Chapter 57 #2
They slipped into the hall with ease. Thankfully, the guards continued moving predictably toward the cart.
She was luckier still that the cobblestones were already covered in wet, muddy footprints.
Her eyes skimmed the space beyond. The entry hall opened into a larger chamber.
The space curved until they reached the back wall, which divided the circle abruptly in half.
There were three large desks angled to greet those who entered.
Beyond them was a passage secured by a gate of iron bars.
They were about to pass into the large reception room when Florian’s arm wrapped around her.
She couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath as he pulled her back until they were both pressed against the wall.
Yvette’s other hand came to cover her mouth as she saw the woman she had nearly run into round the corner.
They waited, still as death. Florian’s chest was motionless against her back as neither of them dared to breathe.
A moment more passed before Florian’s hold on her relaxed a fraction.
Yvette squeezed his hand to prepare him before she stepped away.
She could still feel the fright prickling over her skin, but they could not risk staying still and getting cornered.
As they stepped through to the reception room, Yvette noted that there were no windows, only a massive iron chandelier, casting warm light down on the three desks below.
Only one of them was occupied by a stern older man focusing deeply on his work.
Though a few guards were milling about, their attention was passively focused on the cart which had just arrived.
On either side were the archways Rhea had mentioned. They would lead to the cells below.
Yvette led them around the shadowy outskirts that lingered by the curved wall until they ducked inside the archway.
The stairway beyond was even more dimly lit.
Ahead, Yvette saw only one torch to light their way.
All the better to hide any traces they might leave behind.
They’d be searching now for the Mage Ward.
Rhea had told them that magic wielding prisoners were kept in a separate portion of the prison, but she didn’t know where, though she was sure it would be in the lower levels.
“We didn’t exactly have the chance to explore last time,” she’d explained.
Before long, an iron barred gate blocked their path.
Yvette breathed out. She had been ready for this.
Looking nervously over her shoulder twice, she reassured herself they were alone, for now.
She released Florian’s hand and approached the lock.
Victor had arranged for her to learn a few useful spells, those which might be useful to his ends.
One of them was particularly useful for picking simple locks.
“Yvette?” Florian whispered beside her.
The sound shocked her enough to steal her away from her thoughts. Only once she saw the concern coloring his features did she realize her hands were shaking.
“I’m fine,” Yvette answered before setting her focus on the task at hand.
Recalling the spell, she knelt down and blew a stream of cool air into the lock.
For some reason, this magic always tasted faintly of citrus and mint, even if the air about them carried only faint traces of damp and decay.
The old metal did not unlatch as quietly as she would have hoped, but within a moment, the bars were swinging open before her.
“Well, if that isn’t a magnificent little trick,” Florian whispered, looking down the curving stairway.
Yvette stepped through, followed closely by Florian, who secured the door-
A low grinding sound echoed off the stone walls as the bars set back into place. They stared at each other, eyes wide in panic. Anyone else in the hall would have heard that and almost certainly known what it meant.
“Lock it!” Florian hissed as he looked past her.
Yvette nodded once before working the magic once more, locking them in.
As she stood, they shared another glance.
Footsteps were approaching from below them on the spiraling stairs.
Her mind moved quickly. If the guard reached them, they’d be cornered.
The passage was too narrow for a person to walk past without potentially brushing against them.
Perhaps they could overpower the guard, but what if they shouted for more?
“Stay here,” Yvette hissed. “Keep to the shadows.”
Florian’s hushed voice followed her, telling her to wait, but she was already taking off down the stairs.
The guard was dressed as the others, with a leather chest piece and club at his side.
Beneath were a stained shirt and worn in boots.
He had perhaps two days of stubble growth, but beneath it were youthful features.
His eyes widened as she came running down the hall until she had collided into him.
“You have to help me!” Yvette allowed desperation to color her words as her hands lay against his chest, his arm. “Please, I’m afraid.”
He shook his head as if to clear his thoughts. She knew what he was fighting wasn’t confusion, but the charm she was trying to work. “Why are you-”
“I need your help, you want to help me, don’t you?” Yvette poured the magic into her words. She’d never been so daring with her power before. All she could do was hope that it would hold.
The guard paused, bewildered, before he finally spoke. “Of course, I’ll help you,” he said, his posture shifting more protectively around her. “I can get you out of here. It isn’t safe-”
“No,” Yvette shook her head, making sure to meet his eyes as she spoke. “It isn’t safe that way. I need you to tell me how to get to the Mage Ward.”
“The Mage Ward is- it’s- There’s no way out from there.”
Fate’s Teeth. She shifted tactics, allowing a sultry mask to fall into place.
Her hands smoothed over his chest as Yvette pressed herself against him, cupping his cheek with her hand and staring into his eyes through her lashes.
“It’s the only place you can keep me safe.
It’s the only place we can be safe… together. ”
His hands wrapping around her shoulders was his only reply. His eyes cast a faraway stare even as he looked down at her. Yvette had to force herself not to cringe away. This had better work. “Tell me where it is,” she whispered, inches from his mouth. If this went any further, they’d be kissing.
“Down two rounds, in its own cavern just off the stairs.” His voice was soft and husky. “It’s not far. I’ll take you.”
Yvette saw the flash of movement over the guard’s shoulders only a moment before she heard the Crack! She had to stagger back to avoid the guard’s weight as he crumpled limply to the floor. Florian was standing behind him, his dagger still in hand.
Her eyes rounded as they met his.
“He’ll come to with a well deserved headache,” Florian assured her, sheathing the dagger back onto his belt. “Though I am sorry to interrupt the performance.”
“I got what we needed didn’t I?” Yvette snapped.
“And in quite a magnificent fashion I might add.” Florian flashed her that crooked, flirty smile.
Yvette rolled her eyes and crouched down.
She shouldn’t take his teasing personally.
It was clear that he flirted with anything and everything with a pulse…
She just wasn’t used to having that sort of attention directed toward her.
Victor would have never stood for it… and before him no one had paid her any mind at all.
She summoned a cluster of soft lights to her palm. They illuminated the hall with a pale blue glow, like moonlight as they drifted onto the guard’s unconscious frame. Yvette lingered until they had settled and dimmed. He’d sleep now until long after they were gone.
“Shall we?” Florian said, his smile sobering only a fraction as he reached out his hand as if asking for a dance.
Yvette took it slowly, trying not to read any undo intimacy in the gesture. She needed to keep her wits on the task before them, for all their sakes. The shroud of invisibility came over them once more, like a second skin.
They rounded the stairs, steps light and quick as possible.
They passed no one, except the prisoners, who lay as little more than heaps in their windowless cells that lined either side of the hall.
Pity swelled in her chest each time she caught a glimpse of the wretched souls through the bars, but she forced herself onward, down and downward.
They couldn’t very well save them all, and even if they could…
some prisoners were not meant to be freed.
When the hall branched out suddenly to the left, they veered at once.
This had to be the cavern the guard had spoken about.
Yvette’s heart beat thunderously in her chest. This was it.
The silence between them seemed to be narrowing in, focusing as they went down the long tunnel.
The passage opened into a circular room lined on all sides by eight cells.
They were enclosed by thick wooden doors reinforced with bands of iron.
A small metal hatch at the bottom suggested an opening where food could be passed underneath without needing to open the door.
Yvette did not slow her urgent pace as she stepped from the hall, not until her knees nearly buckled.
The moment she crossed the threshold, the air became heavy and thick.
She could hardly pull it into her lungs as she braced herself against the wall.
Weakness trembled through her as something sapped her strength.
Fear lanced through her, confusion, as her thoughts turned murky and vague.
“Yvette!” Florian cried out. His voice echoed off the walls, chasing her as she fell.