I nodded and smiled warily. I waited for more—for him to tell us who he was, or what he was doing driving past the old cellar, and how he knew Jenus—but he wasn’t very forthcoming. He just stared with his dark brown eyes, a curious expression on his face.
Even by sentry standards our savior was tall. He was well built and muscular, with long brown hair that was tied at the nape of his neck. Had it not been for his pale skin, I would have thought he worked as a farmer or outdoor laborer. He also seemed less exotic to me than the other sentries we had seen. Perhaps it was the lack of elaborate robes or air of royalty, but aside from his height, Ash could have passed for a human.
I ate the last crumb of bread, my eyes half closed and my face tilted upward in the direction of the sun. It felt so good to have warmth on my face and to feel the slight breeze, carrying fresh, clean air that didn’t reek of manure.
When the boys had finished, I turned to Ash again. “I know we’ve already asked a lot of you, but we really need to be taken to the portal so we can get out of here.”
“Portal?” he asked.
“Yes, it would take us back to Earth—sort of like a tunnel between your land, Nevertide, and ours. Kind of like a break in the fabric of your world.” I tried to explain it as best I could, but Ash was looking at me blankly.
“I’ll take you to Hellswan Kingdom’s borders,” he replied. “Will that help?”
My stomach turned. I wasn’t sure. What was beyond Hellswan Kingdom’s borders? I supposed that the borders would be better than nothing… Maybe it would lead us to some clue as to where Nevertide was located within the supernatural dimension, and at least we’d be out of Jenus’s grasp. Perhaps we would find a shore, and a boat and sail away… and hope to meet with some more welcoming supernaturals. Thanks to GASP’s efforts to make alliances with supernaturals, there were a number of species who were favorable toward us.
“Okay,” I said. “Thank you.”
“Hop on then.” He gestured to the wagon. “Sunroots in the back—you can help yourselves,” he stated, looking toward the boys. While I was wondering what sunroots were, I could tell Ash was taken aback by how sick they looked—I could hardly look at Julian without a lump forming in my throat.
The boys scrambled into the back of the wagon. I glanced inside to see piles of what looked like thick, yellowish carrots. “Sunroots,” I muttered, before positioning myself up front beside Ash.
He gently clucked the creature onward, holding the reins loosely in his hand. We drove off at a brisk trot, the wheels of the wagon creaking and swaying under their new load.
I looked around at the landscape as we drove away from the cellar. Now that we were out of it, I could appreciate just how lucky we were that Ash had stumbled across us. The cellar was part of a dilapidated farmhouse, its old stone crumbling into the dirt with weeds growing through the concrete, and only broken and brownish glass left where the windows had once stood. I shuddered.
The land around us was mostly flat. I could see the mountains and hills in the distance, and the small speck of the Hellswan castle on the horizon. But this was all farm land, with miles of dusty crops and solitary trees marking out where one plot ended and another began.
“How did you distract Jenus?” I asked Ash, half dreading the appearance of the dark, looming figure galloping across the open fields.
“I poisoned his father,” Ash replied tersely. “Distract the family for days, that will.”
“What?” I asked, stunned. “You poisoned the emperor? How did you do that? How did you manage to get into the castle—and how on earth weren’t you caught?”
The danger that Ash had put himself through shocked me. I stared up at him, and for the first time the corners of his mouth slowly edged into a smile.
“Listen, shortie. My family have been cooks in Hellswan Castle for generations. Not too hard to sprinkle a bit of something into the old man’s soup!” He gave a bark of laughter, and tugged merrily on the reins.
I wondered if Ash even knew what a dangerous game he was playing. Crossing Jenus was one thing, but endangering the emperor’s life… surely the punishment if he was found out would be death?
As if he could see my mind working, he gave me a sideways glance and a wink. “Don’t you worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
I wasn’t sure I believed him, but there was something about Ash that warned me not to underestimate him.
“Okay. Well, thanks. You’ve saved us, and we’ll be forever grateful.”
“Think nothing of it.” He shrugged. “I want to hear about this place you come from—Earth. What’s it like there?”
“Well… Why do you ask?” I replied. I wasn’t sure how much I was willing to tell him. I trusted Ash, but only up to a point—he was still a stranger, and I wanted the worlds of Nevertide and humans to stay fully separate after our dealings with Jenus and the majority of the sentries.
“Just interested,” he replied pleasantly. “Never been anywhere but Nevertide.”
“We have more stuff—that’s the real difference, I suppose—for, you know, entertainment, games, TV, that kind of thing,” I replied vaguely, wondering at the same time what people in Nevertide actually did for entertainment—I imagined them watching medieval games like jousts.
“No, I don’t know what TV is. Is it good?” he asked.
“Um, yeah—it’s great. Well, it depends what you watch, but basically it’s a screen where you watch shows or movies,” I said. “There are loads of different channels for whatever you’re into. Real-life stuff, horror, romance, sci-fi…”
My voice trailed off as Ash looked at me in complete bewilderment.
“So this TV thing, it shows you anything you want to see?” he clarified.
“Kind of, yes,” I replied, thinking that was probably the closest I was going to come to explaining it.
“And what about games—you mentioned them, what kind of games do they play on Earth?” Ash asked, his eyes inquisitive as they met mine.
“We play sports, but also things called gaming consoles—like on a computer, but smaller, and you can be the creature in the game, and then battle your enemies or whatever. Julian and Benedict love those.” I paused and looked over at the boys in the back. Only minutes ago they’d been stuffing their faces with sunroots, but now they were dozing as the wagon trundled on.
“That sounds amazing,” Ash remarked.
“Yeah,” I murmured. “It’s pretty cool. We have lots of stuff to keep us entertained, but my parents are pretty adamant about me getting outdoors and experiencing nature, which is why we were sent to a summer camp on a Scottish island this year”—I rolled my eyes—“and it would have been fun had we not been taken by sentries.”
Ash seemed to digest this for a moment, and then resumed his questioning.
“What’s a ‘summer camp’?” he asked.
“Oh, that’s where kids go to do activities during their vacations —either learning skills or just having fun, normally both.”
“Like training?”
“I guess you could say that,” I mused, “though I doubt in training camps they let you eat s’mores in front of a bonfire—s’mores are basically a sugary cracker that you eat,” I interjected before he could ask.
He nodded. “It sounds fun. What do you do for work?”
“Work? I’m… uh, not working yet. I’m twenty.” I was on uncomfortable ground here. I didn’t want to give Ash any information on GASP or The Shade, not even by accident. “How far away are we?” I asked, before he could get another word in.
“Not far. See those trees?” He leaned closer toward me and pointed toward the horizon. “That’s the border. Just a few miles away.”
My heart lifted as we continued to make our way to freedom.
As the trees slowly grew in size, I felt a wave of relief course through me. At least we stood a chance of escaping Nevertide now.
“All right, we’re here,” Ash announced, drawing the wagon to a halt. We stopped about two yards in
front of the line of dark pine trees, their shadows passing over us as we disembarked.
Ash jumped down from his seat and walked over to my side to offer me a hand down. He was smiling now, and I got a glimpse of the carefree man Ash might have been were it not for what I suspected was a hard life in Hellswan.
I took his hand gratefully, and stepped down. The boys were already waiting, eager to get to the trees and put Nevertide behind them. I shared their sentiment.
“Thanks, Ash,” I said, looking up at him once last time. “I won’t forget it.”
“Wish I could go with you, shortie.” He grinned. “Have a s’more for me.”
“You always could…” I hesitated, not sure if I meant it or not. Having a supernatural accompany us would be a huge help, even if I didn’t fully trust him.
“No,” he said. “I’d better get back and sort my mess out before they hang some poor innocent bastard for it.”
I nodded.
“Thanks,” Benedict said as Ash climbed back up on the wagon, echoed by Julian.
Ash waved at us before trundling off with the wagon back to Hellswan castle.
“Okay.” I turned to the boys once he’d departed. “We need to cross through the trees—are you both okay?”
“Okay,” Julian managed. “Let’s just get out of this place.”
“Let’s go,” I said. I couldn’t wait to get home—and then, as soon as we could, assemble a GASP team to retrieve Hazel.
We walked briskly toward the trees… but, bizarrely, it seemed to take forever.
I turned to Benedict and Julian, thinking that it must just be my desperation that was making it seem longer, but they returned my glance with a look of complete bafflement.
“Ruby,” Benedict said in a small voice, “we’re not getting any closer to the trees.”
“I think it’s just…” I wanted to say something to reassure them, reassure myself, but my voice trailed off.
We weren’t getting any closer. I picked up my pace and the boys did the same—but no matter how fast we walked, the trees remained at the same distance as when we’d started.
“This… is crazy,” I breathed, walking even faster. Benedict started to run; Julian and I followed his lead.
The faster I ran, the more I started to feel something… stretching around me. As if I was running into a clear elastic band that gave a little, stretching almost to breaking point with every leap I took, but wouldn’t release and let me pass.
Without any warning, I was suddenly flying backward through the air and skidding on my butt along the dry, stony earth.
Ash was driving his wagon toward me.
What the hell?
I looked over at the trees—they were now just a small splodge of green in the distance. Both Julian and Benedict were lying a few feet away, looking as frustrated and confused as I felt.
“Whoa.” Ash calmed the horse-bull, who looked as surprised to see us as its master. “What are you doing here?” he asked in astonishment.
“It was the trees,” I replied breathlessly, “they wouldn’t let us any closer—like there was some weird force field around it or something, and we couldn’t get to them.”
Ash jumped down from the wagon and helped me to my feet. I couldn’t help but notice he was becoming quite the gentleman rescuer to my damsel in distress, and it wasn’t a situation I was particularly comfortable with.
I hastily took my hand back and dusted myself off.
“Damn.” He sighed. “I should have known—they’ve closed the borders.” He swore again under his breath. “They’ll probably remain like that till the trials are over.”
He kicked the back wheel of the wagon. “I gave them just the excuse they needed,” he added grimly. “An attempt on the emperor’s life? ‘Let’s close the borders at once!’” he mimicked. “Dammit—it’s just because they want to keep the other sentries from getting human helpers. And without humans, none of my fellow sentries are going to stand a chance against the Hellswans.”
Fellow sentries? What does that mean?
“Are you going to be competing in the trials?” I asked, raising my brows.
“I am.” He sighed, and gave me a sideways look. “I originally only rescued you to irritate Jenus… I’m not the kidnapping sort, you see… But now…” His tone softened as he paused. His deep brown eyes fixed on me, growing thoughtful. “Now I think maybe fate’s playing a part in this. What about this… I’ll keep you and the boys safe and disguised from Jenus and the rest of the Hellswans, if you’ll compete with me in the trials.”
He looked at me—his expression half determined, half requesting.
I stared at him, my jaw dropping.
I should have seen this coming but, oh, God, I’d been so convinced we were about to get out of this ghastly kingdom.
As I gazed up at Ash, I couldn’t stop a surge of irritation from bubbling up within me. I knew the borders being closed wasn’t entirely his fault—and if he hadn’t done something to distract the Hellswans we’d likely still be stuck in Jenus’ hellhole— but it irked me that our passage out of here was reliant on yet another deal being made, and it felt like we had taken one giant leap back to where we started.
Sentries.
The trials.
Another brain power suck-fest.
“We’ll help,” Benedict said reluctantly.
He’d accepted sooner than me that we didn’t have any other option. Plus, there was probably a part of him that was glad not to leave his sister here all alone.
Ash looked at me.
“We’ll help,” I sighed. “Consider this your repayment.”
Ash nodded. “All right! You have first-hand experience with what the Hellswans can be like. They’re not fit to be royalty.” I raised an eyebrow at him “I mean, I don’t think I’m exactly fit either—but I don’t see how I can be worse than them. With you by my side, maybe I’ve got a chance.”
His expression went solemn and thoughtful again. “We could do good things for this kingdom, you and me, and I swear by all that’s holy, if I win, the first thing I’ll do is open those borders and figure out a way to send you all home. What do you say?”
It sounds like a million things could go wrong, I thought.
“Okay,” I said out loud, my voice drenched in resignation, “it’s a deal.”
Hazel
I stood waiting in the corner of the emperor’s room, trying to make myself as small and inconspicuous as possible. Tejus was still talking to the ministers, their voices growing lower and more hushed as the conversation continued, until I could no longer hear what they were saying.
The room’s glow, and the roaring fire that was lit in the hearth, made me feel drowsy. My eyes were half closed when Jenus slowly got up from beside his father’s bed.
I looked over at Tejus, but he was deep in conversation. No one else was paying attention to Jenus leaving, and as I observed the surreptitious glances he gave everyone and his slow and deliberate movements, I realized that was exactly the way he wanted it.
In an instant my drowsiness was gone.
As he slipped through the heavy doors, I followed him out. He headed back down the corridor from which Tejus and I had just come. I continued tracking him—careful to keep enough distance between the two of us to avoid detection.
I hoped against hope that Jenus would lead me somewhere where I could spot other humans that I suspected he, and perhaps some of the other sentries, were keeping for the trial—and if I was very lucky, he would lead me to Benedict and the others.
Please let them be safe.
I prayed that he wasn’t on his way to kill them, and if he was, that somehow I could stop him before he got there.
I kept up with Jenus’s pace—but barely. He seemed to be taking me down into the depths of the castle, using the worst-lit corridors, and taking sharp turns and detours when he saw any of the castle staff or ministers, who were swarming in to offer their condolences.
My first ass
umption was right—Jenus was definitely trying to avoid being seen. Eventually, in a dank corridor where drops of water ran down from crumbling stone, he stopped at a small, narrow doorway and retrieved a key from his pocket. Unlocking the door, he slipped out.
I ran to close the distance between us, determined to continue following him, and managed to catch the door before it closed. It led to the exterior grounds of the castle, and I stepped out into the morning half-light just in time to see Jenus striding down the footbridge that passed over the moat.
I could see that my luck was running out.
Ahead of Jenus was a small portcullis, which he had set in motion at the start of the footbridge. It was rising to let him through, the heavy chains clinking loudly as they pulled away the iron structure. As soon as he passed through, it began to fall again at a rapid pace.
Running forward, I grabbed a branch from an overhanging tree, jamming it under the portcullis. It gave me just enough space to squeeze through if I lay on my stomach. Shuddering as I looked at the heavy spikes, I pulled myself to the other side and left the castle grounds.
I could just make out Jenus up ahead, making his way loudly through the wood that surrounded this side of the castle—clearly he no longer cared who heard or saw him. I hurried to catch up with him, coming as close as I dared without being seen.
He kept walking, going deeper and deeper into the forest. With the light still dim, I had trouble keeping an eye on Jenus while still trying to watch where I was going.
Jenus came to a halt just as I stepped on an old branch, and it cracked beneath my foot. He spun around, and I dived behind the nearest oak as quickly as I could.
I held my breath, hoping that he hadn’t seen me.
After a while, his footsteps continued—but they were moving away from me. I looked out from behind the tree to check which direction he’d headed in, but Jenus had vanished.
Crap!
I didn’t want to lose him. He had to be around here somewhere. I kept walking in the direction he’d been headed, speeding up my pace to make up for the time I’d lost.
Soon I became completely disorientated. There was no longer any sign of Jenus, and the forest grew steadily thicker and darker around me. I looked back in the direction I had come, but could no longer see the castle.