Chapter 38 The Price for Change #2
She leaned into hug him, brushing a kiss against his cheek, and whispered, “Protect them. I’ll be right behind you.”
“This might be a little easier.” Odette smiled as a ball of light appeared in her hand.
She cast a quiet spell, and Ember’s gorgeous dress turned into pants and a shirt, the same deep blue and black that she had been wearing before, her knife still strapped to her thigh.
She scowled as she thought about the knife, she hadn’t even been quick enough to grab it.
She tied her hair back in a braid, stuffing the tiara and mask in her bag and made her way to the front of the hall.
“Quite the commotion.” Aesira smiled, her eyelids heavy. “I was wondering who would come out on top.”
“A warning would have been nice,” Ember said, as she rolled her eyes, quickly unlocking the door and swinging it open. The woman sat in the corner, ankles and wrist shackled.
“Tis a blood spell,” she said, as she held up the shackles. They clanged as she set them back down, like the weight was too much. “Only his blood can open it.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I’m his blood then, isn’t it?
” Ember smiled, grabbing the knife from its holster at her thigh.
She winced as the blood pooled on her palm, and then squeezed her hand tight.
She walked over to the woman, letting the blood drop on each shackle, and whispered the spell she had committed to memory from the year before.
The locks popped open with a quiet click, and Aesira gently shook herself free.
“I owe you a life debt,” Aesira said, as she stood. She was shaky on her feet and soon fell back on the stone bed at the wall.
“Well, you can cash that in now,” Ember said, as she made to hoist the woman up. “We need to get the kids out.”
Aesira shook her head. “I’m too weak,” she whispered hoarsely. “I’m afraid all I would do is hold you up.”
“If you stay here,” Ember replied, “they’ll lock you back up again without a second thought. You have to come with us.”
“I’ll make my way out,” Aesira shook her head, “but you must go. There isn’t much time.”
“I can’t leave you here,” Ember replied, as she bit her lip, glancing toward the open door behind her. “Maybe we can just—"
“No,” Aesira replied, “get the children out. I’ll find you when I’m well again.”
“I don’t think I can do this by myself,” Ember whispered, watching as the wisps circled around her wrist and palm.
Aesira grabbed her hand and flipped it over. “Do you see this blueish vein on your wrist?”
Ember nodded.
“The blood flowing through them contains hemoglobin—a protein that has four iron atoms incorporated into it.” She ran her cold finger down the vein on Ember’s wrist. “Iron is only naturally produced in one place. Do you know where that is?”
Ember shook her head, brow furrowed.
“It can only be forged in the core of dying stars,” Aesira whispered. “You are built from, and kept alive by, pieces of stardust—you can do anything.”
Ember nodded, anything she wanted to say dying in her throat as she steadied herself.
Aesira mumbled something weakly in the palm of her hand and then grabbed Ember’s right wrist. The magic flowed over Ember’s finger, wrapping her ring in blue light.
It pulsed, burning into her skin and through her veins as it spread through her arms and into her chest. She thought she might collapse from the sheer intensity of it all, but then it was gone, only the gold band on her finger remained.
Aesira gasped for air, like she had used the very last of her magic in the one enchantment.
“Your father put a protection spell on this ring when you were a child,” Aesira whispered. “It’s what kept you hidden and safe for so long. This will protect you from him, for the time being anyway. You must never take it off.”
He quickly pulled a small gold ring off his right hand and dug in his pocket, pulling a chain out and slipping it through the ring.
He pulled the little girl off his shoulders, setting her gently on the ground, and slipped the chain over her head.
“If there ever comes a day that I’m not here,” he whispered, as tears pricked the corners of his eyes, “this will keep you close to me. This will keep you safe.”
The memory reverberated in her mind as her chest tightened.
Had he known what she would have to face, what she would have to fight?
She rubbed the ring, feeling the warmth of the metal against the pad of her thumb.
He had sacrificed everything for her, given his life to try to protect her.
Even in death, she could feel him there, steadying her.
“You must go now,” Aesira said, as she ushered her out of the cell and into the cold corridor.
“Be safe,” Ember whispered, and then she ran out the door and down the corridor, meeting up with everyone at the end.
“Your Wildling friend decide to stay behind?” Killian asked, as she walked up beside him.
“She’ll be okay,” Ember replied, but she wasn’t so sure.
They made their way through the tunnels, Rowan, Odette and Fen in the front with Theo, and Killian and Ember bringing up the rear.
They walked for what felt like hours, winding through the tunnels, only whispering if they came at a fork and needed to figure out what way to go.
The tunnel finally widened, and they found themselves in a large room with walls of stone on all sides, a giant pool of water glistening in the middle.
There was no exit, just rock all around and above them, and Ember felt her stomach drop.
“Where’s the cave?” Fen asked, as he found a rock to sit on.
“I think we’re in it, mate.” Killian sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck.
“Let me rephrase,” Fen huffed, as he stood up, slinging his arms in the air. “Where is the exit to the cave?”
Ember let out a shaky breath, panic building in her chest. This wasn’t on the map, not specifically anyway.
They expected to find a cave on the other side of the mountain, but instead, they were underwater.
Her heart rate quickened as she searched for another exit, but there wasn’t one. They were trapped.
“It’s an underwater cave,” Rowan mumbled, as she shook her head. “We’ll have to swim.”
“We don’t know how far it goes.” Fen shook his head. “It could be miles long.”
“We’ve run out of options, Fenrir,” Rowan replied.
“I will not send these children to their deaths,” he hissed. “Maybe we can… dig our way out.”
“Just because it pops into your head,” Rowan rolled her eyes, “doesn’t mean we need to hear it.”
“Enough,” Killian hissed, “save your bickering for when we’re out of this hell hole.”
Theo squeezed Ember’s hand. “Potion,” he signed.
“What potion?” Rowan asked, as she furrowed her brow.
“Breath of the Deep!” Odette grinned.
“The potion we made in Herbal Magic?” Killian asked, as he cocked his brow.
“If we take some, everyone can get out of the cave without having to hold their breath.” Fen nodded, beaming like he had come up with the greatest plan in the world.
“Well, unless the ingredients are air, rock, and water,” Rowan replied, “I don’t think we have the things necessary to complete it.”
Fen’s face fell, shoving his hands in his pocket as he nodded. Theo squeezed Ember’s hand again and pointed to her bag.
“I don’t have enough,” she replied, as she shook her head, pulling the vial from the bag. “It won’t be enough for everyone, too many people would be left behind.”
“So, we’re back to square one then,” Fen sighed.
Ember sat on a rock at the back of the cave, laying her head in her palms. They hadn’t planned for this, hadn’t talked about what would happen if they got to the end and had nowhere else to go.
They were trapped, their only options to dive into the water and pray or head back into the waiting claws of the devil above them.
As a tear slid down Ember’s cheek, stinging the gash left by Collum’s knife, the water in the pool rippled, something beneath it breaking the surface.
Ember shot up, pulling Theo behind her as she peered below. “Maren!” Ember almost shrieked, as the Merrow smiled up at her. Ember shook her head as she grinned. “I don’t understand. How did you—"
Then, another Merrow broke the surface of the glistening pool.
“I owe you a life debt, Ember Lothbrok.” Gaelen smiled up at her. “I could not leave my family to fend for themselves.”
A tear slid down Ember’s cheek as she grinned, squeezing Theo’s hand as he squeezed hers.
Family.
The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.
“Thank you,” Ember whispered, chest shaking.
Several more Merrow popped up, and Ember, Killian, Rowan, and Fen began lowering children into the water, handing one to each Merrow. They spoke spells over them, no need for a potion to give them breath under water, and one by one, they swam out of sight, into the belly of the mountain—to freedom.
Gaelen stayed back, the last to leave with a little blond boy clinging to her neck. “I’ll come back for you,” she said, as she looked at the seven still on the shore, “We’ll come back and—"
“No.” Ember stopped her as she shook her head. “I have enough potion to get us out. Stay with the children and keep them safe, please.”
Gaelen nodded her head. It wasn’t a command, but she regarded it as such. “We will be waiting for you on the other side. Swim through the cave, and there is a cavern on the other side. The potion should get you there with enough breath, but swim quickly.”
“We will,” Ember whispered, and then Gaelen was gone, disappearing before they could blink.
Ember pulled the vial out of her bag, handing it to Fen first. “One drop should do the trick,” she said, as they each passed it between one another.
Maeve, Fen, Odette, and Theo all took theirs, and Theo squeezed Ember’s hand.
“Go with Fen and Odette,” she said, squeezing his hand back. “Gaelen is waiting on the other side. I’ll be right behind you.”
Theo wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, and Ember squeezed him like it was going to be the last time she ever saw him. He looked up at Ember, eyes glistening with unshed tears as he nodded and walked over to Fen, Odette, and Maeve.
“Hurry, okay?” Fen said, as he hugged her, whispering in her ear. “Mum will kill me if I show up at home with only one sister.”
Ember grinned as she gave him a nod, afraid if she said anything the tears she was holding back would come pouring out.
“See you on the other side.” Fen grinned with a mock salute, then the four of them were in the water, swimming down and away.
Ember handed the vial to Killian, who took his drop, and then she held the vial out to Rowan next, but she shook her head, pushing it away.
“I won’t be joining you.” She smiled. “My work here isn’t done.”
“I can’t leave you alone,” Ember said, as she furrowed her brow. “You can’t just stay here. What will happen to you?”
“Nothing worse than what already has.” Rowan shrugged.
“A few beatings, maybe being locked in my room, but nothing worse than I’ve already endured.
My only saving grace is that you won’t have to endure it too.
” She gave a half smile, and Ember’s chest felt like it might cave in.
“No one knows I was here, and Collum never saw me. I’ll go back through the tunnels, act like I found Collum unconscious in the dungeons and the cells empty.
Hopefully, it buys you all more time to get home. ”
“Just come with us,” Ember pleaded. “We can get information about the castle some other way. You don’t need to risk your life to do it.”
“This is my way of atoning for what I’ve done,” Rowan replied. “Someone has to tell the stories that went on in these walls. Either they write our story, or we do.”
“I can’t let you do this,” Ember whispered again. “Sacrificing your life and future isn’t worth it.”
Rowan smiled faintly. “What if sacrifice is the price we have to pay for change?”
Ember smiled, wrapping her friend in a hug and said her goodbyes.
“Tell my mum I love her, okay?” Rowan asked, tears pooling on her lower lash. “Tell her I’m sorry.”
Ember nodded, tilting the vial to her mouth, when a voice rang from the back of the cave.
“Mo Stór,” it rang out, “what have you done?”