She Knew #2
We veered slightly left and made it to the waterway at the bottom of the stone wall within a few minutes, the sky already lighter by a shade or two.
Bramick pushed to the front, panting slightly, and placed his hands on the metal bars and pulled. It looked like it took some effort, but the bars slowly separated more, and I thought vaguely to myself that he should have maybe tried this in my dungeon cell when he was “Ponytail.”
I’d ask him about that later.
“In,” Drayce said as he held out a hand, and the murky water split in the middle of the stream.
I’d hoped, this early in the morning, the flowing water wasn’t yet flooded with excrement from chamber pots.
Once we were all safely in the tunnel, Noxie on my shoulder, we walked slowly in a single line behind Drayce as the water flowed around us, keeping dry.
I held a fistful of fire for light as we walked on and on, looking for any way up into the castle.
I worried that this was just a tunnel with no exit other than the one we came through, until small, dim shards of light shone ahead of us through a grate in the ceiling.
We all stopped at the same time when we heard voices. Not a beat later we saw, what was unmistakably, the contents of chamber pots being dumped through the grate above.
What perfect timing…
I held my breath as long as I could and prayed Drayce would keep that away from us.
When I finally had to breathe, I gagged—the smell was truly awful, not unlike the smell in the dungeon I’d occupied for months, where myself and other prisoners had nowhere to relieve ourselves but within the confines of our cells.
For a moment, I was back there, living in the stench. I had to cover my mouth to keep from screaming aloud at the visceral memory. But after a few moments to compose myself and remind myself where I was, what I was doing, I shook off the memory before my mind could spiral further.
We stood there, not daring to move, as at least twenty chamber pots were emptied, one after another.
I realized this meant we were underneath the cleaners’ room—this grate would be in a closet next to the cleaners’ supply storage room.
The one Drayce burst through so many months ago with me flung over his shoulder to get us to the servants’ corridors.
It looked like we’d be following the same path this time. We’d just have to wait until the mortals above finished their morning emptying.
After way too long standing just feet away from the plopping and splashing, the chatting voices above faded, and minutes of silence went by.
“Aerie, air-lift Bramick to the grate, and Bram, see if you can lift it or break it,” Drayce finally whispered, as quietly as possible. He was so quiet I assumed only fae hearing could pick up the sound.
Air whooshed past my legs as Bramick’s enormous form rose.
After a few moments of analysis, he indicated that he was ready to be lowered. “It’s bolted down from above, but the bolts are iron. I should be able to loosen them and lift the grate off. Though a little rinse off would be nice…”
Drayce smirked and sent a jet of water up to rinse the unpleasantness from the grate.
Then Aerie lifted Bramick back up and the scrape of metal soon followed.
Once it was loose, Bramick lifted the grate carefully and shifted it to the side.
Aerie lifted him slightly higher, just enough to poke his head out and look around.
He gave a thumbs-up, and she lifted him all the way out. Bramick lowered to his knees at the edge of the opening above and said, “All clear. Send everyone up.”
Drayce looked at me first and nodded. The air seemed to almost solidify under my feet as my body rose up and through the opening, making my stomach swoop. It was an odd feeling, being supported by only air.
As soon as my feet hit the ground in the small closet, I moved out of the way for the rest of the group to join. Once we were all up, Bramick replaced the grate and the large nails, leaving it good as new.
With an ear pressed to the closet door, Drayce held up a hand, motioning for us to wait.
“This door leads to the cleaners’ storage room,” I whispered to Drayce. “There’s an entrance to the servants’ corridors in there. The same way we left last time.”
How fortunate we’d entered the castle from a room attached to the servants’ corridors. So far, things were going better than we could have hoped for.
He nodded his understanding, and we waited in silence to ensure the storage room was clear. It was so quiet I could hear my heart hammering like a drum. Adrenaline had taken over entirely, nearly blocking out the fear.
“Sevrin, change of plans. We aren’t going through the main castle. Glamour us as mortal servants so we blend in down there,” Drayce said on barely more than a breath.
The Arcanum leader nodded, and I felt a tingle spread down my whole body, starting at the top of my head.
I looked down and had to fight a wretch at seeing myself in the servants’ uniform once more.
We all wore the same uniform, but everyone’s heights, builds, faces, and ages varied from old to young, women to young boys, some tall and some short.
“Remember,” the mortal, who had been Drayce two seconds ago, said, still in Drayce’s voice. “Sevrin is the only one to speak if we encounter anyone. Get into the corridor quickly. It will look suspicious if this large of a group is seen exiting a chamber pot closet.”
There were nods all around. Kellan directed one of his two soldiers with us to stay here as another guide point for fleeing mortals.
Drayce waited with his ear to the door for a few more seconds before opening it and stepping into the storage room, quickly followed by the rest of our team.
“I have to get into the main castle to get eyes on the king,” Noxie said.
Before I could mention this to Drayce, the door from the main castle opened beside us, a mortal man stopping in his tracks holding the door wide open.
“Come in quietly and close the door,” came Sevrin’s creepy voice, though now it sounded more like an echo, distorted.
“Go, Noxie! Now!” He immediately took off and swooped through the open door before the man’s eyes glazed over and he obeyed, closing the door. Chills broke out across my arms when I realized this was Sevrin’s deception magic.
“I’ll report back when I find the king,” Noxie said.
“Stay out of sight, your feathers will attract attention now.”
“You know us,” Sevrin continued to the man. “We are servants just like you and there is nothing suspicious about us being here.”
I noticed a sheen of sweat across Sevrin’s brow as he maintained his deception on the man and his glamour on us.
The man nodded and busied himself at one of the shelves containing cleaning supplies.
The deception magic made me deeply uncomfortable as I wondered again if he’d ever used it on me. If I would have even known.
I exhaled the breath I’d been holding as our group made its way toward the door to the servants’ corridors.
The one I’d thought was Kellan stopped next to the real servant. “If you want to leave this castle for good and escape to freedom, you can go through that chamber closet, and we’ll get you out of here. My men will direct you where to go.”
“Kellan,” a young girl with Drayce’s voice growled. It was actually comical. “We have to move.”
Kellan nodded and our group didn’t wait to see if the man took Kellan’s offer or not.
As I walked through the door into the corridors, I looked back at the man and found him staring after us, confused. I hoped he listened.
“We’re in the corridors,” I told Noxie.