The Last Falcon: Book 1 of the Cael Stone

CHAPTER 13

  Although the king had told her not to tell anyone who she was or where she was going, Erynn knew she couldn't leave without saying good-bye to Adena. She woke her friend as soon as she returned to the servants' quarters and led her down to a storeroom on the main floor of the stable. And then, still overwhelmed by all she had learned, she told her everything.

  Adena was stunned to find out that Erynn was the one the Galians were after — and why — but even more shocked that the king had claimed he couldn't do anything to help.

  "Leave?" she said. "He just gave you a sack of gold and told you to leave?"

  Erynn sank down on a crate by the window. "He doesn't trust anyone. He even thinks his own guards are reporting on him to Marik. Which I'm sure they are. At least now I know why Marik came to see me in the kitchen yesterday. He must have heard I'd seen the king and was trying to find out if he'd warned me."

  Adena just stared at her. "But he's the king, Erynn. Surely he can do something?"

  Erynn just lowered her head to her hands. Adena remained still for a few moments, then turned and started pacing back and forth across the small room.

  "Maybe if Gareth was here it would be different," Erynn said finally.

  Adena snorted. "If Gareth was here, things would be a lot different." She shook her head. "First it was my father. Then my mother. Then Jared. And now you. Everyone I care about leaves."

  "Adena, I don't have a choice. Naedra wants to kill me, remember?"

  Adena stopped pacing. "Then I'll just have to come with you. That's what I'll do."

  "Come with me?" Erynn said, sitting up now. "But what about your family? Jared promised —"

  "Jared could be dead for all I know. Your father said Ethlon was dangerous." Adena crossed her arms over her chest. "My mother's been gone almost three years, Erynn. My father four. They're not coming back and you know that." She paused. "They can't."

  Erynn realized she had known this for a while. She didn't know what had happened to Jared, whether he'd been hurt or there was some other reason why he hadn't returned by now, but there was no doubt in her mind about their parents. After all, how could they come back after what Keegan Fields had done? He had deserted, and that was a crime punishable by death. "If Jared does come back —"

  "I'm not going to wait here forever, Erynn. Not by myself."

  Erynn had to admit that the thought of having her friend along made her feel much better, like maybe she could make it to Highcastle after all, but she didn't want her to regret the decision later — or see her get hurt. "You've never been outside Caraden. It could be dangerous."

  "Then you'll be safer if you have someone with you, so don't try to talk me out of it. Besides, you're my friend. I can't let you do this alone. And my mother always wanted me to see more of Valentia. Now's my chance."

  Erynn was touched that her friend wanted to help her and said nothing more to try and change her mind. They remained in the storage room for a while longer, figuring out their plan for leaving the castle in the morning, and when the first rays of light finally did appear through the small windows of the servants' quarters a few hours later, they were both up and preparing for their journey. Most of the other women were also up and heading off to the keep to start their day, so they moved quietly, stowing what little they had to take with them in the packs they each kept under their cots.

  Erynn knew she couldn't take her journal, that it was far too big and bulky and would only slow her down, but she was determined to take the quill and ink pot her father had given her and made sure the ink was well wrapped in an extra under-tunic to prevent it from spilling. Other than the sack of coins and an extra dress, the only other things she made sure to pack were the three letters she now possessed, still in their tubes — the one old Soren had found in Galia, the one she had received from Gareth after her father died, and the one she had been trying to send him about the Galians — as well as the black stone she had taken from her father's grave. Then they grabbed their cloaks and headed back down to the storeroom, where they waited out of sight until they heard the rumble and clank of heavy chains that signaled the rising of the inner gate.

  They stepped out of the stable and walked quickly toward the inner gate. But they hadn't gone far when horses rode out of the third stable and approached from behind.

  Erynn felt her heart leap up into her throat. She glanced back.

  Quinn and all five of his men were riding toward the gate.

  She turned away, hoping he wouldn't notice her, and seconds later the men rode past them and around the crowd already waiting by the gate. As soon as the portcullis was high enough, they continued on into the outer ward. The rest of the crowd also started forward — but then stopped.

  "What's going on?" Adena asked a short time later, when the crowd still hadn't moved. "Why isn't anyone leaving?"

  It was then that Erynn noticed the guards. At least a dozen were lined up on either side of the gatehouse, more than she'd ever seen there before, and two more were standing out in front of the crowd, blocking everyone's path. The older of the two appeared to be arguing with one of the men at the front of the crowd, a man Erynn recognized as one of the castle blacksmiths.

  "But we have work to attend to in the village," the man said. "Things we need. We have to leave."

  The guard shook his head. "No one leaves until after the Galians have departed."

  "But what about those men?" a woman said, waving a hand toward the gate. "The ones that just left?"

  "They have permission," the guard replied. "Everyone else has to stay. At least for now."

  The blacksmith turned to another man, shaking his head, and the woman stormed off toward the stables. The rest just stood there, looking like they didn't know what to do.

  Erynn knew what this was about. Holden was obviously worried she might try to flee and was trying to make sure she couldn't escape. She stepped forward. "We have orders from the king to go to the market."

  The guards appeared surprised at first, but obviously weren't persuaded enough to move.

  "No one leaves the castle," the older one repeated.

  "But these are orders from the king," Adena said, stepping forward, too. "How can you stop us?"

  The guard laughed. "Easily. We have our own orders and unless His Grace comes down here to tell us otherwise, we're following them and you're staying."

  Erynn knew there wasn't much hope of that happening. She stared at the guard, and then past him through the gatehouse to the main gate and the road beyond. She felt trapped; so close to escape and yet unable to get there. She heard Adena say her name, but couldn't bring herself to move. Then her friend grabbed her arm and pulled her back toward the stables.

  "Now what?" Adena whispered. "Try to hide? Wait and see if we can figure out something else?"

  "There isn't anywhere to hide," Erynn said, her eyes scanning the inner ward and the guards up on the wall and finding it all seemed so much smaller now. "At least nowhere they wouldn't find us sooner or later."

  "Well, we have to do something. Find some other way out of here."

  An image flashed through Erynn's mind. An image of an old key in one of the books in the king's study. She stopped, but for a moment couldn't speak — a cold feeling trickling down her spine and gripping her tight. "There is another way. A tunnel under the castle."

  Adena looked surprised. "The secret entrance? You know about that?"

  "I heard about it a long time ago. When we lived down in the village."

  "You know where it is?"

  Erynn nodded. "I read about it in one of the king's books once."

  Adena almost looked offended. "You never told me that."

  "I was worried you might want to go see it."

  "Well, where is it? How do we get there?"

  Erynn hesitated, still not sure she should have even brought it up. She had never seen the tunnel before, but she could imagine it. Narrow and dark and cold. Just like that cave in Galia. Not a place she w
anted to visit at all. "Through the crypt."

  The expression on Adena's face changed. She knew how much Erynn hated that place. "It might be our only chance, Erynn. The only other way out."

  "I know." Erynn wished she could think of something else. Anything else. But her mind was blank. "We need a key. The king keeps it in his study."

  Adena grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the keep. "Then we have to go get it. If he's there we'll just tell him you need it. He owes you that much. Unless he does want to come down to the gate and help us get out of here."

  A wagon was parked out behind the kitchen, the two horses hitched to the front munching on some hay on the ground.

  Erynn paused to look in the back, wondering if maybe they could smuggle themselves out through the gate and she wouldn't have to face the tunnel at all.

  Adena seemed to realize what she was thinking because she tugged on her arm. "It's too risky, Erynn."

  Erynn knew she was probably right, but before she could turn away, Mirella appeared in the kitchen doorway on the opposite side of the wagon.

  "Erynn!" she said. "Why are you in your cloak?"

  Erynn hesitated, trying to casually hide her pack behind the wagon. "The king wants me to go to the market. Adena was going to come with me."

  "You went to the market yesterday."

  "I – I know, but he forgot something. He told me to go after the Galians have left."

  Mirella rolled her eyes, not looking pleased but at the same time not looking like she was in the mood to argue, either. "Well you better get to the hall. Holden told me he's expecting you and I don't want you to keep him waiting. They should be gathering soon."

  Erynn pointed to the rear door, near the back stairs. "I was just going to get a quill and some parchment. Like he asked."

  "Then I suggest you hurry."

  As soon as the headservant headed back inside, Erynn and Adena both bolted for the door. Erynn knew she had no choice now. Like it or not, she needed to find the key to the tunnel and use it to escape the castle. It was her only hope.

  The hallway outside the study was deserted. Erynn was relieved, not really sure she wanted to see the king right now, and she went ahead and entered the room without knocking.

  She went to the desk and opened the drawer, lifting the king's old letters from Gareth and searching around the quill, ink pot, and empty letter tubes for the key. But she saw no sign of it. Confused, she took a closer look, pulling the letters out and flipping through them in case it had slipped in between. But still no key. She checked the other drawers, starting to panic now, but still found nothing. "It's not here."

  Adena was staring up at the painting of Krystalix. This was the first time she had ever seen it, let alone the upper floors of the keep or the king's study. She walked back to the desk, looking concerned. "What do you mean it's not here?"

  Erynn collapsed into the king's chair. "I mean, it's not here." She gazed around, certain she had seen it the day the Galians arrived, and then her eyes stopped on the balcony doors. A memory came back — something she had heard that night while hiding behind those heavy blue drapes. "Holden took it. He was doing something in the desk when he was in here the other night."

  "You're sure? There isn't somewhere else it could be?"

  "No. I've only ever seen it here. In this drawer. Maybe he thought the king would warn me."

  "Is that the only one?"

  "It's the only one I've ever seen," Erynn said. But as soon as she said it, she remembered something else she had read about the key in that old book. She flew out of the chair and went to the mantle, shaking the cabinet key out of the small red vase.

  "What?" Adena asked. "Did you think of something?"

  Erynn went to the cabinet and unlocked the doors. "The tunnel was built in case of siege, as a way for the Royal Family to escape. It was custom for the king and queen to both carry a key. In case they were separated."

  Adena peered in at all of the jewelry boxes stacked on the lower shelves, and then up at the history book on Krystalix and the rolled-up map on the upper shelf. "And you think maybe it's in here?"

  "He keeps the queen's jewels in here."

  "It's a key, Erynn, not a necklace."

  "Yes, but it could have been worn on a chain around the neck. Like the one he gave me." She grabbed one of the boxes, avoiding the largest one that she already knew contained the king's crown, and when she opened it turned toward the light so she could see better. Queen Sera's crown, gold and encrusted with precious stones, sat inside on a bed of red velvet. She felt carefully around the crown and in the corners and even lifted it up to check the lining, but she found no key.

  "Is that the book you read the other night?" Adena asked, still gazing up at the top shelf. "And that map you said the king's always looking at?"

  "Yes," Erynn said as she grabbed another box, her mind solely focused on finding that key. Inside was an assortment of rings, earrings, and brooches.

  "Do you want to read his last entry?" Adena asked. "Or what he wrote about the day your father died?"

  "Not really," Erynn said, rifling carefully through the pieces inside the box. "I think I have a pretty good idea what he wrote now. Besides, we don't have time." Not finding the key, she put the box back and reached for another. She wondered for a brief moment where she might be if she hadn't been interrupted that night. If she had read the entry about her father's death and somehow figured out she was a Daughter of Maegan. Would she have realized she was the one the Galians came for? Perhaps she would have been halfway to North Falls by now.

  "Is Highcastle on that map?"

  "Of course," Erynn said, wishing a little that her friend would stop asking so many questions. "It's one of the largest cities in western Alyria." The box held two diamond-studded tiaras, but no key. She put it back and reached for another — her panic building.

  "Nothing?" Adena asked.

  Erynn sighed and shook her head. She wondered if Holden was in the great hall and how long he'd wait before sending Marik and his men to find her.

  The next box was filled with necklaces, some quite tangled, but as she turned back to the light and rifled through them, she noticed a large key at the bottom, strung on a silver chain — and recognized the intricate design of the bow.

  "This is it," she said, relieved.

  "You're sure?"

  "I'm sure." Erynn slipped the chain over her head and tucked the key under her dress, next to the one the king had given her.

  "Then let's get out of here."

  Adena was at the door by the time Erynn locked the cabinet, returned the key to its hiding place on the mantle, and grabbed her pack. She reached for the knob, but suddenly the door opened.

  Standing in the doorway, and looking very angry, was Mirella.