Chapter 12 #2
Her veil whipped about her face as Callum took lead while they chased after the Benefactor’s snake.
Their feet pounding over the cobblestones echoed off the keep’s granite walls like a drum to war.
Hiss had turned part snake at how fast he slithered away after spying them pursuing.
Nearing the wide-open door which cast light from hearths and scent by roast, she stayed directly behind Callum whose stride scared off a rat headed the same way they were.
Whoosh. Was that…? Hell! She grabbed Callum’s tunic and pulled – hard.
“Callum, hold!” Crack. The enemy had charged, but not with his fists.
A butcher’s axe from the kitchen landed onto the doorway’s edge, just missing Callum’s temple after she yanked him backward.
Screams tore through the air from inside at the intruder.
“You do not belong here!” a cackled voice cried while another shouted, “LEAVE US!”
“Nella.” Callum darted behind the outer wall, taking her with him. While lowering the bow, he grasped her arm and shielded her between him and the wall. He puffed the words and squeezed her hand briefly in gratitude. “’Tis odd, why does he seek the kitchens and not the stables?”
She questioned in reply. “Only one way in or out, unless there is another way unseen?”
A darkness stole his expression. “Aye.”
Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, step step step… “Callum, stairs, he has left the kitchens for a set of stairs. This is why it has grown silent by those within and why he has not charged at us here.”
He glanced toward the entry. “There is nae second level so there must be a cellar he seeks or a concealed passageway.” He paused, looking at her, and the darkness flashed into concern with a breath. “Nella, I cannot chance you…”
“Callum, together, we hold each other safe, aye?”
His brows bore together. “Aye, remain directly behind me, agreed?”
“Agreed.”
He re-nocked the arrow then spun into the open doorway. A few fresh screams sounded at him.
“We mean nae harm,” she promised those present.
Callum’s face was flushed in the glow from the kitchen’s fireplace while he turned, looking towards her. “Advance,” he advised her as she followed him, same as a fresh shadow through those whose expressions appeared frozen by frost even in the blazing chamber.
They walked carefully through an archway into another inner chamber.
“The direction the stranger sought?” Callum questioned those whose faces were as blanched as the flour-covered tables they quickly stepped by. One elder lass pointed toward a passage leading off a darkened corner.
Callum nodded, took lead, and they moved silently toward the doorway.
A tiny glow was offered by a few torches in need of tending from the spitting in sparks as they traversed the stone steps downward.
Her hands were damp as the wall she touched when the passage grew narrower.
Callum slanted his mass sideways to fit the opening. Hell. Where were they going? Into hell?
Creak. She grabbed Callum’s arm. “He opened a doorway.” Her whisper brushed the sweated hairs lying on the tip of his ear while he nodded. Click. Had the devil’s coward just closed the doorway into the underworld?
They reached the stairs’ base then halted. It was a spence or buttery with no openings and empty shelves other than casks and bottles not taken for the feast.
“Where has he gone?” Callum murmured.
Nella circled about him in the damp pit. If she could not use her instinct in sense to keep those she held most dear safe, then what other purpose was there? Focus!
“Callum, an arrow.”
He handed her one from the quiver. Her brows furrowed, and she shuttered her eyes then began to walk around the room a mere step from the walls. With the arrow’s iron tip she began “nocking” the weapon in a different way against the granite.
Thump. Solid. Not it. She took a wide step the size a doorway would be.
Thump. Solid. Nope, another step.
Tap. Wait, tap. Was it hollow or just a break by natural stone? She took a bold step forward then hit the wall again. Thump.
Her eyes darted at Callum as she raced back to the spot she had discovered. “Callum, directly here it sounds hollow.”
Callum took the arrow and his own back to the quiver while he looked at the empty shelves almost woven into the wall’s granite. “My lady, step rearward.” He handed her his dagger while he met her gaze. “If he is on the other side, you charge for those stairs, nae other considerations. Understood?”
“Callum.” She shook her head. “I shall not leave you once more.” He inclined his brow toward her.
“Nella, I must see you safe.” Did she mean so much to him? “Please swear to me you will take your leave at once if he threatens. I must know before I charge forth into the darkness.” He looked at her longingly and begged, “Please, Nella.”
Ugh! He had that enduring lad look she never could say no too. She reluctantly nodded then took the dagger, and his breath caught when their flesh touched. It had to the situation which caused his reaction. He never would grow so entranced by a mere brush from her skin.
“Take care, my knight, please, do not chance too greatly.”
He nodded.
Callum studied the wall then he grasped the base on the bottom shelf.
Click. The shelves moved slightly. This was the doorway.
He glanced at her in silent request; she took one large step rearward while her breath held as he set his bow onto his shoulder, drew his sword, and pulled the concealed passage open.
Creak. In a blink she was alone as Callum vanished into the darkness. Her breathing was erratic as she closed her eyes. Call upon the only sense that could help now. Step, step, step. There was her Callum. Wait, her Callum? Shuffle, shuffle. There was the Benefactor’s commander.
The sound signatures did not line up; why? There was more than one passageway! Callum must have turned onto a different one from the enemy. Her damp fingers tightened on the dagger. If she called out would it draw the enemy back toward her, thus giving Callum a chance to intercept him?
She chewed her lip. There was no other way! The sound signatures continued to spread apart in different directions. Callum would be angry. Too bad. Abbot and Abbess first and foremost.
“You cannot hide, traitor! You shall never hide!” Her threat echoed the passageway which was dark as under the ocean at midnight.
“Nella, nae.” Callum’s distressed murmur under his breath met her ears from putting herself at risk.
“The Benefactor sends his regards to you both!” Hold it a hot moment. Hiss knew who they were?
Click, Hiss must have just secured some sort of new outer door. Gone. Dammit!