11 #3
I test each leg by pressing my feet against the floor. The paralysis has nearly left me. I might not be in top fighting shape, but I think I can walk.
Both Vawn and Evanie thought they’d stripped away all my knives. But when I’m wearing my boots, I’m never weaponless.
Along the inside of each thigh-high boot is a ridge that looks like a seam, or perhaps a bit of decorative trim—but the tiny silver stud at the top of each “seam” is the tip of a handle.
Gripping one of those silver beads, I slide out the needle-thin blade hidden within a narrow channel in the leather.
The hilt of this knife and its twin are so slender they’re difficult to hold, and the blades aren’t long, but they were forged to be durable.
A gift from the man who crafted these boots just for me.
I draw the second blade as Steros reaches up and clasps the top of Vawn’s head, pushing him down. Obediently, Vawn sinks to his knees.
I’m off the sofa and at Steros’s side before he can blink. The tip of my secret blade dents the flesh of his thick neck. “Close your robe, pervert. And don’t make a sound above a whisper, understand? You call for help, you die.”
“Idiot girl,” wheezes Steros. “Don’t you know who I am? Do you understand what I will do to you for threatening me? Vawn, tell her.”
“He doesn’t obey you,” I spit. “He obeys me. Vawn, get up.”
Vawn rises. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Syth.”
“I’m keeping his dick out of your mouth.” I lift the second knife and tuck it against Steros’s back. “You’re going to walk us straight to the secret exit, the escape route, whatever it is. And you’ll allow us to leave.”
Steros lifts his chin defiantly. “I’ll do no such thing.”
I laugh, pushing the second blade through his robe into his back until I feel it puncture the skin.
“You underestimate me, my lord. I have killed for this man already, and I’ll do it again.
If you keep resisting me, I’ll cut off something important to you—one of your remaining fingertips, maybe, or that nasty little dumpling you call a dick.
” I put my mouth against his ear. “Do you really want to test me?”
“You’re fucking psychotic,” he whispers.
“Yes, I am. I’m the prince’s psychotic protector. Nice to meet you. If you survive this, make sure you tell everyone that to touch him, they have to go through me.”
Steros casts a panicked, watery glance at Vawn. “Your Highness, you know I meant no harm. You and I have had many dalliances. This was merely a reconnection between friends. There’s no need for violence. Call off your dog.”
I stab him, quick and shallow, right near the kidney. “That was louder than a whisper. Don’t appeal to the prince. Don’t even look at him. You’re dealing with me. The escape route. Show it to us. Now.”
“Very well,” whispers Steros. “This way.”
He shuffles toward the door by which he entered. As soon as we step into the hallway, Evanie rises abruptly from a chair by the door. Her eyes dart from me to Steros, and her mouth opens to scream.
I pivot, keeping one knife to the lord’s neck and whipping the other toward her.
“No, Syth!” Vawn leaps between me and the woman, lifting a protective arm. “Don’t hurt her. She was kind to me during that summer.”
“I almost struck you,” I snap. “Never get in the way of my knife, ever.”
“I won’t,” he replies, still standing between me and Evanie.
I sheathe one of the knives and grip Steros by the back of the neck, keeping the first blade poised to kill. “Very well, she may live, as long as she helps us and doesn’t raise the alarm.” I lock eyes with the woman. “One wrong move, and Lord Steros dies.”
“He’s the last scion of this great house.” Her lips tremble. “Please.”
“Do as I say, and no one will be hurt. Fetch our things from that trunk and unlock these gloves. Oh, and we could use some food, the kind that will keep well for traveling. Quickly now. You can meet us at the secret exit. I’m sure you know where it is.”
“She knows the location, but not the secrets for opening it,” puts in Steros. He’s probably worried that I’ll kill him if I think I can get the information we need elsewhere.
Under his reluctant guidance, Vawn and I move farther into the house.
We pass through a false wall in an armory, then another hidden panel in the room beyond.
There’s a short hallway, then a door secured with three intricate puzzle locks.
Though Steros claims to remember how to open them, it takes him a while to complete each puzzle.
By the time he finishes the second one, Evanie appears with our satchels, our weapons, and the carpet case. Both bags seem fatter than before.
“Check them,” I tell Vawn, maintaining my position at the lord’s side.
I keep the knife to his throat and my eyes on Evanie until Vawn confirms that the items in our satchels are indeed food, not some sort of explosive or sabotage.
He buckles my belts around my hips while I keep the needle blade at Steros’s throat.
Evanie unlocks Vawn’s gloves first, then mine, while Steros complains that it’s hard to solve puzzles with a knife at one’s throat. I ignore his complaints, and eventually the third and final lock clicks open.
Vawn steps forward and hauls the door back.
A puff of dank air rushes out of the stone tunnel. I don’t like the smell of it, the sourness.
A metal sled, padded with mouldering cushions, sits on a landing just past the door.
It features a cushioned back, against which one or two riders can sit, and a curved front to protect their feet, along with a lap bar that can be folded down and latched in place.
A low barrier stands before the sled, keeping it from starting its descent down the tunnel.
A nearby lever jutting from the stone floor seems to be connected to that gate.
Beyond the barrier, the tunnel drops, its floor and ceiling slanting sharply downward.
The mountain stone has been hollowed out with admirable precision.
Every place where the walls meet the ceiling is a crisp right angle, and the floor has been polished until it looks slick in the gleam of Evanie’s lantern.
There’s no dust that I can discern, just the foul dampness.
“This is the escape route?” Vawn glances at Steros. “A fucking slide through the mountain?”
Steros nods. “It’s fast, pitch black, and dangerous. You won’t be able to see where you’re going or spot any rockfalls or broken bridges.”
“Bridges?” I ask.
“My father told me that the sled crosses two pits. Stone bridges arch over them. The sled should pass right across without stopping, unless something has changed.”
“How long has it been since anyone used this path?”
“Sixty or seventy years? Maybe more.” Steros sidesteps away from the tip of my blade. “As you can see, it’s not a pleasant route. No one would attempt it for fun, and it’s impossible to climb up from the opposite end.”
“Speaking of that—where does it end?”
“It should spit you out the side of a cliff into a deep pool,” Steros replies. “Unless the pool has dried up. I haven’t sent anyone to check on it. My father’s men did once, a couple decades ago. The water was still deep then.”
“Does it ever freeze?”
“How should I know?” Steros lets out an exaggerated sob. “This is the exit you wanted. I’ve opened it for you. Now leave, both of you. Leave me alone.”
Evanie makes a small sound of caution, like she’s warning him not to push me any further.
I tense, teetering on the edge of a murderous decision.
I can’t shake the image of Vawn on his knees, ready to abase himself for the chance to save both our lives.
Vawn, carrying me through the streets of Zeletas wearing that silly helmet.
Vawn brushing my hair back and murmuring, “I’ve got you. ”
This pompous motherfucker thought he deserved to spurt his cum into the mouth of my prince.
I’m half a second away from slitting his throat. But Vawn’s fingers curl over my arm. “Syth, sweetheart.”
His tone is gentle, a comfort and a plea. His relationship to this man is complicated, but he doesn’t want to see him die.
Maybe, for him, I’ll let the bastard live.
But when the word sweetheart falls from Vawn’s lips, Steros’s eyes bulge. His face reddens, and he darts away, retreating toward the mouth of the corridor. “Guards!” he yells. And then he pulls Evanie in front of him, as if she’s a shield to protect him from me.
The doors to both secret rooms are open. If any guards were stationed within earshot, they’ll be here in seconds.
“We have to go,” I tell Vawn. “You take the rear position.”
He adjusts the carpet case and the satchel on his back, then gets into the shallow sled. Some of the cushion disintegrates into dust and moldy fragments under his boots.
I hop in after him, settling my ass between his legs.
I put my satchel on backwards, with its bulk in front of my chest. Maybe it will offer some protection in case of a crash.
Although judging by the severity of the slope ahead, we’re going to be flying along this tunnel at such a high speed that any sudden impact will kill us.
I have no idea how long the ride will be, so I don’t activate my shield glyph.
It wouldn’t be very useful in this scenario, and when it starts to prick me with pain, I might be hanging onto the sled for dear life, unable to deactivate it without risking my safety.
Not for the first time, I wish I hadn’t given up my illumination glyph.
But I didn’t have a choice. Only one glyph combination has a proven rate of success against the monsters that infest the mountain range that divides the southern portion of the kingdom from the northern section, known as the Grey Province.