Chapter Sixty-Five
Saphyra
I stared down the barrel of a very large, very shiny plasma rifle. Before I had a chance to react, Shadow pushed me behind him and snarled at the intruder.
The gun clattered to the floor.
“Oh, my Stars! Oh, I’m so sorry. Your Majesty. I didn’t. I wasn’t. I’m so glad you’re okay. Are you okay? Please, forgive me,” my normally level-headed maid stammered.
The squeaked words were followed by a rustle of silk, and when I peeked around Shadow’s shoulder, it was to find Violet prostrate on the floor.
“What in the fuck is going on?” Shadow grumbled, still keeping me shielded.
“Violet, why have you got a gun?” I asked, moving warily out from behind Shadow’s imposing form.
“I… well… I thought I could get Mik to leave you alone. In hindsight, I can see how silly that probably was.” Violet hadn’t moved from her position on the ground. Her voluminous skirts muffled her words, but I understood well enough.
“You walked in here with a giant gun to try to stop a trained guard from doing whatever it was he was going to do?” I asked in disbelief.
“Yes, Your Majesty. It was not well thought out, I’ll admit. Edeth sent me back to get Mik, and there was this rifle laying in the guardroom. It seemed like the logical thing to do at the time. All the guards were called away. Well, I told them they were called away, so they left, and then I heard a scuffle. When I finally worked up the courage to open the door, everything was already…” She paused, brows drawn together as if contemplating the right word. “Decided.”
I walked to where she lay, just a puddle of blue silk on the floor, and pushed the gun away from her with the toe of my boot. “You might as well stand up and tell us what’s going on.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Of course.” Violet wrestled with her gown, but finally found her feet.
“So, what happened? Why did Edeth send you back to get...” I couldn’t say his name. Not yet. The dead man that I killed.
Violet understood what I was asking and took a breath. “There’s a disturbance in the upper levels of the city, and riots reported in the Pit. A number of guard teams haven’t checked in and patrols aren’t at their posts. Edeth called all the soldiers back to protect her in the throne room. She’s ordered the lockdown protocol in all sectors to ensure the safety of the nobles.”
“Axion, probably.” Shadow said from where he leaned against the jam of the cell door.
“Maybe, but what about the citizens? Why would they be rioting?” I asked, assuming that was who was causing turmoil in the Pit, and wondering what caused them to involve themselves.
Violet’s eyes were locked on the floor. “I don’t know, Your Majesty.”
There were no answers here. We needed more information and help, but we couldn’t get that standing around doing nothing.
“Where’s the brig?” Now that we were free, I decided to carry on with our agreed-upon plan unless we heard otherwise.
Violet glanced over her shoulder at the door she’d come from. “We’re not far. It’s through there. This is actually an unfinished branch of it that’s never been completed.”
Shadow worked quickly, arming himself with the weapons from the table before handing me back the knife. I shuddered at the sticky handle but pushed it up my sleeve like I had before. The datapad was on the counter with our equipment. Thankfully, no one realized what it was. I tucked it into my waistband, hoping not to let it out of my sight again.
As the adrenaline from the attack wore down, my injured hand pulsed with heat, sending pain radiating up my arm. We were in a hurry, and I figured it would be fine for a little while longer, so I ignored it.
Shadow adjusted a large knife in his grip. “Go on ahead, there’s something I need to do. I won’t be long.”
Violet was keeping watch at the door, but was fidgeting nervously.
I looked between the two, realizing there wasn’t much choice. “Alright. I’m going to take Violet to find Fenix’s team. If we run into trouble, we’ll wait for you.”
Shadow smirked and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. I had a feeling that might be the only clean spot on my body.
“Let’s go.” I handed the laser rifle back to Violet. I had no idea if she knew how to use it, but it looked intimidating enough to make someone question if it was worth finding out.
The room adjoining the cave we’d been held prisoner in was a small rough hewn area hardly worth a second glance. Playing cards were scattered and forgotten on the top of a rickety table, and a pair of chairs were left askew. Violet picked up an electric lamp from where it sat abandoned in the corner and pulled out a large metal key. She pressed her finger to her lips and unlocked the outer door, peeking through the crack before pushing it open.
“It looks clear,” she whispered as we made our way down the damp stone tunnel, leaving and the shutting the lock behind us.
Footsteps echoed, approaching fast, but it was easy to make out Shadow’s hulking figure even in the dark. His confident presence was reassuring and couldn’t have come too soon because up ahead there was the unmistakable sound of voices.
Violet stopped in her tracks. “Someone must have come back. Just follow my lead,” she whispered over her shoulder to me.
She strode forward once again, and I shrugged, following in her footsteps with Shadow close behind.
“Halt. Who goes there?” a bored voice called out to us.
Shadow’s body went rigid and controlled rage surged through the bond. He was on edge, like a tightly leashed animal who, with one word, would happily slaughter anything that posed a threat.
Violet put herself squarely in front of me, blocking most of their line of sight. “Miss Baxter and Captain Valyx, moving a prisoner to the holding cells.”
I saw past her shoulder to where two guards stood on either side of a doorway barring our path.
“Miss Baxter, no one informed us of any changes,” the alpha on the left said.
“Well, if you were trusted enough to know, someone would have told you. Aren’t you supposed to be falling back to guard the nobles for lockdown protocol, anyway?”
“Yes, ma’am. We’re headed there now. We were just doing a last sweep of the brig.”
“And is everything secure?” Violet’s spine was ramrod straight as she looked down her nose at the men who had at least a foot on her.
“It is, ma’am.”
“Good. You’d better get to your post, then.” The lamp in her hand trembled ever so slightly.
The alphas glanced at one another. “We’d be happy to help escort the prisoner and then accompany you to the nobles’ accommodations.”
“That won’t be necessary. I have my own guard with me, as you can see. You should hurry on your way or I may have to inform my mother that you’ve been derelict in your duty.” Violet seemed to hold her breath, waiting for their reply.
“Yes, ma’am. Of course. We’ll head there now.” They both muttered apologies and hurried out into a wide metal clad corridor. Their boots rang on the grating as they marched away.
Violet shoulders hunched, and she filled her lungs. “We should hurry.”
I caught her sleeve before she walked past. “Miss Baxter? Why did they listen to you like that?”
“Yes, Miss Violet Baxter. My mother is Lady Baxter, Countess of Miniera. They did what I asked because the bulk of the recent reinforcements are from my family’s estate, or so my mother claims. I’ve never seen them before. Most of the alphas from my county died in raids on our gemstone mine. So honestly, I don’t have any idea who they really are, but they are familiar with my name and will follow my instructions, it seems.”
Light-headedness washed over me. “A countess? I thought you were a maid?”
Violet breathed out a laugh. “Yes… Well, of noble birth. And also a maid. I won’t be a countess unless my mother dies. Edeth puts all able children to work. She says it builds character, but I think it’s for the free labor.”
Shadow’s dark voice broke into the conversation. “The brig is just up ahead.”
I looked behind me at my protector. Slivers of light flashed off a pair of wicked looking daggers as he slipped them back out of sight. Those guards were lucky they’d listened to Violet. I had a feeling the other potential outcome would have been much worse for them.