Chapter 32
Ishouldn’t trust him. He lied to me. Worse than that; he worked with Eldrion.
I know these things, and yet I also know that when I’m with him I do not feel even the slightest flicker of malice. When I’m around Eldrion, my entire body reacts to him. I feel the evil seeping from his pores even with my gates slammed shut.
Finn has never made me feel that way.
So, I follow him when he leads me to a secret trapdoor at the back of the kitchens.
We descend into the darkness beneath the door, taking shaky steps down, down, down until it becomes pitch-dark.
But then there is light again. Flickering torchlight.
My feet meet with solid ground. Not stone, but soil, compacted. It smells damp here. Like earth, and life, and home. Thoughts of the Leafborne forests flood into my mind, but they disappear abruptly when the flickering candlelight illuminates several faces in the dark.
I recognise Briony at once and rush to her side. She embraces me tightly, and I feel like she simply isn’t going to let go of me. When she does, I see more faces. Some of them I recognise. Some I don’t. All are clearly Shadowkind, dressed in uniform that shows they work in some capacity for Eldrion.
“What is she doing here?” someone hisses loudly.
Briony shakes her head. “I don’t know. Wait for Finn. I can hear him.”
A moment later, Finn drops to the ground and immediately whips off his mask. Throwing it to the floor, he claps his hands. “It’s time,” he says enigmatically.
When the others exchange worried glances, I take his elbow and gesture to our surroundings. “What is this place, Finn?”
Finn inhales deeply, then puts his hands on my forearms and looks down into my eyes. His are warm and dark, and for the longest moment I just stare into them wishing we could go back to that night in the forest. Wishing he’d told me what he was doing there. Wishing he’d asked me to run away with him because I would have, in a heartbeat, even though we didn’t know each other then.
“It’s our way out.” His answer hangs in the air. The silence swells.
“We always knew we wouldn’t be able to escape Eldrion quickly. With some unplanned, hurried attack on the castle. He has spies even within the Shadowkind. Not all of us can be trusted.”
My stomach tenses. “Who would want to be a spy for him?”
Interjecting, Briony says, “He blackmails, uses people’s families against them. He’s clever, and cruel, and not all of us are strong enough to withstand what he dishes out.”
The others nod in agreement, and Finn continues, “So, we played the long game. Yarrow’s father started it.” He gestures to a tall, grey-bearded guard who is standing with his arms folded in front of his chest. “And Yarrow is the only one left now of the original rebels. We are all second generation.”
“Rebels?” I almost laugh, even though it’s not funny. Then realise it’s a spark of hope that has ignited my laughter.
While Yarrow stares at me unblinkingly, Finn nods. “This tunnel,” he says, “leads to another, and another. A rabbit warren of them. All exiting in different places beyond the citadel.”
“They go under the ocean?”
“Deep under,” he replies. “The rebels have spent two hundred years digging these tunnels, Alana. Bit by bit, every night, in snippets of time, we have made our escape route. They have been ready for years, but we have been waiting for the right moment.”
“It has been a long wait,” Briony sighs.
“But with your magic, Alana, we finally have it.”
“My magic?”
In a gruff timbre, Yarrow barks, “Briony says you have water magic?” He glances at my wrists. “Yet you are not cuffed like the others.”
“Eldrion doesn’t know.” I look down at my hands. “I didn’t even know until tonight.”
“Show us.” Yarrow nods at my hands. “I want to see for myself. We’ve waited too long to take risks.”
Grasping my hands, Finn says, “Will you?”
My brow furrows with worry. “I haven’t had a chance to hone or practice my magic. I don’t know...”
“You don’t need to practice, Alana. You have Kayan’s magic. It is as established in you as it was in him.” He clears his throat and rubs the back of his neck. “At least, from what I’ve seen, that’s my guess.”
I start to blush but then someone at the back reminds us we don’t have much time before sunrise, so I close my eyes, focus on the scent of the damp soil beneath my feet, and stretch out my hands. Slowly, droplets of water start to filter up into the air.
Yarrow’s eyes widen. A few others gasp and step back. The ground shakes a little, but I take a long, slow breath and urge the water beneath to be still. Then, in honour of Kayan, I form three pointed blades of ice, spin around, and throw them at the bottom step below the trapdoor.
They are so sharp, they pierce the wood, and make a thwack, thwack sound as they make contact.
There is a moment where no one speaks, and then Briony starts to clap. Yarrow joins in. So do the others. “Do you know what this means?” Yarrow asks, clapping Finn on the shoulder.
“It means this time tomorrow, we’ll be free.” Finn grins back at him, and they fall into a brotherly embrace. When he turns back to me, he says, “It’s now or never, Alana. We have to take this chance while we have it. Before Eldrion realises you have magic.”
I walk slowly over to the steps and tug on one of the shards. I pull it free and turn it over in my hand, watching the ice start to melt when it makes contact with my skin. Turning back, I fold my arms in front of my stomach. “All right. I’m in – on one condition.”
“Anything,” Finn says quickly.
“We break the Leafborne out of the dungeons and bring them with us.”
Frowning, Yarrow opens his mouth to object, but Finn cuts him off. “Of course,” he says. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“All right, then tell me what you need me to do.”
“There isno map of the tunnels,” Finn says. “We never created one because we didn’t want it to be found or used against us.” He taps his head playfully. In the dim light, shadows fall on his scarred cheek and make it look smoother. Gentler.
One day, I will ask him who gave him that scar. But I think I already know the answer.
“So, you’ll have to stick with Briony. Do not get separated.”
I nod, and slip my hand into Briony’s. She nods at me and nudges my shoulder with hers.
“We’ll do it tomorrow night. There’s to be a feast. I’ll perform.” Finn is thinking on his feet, speaking as the thoughts form in his head. “I have a little disappearing act I’ve been working on.” He grins at me, his eyes twinkling. “They’ll think it’s part of the act, and it’ll take them a while to realise what’s happening.” He nods at Yarrow. “You’ll be on guard tomorrow night. Bring those you can trust. When they start to grow restless, tell them to be patient. Then, slip away and lock them inside the Grand Hall and run.”
“You’ll come here, and I’ll go to the dungeons to free the Leafborne.”
“I’ll make sure everyone knows that when the drums start, they should make their way to the tunnels.” A blond woman standing behind Yarrow nods firmly.
“What about Briony and me? We’ll be in the Grand Hall, too?”
Finn shakes his head and bites his lower lip. “No,” he says, ruminating as he starts to pace up and down. “No, you’ll go to Eldrion early. You’ve done that before. And after what he told you tonight, he’ll expect you to want to talk to him.”
I exhale slowly and brush down my skirt.
“Distract him. Keep him talking as long as you can. When the Sunborne are safely locked in the Hall, Briony will come to tell Eldrion. He’ll rush down there and let them out. There will be chaos for a while – I’ll be sure to leave a few tricks to keep the show going. Then We’ll meet in the dungeons. We won’t have much time. But there is a tunnel entrance there, too. Hidden at the back of the dungeons. Yarrow will make sure the guard on duty is one of ours.” Finn turns to Briony. “Take the west exit.”
She frowns a moment, then says, “All right. West.”
“But Alana, this is the important part.” Finn turns to me. “You’re our only chance of fighting back. We have weapons we’ve fashioned, and we can fight with our bare hands. But compared to Eldrion and the rest of the Sunborne, we’re weak. If we’re followed – when we’re followed. We will need you.”
The significance of his words solidifies in my stomach. “Not just your water affinity. Your empathy, too. You can take people’s feelings away, remember? That means you can take their courage, their bravery, their loyalty.”
My head is swimming. I start to breathe heavily and bend over to brace my hands on my knees. Finn puts his hand on my back.
“What is it? Alana? Are you sick?”
Shaking, I look up at him. “It all rests on my shoulders.” I run my hand up his arm and rest it on his elbow. “You’ve been planning this for two entire decades, and it is all dependent on me.”
“No.” Finn lowers his voice. “No, don’t look at it like that. You’ve given us hope, Alana. And that’s what we’ve been waiting for. A glimmer of hope that would spur us to do what we need to do to be free.” He pulls me into his chest and holds me close. “I can never thank you enough for what you’re about to do for us.”