Chapter 13
brYN
The day is waning. I can tell because the narrow band of sunlight that was coming through the bars of the door has disappeared completely.
I haven't moved in hours. Guards walk along the long corridor, sometimes bashing the hilts of their swords into the metal bars and chuckling when the humans wail and scream in fear.
The people taken from Halsford are subdued other than that.
As the hours pass, some quietly cry, others try to keep their children from being afraid.
But they're all just waiting for the inevitable, like I am.
As for me, my tears have dried, and now I’m just angry. At myself. At Locke. At Jak and Morgan. How could we have been so foolish as to have trusted him again?
But when I think back to the river, how Locke saved me, how he took me to Gwen’s, it doesn't make sense.
Was all of it simply to gain my trust? Why?
Why bother? If Halsford was going to be raided anyway, I would have been caught by Warrior or brought here by Locke himself.
What did he care if I believed in him or not?
I watch as a guard begins another patrol through the long corridor of the dungeon. He looks younger than the others I’ve seen. Beardless and inexperienced.
Will I wait here like a slave as I would have before I got a taste of the Light, or will I at least try to escape?
I stand in my little cell, drawing what strength I have around me, hoping I can get Fate to work in my favor as I was able to in Kitore and upstairs in Fiana’s office.
'What are you doing?' Claudia asks from the cell next to mine, Orry gripping her skirts hard.
'I'm getting out of here,' I say. ‘Are you coming?’
'How?' she asks, getting to her feet as well, her eyes glinting in determination.
'We'll find a way. Unless you all want to sit here and wait to be sold back into the Dark Realms.'
Claudia bares her teeth in the low light. 'I'd rather die a thousand deaths,' she snarls as she surveys the other women who are in the cell with her.
'Come,' she says. 'Ready yourselves. Bryn is going to get us out of here.'
I hear a couple of scoffs, mostly from a few of the men on the other side. The ones who I believe attacked me, though Tavish himself is quiet.
'How is the Dark Realmer going to help?' one of them mutters to another.
Ignoring them, I watch the guard, my eyes narrow, willing Fate to help. The door to the dungeons opens, and I see Warrior himself stalk toward us with purpose.
It happens as he passes the guard. The youth trips and skewers Warrior in the back with the dagger that’s in his hand, likely readying it to bang on the bars to make the humans quail. The guard gasps loudly and takes a quick step back, drawing the blade with him.
Warrior lets out a grunt and falls to one knee with a snarl. He catches my eye and I can see he’s wondering if I did it, and how.
But then he laughs.
'Trickly little Kismet,' he wheezes as he gets to his feet and puffs himself up, ignoring his injury.
‘I sensed something was different about you upstairs. You don’t need to be hurt first anymore. Good to know.’ He lets out another chuckle. ‘But it’ll take more than that to kill a fae like me.’
He keeps walking with a slightly limping gait, disappearing through a smaller door at the other end of the dungeon, and I seethe.
The wide eyes of Tavish and his men stare at the door Warrior just went through.
‘What manner of creature can't be killed with a knife through his back?' one of his friends mutters.
I roll my eyes at them. ‘We're in the Dark Realms now.’
The guard who stabbed Warrior is still standing where he did the deed, his hands shaking, his eyes darting around. He's afraid that he'll be punished for his carelessness. He has a set of keys hanging from his belt, I notice.
He’s so close, but just out of reach. I wonder how I'm going to get Fate to do something so specific as to get him closer to us. Can I make him trip toward our cells? I try, but nothing happens.
Fuck.
And then I hear an oomph and a thud come from the other side of the main door. It opens, and a huge figure stalks in, having to stoop to get through. I know the profile and gait immediately. My heart quickens as I grasp onto the bars of my cell.
'Morgan?' I whisper to myself, my spirits lifting.
The great half-orc comes into view, dragging an unconscious guard behind him whom he drops unceremoniously on the floor.
The other, younger one is still standing in the middle of the walkway, his mouth wide as if he can't quite understand what’s happening.
He belatedly lifts the dagger that still drips with Warrior’s blood, but Morgan only needs two strides to reach him.
He lunges forward and grabs the weapon, snapping the youth’s neck with his other great hand easily before he can utter a sound.
Morgan lowers the guard to the ground silently, glancing over his shoulder at the door to ensure no one heard.
Then he peers into the cells.
‘Bryn? Are you here?’
‘Yes!’ I whisper urgently and his relieved eyes meet mine.
‘Thank the Gods,’ he breathes.
He takes the keys from the dead man and unlocks my cell first. He pulls me to him, enveloping me in a tight hug.
'Does this mean the Underhill is here?' I whisper.
'No. Jak and I tried to reach the cowards, even to send a message, but their Ring was locked down. We can’t count on them.' He rolls his eyes. ‘Fucking cunts.'
‘Warrior is close,’ I whisper, pointing toward the other door.
Morgan’s eyes narrow. ‘Good.’
‘Orc,’ Tavish hisses from behind me. ‘Let us out!’
Morgan makes no move to do his bidding, instead putting his finger to his lips for quiet as he approaches the cell door.
‘Is this everyone?' he asks
'I think so,' Tavish nods.
Morgan gives Tavish a dark look. 'For what you did to Bryn, I should fucking leave you here,' he snarls.
Tavish shakes his head vigorously. 'The men were working alone. I didn't know. I swear it. I didn’t know.' He looks at me. 'I promise you that...Bryn. I’m sorry for it. They’ll be dealt with in Halsford. If— When we get back.’
Tavish looks over his shoulder at his wife who hasn’t spoken to him, nor even looked at him since they found out what his men had done.
‘If you must leave me and the ones who did it here, then so be it, but, please, Morgan, take my wife. Take my babe from this place. I beg you.’
Morgan snorts, and leans closer. ‘I’ll leave no one to face slavery in the Dark, merchant. Not even the cunts who hurt my female. I’m no monster, despite what you believe.’
He unlocks the cell and passes me the keys so that I can free the rest in the next cage.
‘Where are the others?' I ask as they begin to file out, giving us looks of gratitude. 'Where's Jak?'
‘He’s counting guards and ensuring the Ring will take us all away from this place. Luckily the bitch’s court seems to be having their own festival. They’re drinking heavily. We have a chance.’
'And…Locke?' I ask, taking hold of his arm, my heart in my throat, hoping against hope that if Morgan and Jak are here, it means that Locke was merely playing a part.
He turns away. 'He's here for Fiana.'
I pull him back. 'But is he…with us?'
Morgan’s countenance softens and he caresses my cheek. ‘Of course he is, my little human. I'm sorry he had to pretend that he wasn't. His job was to keep the fae queen busy while we took the lay of the land. He's with us.'
I close my eyes for a moment, a sob bubbling its way up my throat. But I swallow it back. I can be relieved that he’s not a filthy traitor, and that he truly cares for me later.
'Is the Underhill coming?' I ask instead.
'I don't know. We left a message for Dane and Lia in the Hall should they return, but we have no idea what's going on in the Underhill. Their Ring is locked tight. Whatever’s happening there is big. We can’t count on their help.'
'What now?' I ask.
Morgan looks over the sea of faces and opens his mouth to speak, but stops, listening.
Footsteps from the direction of the other door.
‘Quickly,’ he whispers, ‘back into the cells.’
Some of the villagers shake their heads, others let out wails. No one moves.
‘Do it!’ Tavish hisses. ‘He’s right. The unkillable fae is likely returning. None of us are a match for him but Morgan. Go!’
Though I hate that they all listen to him, they at least do as he says, swiftly going back into the cages, and closing the doors quietly.
‘You as well, Bryn. I need the element of surprise.’
I balk, but I do it, closing myself in, but not before I grab the knife that Morgan took from the youth he killed. I know he has others. He gives me a wink and a grin, which I return.
Morgan looks around the dungeon and hauls up the body of the young guard he killed with a grimace.
‘Gods, he’s little more than a faeling,’ he laments, carrying him across the dark space to where he dumped the one he came in with, and gently lowering him to the floor in the corner out of sight with care.
With regret.
But he straightens with a determined look on his face. ‘Say nothing,’ he reminds the villagers. ‘And stay in the cells until it’s done.’
He hides in the shadows as the door opens once more and Warrior saunters back in. He’s covered in blood that clearly isn’t his own, and his smile is wide.
There’s a skip in his step as he comes through the dungeon, past our cells.
I grasp the bars of my unlocked cell.
‘Doing Fiana’s dark bidding again?’ I call.
He slows in surprise. ‘I don’t do anyone’s bidding,’ he says to me, his eyes narrowing.
He comes toward me and I step back, hiding the knife I hold behind my back.
‘You’re but her servant,’ I goad. ‘No different from Tully. You do whatever she wants. I’m surprised you aren’t dressed in little more than a loin cloth for her pleasure.
’ I laugh at him. ‘The truth is, even if she had let you keep me to play your little games, you never could have used me properly. It takes a true mage to keep a Kismet., not one who deals in little more than parlor tricks’
His jaw tightens in anger. I’ve clearly touched a nerve.