Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
Noah spun around as the solar door swung open with a heavy groan. Skye stepped into the room, her face a carefully composed mask.
“What did he say?” Noah demanded, rushing forward. “Will he see us?”
Her gaze brushed past each of them before settling on Noah. “I’m sorry. My father refuses to grant you an audience.”
Noah’s stomach plummeted. “He can’t just—”
“He can,” she cut him off. “And he has.”
Wait…had her eyes just betrayed her? Was that remorse he saw swimming in those green depths? Could she be coming around to their side?
“Skye, if—”
She straightened, raised her chin and with a blink wiped away all visible emotion. “There are no portals here. Just as I told you. He insists you are misinformed.”
“More lies,” Finn grumbled behind him.
Taran stepped forward, his face tight. “Please, lass. If ye could just convince him we—”
“My father has made his decision.” The finality in her tone as she turned to Taran silenced them all. “I’ve been instructed to tell you, for your safety, you must leave the fortress within the hour.”
She glanced at the remnants of their food tray. “If you desire anything else I can provide, supplies for your trip, perhaps, simply ask…as long as it can be done within the allotted time.”
Leave? Without finding the portal? Noah felt the floor shift beneath him. Turn their backs on their only hope to save Emily? Panic tightened his chest until a full breath seemed impossible.
“Ye dinnae understand,” Taran whispered his devastation.
“I understand perfectly well,” Skye replied, letting her sorrow color her words. “You believe my father controls something that could save your child. But I assure you, he does not possess the power you attribute to him.”
Noah studied her face, searching for deception but found none. Her eyes remained steady. Did she truly believe those words, or had she just heard them for so long she no longer questioned the lie behind them?
“However,” she continued, “after some…discussion…I am able to offer you a small boon. He has tentatively agreed to honor my offer of help from our healers.”
Noah exchanged glances with Taran. It wasn’t what they’d come for, but it was something, he supposed. An opening, perhaps? Possible help for Emily and a chance to search further for a portal? “What exactly does that mean?”
“It means you may return with the child. With Emily,” her voice softened as she spoke his sister’s name.
“But there are conditions for your return. You will be confined to a section of rooms in the east quadrant to prevent the spread of any disease. And you may only remain long enough to determine if our healers can help her.”
Noah’s gut churned. “And if they cannot?”
With obvious difficulty, Skye gathered her resolve before meeting his gaze. “Then you must accept that some battles cannot be won.”
“No!” Accept Emily’s death? “Never.”
Though her face revealed the toll her harsh words had taken, he couldn’t afford to feel compassion for her. He must only consider Emily.
“Our healers will do all they can, but…” She paused, shifting her attention between the three of them. “…there are conditions. If you choose to bring Emily back, my father requires assurances.”
“What assurances?” Taran queried, not quite hiding the dread in his voice.
“Now that you know of this place and have been inside, my father will not take the chance that all this is naught but a ploy. A discovery expedition of some kind. So, to assure your peaceful intentions, one of you must stay behind. As our guest, of course.”
“A prisoner, you mean,” Finn stated tersely.
Skye’s eyes narrowed. “Call it a gesture of goodwill. Like the one we’re extending to Emily.”
“Wait,” Taran stated uneasily, “my wife and son will be wi’ us when we return.
Paige is the only person who kens anything about this disease.
’Tis critical she stays wi’ Emily. But she willnae leave our young son behind.
Nor will I.” He stepped up to Skye and held out his hand.
“But ‘twill be no others. Ye have my word.”
She hesitated for a moment before sliding her hand into his. “It is agreed.” After a furtive glance at Noah, she focused her attention once more on Taran. “Which of you, then, will remain as our guest?”
“Guest, indeed.” Noah heard Finn’s muffled grumble behind him.
“Please,” Taran stated, his voice thick with resignation. “If ye will allow us a moment tae discuss.”
Skye nodded. “Of course. I’ll await your decision outside the door.”
She turned to leave, then paused. “For what it’s worth, I wish the portal you seek could have been real. For Emily’s sake, at least.”
After she left, Noah paced the room, tension radiating through every muscle as he rethought the situation.
“This will not do. At first, I believed it might be a way in, but Paige has already tried bringing in a healer. It didn’t help.
Emily needs more. I can’t see how repeating a failed process can help. It only eats up more time.”
Finn’s shrug seemed to reach for the hope they all sought.
“Mayhap their healers have knowledge beyond what we’ve experienced in Havenwood.
Aiesha is good, and we couldn’t do without her.
But isn’t it possible other healers might have…
other…remedies? Mayhap they’ll know what troubles Emily and how to treat it?
” He glanced from Noah to Taran for confirmation.
“’Twould seem,” Taran sighed heavily, “for now at least, ’tis the only option we have.”
“Is it?” Noah challenged, unable to hide his anger. “Or is this just a delay tactic, a waste of precious time while Emily grows so weak we give up looking for a portal? We all know they exist!”
His lengthy stride ate up the distance to the window before he turned back.
“Okay,” he conceded, trying to sort his thoughts, “for the sake of argument, let’s say the healers are able to buy Emily some time.
Paige was very clear about what Emily needed.
Something she called modern medicine. And healers or not, that doesn’t exist here.
We need a portal. It’s crucial we keep searching. ”
“How do you propose we go about that, laddie, given the circumstances?” Finn pressed.
“Not we. I.” He looked at Taran. “How long will it take you to get back?”
“If I leave immediately, I ken I could be back with Paige, Emily and Brody in…six days? Mayhap seven. If we’ve no more surprises, ’twill take two days goin’, half a day at least tae ready the cart and gather what we’ll need for the journey back, then I’d wager near three comin’.
Though ’tis possible Emily’s weakened condition could slow us considerably.
And that’s assumin’ we can get through with the cart, undetected.
” He glanced between Noah and Finn. “And we dinnae encounter any Other trouble.”
Noah turned to Finn. “I should be the one to go get Emily, and I hate to ask it of you, but we all know you’re better suited to help Taran protect our family than I could ever hope to be. I know it’s not your responsibil—”
“It’s my honor,” Finn interjected, already headed to where he’d left his pack. “But we’ll need the lass to return our weapons.”
“What ye’re suggestin’ leaves ye here, as hostage.” Anxiety thickened Taran’s voice as he faced Noah. “We’ve only Skye’s word on how ’twill go once we return. And naught on what will happen while we’re gone. This could turn out more dangerous than any o’ us ken.”
“Not as dangerous as the three of us leaving with nothing but failure to take back to Emily. Are you ready to tell her and Paige we weren’t willing to try every option?”
Taran laid his hand on Noah’s shoulder, his face worried, but his eyes proud. “Nae. I cannae do that. Though I’m sorry ’tis come tae this.”
Noah shook his head. “Don’t be. I mean to take advantage of the opportunity. Hopefully, I’ll have an update by the time you return.”
“Aye,” Finn handed Taran’s pack to him as he joined them.
“Turn the tables on them, laddie. Find out everything ye can about the layout of this place. Keep track of people’s comings and goings.
And spend what time ye can manage with Skye.
It’s clear the lass favors ye,” he winked.
“Find out what she isn’t telling us. And keep pressing for a meeting with her father.
There’s obviously far more here than we’ve been allowed tae see.
Try to find out as much of that as ye can.
The more we learn of the secrets this place keeps, the more the power shifts into our hands. ”
“’Tis a tall order for a hostage,” Taran countered. “Let’s hope he doesnae spend the week in a dark hole in the underbelly o’ this rock.”
Noah, still reeling from Finn’s barb about Skye favoring him, barely heard Taran.
If Finn had read Skye’s feelings so easily, had he been able to read his thoughts as well?
Had Taran? Had either of them sensed his immediate fascination with her?
He’d hardly admitted it, even to himself.
And then promptly dismissed it, of course. Or at least tried.
Their worlds couldn’t be further apart, that is, until he found the portal and made that distance literal.
He couldn’t define the trickle of disappointment at the finality of that, but he also couldn’t allow himself to examine it or let it matter. He had one purpose here, and one alone.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine,” he finally stated. “You two just focus on getting the lot of you back here safely.”
“Aye,” Taran nodded. “And we’ve a very narrow piece o’ time tae do it. We’ve less than a fortnight before the moonless night.” He looked between them with a tortured gaze. “If we fail, I dinnae ken the lass will make it tae the next one.”
The words rang in Noah’s ears. Their window of time was narrowing even as they spoke.
“One last thing,” Taran stated, his eyes hard. “If ten days pass and we havenae returned, leave this place by any means ye can. Look tae yerself. No’ for us. I’ll have yer word on that, son.”
Noah shook his head. “You ask for something I cannot give.” Turning his back on them was a promise Noah couldn’t make. Not now. Not ever.
“Ready, then?” Finn asked, shouldering his pack. “Let’s see about getting our weapons back and setting out for home. We’ve still a few hours of daylight. Let’s not waste them.”
Taran pulled his gaze from Noah to nod at Finn. “Aye. Every moment we waste is one of Emily’s.”
They found Skye waiting just outside their door, as promised.
“You’ve made your decision?” Her gaze shifted between them as she eyed their packs, clearly noting Noah carried his loosely under his arm while Taran and Finn had theirs firmly secured on their backs. The barest hint of a smile curved her lips.
“Aye, lass,” Taran replied. “But we’ll need our weapons for the trip home.”
Skye nodded. “Already arranged. Keir awaits you at the gates. I’ll show you out.”
Traveling the same maze of corridors bedecked with unusual items displayed like trophies, Noah’s curiosity was piqued even more than when entering.
Who had brought these things here? For what purpose?
Perhaps Paige, who’d lived in the newest century known to any of them might shed some light on the intended purpose of some of the items.
Suddenly, he realized how much he didn’t know about the world, or worlds, beyond the portals.
He knew a limited amount about his own colonial time, heard Taran’s stories of the Jacobites’ struggles in the eighteenth century, and Paige’s experience in the twenty-first. But they were like bedtime stories.
These items were tangible proof of other times. Other places.
How many times? How many places? And through how many portals?
Noah waited with Skye in the opening between the enormous steel doors, apprehension gnawing at his insides as Keir sorted their weapons, handing Taran and Finn theirs while keeping Noah’s. There was no mistaking the gloat on his face when their eyes met.
Trying to mask the fear that he may never see his adopted father again, Noah said goodbye with a tight, determined smile. “I’ll see you soon. All of you,” he added.
“Dinnae forget my request,” Taran reminded him. “Ten days.”
Noah shook his head. “I’ll see you before then.” He held his father’s gaze for several seconds, attempting and surely failing to convey his love and gratitude for the last five years. “Safe travels.”
With a somber nod, Taran turned toward the trail that descended to the valley floor, with Finn close behind.
“Do you know of The Others?” Noah asked Skye, watching Taran and Finn disappear around a large boulder. “Have they ever come this far south?”
She glanced at Keir, giving him the faintest shake of her head as she turned and ushered Noah back inside. “Come. I’ll show you to your chamber.”
Ignoring Keir’s smug expression as he closed the mighty doors with a solid thud, Noah followed her down a new set of corridors, narrow, dim, and unadorned with any of the oddities he’d seen earlier.
“Am I to be a prisoner, then?”