Beyond the Torchlight #2
Ott’s face turned sour at my question. “Not usually. But, one night, while we were down there, a few fae came. That had never happened before. We tried to run when we heard them, and I made it back to the kitchen, but Geoff wasn’t so lucky…”
My heart twisted at the sadness in her voice.
“What happened to him?” Nella asked delicately.
“He was never seen again. Killed by the fae, most likely, just for being down there.” She sniffled and dabbed at the corner of her eye with the end of her apron over her uniform.
“But why were the fae down there that night?” I asked.
“I’m not sure. I only heard a bit of what they were saying before I ran for my life. Said something about ‘the new prisoners,’ and they came from a part of the passageways that we’d never been to. That area felt…creepy. And dark. And too cold.”
“Could you tell us where this area was? So Nella can avoid it, obviously…”
Nella looked at me with amusement in her eyes.
“I couldn’t say exactly, but it was different than the rest of the tunnels.
Most areas I saw were the same gray stone as the castle, lit up with torches here and there.
But this new part was dark and made of black stone.
I would be careful, darlings. No boy is worth your life. ” Ott looked gravely from Nella to me.
“Do you think the dungeons might be down there?” I hoped I wasn’t being too obvious, but I was nearly at the point of throwing caution to the wind.
Moe and Ott looked at each other before Moe said, “I suppose it’s possible. But we can’t say for sure.” They headed back to their station, leaving us with more information than I could have dared to hope for. It wasn’t confirmation, but I felt like it was highly likely.
This felt like the first real step toward finding the dungeons.
If they were in this new area, we knew how to know we were in the right place.
When the walls turned to black stone and there were no longer torches on the walls, we’d know we were close.
What waited down this dark new corridor, we didn’t know either.
The dungeon could be behind a locked or guarded door. Concealed by more magic.
I wondered who the new prisoners could have been. It would have been too long ago to be my mom or the rebels that stormed the castle, if this had been when Ott was roughly my age.
I didn’t know exactly when the rebels had stormed Ashthorn, but I figured it must have been at least a few years. And if my mom had been part of that storm and had been a prisoner here since… Intrusive thoughts would have told me she was likely dead were it not for the banshee saying she was here.
“I’m going down into the tunnels tonight,” I whispered to Nella. “Who knows how long it might take to find the new area. I have to start mapping it out right away.”
“I’m going with you.”
“Absolutely not. That Geoff mortal was killed for being caught down there. I’m not chancing it.”
She folded her arms and poked out her lower lip, pouting, which I ignored.
“I’ll bring parchment with me so I can map it out while I’m down there and come back after a couple of hours.”
After debating for a few more minutes, Nella relented and agreed to let me go alone.
“Planning on sneaking around the castle at night again?”
“We learned where the dungeon might be. We just don’t know exactly where. So I’m going exploring, not sneaking.”
“I see no distinct difference. Just…be careful. Talk to me so I know if anything goes wrong and I can find Nella.”
“Thanks, Noxie, I’ll let you know when I head down there.”
* * *
That night I laid awake, waiting for the ladies in our room to drift into a deep sleep. Nella was still awake, her eyes reflecting the low orange glow of the coals in the fireplace as she waited for me to leave.
I gave her a thumbs-up, then slipped a rolled-up piece of parchment into the pocket of my bedclothes along with a small chunk of writing lead I had swiped from another servant.
When I finally tiptoed out to the laundry room, it reminded me, with a pang of guilt, of the night I had snuck out to meet Varyn.
I was still feeling unsure of how we left things the previous night, but I would have to wonder about that another time. Tonight, I needed to stay sharp.
From the entrance to the laundry room, I stuck my head out to make sure no one was around. Looking both ways down the hall, the pace of my racing heart quickened. The coast was clear.
I slipped out, closed the door quietly behind me, and hurried past the kitchen. As I approached the second door on the right, my heart rate climbed. But when I reached for the handle, I paused. I wasn’t supposed to be here. There was somewhere else I needed to be.
I withdrew my hand and turned away.
“Naci? How’s it going?” Noxie asked.
“This isn’t where I’m supposed to be.”
“Did you go through the wrong door?”
“I…no. I didn’t go in, I wasn’t supposed to.”
“What are you…the magic, Naci! Go back!”
I paused once more. Magic. I remembered what Halden said. That I’d feel weird.
“Shit, you’re right. I’m going back. Don’t let me back out again.”
I ran back, now worried I’d been in the hallway too long. With a glance around I reached for the door once more and the same feelings of wrongness came back. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I was supposed to be here, I told myself, fighting every instinct not to open the door.
My hand met the cold metal of the handle and my heart raced. With a gasp, I pushed the door open and the wrong feelings immediately ceased. I slipped in and closed the door behind me with a wave of relief.
Relief, until I saw the fireplace in the back with a roaring fire ablaze. Halden said it was an illusion but walking into a raging fire seemed like a questionable choice. I approached slowly, doubt creeping in that this was the way.
But as I got closer, I realized I felt no heat. A smile stretched across my face when I reached out a hand and felt nothing.
Illusion, indeed.
I placed a foot on the hearth and took a steadying breath. Even knowing the fire wasn’t real, my eye could see a fire, and walking into it went against what my brain was telling me. So I closed my eyes and stepped in. Nothing but cool air.
I took a step, then two and opened my eyes. In front of me was a dimly lit staircase heading down. Behind me, the fire was still blazing.
A laugh escaped me at the brilliance and the simplicity. “Okay, Noxie, I’m in. All good up there on the outside?”
“All good out here.”
It would be nice to have someone to talk to while I was down here. And knowing I had an ally that could get to Nella if anything happened eased some of the tension I’d been feeling since I decided to take this late-night stroll through the creepiest part of the castle alone.
I descended the steps and apprehension replaced the temporary triumph. Things would be fine as long as I kept my ears open for any approaching fae, even though they would likely hear me before I heard them with their superior senses.
But I couldn’t dwell on that, couldn’t back out now. Not when I was so close.
The hallway I found myself in was lit by a row of torches along one wall. The gray stone covering the floor, walls, and ceiling gave the impression of an old cave.
It stretched on to my left and my right, with a door here and there that I quickly sketched on my makeshift map.
“Left or right, Noxie?”
“Which direction looks less like a fae could be hiding around the corner waiting to kill you?”
“Hmm, I think left.”
“Then go left.”
So to the right I went. And while it was a joke, I actually did need to be going toward cold, creepy, and black, not away.
I walked down the hallway, pausing occasionally to note a door here and there. Every slight noise sounded like footsteps, making my pulse race.
“If we all make it out of the capital alive, what would you do at the rebel camp?” Noxie asked.
“Well…I don’t know. I guess I would spend time with my mom, get some answers to the lifelong questions I’ve had. Maybe learn to fight with weapons. Sword fighting and archery sound useful. What would you do, Noxie?” I laughed.
“What’s funny? What is it?”
“Nothing, this just reminds me of a game Nella and I used to play.”
“Huh. Well, I would find myself a nice lady crow and settle down. Who knows, maybe even find my mate. Stop chasing you around on dangerous endeavors, saving your ass every other day.”
“Ha ha…” It was mildly annoying when aimed at me, but I had to admit I loved his sarcasm. “Do all animals have mates?”
I came to the end of the main hallway, a closed door sat both to my right and left. I noted them on the parchment and went through the one to the right. It opened into a similar hallway with lower ceilings and fewer torches.
“Most do. It’s more common for us than for fae—too many fate-altering things happen, like wars and conquests, magical accidents, and evil rulers. Those don’t affect the animals as much. Which is why it’s also increasingly uncommon now to have Familiar bonds.”
I hit another dead end. This one ended in a steep staircase heading up, but up was not the direction I needed to go, so I backtracked, trying a different door, this time finding yet another hallway, the same as the rest. How did anyone navigate down here?
What Noxie said about animal mates and Familiar bonds had me thinking.
“How do you know if you’ve found your mate? What does it feel like?”