Chapter 8
Tumbling down a great stone staircase with one jarring thump after another, Tashama rolled until she hit the bottom with a thud. She lay still in the dark, then a dim light appeared in the room above.
She held her breath when a man whispered, “I cannot see anything in here. Carissian wouldn’t wish for us to disturb his quarters.”
“What if she’s in here?”
“He’ll find her soon enough.”
The door shut the light out, and Tashama closed her eyes as her whole body ached from the fall.
“Tashama,” a small voice whispered. “Tashama, they’ll soon find you.”
She covered her ears and whispered back, “Go away.”
Dripping laughter followed. A pesky water nymph—if she could hear their voices, water would be nearby. Tashama tried to sit, but her ribs hurt with the effort, and she groaned and lay down.
“Tashama,” the tinny voice said. “He comes for you.”
For some time, Tashama breathed in the wetness of the air. With the methodical drip of water, she drifted off to sleep. A few minutes later, the flutter of wings aerated her breathing space, and she opened her eyes. Darkness was all she saw.
“Tashama, sleep, and they will find you.”
She sat up, and pain filled her chest. She touched her bruised ribs, then wrapped her fingers around the railing beside the stairs. The entrance to the stairwell was dark and foreboding, and she pulled herself off the cold, wet floor. He’d come soon for her, she knew.
Then she turned toward the gloom looming before her. Reaching her hands outward, she took a baby step, searching for a proper footing with her toes as she inched away from the stairs.
The soles of her feet touched wet moss as it carpeted the stone, and she knelt.
Reaching forward with her hands, she crawled along.
Her ribs ached with every wiggle of her hips, and her hair touched the floor, snagging under her knees.
Pain shot through her scalp. Then warm water rippled at her fingertips.
A small voice said, “He’s coming for you now, Tashama.”
Tashama knew. She felt his presence as he moved about his chambers, but without being in the same room with her, he couldn’t know her thoughts, her pain, her whereabouts. He was trying to sense if she’d been there, but he couldn’t know such a thing—not like she could.
She smiled at the notion, and the deep breath she took made her wish she hadn’t, as her ribs ached as though they’d been broken in two.
She slipped into the water and relaxed her tense body in the warmth.
Perhaps I cannot escape from you yet, but it pleases me just the same that I have upset your plans.
Tashama pulled the water behind her and swam slowly across the underwater lake. Voices from far away made her pause. “No, she’s not here!” The sorcerer slammed the door shut. His soft-shoed footsteps ran down the stairs as she reached the other side of the cave.
Diving beneath the surface of the water, her fingers probed the thick stone walls for a passage. A dim light wavered nearby.
For some distance, she followed the spark of light.
When the flicker illuminated a narrow underwater tunnel, she resurfaced to take a breath.
A light shimmered off the surface of the dark waters as the sorcerer ran along the edge of the lake.
Over the water, he stretched a lantern dangling precariously on his staff.
The bobbing light grew closer. She disappeared beneath the water and headed straight for the tunnel.
Her hands touched the rough surface of the stone as she frantically pulled herself along the tunnel wall.
With only the tiny light to guide her and her lungs ready to give out, she attempted to shove the panic from her mind.
A pocket of air suddenly appeared, and she pushed her face above the water and gasped.
She floated with her nose nearly touching the formation inches above her face as she attempted to steady her breathing.
Despite her efforts to calm herself, she couldn’t stop her heart from thumping rapidly in terror because of the closed-in space.
She pushed against the rock and propelled herself through the tunnel, floating on her back toward the exit she hoped she’d soon find.
“Does it exit?” Tashama whispered, and her words bounced off the enclosed space. Does it exit...exit?
Her head bumped into the rock formation dipping into the water again, and her eyes filled with tears.
She paused as she took a deep breath. Not ready to make the dive, her heart pounded hard against her painful ribs, and she exhaled the stale air.
Calm yourself, Tashama. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and saw the prince’s lips curve up as he touched her hair.
You had me drugged you, you deceiver of women.
Then she took another deep breath and dove.
Pulling the rock walls past her, she swam until her head fuzzed with the lack of oxygen. Then she burst into another enclave of air where the ceiling lifted higher. She bobbed in the water and gasped at the moist air. “Have you tricked me, water sprite?” Tricked me, water sprite…sprite?
Their tinny laughter followed. She took a deep breath, then dove again.
After swimming several yards, her lungs screamed for air.
Then strands of her hair were yanked forward.
Kicking her feet and pulling at the rock with her hands, she finally made it to another shallow airlock.
She caught her breath and shook her head.
A tear mixed with the water droplets on her cheek. “I cannot do it.”
Do it…it.
Tiny impish giggles ensued, then silence.
The water lapped against the edge of the rock, and the sweet fragrance, like perfume, touched her upturned nose. “What is it?” she whispered.
What is it…it?
She took a deep breath and exhaled again in exasperation. “You can do this, Tashama!”
Do this, Tashama!
“Do it, Tashama!”
Do it, Tashama!”
“They search for you, Tashama,” a tiny voice said, as a spark illuminated her small space.
“Water sprite, how much longer must I endure?”
I endure…endure?
“They come for you.”
Tashama filled her lungs again and dove under. The water swirled before her, its surface shimmering with the flutter of translucent blue wings, bubbles dancing with light. I won’t make it.
She closed her eyes and gave up the struggle. I cannot make it.
The prince’s dark brown eyes studied her as his image appeared before her in the blue light. Her slender fingers reached out to touch his lips as they parted slightly for her.
“They come for you, Tashama,” the sprite bubbled in her ear. “You’ll never make it.”
I’ll never make it.
Tiny hands pulled at her gowns and hair, and all at once her face broke the tranquil surface of the water. She gasped for air, and a voice laughed. “You escaped them, but he won’t let you go.” The water nymph splashed back into the water.
Tashama stared at the lake she recognized as the one she’d encountered when her nightmare had first begun.
She crawled onto the sandy beach and eyed the ring of mountains in the distance.
How can I make it through the mountains?
She shook her head at the thought. I’m not sure I can even make it off the beach. She rested her head on the shore.
Aleron stormed through the hallway to the sorcerer’s chambers with one of his royal guard.
“She cannot have left the palace grounds! She couldn’t have gotten past the guards!
” He glared at two guards who hurriedly bowed to him in the hall as he strode on past them.
“Why did Carissian want me at his chambers?”
“Sire,” the guard said they turned down another passageway, “he’s concerned she may have drowned in the underground lake.”
The prince stopped. “You didn’t say this to me before.”
“No, sire. I was afraid you would be angry. We don’t know what to think, really. Carissian found a slip of cloth belonging to her dress at the bottom of the stairs.”
Aleron shook his head and quickened his pace.
They turned down another corridor. “Why would I have been angry? If she has…” He rubbed his chin as his brows furrowed.
“She would…” The prince shook his head as the notion disturbed him.
I should be pleased with the notion. She’s a danger to me, is she not?
What is there about this Karthlander woman that stirs the beast in me so? No other woman has ever made me feel this way…to spawn such longings. He studied the floor, then shook his head. She is more powerful than Carissian has ever been.
His guard waited for him to finish his sentence, and he took a deep breath. “She would no longer be a threat to me.” His words were said in a hurry as if to reassure himself, but his tone of voice hinted at concern with the prisoner’s well-being instead.
“Yes, sire.”
The prince turned onto another path. “I’ve told Carissian he shouldn’t live so far from my wing of the palace!”
After another ten minutes of maneuvering through the maze of passages, the prince walked into Carissian’s chambers. A guard greeted him. “We’re looking for any signs of the woman in the water, as much as we can, sire.”
“How? No one can swim.”
“Several men are on makeshift rafts as they hold lanterns close to the water.” He jogged down the steps after the prince.
“Is there no sign of her?” The prince waved at Carissian.
The sorcerer shook his head. “I found blood on the bottom step and this.” He lifted the fragment of sheer cloth up to the prince.
“Has it been verified that the cloth belonged to the lady?”
“Yes, sire.”
“Why was she not being watched? A lady was to stay with her in her room.”
“Princess Listra sought me as she grew concerned the prisoner didn’t know about the custom of her own people concerning the wearing of veils. She used unusual words, such as ‘unglued.’”
The prince stared at the black waters as the lantern light reflected off its surface. “Has she drowned, do you think?”
“If she tried to swim through the tunnel—”
“You said she couldn’t swim…mortals cannot swim.”
“But if she did make it to the tunnel…” The sorcerer shook his head. “It’s just not possible.”
“Can you not tell where she is? You did once before.”
“I saw her in the shadows of the tree.” Carissian stared at the waters. “I cannot see her in the waters.”
“But there’s nowhere for her to go—”
“A tunnel empties into Lake Curaca.”
Aleron motioned to his guard. “Get thirty men together. We ride to the lake at once.”
“She wouldn’t have made it, sire. The tunnel has air pockets to be sure, but she couldn’t swim. She’s just a mortal,” his sorcerer said.
The prince hurried to the stairs. “Are you so certain?”
“He comes for you, Tashama.” The water sprite fluttered in Tashama’s face.
“I hurt too much to move.”
“Then they win.”
“No.” Tashama sat. Horses’ hooves pounded against the earth, making it tremble beneath her legs, and she groaned as she stood. Then she walked stiffly toward the forest.
“You’ll never make it, Tashama.” The sprite dove into the water with a splash.
Tashama winced with every step she took, then reached the shadows of the forest as the fingers stretched out to her. She walked into their beckoning arms, and the voices renewed.
“Tashama, Tashama, Tashama,” the woodland sprites taunted in a whispered hush. “You’re back and they’re coming for you…again.”
“Shhh.” Tashama touched her temple as it throbbed. She walked deeper into the forest and shuddered as the horses snorted at the lake.
“There’s a small footprint over here—a woman’s, I would think, sire!” a man shouted from the beach.
“She was barefoot.” The prince studied the print.
“The beach is wet here—there’s an imprint of a figure in the sand, sire. She must have lain here for some time.”
“She must be near here. Spread out and search the woods!”
The men cantered their horses into the woods. The prince and two of his guards soon spied Tashama leaning against a tree, staring at her feet. “Call off the search,” he said to one of the men, then walked his horse close to her. “Bind her wrists.”
After dismounting, the man grabbed hold of a rope, then approached Tashama with caution. She stood still, staring at the ground. The soldier pushed her blond hair aside as it hung about her wrists. He lifted her hands to tie them, and she cried out in pain. The prince blinked.
He’d forgotten she might have been injured. He hardened his stance. She shouldn’t have escaped. He motioned for the guard to proceed with the task, while the remainder of the guards joined them.
The man tied her hands together and waited for the prince’s direction. “Remount your horse. She’ll walk behind you to show what we do to her kind who escape from our good graces.”