Chapter 12 – Rowan
ROWAN
Riven.
With so much happening around me, I focus on my brother. I need to find him and get us both out of here. Before it’s too late.
Racing down the main hall, I’m debating whether or not to descend the stairs when a hand wraps tightly around my bicep, yanking me roughly into one of the sitting rooms.
I panic, fighting the grip on my arm, until my eyes meet a familiar pine green. I stop swinging and tackle my adversary with a hug so tight he grunts.
“What the fuck are you still doing here?” Riven hisses once I release him. He takes a step back out into the hall, his eyes scanning the area cautiously, checking to be sure it’s still clear. The sounds of fighting flood in from below.
“Looking for you,” I choke out, my relief that he’s here, and he’s okay, overwhelming me.
“You should be in the tower.” His gaze rockets back to mine, a flash of anger in his eyes. “You should have already sealed the tunnel—you should have sealed it the second the wall fell.” Lines of worry crease Riven’s forehead, and my eyes catch on the trickle of blood behind his ear.
My eyes narrow. “And you were supposed to be here already. Can you blame me?”
Riven only glares back, one eye still on the hall. A flicker of movement in my periphery nearly sends me jumping out of my skin when I realize we’re not alone.
A young woman holding two small children stands near the center of the room. Both of them are crying and clinging tightly to the woman I assume must be their mother.
“The escape tunnels in the village and the keep have been sealed,” Riven explains. “The west tower is the last gate open. Kovaria has already breached the wall and the first floor.”
I nod solemnly, having watched it fall myself.
“We need to go now.” Riven motions to both me and the woman at my back to follow him out into the hall. “If we can’t seal the gate—” He shakes his head, pushing the thoughts away. We all know the consequences.
Holding out an arm, he once again checks the hall. Despite the clanging of metal and the shouts of men that sound entirely too close, the hall before us lies empty.
The woman shifts uncomfortably behind me, struggling to keep hold of both children who wiggle in her arms. Riven notices, too, and he reaches out, taking one of them from her—the little boy—and settling him on his hip.
With his other hand, he grabs hold of mine, tugging me out into the hall with them.
Together, we make a break for the west tower stairs, Riven carrying one child and the mother the other. We’re nearly at the tower’s entrance when a crashing sound, followed by screams and shouts, comes from up ahead.
Far closer than before.
Riven swears, ducking into a nearby alcove, pulling both me and the young mother behind him protectively.
“They’re already here,” he whispers, and his eyes meet mine, the green flashing with intensity. “Follow my lead; it’s just a few paces up the hall. Don’t let them see you.”
I nod, motioning for the mother and her child to go ahead of me this time. Riven moves swiftly, his back pressed against the wall as he stealthily makes his way toward the steps. The mother and child follow close behind, with me bringing up the rear.
On high alert, he guides us to a room right across from the tower’s entrance, ducking into the room as we hear more shouting up ahead. We crouch down, the mother and I huddled together while Riven puts his finger to his lips, waiting patiently. His eyes stay fixed on the hall up ahead.
My fingers twitch alongside my anxiety, but I force myself to remain still.
When the men’s shouts fade, Riven holds up a hand to make us wait before he slips soundlessly across the hall.
Even with the child in his arms, his steps are light and quick, and he’s across in no time at all.
When he’s reached the other side, he checks the hall once again before nodding for us to join him.
The mother, with her little girl’s arms wrapped around her neck, crosses next. All is quiet in the hall, the sounds of battle nearly falling away. When she makes it safely to the other side, I take a steadying breath before I too sprint for the steps.
When I’m halfway across, Riven grabs the mother’s hand, starting up the steps.
I’m nearly there when movement catches the corner of my eye. For the briefest of seconds, I look up, locking eyes with a soldier. He’s dressed in silver armour, covered in mud—or perhaps smears of blood. He’s right below the arch leading into the hallway, silent, his sword drawn.
Light.
His shouts follow me up the curving steps as I scramble after Riven.
We’re nearly at the top when my ears catch the sound of soldiers in pursuit, the armour clattering as they start their climb.
Riven reaches the top first, racing across the little reading library we’ve spent hours in, rushing toward the hand-painted tapestry on the far wall.
The one with a gold-threaded map of the stars.
Pulling it aside, he reveals a small hole cut into the stone wall.
Inside it’s dark, but both of us know from our time as faelings, having spent hours playing and exploring the tunnels, only more stairs await us inside, curving down, a long but direct descent below ground.
It’s rather clever, really; no one would think to look for an escape tunnel at the top of the highest tower in the castle.
The narrow staircase is hidden within the thick brick of the tower walls themselves.
The passage leads down into a network of underground tunnels.
Eventually, the three escape tunnels within Rosecliff converge, and from that point, they proceed underground to an exit located miles north of the castle.
Riven doesn’t waste any time, stepping over the carved rock and into the wall, chivalrously taking the little girl into his arms as well before helping their mother climb inside. With both children in his arms now, he looks up, craning his neck—searching for me, motioning with his head to hurry up.
But the hurried steps of the ascending Kovari soldiers are all I can hear, my thoughts racing as I try to come up with a plan—as I try to decide.
I take a step back, away from the tunnel, my hands shaking as I watch Riven’s eyes flood with confusion. Again, he silently urges me forward. “What are you doing?” he whisper-shouts. “We have to go.” He retreats further into the tunnel as if to encourage me to follow.
“I know,” I say, my words soft and my eyes burning with the tears I’m forcing back as I return my brother’s stare. Selfishly stealing these last few seconds, trying to memorize every inch of his familiar face.
“They saw me.”
I can hear the Kovari soldiers clearly now; their boots on the stone stairs bring them closer to us with every step.
It takes a moment for Riven to process my words, and from there, it’s only a second before he launches himself back toward the hole cut into the stone, and away from the passage that will take him safely out of the castle.
The passage we can’t let Kovaria find.
Unable to hold them back, tears spill over, wetting my cheeks. “I love you,” I whisper, tasting the salt from my tears on my lips.
“Rowan, no— Don’t!” my twin chokes out, reluctantly changing directions, having to stop to set down the children before he can leave the tunnel to get to me, but it’s a struggle to untangle himself as they cling tight to him, fear bright in their eyes.
Finally free, he races back toward the entrance, but it’s too late. I’m already speaking the words.
One second, I’m staring into Riven’s fear-filled eyes, and the next… solid stone.
The sudden silence cleaves my heart in two.
He won’t be able to undo it now that it’s sealed; only the one who spoke the spell can reverse it.
I step forward, laying my palm on the stone. It’s cold—like it’s always been there.
“I’m sorry,” I breathe, letting the tears fall free before reaching for the tapestry and dragging it back into place.
I rush to the fireplace across the room, tossing the parchment Riven gave me with the sealing spell into the dying flames before wiping the tears from my cheeks while I summon what little courage I have left before turning to face my fate.