As he navigated the turns in the dungeon, gulping breath, he found himself scanning the walls for something he could not name. The flashlight beam continually swept back to eye level on the jagged stone as if he might run across a door or another corridor.
A blue arrow drawn in chalk snagged his attention and he halted to examine it further. The arrow pointed toward a fork in the tunnel a few feet ahead.
Elias experienced a dizzying sense of déjà vu. The entire situation had the uncanny feeling of a dream, as if he’d been here and done this before.
At the fork in the tunnel, he found more blue arrows. They led him toward the rightmost path. Acting on instinct, he followed the arrows from one section of tunnel to another. Even when he passed a cavern on the left and an ancient wooden door, he did not stop. He knew those would not lead him where he needed to go.
Five turns later, Elias paused to press his shoulder against the wall. He was out of breath and his knees threatened to give way. He clenched his teeth in frustration. His body had hit its limit.
He pushed on against the warning blurriness at the edge of his vision and the wobble of his legs. He came upon another turn, and another.
How far could the tunnels possibly go? Maybe he’d taken a wrong turn. Maybe he should have followed the red arrows going left instead of the blue going right.
The beam of his flashlight flickered twice.
“Of course,” he snarled. He cracked the flashlight against his palm and the light stabilized.
The other light was in his pocket, just in case. He thought he should have tested the thing back when he found it; instead of doing so in that moment, he continued down the corridor, silently pleading for some kind of clue or sign that he was close to the end of the tunnel.
Perhaps ten minutes after his plea, the corridor abruptly ended in a round, rough-hewn cavern. Elias spotted steps to his left and stumbled up them without pause.
He had to make it into the castle.
Had to alert someone to Sander’s situation.
Please don’t let him be dead.
The door at the top of the landing opened on his first try. He stumbled into a medium-sized room full of bookshelves, overstuffed chairs, and a five foot tall fireplace.
He didn’t stop to appreciate the grandeur.
“Hello?” The shouting hurt his head. He snapped off the flashlight and rushed into a broad hallway. “Hello?”
A man dressed in a blue and gray uniform stepped around a far corner.
Elias recognized the uniform as that of the royal guard.
Finally.
“Sander is under attack at the cabin in the woods. The king’s cabin. Send help immediately.” Elias called the order as he closed the distance to the guard. He saw the guard’s expression shift from wariness to shock to concern.
“Do it now!” Elias shouted, using all the force and authority he could muster. He slumped into an elegant chair positioned against the wall a few feet from the guard.
By some miracle, his world didn’t fade to black.
The guard got on a handset and began barking orders.
Elias tipped his head back against the seat and hoped help would arrive in time.
Chapter 20
Sander closed the hidden door and rearranged the clothing so that anyone who came looking wouldn’t notice anything amiss.
Boom!
Another strike against the cabin door. The door held, but it wouldn’t for long under that kind of beating.
He stalked from the room and entered the hall at a run. Leander and Jeremiah had taken up defensive stances in the center of the living area. Their weapons were aimed at the door.
“Three more hits and the door is going to collapse,” Leander said with a quick glance over his shoulder.
Sander took stock of the situation. The cabin was surrounded by armed men and all his other guards were either dead or had been taken prisoner. The chances that the attackers would kill Leander and Jeremiah once they’d breached the cabin were high. If they all used the hidden tunnel to escape like Elias, the attackers would find the secret door and follow. No one would be left behind to fix the clothing in the closet, leading the attackers right to them. There could be a shootout in the tunnel system or, worse, the attackers might penetrate Ahtissari Castle before he could gather enough forces to fight back.
The intensity and severity of the attack suggested more than a little preplanning. Whoever was behind the assault had to have had foreknowledge of his plans.
Boom.
The door rattled in its frame.
He didn’t have much time.
“Send out the king and the prince and no one else has to die!” someone shouted from the porch.
“You should have gone with Elias,” Leander said.
“I’m not leaving you here to fight alone with Jeremiah. You’re winded and in pain. They’ll kill you when they get inside.”
“This is what you pay me the big bucks for.”
“I won’t have them kill you both. There’s no time to—”
Boom.
Wood shattered near the lock and the door bowed at the edge.
“When I go out, brace the door with everything you can. They can’t get in the windows unless they use explosives, and if it seems like they’re going to, then take to the tunnels. The hell with it.” Sander divested himself of his weapon and the extra magazines.
“Sander! You can’t go out there. They might kill you on sight.”
“So be it. Do what I say, Leander. That’s an order.” Sander approached the door and took a deep breath. There was no telling what would happen once he came face-to-face with the attackers. Part of leading a nation was knowing when to fall back on negotiations, and this seemed like that time. The attackers wanted something from him and Elias. It was a matter of figuring out what and how to work around it.
“This is Sander. I’ll surrender on the condition that your men back off from the cabin and leave everyone else alive,” he called through the battered door.
“No! The king and the prince!” the attacker replied.
“Only me.” Sander wouldn’t have it any other way. If the attackers refused, and the threat to Leander and Jeremiah remained, they would have to revert to another plan.
“Last chance. The king and the prince, or everyone dies!”
“Sander, they’re not going to let us live. Get into the tunnel before it’s too late,” Leander said.
“I’m not leaving you two behind.” Sander didn’t mean to snarl at Leander. His frustration and annoyance at the situation knew no bounds. “I directed Elias to send troops, but I can’t be sure they’ll get here in time. You two get into the tunnel now. No arguments. I’ll brace the sofa against the door and follow.”
Leander looked doubtful.
Boom.
The cabin shook with the force of the hit.
“Go!” Sander hissed.
Leander and Jeremiah ran down the hall toward the master bedroom.
Sander wasted no time. The door was about to give any second. He maneuvered the sofa in front of the door and tipped the piece onto its back edge, creating a haphazard brace. It should hold through another two or three strikes, as far as he could tell. Although he greatly disliked exposing the tunnel, and possibly having a shootout within that subterranean space, he couldn’t risk all three of them dying when the attackers breached the cabin. The one positive aspect was that he knew the passageway by heart and the attackers did not.
He paused to snatch up his gun and the extra magazines, and was halfway across the living room when a sudden explosion ripped through the living area.
The concussive blast blew him against the wall. Shards of furniture penetrated his clothing, his skin. His ears rang. He wound up facedown on the floor, gasping for breath. The last thing he did was curse before hands grabbed his body and hauled him through the gaping maw at the front of the cabin.
Chapter 21
Elias paced the length of a conferen
ce room on the first floor of Ahtissari Castle. Although his body was spent from exertion, he refused to sit while advisors gathered and word spread of Sander’s dire situation. He understood without being told that he needed to try and play off his memory loss; everyone in the castle believed him to be of sound mind, just recovering from his injuries.
How difficult it was, however, when many of the advisors and guards had already addressed him as Prince Elias. The familiarity with which they spoke to him meant that he should know these strangers in return.
He did not, of course.
He knew none of them.
The most important thing had been to get a team down to the cabin to help Sander and the others. One had been sent, an advisor informed him not long after.
Would they get there before it was too late? Elias felt as if he’d been in the tunnel system forever. He could not begin to guess how much time had actually passed between when he’d first entered the corridor until he’d arrived at the castle. Too long, the devil on his shoulder insisted.
An hour and a half later, while he was still pacing circuits around the table, Chey rushed through the conference room door and immediately headed in his direction. Elias sensed her distress, though she did well to maintain a calm façade.
The advisors gathered at the other end of the room paused their urgent whispers to pay deference to the queen.
“Elias! Are you all right?” Chey asked. “Where’s Sander?”
“I’m fine. Sander sent me through the hidden tunnel system from the cabin.” He kept his voice low in case the others didn’t know about the secret passageway. He wasn’t sure why he felt so determined to protect the knowledge, but he followed his instincts.
“What system are you talking about?” Chey tilted her head like a curious bird.
“From the cabin in the woods? The tunnel from there to here.” He was shocked that Chey didn’t seem to know anything about it, which enhanced his drive to keep the news from the others. So far, he’d neglected to admit to everyone else how he’d arrived at the castle without alerting the guards.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. But never mind. Where is Sander and is he safe?”
“I don’t know if he’s safe, Chey,” Elias admitted. “Things were bad when I left. Attackers were attempting to break the door down. Leander was hit by a bullet but had a vest on. It saved him.”
Chey lifted her chin a notch, as if steeling herself for more bad news. Elias knew he should reach out. Hug her or at least place a comforting hand on her arm. The others in the room would probably expect it. However, he didn’t want to give Chey false hope that his memory had returned. Such an intimate act could be confusing and this wasn’t the place to have that kind of conversation.
“Has someone activated the security protocol?” Chey asked in a tight voice.
“Yes. A team has been sent. I don’t know what that means, exactly. A team of his personal security? Military guards? The advisors know.”
“Let me do all the talking from now, all right?” Chey said in a quiet voice. She touched Elias’s arm as if to comfort him before turning to the men gathered at the other end of the oval table.
Elias stood at Chey’s side, giving what support he could. He knew Chey was attempting to make his circumstance less awkward by taking control.
“What’s the status of the team sent to the cabin?” Chey asked.
The advisors broke their circle, their whispers evaporating in the face of Chey’s direct question.
“A team of twenty has been sent, Your Highness,” one of the advisors said.
“I want another team of fifty sent right now. And I want security upped at all the royal residences. Bring in the military if you have to. Also, from this point forward, no one is to bother Elias with these issues. He’s recovering, as you can see, and I won’t have added stress piled on him while he’s doing so,” Chey said.
Elias recognized the easy authority with which Chey commanded the advisors. There was a no-nonsense air about her that the advisors seemed to respect. He didn’t miss the discreet looks the advisors gave him after Chey’s decree either, but said nothing. Better to let the advisors wonder than to admit the truth.
Thus far, he’d been able to squeak by without anyone guessing he’d lost his memory.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Elias and I will be in Sander’s downstairs office. Bring me word the second we know what’s going on and who is behind it.” Chey skirted the table and exited the room without another word.
The advisors bowed their heads and did not question her again.
Elias followed Chey’s cue and fell in at her flank. He had no idea where Sander’s downstairs office was, and guessed Chey knew, which was why she’d taken him with her away from the advisors.
Chey navigated the immense labyrinth of hallways until she came to a set of closed double doors. She pushed inside and closed the doors behind him.
“I should have demanded they send more people. I’m sorry.” Elias felt an apology was necessary. The increase in number of soldiers Chey had ordered indicated he should have given a specific order rather than allowing the advisors and security to decide. Thinking back on it, he realized he probably wouldn’t have sent as many as Chey had. He was out of his league in the strategies of war.
“Don’t worry, Elias. You don’t know what’s going on any more than we do.” Chey walked to a set of large desks adjacent to each other and sat down at the largest one.
Sander’s desk, Elias guessed, simply from the elegant carving of the wood and the high-backed chair. The second desk was impressive but not nearly as elaborate. A quick glance through the room confirmed a masculine theme and royal luxury. The office itself was large enough for two separate sitting areas, a tall fireplace, rows of bookshelves, and a wet bar set at the opposite end. He could picture Sander there, his blond hair and golden skin blending well with the blue, fawn, and cream décor.
“Mattias, it’s me,” Chey said with the phone to her ear. There was a landline with a handset atop Sander’s desk.
Elias leaned against the back of a chair, eyes on Chey. His body insisted he sit and relax; he ignored the throb in his head and the shake of his legs. There wasn’t time to lounge around like nothing was wrong.
“Nothing? So do you think we’re looking at an inside job? Moles? Spies?” Chey asked. She rubbed her forehead with her fingers.
As in the tunnels below, Elias again experienced a sense of déjà vu. He wasn’t sure if it was Chey’s posture, her position behind the desk, or her conversation that triggered the weird sensation that he’d done this before. He struggled to hang on to the not-quite memory, brows furrowing sharply.
Just let me remember.
“Are they going to kill him if they get their hands on him?” Chey asked in a quieter voice.
Elias snapped out of his reverie. A pang of regret or fear or something like it ricocheted around his chest and settled behind his heart. He swallowed past a knot in his throat and silently hoped that Sander had somehow managed to escape. Right after that thought, Elias realized he cared what happened to the king. To the man who was his father. Sometime between departing Kallaster and arriving at Ahtissari Castle, something had changed. A minor shift, perhaps, but a shift nevertheless. He no longer viewed Sander as a stranger he’d met on the street.
“Okay. I’ll see you in a little while.” Chey hung up the handset and sat back in the chair.
Elias attempted to read Chey’s expression and failed. He didn’t understand the neutral angles and planes of her face, wasn’t sure if she was hardening herself for bad news or was maybe about to cry. The fact that he didn’t know these things bothered him more than he wanted to admit.
“What did Mattias say?” Elias asked.
“No one knows anything yet. They’ve sent troops to the borders and the hinterlands but otherwise there’s been no invasion that the military knows of. It’s possible that a team came through the hinterlands in
the places we don’t monitor, which are miles and miles of wilderness. The fact that these people knew you were at the cabin so fast suggests an inside job, though. There’s no doubt we have a traitor among those at Kallaster. Maybe as far back as the hospital. If I had to guess, I’d say there were sleeper cells in Latvala waiting for the right time to strike.”
“I’m not up to speed on the political situation. Sander told me a little, but that was all,” Elias admitted.
“Russia has wanted the entire coastline here for a long time. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, us, Somero, Imatra. They’ve resisted outright invasion or attack, thankfully, but this could be a move to unseat the Ahtissari family from power. I just don’t know yet.” Chey rose from the chair and paced the length of the office.
“If they capture Sander, will they kill him?”
“I don’t know, Elias.”
“I feel like I should be doing something to help.”
“Well, that’s a step forward, right? Maybe you’re starting to subconsciously remember your life here. Normally, before the accident, you would have been all over this.”
Elias considered Chey’s words. She hadn’t stopped pacing, although she had looked over her shoulder as if gauging his reaction to her suggestion.
“I don’t know. Maybe. I’ve had some strange moments of déjà vu today. Nothing that feels like a memory, exactly, but the sensation that I’d done something before,” he said.
Chey crossed the room to stand before him. At such close range, Elias could easily read the discord and upset in her eyes, but also recognized a flicker of hope for his condition. He knew then that admitting the déjà vu had been the right thing to do.
“Elias, that definitely sounds like a step in the right direction. Did you tell your fa—Sander before you went into the tunnel?”
“No. There wasn’t time to do anything but go.”
“I don’t understand why he didn’t come with you,” she said.
“Leander was hurt. I don’t think he wanted to leave him and that other young man alone. Jeremiah was his name.”
Latvala Royals: Sacrifices Page 10