CHAPTER 14
Adena quickly slipped behind the door, out of sight.
"Why aren't you in the hall?" Mirella demanded as she stepped into the room. "Holden is down there waiting for you."
Erynn motioned to her pack, trying hard not to look at Adena. "I – I just came for a quill and —"
"Yes, I know what you came for. What I want to know is what's taking you so long?"
"I was looking for a good piece of parchment."
Mirella took a few more steps into the study and glanced around. "Where's your friend? I thought she was joining you for breakfast?"
"She had to go back to the stables for something."
Mirella narrowed her eyes, as if not quite sure she believed her, but then she stepped aside and motioned with her head towards the door. "Let's go."
Erynn didn't move. She wasn't sure how she was going to get out of this, but did know one thing for sure: she wasn't going to the great hall. At least she wasn't going willingly.
"Now, Erynn. Or shall I add more time to your dish sentence?"
If Erynn wasn't so scared of Marik or Holden appearing at any moment, she thought she might have laughed. Instead, she swallowed, knowing she was about to make the headservant very, very angry, and calmly folded her arms across her chest. "I'm not going."
Mirella looked stunned — and even more angry. "Holden's given you an order, Erynn. Disobey it and I guarantee you his punishment will be much worse than mine."
"I know why they want me there. And I'm still not going."
"Why they want you there?" Mirella said, sounding a little confused. Then she shook her head. "I really don't know why Holden would want you there, or why the king ever chose you to write his letters, but you have been given an order and I will not let you disobey."
Erynn still didn't move.
The headservant's face was quickly growing red. "This is ridiculous. You're coming with me. Now."
Before Erynn could react, Mirella stepped forward and grabbed her arm. Erynn struggled with her for a few seconds, but finally wrenched herself away and moved further back into the room.
"I'm still not going with you, Mirella," she said.
Behind the door, Adena slowly inched away from the wall.
Mirella continued toward her again, her jaw clenched and hate in her eyes, but then she seemed to change her mind and stopped. "You will pay for this, Erynn. I guarantee it. Even the king won't be able to help you this time."
Erynn felt a rage boiling up inside her — no longer scared of her threats. "You've never liked me, have you Mirella? Ever since I set foot in the castle you've treated me worse than everyone else. Punishing me all the time. I know you're behind the rumor about me. About me and the king. But it isn't true. It's a lie."
Mirella smirked. "And why else would a king take in a fourteen-year-old servant girl and choose her to be his scribe?"
Erynn wished the king was in the study to hear her say that. To hear the disgust in her voice. But he wasn't. "There is a reason, one that actually makes a lot of sense once you've heard it, but I'm not even going to tell you."
A flicker of confusion crossed Mirella's face, but then it was gone. "I've had enough of this. Let's see you try and refuse the guards." She turned for the door, but it suddenly swung shut in front of her. Then Adena leapt out like a cat, barreling into the headservant's mid-section like a bull and sending her flying across the room. She landed in a heap by the balcony doors, clutching her stomach and gasping for air — and staring up at both of them in shock.
"Let's go!" Adena said, and she ran for the door.
Erynn raced after her, pausing only long enough to shut the door behind her — so she could at least delay Mirella calling the guards. Adena started back the way they came, but Erynn grabbed her arm and lead her another way, down a series of corridors to the west side of the keep. They had to duck into a shadowy corner twice to avoid being seen by passing guards, but otherwise the upper halls of the keep were deserted.
Soon they reached the winding staircase leading down to the deepest, darkest parts of Caraden Castle. Erynn descended quickly, only slowing when she neared the bottom and heard voices.
Two corridors branched off at the foot of the stairs, candles burning in sconces along the walls. The voices were coming from the left, the direction of the castle dungeon. Two men were talking about the banquet, although it was clear from their conversation that neither had actually attended.
Erynn pointed to the right, the direction they needed to go, and then stepped quietly to the edge of the stair, peeked around the corner to see if the guards were watching, and slipped down the hall. A second later, Adena followed.
The men continued talking, not noticing the two girls slip by.
Erynn ran down the corridor, holding on tight to her pack to prevent the coins from clinking. Her heart was pounding, but she knew it wasn't just her fear that Marik or his men might appear behind them any minute. She could see two massive doors ahead, at the far end of the corridor, and she knew what lay beyond. The crypt was bad enough, but the tunnel would be worse. Dark and cold and likely home to more than just spiders. Could she do this?
She hesitated when they reached the doors, but Adena grabbed a handle and pulled one open. It creaked loudly, enough to make them both wince, but a peal of laughter reached them from down the hall and seemed to cover the noise. They stepped inside.
A long cavernous room with a wide central passage and numerous thick pillars stretched before them. Caskets carved out of marble and stone sat on either side of the central aisle, most bearing a life-sized likeness of the deceased Royal on top. Hundreds of candles lined the corridor and each of the recesses between the caskets.
Erynn took a deep breath and started forward, glancing cautiously back and forth at the spaces between the caskets. Holden had thought enough to take his father's key to the tunnel. She just hoped he hadn't also thought enough to post a guard.
"I know you said they kept it lit," Adena whispered, "but I didn't imagine it would be like this. Who comes down here?"
"No one really. Maybe the king sometimes, to visit the queen. I think it's more out of respect for the dead."
"The dwarves built it?"
"Yes, a very long time ago."
"I can see why you hated having to work down here. It would take me all day to light this many candles."
Erynn wanted to tell her that it wasn't the candles she hated, but didn't bother. She was finding it hard to keep a lid on her anxiety as it was and knew that voicing her fears would only make it harder. "Well, hopefully whoever Mirella assigned to do it today isn't still down here."
They passed dozens of caskets before the room came to an end and they turned right through a passageway into another large room, similar to the first. More caskets lay before them, and minutes passed before they finally reached the last one. The room continued on, but there were no more candles. No lights of any kind. Just an endless room stretching on into darkness.
A vase full of fresh red flowers sat at the foot of the casket.
"Queen Sera," Adena said, reading the name etched into the stone.
Erynn didn't want to take candles from the queen's resting place, so she went to another casket across the aisle and selected the largest two she could find. She returned and handed one to Adena.
"Think they'll last the whole way?" Adena asked, a trace of concern in her voice.
Erynn was already trying hard not to imagine what might happen if they didn't. "I sure hope so."
"Where's the tunnel?"
Erynn motioned to the stretch of darkness that lay before them. "I think it's at the end of this room."
"Think? You've never seen it?"
"This isn't exactly a place I like to spend my time," Erynn snapped. She wanted out of the crypt. Now. And yet she was about to enter a space that was going to be much, much smaller. "I read about it. The book said it was at the end of the second crypt."
"Then let's go find out," Adena said,
and she started forward into the darkness.
Erynn took a deep breath, hitched up her pack, and followed after her, keeping her candle raised so she could see the ground ahead.
They moved as quickly as they could and after several minutes finally came to the end of the crypt — which was marked by a short stone wall, about four feet high, with a narrow passage in the center. From there, the floor sloped downward about thirty feet to the far wall. In the center of the wall was a black iron gate.
Erynn swallowed and looked away, checking both sides of the narrow passage behind the short wall to make sure no one was hiding in the shadows.
Adena started down the slope.
Erynn hesitated a moment, but then followed her and fished out the key. Her fingers were trembling so she slipped the chain off and handed the key to Adena. "You better do it. With my luck I'd lose it."
Adena seemed to notice the nervous edge to her voice and the slight shake in her hand, but said nothing and simply handed Erynn her candle. She put her pack down, inserted the key in the lock, and tried turning it a few times, but it wouldn't budge. "You're sure it's the right one?"
"I'm sure," Erynn said, glancing back at the narrow passage in the short wall and searching the darkness for any signs they were being followed. "It's probably not been used in a hundred years, that's all."
Adena tried again, fiddling with the key, and finally it clicked right and the lock popped open. She lifted it off, pulled the gate open, and grabbed her pack. Then she stepped into the tunnel and turned to wait for Erynn.
Erynn hesitated again, staring at the dark gaping hole that now lay before her. Her throat was so tight that she could barely breathe, but she knew she had no other choice. She had to get out of the castle and the tunnel was the only chance she had left. So she gripped the candles tight and stepped inside.
Adena locked the gate behind them and slipped the chain around her neck. Then she took her candle back from Erynn. "You alright?"
"No," Erynn said. "But let's get this over with."
The tunnel wasn't wide enough to walk side-by-side, so Adena took the lead, raising her candle high enough to see the ground ahead of her.
Debris lay everywhere. Mostly loose rock and old discarded torches, but also the occasional piece of armor or bit of weaponry. Even a few arrows. Adena stopped to pick up an old dagger at one point, but the blade promptly fell off and she tossed the rest of it back on the ground.
Erynn stepped over yet another old torch and wondered about the person who'd carried it. Had the fire burned out and left him alone in the dark? And if it did, did he ever find his way out? The thought of stumbling across bones in the tunnel — skulls gazing up at her with empty eyes — made her heart beat even faster.
Something moved on the ground ahead, scurrying away from them with series of tiny squeaks, and they both gasped and stopped.
"Rats," Adena said with disgust.
Erynn shuddered and squeezed her eyes closed, her mind now rapidly filling with images of being trapped down there in the darkness of the tunnel and eaten alive. Their bones picked clean.
A second later, Adena started forward again, muttering something to herself.
Erynn followed, not wanting to be left behind. Panic was setting in now, her breath coming fast, and it was getting even harder and harder to stay calm. She told herself to focus on the floor and not the walls around her. To focus on her breathing and not the squeak and the scurry of the rats. To focus on just getting through this tunnel one step at a time — and that she wasn't going to die. She also tried to think about what might be going on up in the great hall. She hoped Holden was frantic, and that his plan with the Galians was now in jeopardy with her missing, but that he still hadn't figured out where she went. Mirella had likely alerted him and the guards by now, but hopefully they were still searching the keep. And even checking the stables. Every once in a while she peered back into the darkness of the tunnel behind them, looking for glimpses of light that would signal pursuit. But she saw nothing.
Then Adena stopped as several more rats scurried away down the tunnel and Erynn accidentally walked into her. Her candle brushed her friend's pack and the flame flickered and almost went out.
"Careful," Adena whispered. "This place is bad enough with the light. It'll be a hundred times worse in the dark."
"I know," Erynn said, waiting for her heart to start again. "I just want to get out of here."
"So do I, but if we go any faster, we're only going to get ourselves in trouble."
Erynn stood there, waiting, and finally Adena started walking again. This time Erynn stayed focused on what was ahead of them and didn't look back.
Soon the floor started sloping downwards.
"We're going down," Adena said, obviously not expecting this.
"Yes," Erynn said. "Down to the lake. That's where the tunnel comes out."
"All the way down?"
"Yes, where did you think we came out?"
"I don't know. The woods behind the castle somewhere."
Erynn thought she caught a touch of fear in her friend's voice, but said nothing and they continued on in silence.
A few minutes later, Adena turned her head. "What happens when we get to the lake?"
"I don't know. I haven't exactly done this before."
"It didn't say in that book?"
Erynn tried to remember, but other than the drawing of the key and the details of where to find the tunnel, her mind was blank. "I don't think so."
Adena was quiet a moment. "I can't swim, Erynn."
This time Erynn did hear fear in her friend's voice. She wanted to tell her they would be fine, that they should be able to find some way around the lake without having to swim, but she really had no idea what to expect and right now was just trying to concentrate on getting through the tunnel. "I'm sure we'll manage."
"I hope you're right."
The floor continued downward and after a time they picked up their pace. Rats still scurried away from them along the rough stone floor, loudly squeaking their displeasure, but they were almost too focused on getting out of the tunnel to care.
Then Adena lowered her candle. "I think I see something ahead. A light."
Erynn peered over her shoulder. She could see a tiny pinprick of light in the darkness ahead, and with every step they took, it seemed to grow larger and larger.
"It looks like a window," Adena said a few minutes later.
Soon a waft of cool, fresh air, reached them and they started walking faster — and then almost running.
It was a window. Paneless, about two feet square, and located in the middle of the wall at the end of the tunnel. Vines grew thick around the outside and beyond were tree tops and glimpses of snow-capped mountains.
Erynn pushed back the vines and stood up on her toes to peer outside. She took several deep breaths of the cool air, and just the feel of it coursing through her helped calm her down. When she stepped back to let Adena have a turn at the window, she noticed her friend staring off to their left, her candle raised.
The tunnel turned sharply at the outer wall, dropping almost straight down into darkness. Steep stairs had been cut into the rock and a similar sized window set in the outer wall every few steps. The windows let in some light to reveal the stairs, but many were almost completely overgrown with vines.
Erynn wondered how far it was to the bottom.
"This must take us down to the lake," Adena said.
"I guess," Erynn replied.
Adena seemed uneasy, but finally she raised her candle and started down the stairs. "I sure wouldn't want to do this without a torch or something."
Erynn took one last look back along the tunnel before heading down the stairs after her. She stepped carefully, one stair at a time, and used her free hand in places where the stone had broken loose. The descent seemed to take forever, but eventually the bottom came into view — a small open space ending at a high wall and another black iron gate.
&nb
sp; Adena reached the gate first and had the key out by the time Erynn arrived. And this time she was the one trembling. "I hope it's the same lock. I'd really hate to go back."
"Wouldn't make sense if it wasn't," Erynn said, peering through the gate to the passage on the other side. "They had two keys in case the king and queen were separated. Not for two locks." The passage turned a few feet from the gate, so she couldn't see very far, but she could definitely see light ahead. Sunlight. Which thankfully meant they wouldn't need the candles for much longer. And she could smell something, too — something she knew right away was responsible for the shake in her friend's hand. The smell of lake water.
Adena inserted the key and this time the lock popped opened after a couple of tries, sending a layer of fine dust to the ground. She lifted it and pulled the gate open, waiting for Erynn to walk through with the candles before grabbing her pack and following after her.
As Erynn stood in the passageway, waiting for her friend to lock the gate behind them, she felt a wave of relief wash over her. She had survived the tunnel and escaped the castle. Now she just needed to get out of Alyria.