by Terah Edun
Ciardis felt her heart sink. There wasn’t much between her and the river but dark alleys. If SaAlgardis hadn’t announced himself already, he might not be who they thought he was.
She turned around, hoping she was wrong, but there were men standing cloaked with deep hoods just across the cobblestone streets.
They had to have been waiting in the alley and ghosted out as soon as the Duchess of Carne and her prey appeared.
Every single one of those men held a loaded multi-action crossbow at chest level, and all were angled across the street at them.
Blinking, Ciardis held her hands up in surrender. It was going to be a long night.
“What’s this?” Sebastian demanded. “Were all your pretty words just lies, Duchess? Would you say anything to get us alone to kill us? Did you dupe even your own men?”
“I did nothing of the sort,” the Duchess said in an affronted voice. “And if Jason SaAlgardis has done so, more fool him, because you and your people represent one of our last remaining plots.”
Hope glimmered in Ciardis’s chest. Or maybe it was just weariness. She couldn’t tell. She knew that she was darned tired of having weapons pointed at her willy-nilly.
None of the crossbow wielders moved. An eerie silence fell.
“Come now,” explained the duchess. “Dawn isn’t far off, and I for one would like to be off these streets whether dead or alive. So if you’re going to kill us, go ahead and do it already.”
Terris clicked her teeth. “Not to be the obvious one about this, but can we not be so hasty about life-and-death matters? I still have a husband to save.”
And I an empire, Ciardis thought.
The individual in the middle of the group of five crossbow wielders stepped forward and lowered his crossbow.
“Well, that’s one down,” Raisa said sarcastically.
Ciardis was fairly sure the dragon was more bored than pissed, but it was hard to tell with her kind. They spent centuries toying with their playthings, and whether Ciardis liked it or not, the ambassador seemed to consider Ciardis one of those playthings, and all of Ciardis’s life moments as mere entertainment from one day to the next.
The taller man lowered the hood from his head. They could all see that it was in fact Jason SaAlgardis.
“Well,” said the duchess dryly. “Are you just going to stand there, or will you welcome your future emperor? Because I have to say, if you plan to kill him after I went through all of this trouble, I will be very displeased.”
The old soldier with salt-and-pepper hair turned a caustic glare on the free-talking Duchess of Carne.
The duchess quickly added, “And if you plan to kill me, may I remind you that I am the sole representative of the Shadow Council? They would be very displeased to find my body in the streets come morning. They might even hunt you down. If the imposter emperor didn’t first, depending on his mood.”
Jason SaAlgardis’s eyes gave away no judgment. But then he raised a hand in a manner that spelled trouble. As he lifted his arm, Ciardis had visions of it sweeping down and armed cross bolts hurling at her chest in its wake. She flinched.
Instead, he lowered his hand and the four remaining crossbows lowered in time.
As if in a practiced move, Jason bent to one knee silently and lowered his head. His companions did the same.
“Well, that’s new,” Ciardis whispered.
Sebastian seemed a bit stunned. Considering his whole life had been spent being the focus of the imperial court’s ire for the most part and as a reluctant recipient of caustic respect the rest of the time, it was no surprise.
When they held the bow for too long, Ciardis not-so-subtly elbowed Sebastian in the chest.
He jumped and quickly said, “Rise. Please rise.”
Jason did and so did his men. “It’s good to see you again, Prince Heir.”
Sebastian gave a weak grin and walked forward. “The same could be said of you, though I wish it was under better circumstances. I thought I told your people to keep out of the emperor’s way?”
Jason SaAlgardis smiled. “We tried and for the most part succeeded, Prince Heir, but when the emperor started rounding up your confidantes, we knew that we had to act in some way. It was a risk we had to take before he took the wrong person and we all were exposed. Better to gather allies and perspective on our own terms, than his.”
Sebastian clapped his hand on blood relative’s shoulder. “Fair enough. I suppose I can’t be too picky when I returned to the city which seems to have come apart at the very core levels of society.”
“If by that you mean secret societies,” Jason said while grinning and nodding at the duchess, “are fraternizing with poor rebels and snooty nobles are taking orders from the same, then yeah, it has.”
Sebastian had to laugh. “Yes, well, that is a great way to put it.”
The Duchess of Carne said coldly, “If you two are through reminiscing about how great life is now that the poors don’t know their place, we should be going.”
Both Sebastian and Jason turned cold, eerily alike gazes on her.
The Duchess of Carne sniffed loudly and set off across the street and directly into the alleys beyond. Her soldiers followed behind her like obedient children.
“Where is she going?” asked Terris.
Jason jerked his chin. “We’ve got longboats back that way tied to the fishmongers’ wharfs. They’ll take us to our hideaway.”
Ciardis started forward after the duchess, but she halted when she heard Sebastian ask quietly, “Do you trust her?”
Jason SaAlgardis didn’t bother lowering his voice as he walked over to Ciardis and gently cupped her elbow. “Let me help you, my lady,” the gruff soldier said.
To Sebastian over his shoulder Jason replied, “I trust that woman like I trust an adder in my bed. Not at all. But she has the ear of her council, and right now that’s all I need.”
Sebastian nodded and they set off again.
The alley was dark and surprisingly loud. Much louder than the side streets they had just left. Maybe it was just the way the alley was shaped or the passage it followed, but she heard drunk men falling out of a tavern entrance from at least two streets away, the scurrying of tiny claw feet scraped like metal in her ears, and the closer they got to the river that bordered one part of the palace structure, she heard the slow persistent lap of water against the banks.
When they got to the bank and crawled into the boats, Ciardis was pleased to see that the bumbling messenger with the gift to throttle mind-to-mind conversation was still alive. He stumbled into the lead row of one of the three boats, a soldier following close behind.
It didn’t take them long to row to a far-off dock.
They quickly and silently climbed up another flight of steps. This one hugged the banks of the river like a lover, and Ciardis looked back to see Jason’s men industriously sinking their vessels without flair.
I guess there’s no turning back now, she thought.
When Jason SaAlgardis came forward to escort her again, he saw the incredulity on her face.
Quickly he explained, “Just a precautionary measure. No one must know we’re here. We haven’t approached this entrance in days and were very careful to conceal our tracks before even coming to you.”
Ciardis nodded with a swallow and took his proffered hand. When they came around the bend, she saw they were in the backyard of a large mansion. It was not unlike the one they had stayed in before after returning from the northern mountains. This one had three floors and was built of fine stone. If they had been approaching during the light of day she might have even admired it. Instead, they stole through its gardens in the dead of night like thieves.
Ciardis expected them to be taken into the interior, where the rebellion’s people would be waiting, but instead they were whisked right into the largest set of stables she had ever seen in a private home.
There were at least twenty stalls on either side of the aisle, an upper hay barn that she
was certain housed more than hay, and only two curious horse heads to greet them with welcoming neighs as they walked in. Ciardis had a moment to wonder what was going on before Jason rushed to the very end of the barn where two quite large stalls resided. To Ciardis’s unpracticed eye—she had had very little to do with horses as a child, as mostly only the farrier, his clients, and his children used them within the village square—the stalls looked big enough to house more than two horses at a time.
Or a mare, a newborn foal, and attendant goat for safe-keeping, Ciardis wondered.
As she eyed the stall she took in its rich appointments. They had passed dozens of stalls on either side, but this one was the size of Ciardis’s room in the Companions’ Guild hall. And just as nicely outfitted, too, with cherry wood railing, fresh golden straw, and well-lit with mage orbs. It was currently empty.
“Whoever lives here must be very well-connected,” Terris said casually as she looked up and down the main aisle with a deliberate pause as she eyed the shuttered mansion.
But apparently Sebastian didn’t care to guess.
Looking around as they stood in front of the largest of the stalls, Prince Heir Sebastian asked, “Are we to be escorted elsewhere on horseback? There don’t seem to be enough steeds here if so.”
“And why’d we have to cross a river channel to do it?” Terris asked crossly with her arms folded and a glint in her eyes.
Ciardis’s lips twitched. Terris was suspicious enough for all of them.
“To answer your questions, we are not going anywhere on horseback,” said Jason SaAlgardis in a rough voice. He walked forward and grabbed a lantern off a hook with practiced ease. Taking a match, he struck it against some tinder and lit the lantern’s wick.
Sebastian stepped forward and gestured at the stall. “So what is this?”
His tone was mild and polite, but clearly on the edge of patience.
Jason smiled. “The way to the rebellion’s base.”
14
Then they heard a couple of loud, drunken yells.
“Servants from the mansion,” one of Jason’s men said, hurrying over to them. “If they come into the barn, we must be gone.”
Jason SaAlgardis nodded and then said, “Let’s go, then. There’s very little time to lose.”
He motioned for them to all to gather inside the largest stall and with a whispered hush he shut the stall gate. Two of Jason’s men immediately went to a corner and brushed away the straw packed in a heap to reveal a trap door with a metal ring on the lid. With a grunt, one of the men bent down and opened the door.
Ciardis peered over Sebastian’s shoulders to see stairs descending into the dark below.
Sebastian gritted his teeth. “Do we have a choice?”
“Not if you want to see your friend Vana alive again,” Jason SaAlgardis said bluntly.
Sebastian leveled a dark glare at the man.
The old warrior hastened to add, “That wasn’t a threat, Prince Heir. The emperor may have let her go alive, but she’s at death’s door, and I’m not sure for how long even that strong of a woman can hold out. It’d be best for you to see for yourself, though.”
Sebastian nodded, called a mage orb to his hands and proceeded to go down the steps. Two soldiers from the Duchess of Carne’s cordon none too politely pushed in front of Sebastian.
The duchess herself swept after him as well. “Not to belabor the point, but you dying of a broken neck is not a part of our plans. Not yet.”
A bemused but guarded prince heir walked behind her. Ciardis went third, and Terris followed with the rest of the soldiers trooping behind her one by one. The group came out into a dry, open dirt tunnel and Ciardis heard the metal door clang shut behind her.
“One of the men stayed behind to guard the entrance,” said Jason SaAlgardis, “and re-covered our tracks. Another acts as a hidden messenger in case anything happens to the first. If our hideaway is discovered, we’ll be the first to know.”
“Very good,” purred the Duchess of Carne.
Jason lifted the lantern so he could carefully look at the duchess eye to eye, but he didn’t say anything to her.
Instead he turned and pushed onward with a muttered, “This way, and careful of any varmints that cross your path. They’re not all non-magical. Even the normal ones will bite through your boots if stepped on.”
Ciardis blinked and carefully focused her attention on the ground in front of her as she tried not to get the frights over silly muskrats or whatever it was that inhabited this tunnel.
“Get a grip, girl,” she muttered to herself. “You’ve faced much worse.”
But nothing whose first response would be to bite down on her toes. She wasn’t sure if she could live with a single foot left to walk on. Mobility, in her situation, was everything.
I’ve spent half my adult life so far running¸ she thought with practicality. Feet are a crucial part of that.
When she occasionally looked up, all she could see was that Jason was leading them down enough winding and intersecting paths that Ciardis was sure they were lost in an underground maze.
When they finally emerged onto a broad platform, she saw a cliff edged by vast open air.
Unbidden, she asked, “Where are we?”
Jason gestured to the open drop-off. “Look and see.”
Exchanging a glance with Sebastian, she walked forward, and let out a breath of excitement. The group stood on a broad and flat ledge high above a deep cavern that descended far below them. In the distance, buildings filled the cavern and stretched as far as her eye could see—a sunken city in the ground.
“So it’s real,” said the Duchess of Carne in a breathless voice.
Ciardis and Terris exchanged confused glances.
Sebastian spoke up. “Duchess, do you recognize this place?”
Raisa walked forward to the very edge. “I believe it’s what your history books would refer to as a legend. Among my people it is a stated fact that this place exists, though until now I wasn’t quite sure how to access it.”
“This is what’s known as the underground city,” explained Jason SaAlgardis.
“What is it?” Ciardis asked, a look of wonder in her eyes. “Where did it come from?”
“No one knows, not really” said Sebastian tiredly. “According to the legend it’s always been here. But that’s not important. Why did you bring us here, Jason?”
Jason looked directly in the prince heir’s eyes. “It’s time that the empire knew the truth about who sits on their throne. It is here that Shadow Council and Imperial Council, rebellion and ruler will come together to make your rule a reality.”
“Now?” Terris said in a confused tone.
“Tomorrow afternoon,” Jason clarified. “We needed time to gather all the involved parties after we found you, but we know it must be done before the emperor gets wind of the idea.”
Sebastian nodded brusquely. “Fine, we’ll have your talks then, though I warn you, they may not go the way you surmise.”
Jason bowed. “When the secrets are out in the open, I can only say that for the sake of the empire, people will put aside their petty differences.”
As Sebastian turned to Ciardis, she saw sheer dread in his eyes. She realized that Sebastian was afraid. Afraid that he would fail. Fail to live up to his people’s motivations, much less his own.
But what he didn’t seem to understand was that all his people wanted was a ruler who ruled with openness and honesty. A ruler they could take pride in. A ruler who both repented and rebelled. Sebastian had all of those qualities in spades.
“We can expect some tension,” Jason said solemnly. “But—”
“Forgive me, my lord,” Ciardis interrupted while struggling not to show her full ire. “We are well aware that there will be idiosyncrasies and are willing to discuss them tomorrow. For now, we would like to see our friend.”
The rebels who had uncloaked already looked at each other and then they looked at her.
&
nbsp; “Well?” asked Ciardis in a frustrated voice.
She was tired, but most of all she was sick at heart. It was her fault that Vana was here, broken, ill, and perhaps tortured. Ciardis knew that if she hadn’t asked Vana to watch out for these rebels, none of this would have happened. Never mind the fact that the emperor seemed to be indulging in a sadistic streak. The presence of a potential rebellion had only increased his ire and Vana was paying the price.
Sebastian cleared his throat and the rebels shuffled uneasily until finally Jason said, “Come with us, I’ll take you to her, then.”
Ciardis nodded in thanks.
They walked down the cliff face into the city itself. Ciardis could tell immediately the broad majority of it was deserted. Doors that looked like they’d rested untouched with rusted hinges and cobwebs across the entrances met her fascinated gaze time and again.
The entire city was a dusty brown-red hue and the buildings were made from the same red rock that adorned the cliff face itself. Ciardis had the feeling that this underground city might have been carved from the ground itself.
As she looked up and back towards the entrance they came from, she could clearly see that the steps they had descended were cut from the rock face surrounding them. Glancing back and forth, it looked like the city sat in the middle of a dome-shaped ring of red rock.
Ciardis had the startling realization that these buildings hadn’t been just carved from the rock but into the rock itself.
The builders must have had to excavate dozens upon dozens of layers of sediment to hollow out the buildings that surround us now, she thought in wonder.
She exhaled slowly in astonishment. The very idea was mind-boggling.
But as fascinating as that was, especially thoughts on who had carved this city from living rock, she was more interested in what she would find once they finally found Vana Cloudbreaker after a week away.
The assassin didn’t know what they had accomplished in Kifar, though Ciardis was pretty sure Vana knew they had returned alive. She had ears in everything, she had to know.