11. Alira #3
I’m guided through the castle, passing brilliant artwork on the walls and expensive furniture that I doubt anyone ever sits on.
It’s almost laughable. Does the king even come to this wing?
I roll my eyes as we enter a larger common area.
Not quite the size of the foyer and main room in the castle, but a decent second.
The knight takes me to a door that looks shabbier than the rest. This one is made of old wood, the stain washed and graying, while the others are painted in brilliant colors, with deep red and gold finishes, much like the rugs and tapestries that steal the eye.
The moment we pass through the worn wooden door, the knight pushes me against the stone wall and throws his helmet down the spiral steps descending into what I imagine is the dungeon.
My eyes flick up, and tears pool in them the second I see the fawn hair and small horns. He ungags me and swiftly unties the rope around my wrist.
“Nikolai,” I cry, throwing my arms over his shoulders and letting the emotions run out of me.
Tears pepper his shoulders, but I can’t contain the grief that I’m feeling.
Kalel betrayed me… He never trusted me. How could he say that he loved me?
That’s not love. He was only possessive of me.
My jaw tightens as a fresh wave of tears flood my eyes.
Nikolai wraps his arms around me tightly and says with a low tone, “Alira, I need to get you outside of the veil before anyone comes to check on you.” He pushes me an arm’s length away, hands on my shoulders.
The look in his eyes is filled with sorrow and fear.
“I’m so sorry it’s come to this. Tessa’s heart is driven with fear—she doesn’t want harm to come to you, but she’s worried for her family. ”
I blink and try to process what he just said.
“Tessa is afraid…of me?” I ask, barely able to get the words out. “So she really did tell the king about me chasing after the wisp.”
Nikolai nods and firms his lips with reluctance.
My eyes shift to his. “You knew all this time too, didn’t you? You knew about the Alzhorian army waiting on the other side of the veil.” Ice starts to move over my heart. The betrayal that festers within me is like venom.
He exhales slowly and nods, guilt woven into his features.
“Alira, some things are beyond us. What good would it have done to tell you?” he says softly. “Kalel wouldn’t agree to it no matter what.”
“I would’ve known that you trusted me not to be the monster you all seem to believe that I am.” My hurt tone must strike a chord in him because he flinches at it.
Nikolai looks like he has a million things to say, but he swallows the words and takes my hand, pulling me behind him down the steps.
“You can hate me. I don’t care. I’m getting you outside of the veil.”
I don’t argue with him. Although I’m not sure what I will do once I’m out of the kingdom. I don’t have the heart to join Alzhor and fight the demons. I also don’t want to run away and do nothing either. It feels like no matter what I do, it will be wrong.
“That’s exactly how I feel too,” Nikolai says with a defeated tone.
“Don’t read my thoughts,” I snap, keeping my voice low in case other knights are close enough to hear.
Nikolai doesn’t say anything more after that; he keeps his head forward until we reach the bottom of the stairs. He puts his hand up, indicating for me to stay where I am as he steps out and looks to both sides. Once he’s certain there’s no one down here, he nods at me, and I follow.
“What will happen to you if King Achill finds out that you helped me escape?” I keep my eyes on the cells as we pass them.
They are made of bars and cement; inside many of them are humans and demigods.
It looks like they’ve been here for a long time by the way they hopelessly watch Nikolai guide me down the corridor.
A cold draft blows down here, a chill that moves straight through my bones.
He lets out a snort. “Let’s not find out.” Nikolai glances back and shoots me a smile.
“It’s not something to make light of. I don’t want anything to happen to you.” I narrow my eyes at him and slow my stride.
He hooks his arm around my shoulders and forces me forward. “Nope. You don’t get a choice. You’re going.” His tone hardens, and he speeds up.
I reluctantly allow it. If Nikolai is willing to go against his king, it must be for a good reason. Whatever thoughts he read in King Achill’s head must’ve been bad enough to make even the worst punishment worthwhile.
We keep heading down the long stretch of cells until we reach the end and come to a small storage room.
Nikolai goes in first and I follow. He shuts the door and casts us into the dark, but the dimness doesn’t last. A beam of light trickles in from behind a large metal rack, revealing a small boxy tunnel.
“This will lead you outside of the veil. It’s the only other passage besides the front bridge. You will follow this tunnel all the way through. Don’t turn back. Promise me, Alira.” Nikolai takes both of my hands in his. A weak grin tugs at the corners of his mouth.
Tears stream down my cheeks. “You were the only one who trusted me.” I choke out the words.
He wipes my tears. “That’s not true. It’s fear that clouds their minds, Alira.”
“Nikolai. I’m giving you two seconds to disappear.” Tessa’s voice cuts through the room and makes my skin prickle.
My eyes widen, and so do Nikolai’s, as we look toward the dark corner of the storage room.
Tessa stands in her imperial armor, with a passive look that I’ve never seen on her before. She looks at me as if I am not a living, breathing being with a heart and a soul, but a thing that stands in the way of keeping her kingdom safe. I know this look. It’s how I used to look at the demons.
It hurts more in person, seeing the way she’s turned me into a monster in her mind. She was one of the first kind demons I met.
“Tessa, I’m not letting King Achill lock our friend in a cell down here just so he can torture her. Move out of the way,” Nikolai says in a stern, smooth tone that sends chills up my spine. It’s the leveled anger that makes it sound so threatening.
She doesn’t budge. Tessa only sets her hand on the hilt of her sword. “Last warning.”
Nikolai’s eyes fill with hurt, but it’s quickly replaced with rage. His hand goes to his sword as well. Ready to fight his comrade on my behalf. But he’s a healer, not a knight trained to kill like Tessa is. She’ll kill him in a heartbeat.
I step between them, not looking at either. I keep my head dipped. “I will go to a cell. The last thing I want is for the two of you to spill blood from one another over me.”
“Alira—”
Nikolai is cut off by Tessa’s laughter. “At least she has pity for us. We will see how long that lasts.” Tessa shoves me hard with one hand in the center of my back. It sends me straight to the cement floor and cracks my forearm.
Pain shoots through my body, but I pull myself up and ignore the gilded blood dripping from my wrist and making a trail to my cell. I sit on the bed and finally meet Tessa’s gaze.
All I know is that a darkness spreads within me at Kalel’s and her betrayal.
Nikolai gives me a somber look as he passes, guided by Tessa, who I hear scolding him all the way back up the stairs.
It’s so dark and grim down here. Mildew grows between the stones, and a wet dripping sound echoes somewhere in this tomb, along with a few hushed cries from other cells down the way.
I sit in silence as my arm heals. Then I firm my lips and reach into my pocket, swallowing the herbs I got from the tea shop.
“I unbind the sacred oath to Kalel Lornhelm. Let our ties be severed.” I close my eyes with the prayer and feel the mark on my chest warm slightly as it lifts from my skin.
With the oath broken, our lives will no longer be tied. The guilt that tugged at my heart has been drowned in hurt.
I take out the laurel from my other pocket and look down at it. A golden glow halos the metal leaf. Power of the gods themselves.
It’s so quiet down here, I swear I can hear it whispering.
“Are you ready to see what they’ve done?”