Chapter 20 #2
“Always my hero,” I say, nearly jumping out of the bed my body has practically molded itself to the past month.
“Here, put these on.” He hands me a pair of fresh clothes and I quickly slip them on while he keeps watch. I doubt he’s really busting me out of here without Ryder’s permission, but I appreciate the show he’s putting on, so I play along.
“Is the coast clear?”
“Let’s move out.” He does a bunch of random military hand signals that I don’t know and the two of us creep out into the hallway.
Once we seem to make it a safe enough distance, he drops the facade.
“About damn time you joined us again.” He throws an arm over my shoulders and brings me in for a side hug as we walk.
“He sent you, didn’t he?” My question seems to surprise him, but he doesn’t try to come up with a lie. Instead, he says nothing, and his silence tells me I’m right. “I haven’t seen him since I first woke up. He’s avoiding me.”
“He’s just got a lot on his plate right now. It’s not easy ruling a kingdom, ya know.”
I stop walking and turn to him. “You and I both know it’s more than that.”
“You’re probably right,” he replies in a more serious tone. “But that’s for you two to talk about. He’s out right now, but he’ll be in the war room tonight around 8:00. It’s becoming a ritual for him, and he’ll be alone. I’ll show you where it is, but don’t rat me out.”
I zip my lips with my fingers and toss the imaginary key over my shoulder.
“Alright,” I begin as we head down the hallway again. “Where to first?”
“I promised Amaya and Emeric they could show you around the underground, so we’re going above.”
My head spins around so fast that I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s stiff from the whiplash tomorrow. “Above ground?”
“Honey, prepare to be mind-blown.”
We turn one more corner, landing us in a giant curved balcony. He pushes me forward and when I look over the edge, mind-blown is exactly what I feel.
Glowing, warm-yellow crystals fill the middle of the giant pit. Several levels of palace-like floors wrap around the dark pit with curved balconies overlooking the large crystals. Other than the lack of natural light, there’s barely any indication that we’re underground.
“The crystals…” Artemus points to the cluster of them that must be at least seven stories tall. “They’re our power source. They control everything from the lights, water, and so forth.”
“This is incredible!”
“Oh, this is nothing. Wait until the others take you into the city. This is just the living quarters. There are a few shops and such, but most things will be located in the city. The goal was to create a new world that felt similar to the one we left. It wasn’t always like this, though.
Before Ryder got here, it was mostly caves and ruin. ”
“I can’t believe this. How could we not have known about all of this?”
“Well, if the Shadow Lands were advertised as such, people wouldn’t be so scared of being deemed Lesser. Besides, King Cimmerian doesn’t know about any of this. No one back in the realms does. It’s our not-so-little secret.”
“If all of this is underground, then what’s above?”
“How about you see for yourself?”
I nod and follow Artemus up a winding path. The incline is a rude awakening to how out of shape I am. Though I don’t look much different, my strained breathing says otherwise. By the time we stop at a dead end, I’m hunched over with a stitch in my side.
“Don’t start,” I warn to Artemus who is looking down at me with a mocking grin.
He traces a pattern over the wall, and it opens up, revealing a few steps. I follow closely behind him and when we reach the last step, my eyes take in the new view. It’s just as it was during Section Assessments when they almost tricked me into believing my father had come for me.
My father.
I’ve been so caught up in everything else that I had forgotten that he could be here.
“My father was banished years ago. Do you know if he’s alive? If he’s here?”
Artemus shifts uncomfortably. “Oh, I don’t know, Reign. I’m not too familiar with everyone here. I mostly interact with council members.” He must notice my disappointment because he quickly adds, “I’ll make it a priority to have someone hunt him down, though. What’s his name?”
“Orson Calloway. Thank you.”
“Of course.”
“You know, I was here once.” Artemus flashes me a confused look. “I mean, not really, but for Section Assessments this is where they had me believe I was. It was their way of catching traitors.”
“Oh, yeah. I heard about that. This is what most people imagine the Shadow Lands to look like.”
“The skulls are a nice touch,” I say sarcastically, nodding to the outside of the castle I remember following my false father into.
“I’d like to say they’re just for decoration, but as I said before, this place was a lot different not so long ago.” He motions toward the dark castle. “Shall we?”
When we step into the foyer, it’s just as I remember. The cold ambiance and dimly lit space are very different from the underground world.
“This is where Ryder lives,” Artemus tells me as we head up the wide, stone staircase.
“Why here? It’s so…”
“I think he likes to be reminded of how things used to be. Living here is a constant reminder of what we’re fighting for—what we’re fighting against.”
“What else is here?” I ask.
“There’s a library, a few studies, the council meeting room which happens to be my least favorite place to be.”
“You’re on the council?”
“Don’t sound so surprised. I’m pretty important around here.” He tugs on his collar as if to adjust it.
“Oh, I don’t doubt that one bit!”
He laughs. “You know I’m not one for stuffy political conversations, but Ryder insisted I be his second in command and I couldn’t exactly refuse.”
“You poor thing,” I tease. “Who else is on the council?”
“That you know? Jace and Akari. There are others I’m sure you’ll get to know at some point.”
“What about Elias?”
Artemus pauses with his hand on a doorknob and turns to me. “No one’s told you?”
“Told me what?” My voice shakes as concern washes over me.
“Elias was at the Sector the day of the bombing. He had to return from the Military Zone for a Leadership ceremony. They were going to make him an interim Head Officer while Damien was away.” Tears start filling the rims of my eyes and Artemus grabs me by the shoulders. “He’s not dead, Reign. He’s alive.”
I throw my head back and take a deep breath, thanking The Mother for saving me from having to mourn yet another person.
“He was looking for Emeric in the Quad when a bomb went off. He lost his right leg and almost died, but they were able to cauterize the wound enough to keep him from bleeding out.” I cover my mouth with my hands, taking in everything he’s telling me.
“As you can imagine, he hasn’t been the same since.
We’ve got him in a wheelchair for now and he mostly keeps to his room.
Even Emeric can’t seem to get through to him. ”
“Isn’t there something that can be done? Some sort of spell or something that can bring his leg back?”
“A mender could do it, but they’re rare and so far, we haven’t been able to find one here in the Shadow Lands.”
“Well, what about in the realms? There has to be someone,” I insist.
“We’re already on it. Roman is seeing if anyone here knows of any menders back in the realms. Ryder has already agreed to send out a unit to retrieve them if we find one.”
“A unit? So, there are people sneaking into the realms then? What about Kane? We have to go get him!”
“Whoa there.” He lifts up his hands. “There’s a big difference between retrieving a mender and sending men into the palace to extract King Cimmerian’s prized possession.”
I hate that he refers to Kane like some kind of object, but he’s not wrong. That is how the king views his Collectables.
“We still have to try,” I persist.
“I don’t disagree, but it’s going to take a lot to convince Ryder to take that chance.” I bite back the instinct to argue, but Artemus isn’t the one I need to convince so I let it go for now. He finally opens the door we’ve been standing outside of, and I follow him inside. “This is the war room.”
Chairs surround the large, round table in the middle of the room, and it reminds me of the one the king and his Circle convene around back in the kingdom.
“What do you think?” Artemus asks, walking around to the other side of the table. I take in the different maps pinned to the walls and the mountain of scrolls rolled up in the corner.
“Looks exactly how I would imagine a war room to look.”
“This will be your seat.” He pulls out one of the chairs with the high backing and motions for me to sit.
“Oh, sure,” I play along as I settle into the soft, burgundy chair.
“I’m being serious,” Artemus says, pushing the chair closer to the table. “The Mother didn’t gift you to this world so that you could sit on the sidelines. If we win this war, you’ll be a big reason why.”
“What?” I’m taken aback by his words. “I don’t know the first thing about war.”
“Maybe not. But you know about death. You know about adapting. And you know about doing the right thing even when it’s not the easy thing. You deserve to be at this table just as much as the rest of us. Maybe even more.”
“I’m not sure Ryder would agree with you there,” I quip.
“Actually, it was his idea.”
“You’re lying.” I whirl around to face him.
“I’m not. I believe his exact words were ‘She’s the key to everything, Artemus.’”
I don’t know what to say to that, so I don’t say anything. It’s clear that the Ryder I thought I knew was only scratching the surface. Somewhere underneath it all there’s another version of him I have yet to meet.
Maybe tonight I’ll get the chance to.