Chapter 36
LITTLE JOHN STABBEDa pudgy finger to the map. ”This is the layout of the castle that we mined from Eirwyn”s memories.”
Knox forced himself to breathe evenly and deeply, but even then green gas curled around his nose and sank to the wooden floor of the meeting house in Vidrland. He sat in a chair at the end of the oval table while half a dozen men and women stood around it staring at the large map.
He”d ridden into Vidrland next to Ashur as dusk fell. For the first time, he rode without his hood up. The feel of the wind on his scales and horns had helped settle some of his churning emotions.
Ashur had asked him on the ride what to tell everyone about his head, but Knox had just shrugged and said, ”Tell them the truth.”
When they”d ridden in, he”d seen the raised eyebrows, heard the whispers. He just didn”t give a fuck who stared at him or what they said. Ashur had ridden beside him and loudly proclaimed him as king of the forest.
So now the entire camp was abuzz with the news that he was the son of a dragon and the heir to the forest king. Ashur had even started telling them he had come to stop the tyranny of the Buspartan king once and for all.
People kept a wide berth from him and his tail. It”d barely been a few hours and already people in camp were bowing to him. He didn”t stop them, though. He just didn”t care anymore, too numb to anything but the pain of losing Eirwyn.
Little John continued. ”The prisoners are held here. Scarlet and others will be executed in two days. Tomorrow night, we will break into the dungeon and rescue everyone.”
”Everyone?” Will asked, his brows raised.
Little John nodded. ”Everyone. Half are in there for simply not paying taxes.”
”And other half?” Ashur asked.
John shrugged his dwarven shoulders. ”Stealing because they used all their money to pay the taxes. Or they”re suspected Robins. Or they”re the slaves Will made sick, whom the king then threw in the dungeons for not working. Or the king took offense at mud hitting his carriage as a street urchin ran through a puddle. Or–”
Ashur held up a hand. ”We get it. The king”s becoming more and more unstable.”
Will rubbed his hands together and grinned. ”We”ll need a distraction. Knox can”t blow a sleep spell into the dungeon like he did at the castle robbery. We need the prisoners to walk out on their own two feet.”
A slow smile spread across John”s face. ”Ah, as for that, I have just the thing.” He flipped open the leather satchel that sat on the table next to him and pulled out a glass jar and a bundle of sticks. Inside the jar were three wasps.
Ashur crossed his arms. ”How are wasps supposed to help distract an entire castle.”
John shook his head and pushed his glasses up on his nose, reminding Knox of his brother Krys.
”The distraction is from these.” John held up the sticks. ”We”ll light one end and toss them at the wall of the palace. It”ll make a loud pop and create a lot of smoke but won”t do much damage.”
John pointed to the map. ”As for the wasps, they”re not real. They”re mechanical. They can get into the castle and inject sleep dust with their stinger on anyone in our path. I can send them in first, then the rescue team can follow while the distraction team works here.”
Knox frowned, leaning back in his chair and listening as his people formed a plan. They were wasting daylight, and his skin itched. It had taken them the rest of the day to ride from the dwarves to Vidrland. The need to move clawed at his stomach, twisting and turning ever since he”d left Eirwyn”s side.
His leg bounced under the table, and most of the Robins ignored him. He thought of Eirwyn and killing the king. Vidrland, the Robins, Scarlet, everything else was all irrelevant.
When their plans were made, Knox stood slowly. All eyes turned to him.
”We created this place as a haven, a safe, peaceful place of freedom and equality. The king threatens the forest, he robs from his people, and when we do something about it, he retaliates tenfold. Not only that, but he”s killed the princess.”
Gasps echoed through the wooden lodge. Knox” jaw clenched as his stomach spasmed.
”In the past, we”ve tried to reason with him. We sent the petition to him, pleaded in the newspapers. Hells, we even sent letters to the Counsellor. His reign of tyranny ends tomorrow night. If given the chance, I will kill him. This isn”t just a rescue mission for our people. It”s a full out rebellion, and we will succeed. The first step is the rescue. Second step, rebellion. Third step, peace.”
No one breathed as his voice went louder and louder. A soft breeze blew through the room, and he got goosebumps. Green smoke curled around his nose and sank to the ground. Those closest to him shuffled a few steps away, then Ashur slapped one of them on the back and grinned.
”Aye, well said, your highness. We ride at dawn if we”re going to reach Demerel before dark. Tonight, we feast. Tomorrow... To the rebellion!” Ashur said, raising a fist in the air. Everyone joined in and began to chant and laugh as they walked out the door.
Little John remained behind, staring over the map and tapping his chin.
”Do you really think it”ll work?” Knox asked the dwarf. He”d left his seven brothers in the north for adventure years ago, and Knox wasn”t sure what he”d do without him.
John frowned and nodded. ”I do, with a little luck and ingenuity, we can save them all, bless be Borga.”
Knox sank heavily back in his chair. He didn”t feel like joining the feast outside. He just wanted to curl up on his bed and dream about Eirwyn.
****
The next morning, theyrode into Demerel two at a time, the distraction team staggering arrival times and from which direction they entered.
Knox rode along the edge of the forest away from Demerel and then turned to lead the rescue team.
He walked with Ashur, Will, John, and a few others into the forest until he couldn”t see the edge of it anymore. Then he closed his eyes and called on the vines. A bird tweeted to his left, and he turned, somehow pulled to follow it.
The bird danced on a branch, and Knox looked down. At the base of the tree was a metal grate. He smiled and pulled on the metal, grunting with effort. Will dropped in first and lit a torch, then Ashur said a prayer and joined him. Another made a protection sigil and dropped in.
One other stood guarding their horses while John pulled out a metal, hand-sized box. He pushed gems on the side and they lit up. John nodded, ready to control the wasps.
Knox went down the metal ladder into the darkness below. A few seconds later, his eyes adjusted and the dizziness of the tight space passed. They were in a short hallway, the walls cold and wet stone. The hallway steadily went down deeper into the earth.
How had Eirwyn used this path to escape the castle time and time again, coming into the forest before turning to go back into Demerel? How had she done this multiple times, and he never knew or met her before?
Would their story be different if he had? Would they have spent years as mates? Would he have recognized her as the other half of his heart and swept her into the forest to live happily ever after?
He took a shuddering breath, green smoke curling out and sinking to the ground. Will waved to them, and they came to a stop in front of a wooden door. He handed the torch to Knox, and then knelt and pulled out two small metal pins from his pocket.
Knox arched a brow and reached for the handle, opening it with a loud creak. Will”s brows rose, and he looked at Knox in surprise.
Knox grinned, and Ashur struggled to muffle a snort laugh. Knox pushed past Will and took the lead into a large room stacked with boxes.
They had found the cellar. Rows and rows of wine lined walls and shelves, and they walked past.
According to the map they”d memorized, there were two more doors. One led up to the kitchens. The other led down to the dungeon. They turned and went deeper, leaving one of them to guard the cellar.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, another wooden door stood in their way. Knox reached for the handle, but found it locked. A small crack was in the peep window, but he couldn”t see anything.
He stepped back and waved for Will and Ashur, wiping sweat from his brow. Ashur opened the jar and released the wasps, who wiggled through the crack and into the next room. He had no idea how John was controlling them with the little box, but he didn”t care, as long as it worked. Will dropped to his knees and picked the lock.
Knox stood in the stillness, his stomach twisting and his forehead beading with more sweat. They were now deep underground, and he couldn”t feel the forest. It was like the air had grown still and damp with death. His breathing turned shallow before Will pushed the door open.
Ashur slipped in first, then opened the door wider. There was a small room with seven guards sleeping around a card table. The mechanical fireflies flew down a hall, and Knox followed them carefully.
Cells lined both sides of the hallway, many filled with too many people. Ashur brought the keys from the guard and unlocked the doors while Will stood guard. Knox strode down the hall, peering into each cell to find Scarlet.
The stench of unwashed bodies made his stomach churn. He wanted to vomit, but he had to find Scarlet. Only one more cell remained. He looked through the small square window bars on the wooden door.
”Red,” he whispered, barely heard over the hushed shuffling of feet behind him as the others led the freed prisoners out.
A wave of dizziness washed over him. He”d found her. Chained to the wall, dirty and beaten, but alive.
Ashur opened the door, and she lifted her head. Her arms were in chains attached to the wall above her head. She wobbled as she rose to her feet, blinking furiously.
Her red hair was matted to one side of her head, and her shirt was ripped down one shoulder, hanging loosely. ”Knox?” she whispered.
He nodded, his chest tight with emotion. ”What are you doing hanging around? Let”s get you out of here, Red.”
She snorted a laugh that ended with a sob as Ashur unlocked the metal at her wrists. ”Don”t fucking call me that,” she cried, hitting him on the arm weakly.
She fell into his arms, and he pulled her into a hug. ”Sh, it”s alright. You”re going to be alright. Are you ready? Can you walk?”
She nodded, trying to compose herself even as tears continued to stream down her face. Ashur led them down the hall back the way they”d come. Will kept watch over the guards until they were all out, then he followed Ashur. Knox and Scarlet were the last ones out, following Will as they left the guards behind.
In the cellar, Ashur stood at the bottom of the stairs to the kitchens with a frown. He waved them quickly, holding his finger to his lips then pointing above.
Knox” adrenaline pumped at the worried look on his face, and he nodded. Scarlet”s legs gave out, and she stumbled. Knox picked her up, and Ashur closed the wooden door to the tunnel behind them, careful to be as quiet as possible.
Knox strode a few feet and turned at the first corner, but the tunnel was crowded with escaping prisoners. There was nowhere to go. The crowd had come to a halt as they had to go up the ladder one by one.
The wooden door behind them banged open. The prisoners cowered and whimpered. Scarlet gasped, and Ashur swung around, his stance wide and hands held out ready to attack.