at any point.
There was little time to consider it before they ushered us out of the cavern. I quickly rolled the mat and helped Mira place it back in her pack. “Thank you,” I said as I tied it shut. “I appreciate it.”
“Don’t mention it.”
The tunnel continued to slope downward into an endless abyss. The air seemed thinner down here—toxic, even. But as I looked around, I realized I was the only one having difficulty breathing.
It was just my anxiety taking over. My past coming to haunt me.
Get in. Get the cure. Get out.
I repeated the mantra over and over as we walked through the tunnels.
“How are you holding up?”
I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sound of Emilie’s voice beside me. I hadn’t noticed her approaching.
“Not great,” I admitted.
“Do you need a break?”
“No. I want to get this over with as quickly as possible and get back to Osavian.”
“Me too.”
I turned to look at her. “And you? Are you doing all right? Are you regretting your decision to come yet?”
My attempt to tease her resulted in a half-smile. “I don’t regret anything. I refuse to hide while life passes me by. If I let my fear get the best of me, then she wins. I want my life back.”
“I admire your tenacity, Emilie.”
She faked a gasp. “Was that a compliment? I didn’t know you were capable.”
“Only for you, princess. Only for you.”
The ground beneath our feet began to slope up, and I stood tall, trying to see the path ahead. It seemed the rough walls were opening up into a larger chamber, and I breathed a sigh of relief. “We must be getting close.”
No sooner had I said it than the nameless came to a stop at the front of the tunnel.
It was difficult to see over their heads, but I could just barely make out the top of an arched doorway carved into the stone cave.
It was sealed with what appeared to be a massive stone block crudely wedged into the opening.
I squinted to see more details, but the two mage lamps beside the door did little to illuminate the entryway.
I listened instead to the rustling ahead of us. The nameless were whispering amongst themselves until suddenly, the ground began to rumble beneath our feet.
Emilie grasped my forearm. “What’s happening?”
Before I could answer, the door melted away. It started at the top, sinking lower and lower until I could no longer see it through the gathering of nameless. When the rumbling stopped, Emilie released my arm.
As we crossed the threshold and into the familiar hallways of Reyna’s castle, my heart raced and my stomach clenched. I would know no peace for as long as we stayed in the underworld of Murvort.
It looked the same as I remembered—dark, damp, with a chill in the air that reached my bones.
Although we were underground, a breeze tickled the hair at my nape and gave me the sense that someone was always watching.
Perhaps the mountain itself was observing us, hoping it could tether us, angry that it had ever let us go in the first place.
Reyna no longer walked these halls, but I felt her looming presence regardless. Emilie let out an uneasy breath next to me, and I imagined she could feel it too.
If only I could reach out and take her hand, squeeze it to let her know everything would be all right. I wanted to wrap her in my arms and press her against my chest, kissing the top of her head until her anxiety eased, and mine along with it.
But we weren’t alone. And I couldn’t claim my heart’s desire.
While we walked, a pair of passing figures made me halt in my tracks. The others didn’t notice at first, except Emilie who was in tune with my every movement. “Did I see that correctly?”
Her question brought the attention of the rest of our group, but I sought out the leader of the nameless, glaring and pointing over my shoulder.
“Why are they here?” I hissed.
He looked around me to find the two women who had just passed—two maidens with vines covering their bodies. Only the tattoos on their necks were visible, but I’d seen enough of their skin in the pool to know they wrapped around their torsos and limbs too.
My hand crept toward my sword, but the nameless held up his hand. “It isn’t what you think.”
“Explain.”
“We tried to release them. Actually, we practically forced them off the premises, but when we did, they screamed and their bones began to pop. I don’t know what curse Reyna put them under, but they can’t leave the estate without experiencing immense pain.
We’re still working on a solution, but for now, they must stay. ”
I looked back where the two maidens continued to walk, seemingly in peace. The sight of them made me ill, but if he was telling the truth, I couldn’t hold it against the Holdens. “Where are they going?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. They’re allowed to move freely on the premises. I’m telling you the truth—they are not prisoners here.”
I glanced at Emilie, and although she seemed unsettled by the sight of them as well, she nodded. “I believe him. Let’s keep going.”
Turning back to the leader, I gestured for him to move forward.
Eventually, the hallway opened into a large chamber adorned with black pillars carved crudely from the mountain and hanging mage lights from the thirty-foot-tall ceiling.
I had never stepped foot in this room before, but I could tell it was a throne room.
It was remarkably similar to the one we had in Renoa, although this was darker and had an air of abandonment to it.
The lack of any natural light and the mosaic of bones covering the front wall did little to help combat my initial judgment.
At the head of the room, a young man with light olive skin, black hair, and thick brows sat upon a throne.
If I had to guess, he was about Cyrus’s age.
His clothes were as neatly tailored as his facial hair was trimmed.
My first thought was that he reminded me of Reyna with his dark hair and contrasting skin, but he had a gentle smile that Reyna could never achieve.
The only other person to accompany him was a woman standing to his left.
She was closer to my age—late twenties, with matching black hair and a round face.
A scar that slashed through her left brow added to her hardened demeanor.
Unlike the man beside her, she wore no kind smile. In fact, she scowled as we approached.
They needed no introduction—Jesse Holden and his sister, Jade.
I stopped, and Emilie halted at my side. I could hear shuffling footsteps fading away as the rest of my company took their places behind me.
The nameless parted and moved to either side of the hall, watching and waiting for a command from their leader. They would observe from the shadows to ensure he remained safe.
I had no intention of hurting him. Not unless he refused to cooperate.
Jesse spoke first. “Welcome to Murvort, Ladon Castelli.”