Chapter 18 #2
My breathing was loud and fast. My ears rang with the phantom pain that would become very real if Verena decided my explanation wasn’t good enough.
“He said I had six months to complete the mission, or he’d kill my sister and everyone else I care about.”
I slumped down the wall, burying my face in my knees. My shoulders strained from my wrists’ position behind my back. It was done. I couldn’t take those words back now.
Lili, Archie, maybe even Tudor, all as good as dead. They’d suffer the same fate as Annora just because they knew me. How unfortunate they were, those I loved.
“Where’s the prison?” Verena asked in her deepest voice. I knew I had to get up and show her. Yet the floor seemed like a safer place at this moment.
A strong hand wrapped around my bicep, pulling me to my feet. I didn’t fight Daegal when he guided me to the table.
The whip had vanished from his hand, but he still watched me like a wolf, making sure his prey didn’t escape.
The map they’d spread out was useless without my information. At the very top of the map was Erobred, the city enclosed by a large stone wall. Then, the smaller villages surrounding Erobred. My eyes instinctively searched out Perifer, the smallest village to the very southwest of Erobred.
The forest you had to get through from the city made the trip pointless for the Defenders on a daily basis.
Below the villages was the grassy terrain I’d traveled through for the first time with Kenric. Or, at least, what I’d thought was the first time. My parents had crossed the desert and the grass to get to the Perifer after they left the Rebellion with me. Lili wasn’t even born then.
Then, sand for at least one hundred miles. The map cut off just before the river that separated the rebellion’s base from the mainland.
The first thing I found on the map to give me a clue was the pond with the waterfall I’d bathed in. This had to be the rebels’ own map.
I counted my way from the forest and to about the last third of the desert. I traveled on foot for over a week, though I’d barely been able to walk four or five hours a day with my limited supply of water and food.
My head was buzzing with effort, mingled with the dread that as soon as I told them where the prison was, Lili’s fate was sealed. And so was mine.
I was almost sure I’d found the spot that was Orken on the map, at least within a five-mile radius. Hesitating, I looked to Verena. She was the one with the most power. The leader of the Rebellion.
“If I tell you, you have to let me go. Give me time to go home, find my sister, and bring her to safety. Please,” I begged.
Daegal’s hand twitched at his side as if he was itching to grab me.
“You’re not in a position to negotiate,” she answered, leaning closer to me over the table. “My patience is wearing very thin.”
“And if I simply refuse to tell you?” I said, straightening up to create some distance between me and those dark eyes. “I’ve been tortured before.”
And you handled that great.
“We don’t want to torture you, Prudence,” Verena sighed annoyedly, with little conviction in her voice. “Besides, don’t you want to give Felix and the rest of the group the best chance of survival?”
“Prue,” Hannan said from behind me. I turned to him, my eyes welling up when I looked into his teary gaze. “Please tell us. After the mission, we’ll free you. Then I’ll go with you to find your sister.”
It took me several moments to understand what he was saying. His offer was generous. But it didn’t matter. By the time they’d broken into the prison, Lili would be dead.
Prue?
I jolted, my gaze snapping to the mark on my arm.
“Lili?” I whispered.
A giggle sounded in my head.
Who else has a voice as lovely as mine that also happens to have access to your head?
I broke into laughter, confusing the tense people around me.
My lungs expanded. I could finally take my first full breath since Daegal had caught me.
Lili. You and Archie have to leave Erobred. Tonight.
Is everything okay?
Her voice sounded nervous.
No. But I’ll explain later. Get to Archie now.
He’s at work, but he’ll be back at noon.
My heart thumped. I had to make her understand how dire her situation was.
Liliana. Listen to me. You only have a few days to get as far away from the city as possible. Go southwest to Perifer. But go at night. Avoid that Defender who caught you on the bridge.
There was a long pause before she answered.
Okay, I’ll start packing.
I breathed a sigh of relief.
Quickly. Remember the crystal, okay?
I never go anywhere without it.
My heart clenched. Even after all these months, she still brought it with her. I turned around to face Verena.
“Fine. I’ll tell you.”
I explained the point that I’d estimated to be Orken. She tapped the spot, and I nodded in confirmation.
Verena nodded, satisfied, and drew a circle with a quill to mark the spot. “Good.”
I wondered what she was thinking, how she was plotting to break in. I could almost see the plan forming in her head as her eyes flickered from her companions to the map, then to me.
“How long did it take you to get from the prison to the forest where we found you?” Hannan asked, his tone friendlier than Verena’s.
“Just over a week, I think,” I said, thinking back to those days. The unrelenting sun beating down on me, my mouth parched from sand and lack of water. “But it’s not an easy journey.”
“If you handled it alone, I’m sure we’ll be fine,” said Verena as she started counting on her fingers.
“Take her back to the cell, Daegal.”
“Wait!” I said, straightening up. Even if I disliked them for jeopardizing Lili’s life, I felt the urge to tell them everything I knew. It wouldn’t change anything for my sister now. Perhaps they’d succeed, and the whole thing wouldn’t be in vain.
“The prison is made entirely out of solaures metal, which makes it almost impossible to see it until you’re very near. I saw two entrances when I was there. The one they led me through when I first arrived, and…”
I hesitated, unsure if I should tell them about the door I spotted in Boaz’s office. Breaking into his place would be a surefire way to die.
“Spill it, girl,” Verena snapped.
I took a deep breath. “And one in Elio Boaz’s office. It would be to the very north of the building.”
Daegal’s eyes snapped to mine. “Is he there all the time?”
“No. He seems to spend a lot of time in Erobred,” I answered. Daegal’s eyes flickered from me to the ground as he contemplated this.
“Is that all?” Verena asked, and I nodded.
“Good. Now get her out of my sight.”
My mind was calmer, knowing that Lili and Archie would leave Erobred today. But that didn’t stop me from contacting her every hour to hear how things were going.
She’d packed and gotten Archie right when the fisherman's boat returned to shore.
Now, they were waiting for darkness to fall so they could escape the gates without being seen.
It wasn’t technically illegal to leave the city, but I was sure Boaz had ordered Kenric to keep Lili and Archie from leaving.
The cell they kept me in was sad, to say the least. A wooden bed with the thinnest mattress imaginable was pushed against the wall. That was it.
I was let out a couple of times to relieve myself, and Hannan came with some water and a meal near dinnertime.
Nobody ever passed the cell, and none had come to see me except for Hannan.
I’d half expected Felix to show up, but either he was forbidden from seeing me, or he hated me as much as the rest of them.
Who could blame him?
I let the thought of Lili being safe fill me up. That was the most important thing.
Lili would be safe. That I’d seared all connection to the rebels was an unfortunate consequence.
I actually hoped they’d be successful in rescuing the prisoners. Elvira, Amari, and even Ashton deserved freedom. They all did.
No prisoner in Orken was really a criminal. And now that I knew Lili wouldn’t be in danger, I wanted to help the cause.
Unfortunately, now I wasn’t allowed to do anything but sit in this cell.
It was almost dark when I contacted her again.
Lili?
No answer. They were probably getting ready to leave right this moment.
Hello, Prudence.
I sat up straight in my cell, heart pounding. I knew that deep voice. It wasn’t Archie. He hadn’t called me by my full name in years.
“Kenric—” I whispered, my voice trembling so hard I could barely get the name out. “What are you—”
Your sister says hello.