The Return of Absent Souls (After The Rift Book 6)

by C. J. Archer

  The guard halted the men. Even from where I stood I could see his nervousness. One man against four were not good odds, and if they’d been warned to expect trouble, he would be wary of strangers. If he was smart, he’d alert any companions left inside of potential danger.

  My fears were realized when he let out a shout. Max punched him in the gut before he had a chance to shout a second time. Vance and Drew disarmed him while Gillon removed the rope he carried around his neck. He tied a cloth around the guard’s mouth then tied the guard’s hands and feet together. Drew and Gillon carried him between them around the side of the courthouse where he wouldn’t be discovered for some time.

  I didn’t wait for a signal to join them but ran up to the door and followed the men inside. To my surprise, there were no more guards. Not in the small outer chamber or the inner one. They’d all drunk the emetic.

  Using the moonlight to see, we silently searched the office for keys but found none. Remembering how the keys had been hanging just outside the cell doors in the Merrin prison, I set off in the direction I assumed the holding cells to be.

  “Not that way,” Vance hissed. “That’s the courtroom.” He pointed at another door. “Through there.”

  “The latrines?” Max asked.

  “Behind the cell block.”

  We headed into a dimly lit corridor but stopped as the sounds of a man vomiting reached our ears. Max put up his hand for us to wait but Vance pushed past Max and forged ahead.

  “Oi!” came the voice of a guard. “Who’re you?”

  There was a grunt and a thud. I followed Max and we passed the guard who’d fallen into his own vomit. Vance stood over him, shaking out his hand. I made sure the unconscious guard lay in such a way that he couldn’t choke on his vomit before following the men further into the corridor.

  Max grabbed a torch from the wall and led the way. He held it close to the bars of each cell we passed. Prisoners squinted at the light from where they sat on the floor at the back. Only one prisoner stood near the bars, arms crossed, looking as though he’d been waiting for us.

  “Dane!” I ran to the bars and thrust my arms through. He grinned and clasped my hands.

  “I knew you’d come,” he said. His jaw was covered in stubble and he looked filthy and tired, but I’d never seen a more beautiful sight.

  I wiped my tears on my shoulder. “You have more faith in us than we have in ourselves.”

  “Save the loving reunion for when he’s out,” Vance said, inspecting the lock.

  Max held the torch high and checked the wall beside Dane’s cell. It was bare. “Where are the keys?”

  “The warden keeps them on his belt.” Dane touched my chin. “Emetic?”

  I nodded.

  “That’s my girl.”

  “We need to get the fucking key!” Max snapped.

  “Panic is making you forgetful,” Vance said. “I suggest you calm down and stand guard while the professionals get to work.” He removed some slender metal strips from his pocket.

  I clutched Dane’s hand and willed Vance to work faster. Judging by his grunts, and the worried look exchanged between Drew and Gillon, the lock was proving more complicated than they expected.

  “Hurry up,” Max growled.

  “He’s working as fast as he can,” Drew snapped back. “Merdu, Max, you never used to be this annoying.”

  “Maybe that’s because I never cared about anything this much before.”

  Dane’s fingers tightened around mine.

  “You going to free us next?” came a voice from the next cell.

  “Sure,” Vance said. I didn’t know if he meant it or was simply appeasing the prisoner to keep him quiet.

  “None of you are going anywhere,” said another voice from the corridor’s entrance. “You’re under arrest for helping a prisoner to escape.”

  The man speaking wore a black uniform with gold braid at the shoulder. A set of keys hung from the belt at his waist. He was not alone. Six guards stood behind him. All carried swords. None looked ill.

  Had I misjudged the amount of emetic? If they’d been warned of an escape attempt tonight by the Rotherhydes’ guard, then they could have tricked us into thinking they’d all taken it. That seemed more likely; I doubted I’d made a mistake.

  “Step aside!” the captain bellowed.

  “Keep working,” Max said to Vance. “You get that lock open, and we’ll keep them back.” He drew his sword and settled into a fighting stance.

  My stomach plunged, along with all hope. Max, Gillon and Drew could not keep seven trained guards at bay.

  Chapter 3

  “Put your weapons down!” the warden commanded.

  Max adjusted his grip on his sword hilt. Drew swallowed heavily but kept his gaze on the seven guards.

  “Hurry,” Gillon whispered to Vance.

  Vance’s tongue wedged in the corner of his mouth, the tip poking out as he concentrated on the lock. I picked up the torch Max had set down but Vance didn’t need it. He was working by instinct alone.

  “Josie, get back,” Dane said.

  I moved to the end of the corridor and held the torch like the men held their swords. The warden gave one more warning. When Max didn’t drop his weapon, he charged forward.

  Max met him half way. Gillon and Drew engaged two guards each but that left two more unimpeded. They strode past the fight and shoved Vance aside.

  Vance drew his sword as he fell and thrust it into the stomach of a surprised guard. The second one engaged Vance. With his back to me, he didn’t see me coming.

  I smashed the torch into his head, sending him reeling. Vance finished him off.

  “Now I see why Max lets women come along,” he said, swiftly returning to work on the lock again.

  Gillon cried out as he was struck. Max managed to push the warden back and help Gillon before a plunging blade sliced through him, but the warden quickly recovered. Instead of wasting time on Max, he went straight for Vance, ignoring me.

  That was a mistake. He tripped over my outstretched foot. His momentum took him past Vance and into the bars of Dane’s cell. Dane stabbed him in the shoulder with the surgical knife I’d passed to him moments earlier.

  Before the cry of pain had even left the warden’s lips, I’d removed the keys from his belt and pushed Vance out of the way. With a grunt, he joined in the fight.

  But he wasn’t needed. One of the guards suddenly bent over and threw up, and the warden vomited onto the floor. The remaining three guards ran away, clutching their stomachs.

  My emetic had worked after all. They must have been experiencing a lull between bouts of purging. Others might too, and they may be well enough to come for us. The sooner we got away the better.

  “It’s the last key on the ring,” Dane told me after my first attempt failed.

  I thrust the last key into the lock and it clicked open. Dane rushed out, grabbed my hand, and snatched up a sword from one of the fallen guards. We left the torch behind and Dane led the way through the chambers then outside.

  No one followed us.

  We sprinted around the corner and almost smacked into Quentin and Theodore with the horses.

  Theodore clasped Dane’s shoulder. “You did it!”

  Quentin gave Dane a brief but fierce hug. “Two people per horse,” he said, wiping away tears. “You ride with Josie, unless you prefer to be with me.”

  Dane laughed. “I’ll take Josie.” He helped me onto the saddle and climbed up behind me. Theodore and Quentin mounted another horse, while Max held the reins of a third.

  “Gillon, your shoulder?” he asked.

  “It’ll be fine,” Gillon said, gripping Max’s arm in a friendly shake.

  “Thank you. We owe you so much.”

  “You pay us back by showing us around that palace one day,” Drew said.

  “Maybe even give us a key,” Gillon added with a wink.

  Max gave them a weak smile then his gaze settled on Vance as he mounted one
of the horses. “Goodbye, Vance.”

  Vance grunted. “There’s no time for goodbyes. The guards are probably fetching soldiers now. You’ve got to go or all our hard work will be for nothing.”

  “Your hard work?” Max teased. “Josie made the guards sick and opened the lock.”

  Vance’s grunt was full of humor this time. “You better go and not come back to Freedland. Not unless you bring Josie with you to get you out of prison.”

  Max clasped Vance’s arm. He nodded.

  Vance nodded back, and I could swear his eyes shone. But he quickly looked away and urged his horse forward.

  Max mounted and we headed in the opposite direction.

  Dane’s arms tightened around my waist as his hands held the reins. “Where are we going?”

  “Rotherhydes,” I said. “They have tunnels under the house.” I explained about the boat, Kitty’s necklace, and the delay in leaving.

  He was silent the whole way, only speaking when he greeted the others inside the tunnels. We approached the property from a side garden gate that Ewen had made sure would not be guarded. We were met by Ewen himself, who took the horses and directed us to a clutch of trees abutting the high garden wall.

  “The entrance is in there,” he said. “Eeliss is waiting for you.”

  We crept close to the wall then followed an overgrown path to the trees, using only the moonlight to show the way. It was fortunate that Eeliss met us or we would not have found the trapdoor in the dark.

  “I’ll replace the leaves and soil over the top once you’re safely inside,” she said as I climbed down the ladder. “Your friends are waiting for you in the main tunnel.”

  I looked up to see Dane following me. Below, candlelight flickered. I couldn’t see who held it.

  It grew cooler the closer I got to the bottom of the shaft but I was still warm from our flight. The air smelled of earth and felt damp, but if the tunnel kept us safe, I didn’t care. I would live like a rat down here for weeks if necessary.

  “Josie! Thank Hailia.” It was Kitty’s voice but Meg’s arms that embraced me.

  “Dane?” said Yelena. “Where’s Dane?”

  “Here,” he said as he jumped to the ground, skipping the last few rungs. His mother embraced him as fiercely as the girls hugged me.

  I squinted into the dim light to see Balthazar holding the candlestick and Martha alongside him. She shed silent tears, but he simply looked relieved. He smiled weakly at me, and I smiled back.

  Then he turned and walked off, taking the only light with him. “Come with me and mind your heads.”

  Our rather large party made its way, single file, through the narrow tunnel. Dane kept one hand linked with mine and the other on the tunnel roof to warn him when to duck. He alerted Meg, Kitty and I to also duck at certain points, but the others did not have to worry.

  We didn’t speak until the tunnel gave way to a small chamber where Erik sat on a straw pallet, a single candle beside him. His teeth showed white in the darkness.

  “You are free! This is good news. Very good news.” He tried to rise, but Dane ordered him to remain seated. They clasped arms warmly. “I am glad you didn’t die yet.”

  “So am I,” Dane said.

  Martha made a choking sound, and Meg wrapped a comforting arm around her. “We have enough food and water to sustain us for three days,” she said. “It’s stored in another small chamber along the corridor. We can’t cook anything down here, and the perishable food must be eaten first.”

  Quentin snorted. “We won’t be dining like royalty then.”

  “Quentin,” Theodore hissed, jerking his head at Yelena.

  Quentin winced. “Sorry, Princess. I meant no offence.”

  Yelena ignored him. She took Dane’s hands in both of hers. “Did they torture you?”

  “They treated me well enough.” He scrubbed his jaw. “I wouldn’t mind a shave, though. Funnily enough, barbers aren’t allowed to visit condemned prisoners.”

  Quentin chuckled then threw his arms around Dane again. “It’s so good to have you back in one piece. We missed you.”

  Dane clapped him on the back. “I missed you too. I see you took care of Josie for me.”

  “Of course.”

  “I think she took care of him,” Theodore said, slapping Dane on the shoulder. “Come with me. I’ll shave you.”

  Dane’s eyes shone in the darkness as he smiled at me. He winked and I winked back before he followed Theodore out of the chamber.

  I checked Erik’s wound and was pleased to see it was healing nicely. Hopefully the stitches in Dane’s back had not come out in the struggles during his arrest. There was no telling what state it would be in if it became infected from the prison filth.

  I went to follow him, but Yelena caught my arm. “Leave him be.”

  “I need to check his wound,” I said.

  “He needs to rest.”

  “I know.”

  Her grip tightened around my arm before she released me. “Thank you for what you did tonight. Your loyalty won’t be forgotten.”

  “It had nothing to do with loyalty, but I appreciate you acknowledging my efforts.”

  I followed Dane and Theodore’s voices in the dark to the next chamber and found Dane holding up the candle to his jaw while Theodore carefully shaved him.

  “This could have waited for the morning,” I said.

  “Until you have unwanted whiskers, you can’t comment,” Dane said.

  I smiled. “You’re in a good mood.”

  “I may have exchanged one small dark place for another, but at least I’m free.”

  “Not necessarily. You can’t go anywhere until the boat is ready and it’s time to leave. None of us can. It’s too much of a risk. Even Kitty, Meg and I must stay in here. If anyone sees Glancian women walking down the street, they’ll follow us back.”

  Balthazar entered, taking us by surprise. The packed earth floor dulled the tops of his walking stick.

  “Is nowhere private anymore?” Dane asked without moving his jaw.

  Balthazar leaned his walking stick against the wall and searched for somewhere to sit among the barrels of water, pails, and basins. He ended up perching on the edge of the small table where brushes and other grooming implements had been laid.

  “It’s just like old times at the palace,” Theodore said. “The four of us discussing palace politics and plotting intrigues. It’s not exactly Bal’s office, but it’s not too bad down here.”

  “I never plotted,” Balthazar said.

  We looked at him.

  “I merely reacted to the machinations of others.” He glanced at the entrance. “Speaking of which, I’ve had the good fortune to speak to your mother while we waited for your return, Dane. She’s an interesting woman.”

  “I hardly know her,” Dane said.

  “She’s very forthright, which is not unexpected in a member of the royal household.”

  No one mentioned that she wasn’t a member of any royal household anymore.

  “Did you know she’s coming to Glancia with us?” Balthazar went on.

  “Josie explained as much on the way here. If Yelena stays in Freedland, her life is in danger.”

  “Only while you live.”

  “Don’t kill me off too soon, Bal.”

  “I won’t. Quentin would be inconsolable, and I can’t stand excessive weeping.” Balthazar inspected a hair comb made of bone as if it intrigued him, but I knew it was a technique he employed to disguise his emotions.

  “Go on,” Dane said, not fooled either. “Out with it.”

  Balthazar set the comb aside. “Now that the Freedland ministers know you’re alive, they’ll pursue you, even if that means chasing you all the way back to Glancia. They can’t afford for you to live.”

  Theodore lowered the blade. “Not back to Glancia, surely?”

  Balthazar nodded.

  Theodore indicated he’d finished and set about washing the blade in a basin of water. “We’l
l just have to fight them in Glancia, then. At least we’ll be on home soil.”

  No one reminded him that his real home was more likely to be in Dreen than Glancia.

  “Yes,” Balthazar said heavily. “We’ll just have to fight them when they come for him. Or he must hide out his days somewhere, perhaps change his name. Leave Mull and go somewhere no one will find him.”

  Dane leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. He dragged his hand through his ragged hair and sighed heavily.

  Balthazar pushed off from the table and collected his walking stick. “Or he embraces his birthright and leads a royalist force to take back the Averlea throne. The Rotherhydes will send word to me at the palace when they have gathered enough support.”

  “If they get enough support,” I said. “It doesn’t seem like many in Freedland will risk their lives for the royal family.”

  “They will get the soldiers they need,” Balthazar said with confidence. “The Rotherhydes have a vast fortune, so Vance told me, and international mercenaries go where the money takes them.”

  “How long before they’ll be ready?” Dane asked.

  “It’s a matter of months,” I said, recalling what Ewen had told Meg. “You don’t need to make a decision about your future yet.”

  “Come on, Bal,” Theodore said cheerfully. He passed a basin of fresh water to me with a clean cloth. “I’ll leave him in your hands, Josie. Try to remember he’s tired.”

  “And that sound travels in these tunnels,” Balthazar added as he limped off.

  I hugged the basin until they were gone then set it down near Dane’s feet. I sat on his lap and stroked his hair off his forehead. “You look worried.”

  “There’s a lot to think about.”

  “One thing at a time. Escaping first; taking over Freedland later.”

  He shook his head. “Loving you first. Everything else can wait.”

  The first thing Dane did after waking from a long sleep was to ask his mother about his father. Yelena told him he was Glancian, as we’d suspected. He’d come to Noxford to forge new trading alliances but died shortly before Dane’s birth.