Chapter 32
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
“Ireally don’t think this is a good idea,” Shiva grumbled for what must have been the tenth time since they’d left the changing rooms.
They were running up the stairs two at a time, climbing through the servants’ quarters that the changing room had been part of.
The stairs were crudely cut into the rock of the mountain, curling in a wide spiral above and below them, centuries of footsteps having worn a smooth dip into the middle of the dark stone.
Their feet trod where countless others had as they climbed higher out of the lesser-used tunnels in the depths of the mountain, to ones that were still in daily use.
Aelia supposed there had been a time when all the tunnels had been a hive of activity, when the Dragons ruled probably.
She wondered if Keeran could remember what it had been like.
So far, all Aelia had seen of the Inner City was the network the servants and guards used to get around without encroaching on the Main Chamber, because gods forbid the upper classes laid eyes on the people serving them.
“So you’ve said, but your plan of just waltzing into the prison left a lot to be desired.”
“We have uniforms,” Shiva gestured impatiently to his black attire, his chest heaving as they climbed past yet another door leading off the spiralling stone staircase. “We could just waltz in there.”
“I’m not taking any chances.” Aelia grabbed the handrail to help haul herself up, her legs feeling like jelly. “What we need is a distraction.”
Shiva grumbled something under his breath but kept climbing. Sweat streaked down his face as he tried to keep running, charging forwards as if he wasn’t likely to end up dead or in a cell for helping her. And all she’d done was throw his past in his face. Guilt prodded her into opening her mouth.
“Shiva, I --”
He stopped so suddenly she nearly ploughed into the back of him. “This is it.”
He held a finger to his lips and cracked the door open. It was chaos inside, with guards running past in either direction. Shiva shut the door again quickly.
“Something’s happened,” he said, looking worriedly at the handle in his hands.
“What?” Aelia panted, her heart racing from more than just the climb. She was about to walk into the guard's quarters, like a rabbit stepping into the fox’s den.
“I don’t know, but something’s got them riled up.” Shiva eyed her apprehensively. “Maybe it will help? Maybe they’ll be too preoccupied to notice two more guards running around.”
“Unless it’s us that’s got them riled up,” Aelia pointed out with a flash of fear.
Shiva shook his head. “No, whatever this is, it’s big.” He pressed his lips into a firm line, cogs almost visibly whirring behind his eyes before a hard resolve crept into them. “There’s no turning back now. Agreed?”
Aelia didn’t even hesitate. “Agreed.”
Shiva looked at her once, then he flung the door open and dove into the corridor at a sprint, trusting her to be hot on his heels.
She took off after him, heart freezing in her chest when she bumped into a guard, but he didn’t even break a stride, just sprinted off without looking back. She was just another uniformed face.
Shiva yanked open another door and disappeared inside, the hammering of boots on rock becoming muffled as the heavy wood swung shut behind them.
They both leant with their backs against the door, breathing heavily with pent-up adrenaline.
“That was the easy part,” Shiva said wryly, looking down at her with a gleam in his eyes.
Aelia laughed, clapping her hand over her mouth.
“Come on.” He tugged at her black uniform sleeve. “Just walk as if you belong here.”
The servants' door had opened onto a small backstreet, not too dissimilar from one you might see in any wealthy part of town, and he guided her down it, looking every inch the Astraean guard.
He leant in to the arrogant swagger she knew from Callodosis, fixing a sneer on his face that was all too believable.
She tried her best to mimic him, pointing her nose in the air with what she hoped was haughty confidence, but her expression melted as she passed a gap in the houses.
Her mouth hung open as she saw her first real glimpse of the Inner City, framed by the two houses.
It was nothing like she’d envisioned; no imagination could possibly have dreamt up anything close to what stood before her.
Palaces and castles grew as if from the mountain itself, their towers and turrets joined by bridges in a thousand different connections, every corner of it aglow with flickering firelight.
Beauty and power rarely joined hands, but in the Inner City, it was a partnership that had thrived.
“Aelia, come on.” Her glimpse of paradise was dragged out of sight as Shiva tugged her away by the arm. She blinked hard, trying to hold the image in her mind’s eye a moment longer.
They walked around the outer edges of the chamber, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible. Glimpses of the city came into view, but Aelia kept moving, resisting the urge to stop and stare.
A King's guard rounded a corner up ahead and they ducked into an alley, not looking back until they were far up the adjacent street. When they finally did, there was no sign they were being followed.
“How much further?” Aelia whispered. It felt like they’d been walking for hours. Just how big was this chamber?
“I’m not sure. Just keep walking.” Shiva risked a glance over his shoulder. “I don’t think that guard saw us.”
And so, on they went, Aelia fighting the urge to run with every step they took.
The streets were surprisingly busy considering they were approaching the early hours of the morning.
Some seemed to be enjoying every last minute of the city’s nightlife, and others looked as though their day was only just beginning.
Each passed the other with mutual respect and equal affluence, their wealth dripping from every inch of them.
Aelia had never seen such clothes, such colour, such elegance.
She’d also never felt so out of place.
Aelia’s heart raced more quickly with every minute that passed, the moment of discovery seeming increasingly likely with each corner they rounded. When Aelia thought she couldn’t bear it any longer, Shiva finally stopped.
“I think this must be it.” He cast his eyes over an innocuous building, one of the few without a flaming Dragon perched on its roof.
“How do you know what we’re looking for if you’ve never even seen it?” Aelia said, concern furrowing a crease between her brows as she scanned the empty street.
“That’s the sign for flashfire, the oil they use.” He pointed to a symbol etched above the door, right before kicking it open.
They both held their breath, but the street stayed empty, so they disappeared inside, pulling the door shut behind them.
A small flame flickered in a glass lantern by the door, the only one in the whole room, casting just enough light for her to see the drums lined up in stacks against the walls. Aelia grabbed one and pulled the cork free with a satisfying pop, quickly slopping the oil everywhere.
“Are you sure you want to do this, Aelia?” Shiva stood unmoving by the door.
Aelia righted the drum and hugged it against her chest. “Yes, I’m sure. Whatever’s got the guards so riled up might not be enough to get us into the cells, Shiva. We need chaos.” She swung her arm over at the drums. “Help me make it.”
Shiva ran a hand through his hair and looked up at the ceiling. “This is not going how I thought it would go.”
Aelia laughed, turning to slosh more oil around. “When does it ever?”
Shiva groaned and grabbed a drum, helping her cover most of the room.
“It doesn’t need to be that thorough. They mix a little flash powder with the oil to help it catch, so when this lot goes, it’s really going to go,” he explained, begrudgingly.
“You think that’s enough?”
“I think that’s plenty,” he said with a grimace.
Aelia chucked her drum back on the pile, whilst Shiva poured a careful line of oil to the door, tore a thick strip of cloth from his tunic and rolled it into a straw.
He dipped one end in the oil before setting it down, the undipped end just touching the line of oil.
Aelia handed him the flint she’d taken from the changing rooms.
“Ready to run?” he asked, looking over his shoulder from where he crouched.
She opened the door and nodded. The oil-covered tip of the fabric caught on the first strike of the flint against the stone floor, and they both bolted from the building, arms pumping furiously.
They made it two streets over before the oil ignited, the core of the mountain trembling with the force of the explosion.
Shiva threw her against a building, shielding her with his body against the wall of heat that battered them, and stayed there until the world stopped shuddering.
“That should draw some attention,” he grinned down at her, his earlier reservation seeming to have disappeared in the rush of adrenaline. She couldn’t help but grin too, looking back at the column of smoke billowing over the buildings.
“Come on.” He pushed himself upright and took off down the street once again, with Aelia in hot pursuit.
Screams began to infiltrate the peace of the Main Chamber, and soon the people they passed were running just as wildly as they were. In the chaos, they were just another terrified citizen, fleeing the scene of an attack.
The prison was easier to find than she expected, buried beneath an enormous arena, a landmark even they couldn’t fail to miss. As they drew closer, Shiva slowed to a walk, allowing them time for their breathing to settle.
“Remember, you have every right to be here,” he ducked his head to whisper in her ear. “You’re a member of the Astraea. Make sure you act like it.”
And just like that, the Shiva she knew from home was back in place. He nodded to the guards at the entrance and strode right past as if he owned the place. They gave him a long, hard look before their eyes settled on Aelia, but they didn’t stop them.
As they entered the twisting tunnels that swept down into the underbelly of the mountain, Aelia could almost taste the blood in the air.
She dreaded to think what atrocities these walls had seen, but the very stone seemed polluted by violence.
Even the fire that burned in the overhead lip seemed dimmed, spluttering as if it too was struggling to breathe in the heavy air.
These cells had been designed to contain the most dangerous creatures their country had ever seen, buried too deep within the rock for any Dragon to Shift without crushing itself. It was utterly inescapable.
Aelia found herself grateful her stomach was empty after her experience of the sewers as she contemplated spending even a few nights in one of these cells, trapped in the unforgiving rock, behind metal doors thick enough to contain a god.
Shiva strode past the few guards they did see without seeming to bat an eyelid, and she forced herself to emulate his confidence, to walk as though she had every right to be there.
And yet, everything about this place felt wrong.