65. Chapter Sixty-Five
Chapter Sixty-Five
Reyna
The ruins have become my home, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the women who continually think to bring me not only food, but things to make the space homier. Celia brought me a blanket she knit herself. Innez brought me pillows that she stuffed with peanaria feathers. Bjorn, even though he is not a woman, has been bringing me food every day. I don’t think I would have been able to use this ruse for as long as I have if it wasn’t for them.
Exploring the ruins is one of my favorite pastimes in between training sessions. I can’t rejoin a district that thinks I’m dead, and I don’t exactly want King Daemon to know I’m here plotting against him. We’ve made progress with training, but not enough to take on the Shadows. Not yet. The stone halls extend into the cellar, and a few days ago I found a hatch that extends deeper into the ground. Damp darkness surrounds me accompanied by the smell of brine. I lift one of the mossterns I keep with me, letting the green glow illuminate the tunnels around me. It’s a straight tunnel that seems to go directly to the heart of the city. I think it’s better to wait for others than to walk down it alone. I climb back up the hatch hoping to ask Bjorn if he knows about this tunnel system I’ve stumbled upon.
The morning of exploring turns into an afternoon of training that dissipates to dinner. It’s just Bjorn and I. He insisted on cooking for me tonight. He’s spent countless hours during training bragging about his cooking skills. I took him up on the offer to put them to the test.
“Outside of training what did you do today?” he asks conversationally, working over the small flame I started in the fireplace. Unfortunately, this place didn’t come with a formal kitchen, but we’re making do.
“I actually found something interesting underneath this place,” I begin, settling in next to him by the hearth. “I was looking around the cellar we hid in when the wasps attacked, when I found another hatch with a tunnel that leads into the heart of the city. It didn’t seem like a good idea to explore it alone. I’m concerned it's connected to the castle. That could cause some issues for us if anyone in the royal district decided to use it.” I ramble as Bjorn stirs the pot, but he nods his head. Moving the arm that holds the pot over the fire so the pot hangs next to the fire, he turns to me.
“This needs to simmer for a little while, show me where the hatch is, we can investigate while we wait.” Bjorn stands placing a lid on the pot before following me to the wood doors outside and into the cellar. The hatch was hidden before, but once I moved a few of the empty wooden crates that were stored down here I unearthed it.
“It’s here,” I say pointing out the old door, Bjorn opens it and the grinding of the hinges echoes through the enclosed space. An eerie sense of dread fills me, but we must know what is down there for our own safety. It’ll probably end up being a bricked off dead end or something.
“We need to be silent while we’re down there. If your suspicions are true, we don’t want anyone from the palace hearing us. They may be as unaware of this tunnel as we were,” Bjorn says and I nod my agreement before I follow Bjorn down, preparing myself for the long walk ahead of us. I can’t help but hope this ends up being another forgotten, abandoned, bricked off space.
We walk for hours, the only sound permeating the air is the light taps of our boots against the stone floor. After a while a large stone wall forces us to stop, but through the center is a crack that is just big enough for someone to squeeze through. I look through the gap easily enough trying to keep my body out of sight. On the other side is the palace’s dungeon. I watch in horror as four shadows lead an elderly woman through the dungeons before shoving her roughly in a cell. Their laughter rings through my ears as they lock the cage behind her and leave her to rot. Once they’re gone, I move to enter the dungeons. To save her. An elderly woman would never survive under King Daemon’s hand. A large arm wraps around my waist stopping me as Bjorn pulls me away from the opening.
“We have to save her, she’s old she’ll never survive in there,” I whisper vehemently, but Bjorn shakes his head.
“Rey, we can’t go in there alone. If we’re discovered, we need to have people with us who will have our backs. We couldn’t possibly defend ourselves against the amount of Shadow Guards they have in there,” Bjorn reasons, and I must admit he has a point. “But we’ve found a way to get into the palace undetected. We’ll come back,” Bjorn promises.
I nod and we walk back to the ruins where dinner waits.
We don’t return to the tunnel for a few days, it takes us that long to get volunteers from the women to go with us. But eventually, Celia and Innez agree. Bjorn agrees that two extra bodies should be enough to get the elder from the cell and back to the runes while keeping the group small enough to go unnoticed.
“We don’t know how much time we have. If Hekate says something bad is coming, we need to be careful and keep our eyes peeled for any clue as to what it is. This is just a rescue mission. In and out. That’s it.” My tone is steely. I’m unwilling to give away just how nervous I am. The butterflies raging in my stomach are enough to make me want to puke, but I have to hold it together. If not for myself, then for the people who are with me.
“Your dream has gotten us this far, but if you’re going we’re all going.” Celia and Innez nod their agreement as they step in closer. They are the best of the fighters we have been working with and more than that they’ve become people I can rely on, call friends.
“All right, who’s going first?" I step away from the crack and Bjorn shoulders his way past me before squeezing into the gap sideways. This isn’t the first time I’ve been thankful he doesn’t sport the same beer belly as most of the men in this district because as it is he barely fits, and I’m pretty sure I hear a pop as he falls out the other side.
The crack lets out into an oversized hallway lined with metal bars closing off the cells. Celia and Innez grunt along with me as they squeeze through the tighter spots of the opening in front of me. Bjorn presses a finger to his lips as I fall into the palace dungeons giving myself a second to take a full breath. I step toward the center of the hall, pulling out a dagger as I check for any other signs of life, lowering it when I find all of the other cells empty. Aren’t Astrid and Embla supposed to be here? Did King Daemon sacrifice them already? Am I too late? All the thoughts come rushing to me as panic starts to take over and my breathing saws in and out of my chest. A small voice in the back of my head whispers, Astrid would never let that happen, have some faith. I’m not going to believe that they’re dead until I know for certain. King Daemon could have easily thrown them in the prison outside of the city’s dome.
The others join me in the hall, and we move as a unit to the cell that I saw the old lady get thrown into. Sitting criss cross in the center of her cell is an old woman, her foreign nightgown dirty, and the hem is in tatters. Her eyes are closed as I study her long grey hair tied in a tight braid that stops just below her breasts. Her ears end in smooth slender points. An eerie chill runs up my spine, the hair on the back of my neck standing up straight.
The elder’s cough explodes through the quiet around us and I jump a foot in the air, my heart lodging in my throat. The old woman cracks one of her eyes open and a smile plays on her lips.
“Oh hello.” Her full smile beams at me. “You’re a little early, dear.” She opens both of her eyes from her seated position scrutinizing the motley crew in front of her.
“Who are you?” I whisper, scared to speak any louder for fear of discovery. I step closer to the bars, scrutinizing the old metal wondering if I can get them loose to set the old fae free.
“The Crone, well one of them. Most people call me Nonna.” Her voice is gravelly, comforting. She reminds me of my grandmother.
“Why are you here?” I press still studying the cell door for a way to get her out.
“That is irrelevant.” The Crone’s tone is flippant as she stares from her seated position, her sienna eyes meet mine. “Come back in a few days, pay attention to the guards. There will be whispers of an army outside of the walls. Come back when you hear them. Leave now before they find you or the whole world is fucked,” the Crone urges standing and taking a couple of steps toward her cell bars.
“What about you? We can’t just leave you.” I insist, fighting Bjorn as he tries to drag me back the way we came.
“We must go, you should listen to her,” Bjorn whispers, but I jerk my arm flinging his hand from around my wrist.
“I can’t just leave you in a cage,” I say frantically searching for any way to get her out.
“You can and you will, because I will be here when you get back.” The Crone winks, and I let Bjorn drag me back to the crack in the wall. He doesn’t release me until we are safely back in the Farm District.