Chapter 14 #3
The sound of footsteps comes from downstairs, so there’s no way I can follow Mirella’s instructions and go down. It’s time to improvise.
I pull Tarlia and climb up the stairs, then head to the hallway, the passage identical to the one below, and another hallway, where we walk calmly and even cross a few guards. The capes are still working.
I find a room with a window and gesture to it. “We’ll climb down.”
“Are you crazy?”
I grin. “Obviously. But didn’t you train for it?”
She grimaces as she looks outside. “I need water.”
At first I’m not sure what she means, but then I realize she must be thirsty. “Cup your hands.”
She does as I say, and I condense some humidity in her palm. Her body trembles as she gulps desperately.
“The castle could move,” she says once she finishes drinking.
“We’ll hold tight. It’s the only way that won’t be watched.”
Her nod is nervous and fast. I open the window and cool air comes to us. This is higher than the Elite Tower in the Krastel castle. And smoother. I’m second-guessing my decision, when someone enters the room.
A man with a scar on his neck. So that’s the infamous Zorwal. The one who can’t be killed. My heart stills.
“Look at that.” He smirks. “A human bit my bait.”
I’m trembling and try to think fast. Will it work? Only one way to know.
Perhaps beheading him doesn’t work, but he has blood in his veins and water in his body.
Focusing on my water magic, I freeze it all.
Zorwal falls back like a statue without a stand, his body cracking against the floor.
I use the water in the air to fill his interior with ice, so much ice that his body shatters into pieces, then I take some of them and throw them out the window.
The pieces break like glass on the floor far beyond us.
“He’s gone,” Tarlia says. “We could take the stairs.”
I shake my head. “There could be bloodpuppets or even guards sworn to stop you or whoever’s with you on the way out. We’ll climb down. And I’m not sure he’s dead.”
She looks at the broken pieces in the room and grimaces. “I know.”
One reason I want to climb down is that I don’t trust Mirella’s instructions anymore. If she can’t lie, she gave them in good faith, but perhaps she was manipulated by Zorwal, shown the wrong key, who knows what else. It would be too easy to find us and block our way.
“I’ll go first,” I mutter, hoping nobody follows us.
I search for a fissure, for a place where to rest my feet, and find nothing. I look at Tarlia. “Do you trust me?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Not really. I’m going to hold you. Don’t be afraid.”
She frowns, probably thinking—correctly—that I’m about to do something quite reckless, but I don’t know what else to do.
At least she lets me hold her, then I create a layer of ice beneath me, and focus on that ice, and move it down slowly.
At first, I have one arm around Tarlia and the other on the wall of the castle, trying to find my balance, but then I let the ice bring us down faster.
Soon we reach the enormous black stone at the base of the castle, and then the ground. Tarlia steps away, trembling, and Mirella comes running toward us. Why is she here?
“You have magic.” Her tone is a mix of puzzlement and accusation.
“Yes.” I point at my neck, where the opus stone is. “I happened to use it to save your life.” She frowns, confused, and I continue, “Let’s go.”
“I thought the key was the right one,” she says.
I glare at the fae princess. “How do you even know it didn’t work?”
“I’ll explain later.” She glances at Tarlia. “Sorry I couldn’t get you out earlier.”
Tarlia, unusually quiet, just nods.
“No, really,” I insist, and ask Mirella, “How do you know the key was wrong? I made no promise not to use my magic against you.”
She blinks, then looks down. “I could see what was happening. Not sure why. Now let’s go.”
“You could have freed Tarlia earlier, couldn’t you?” I ask her.
“And go where?”
Tarlia then says, “Discuss later. We have to leave.”
We walk to the path where Renel was supposed to wait for us, but it’s empty.
“What’s wrong?” Tarlia asks.
“Renel should be here, and he’s not.”
The sound of hooves comes from back in the trail and we retreat into the woods.
“It’s me,” Renel says, pulling four horses with him. “We’ll ride north.”
I’ve seen too much weird stuff to trust my eyes, so I ask, “Are you Renel Goldenstar, Marlak’s brother?”
“I’m Renel. Marlak’s brother, yes.”
It looks like him all right, wearing the same clothes, but I don’t understand what he’s doing. “Shouldn’t we return to the circle?”
“No. We need to go north.”
Mirella stares at him, seeming more disappointed than angry. “You promised to take me to Marlak.”
“Yes,” he replies. “When I go there. Except that right now, we’re riding elsewhere.”
Tricky Renel. I’m assuming he doesn’t trust Mirella, which makes sense.
Her lips tremble, and she looks genuinely sad. “That wasn’t part of the plan.”
“It is now,” Renel says.
He helps Tarlia mount her horse and yet there’s something odd about him; he barely addressed her. Anyway, I mount my horse, Mirella mounts hers with no complaints, and we set off. I don’t know what Renel’s plan is even if I sort of understand why we aren’t going back to the island house.
I just hope he isn’t leading us into more trouble.