by Shannon Lamb
Another servant returned with a pail for the glass, and he and Gustav made quick work of the mess. Once the servants were gone and the prince was no longer nearby, Alex began moving toward the door again. When they were finally out of the throne room, Marie let out a soft exhale of relief. She wanted to get far away from these people as quickly she could.
When they entered the next room, Marie fully understood why the castle looked like a maze from the outside. It was a maze! They were surrounded by several spiral staircases encircled in several dozen corridors that were lined with several hundred doors. She desperately hoped that Alex knew where he was going, or they’d be lost in here forever, and that sounded an awful lot like hell.
Marie gaped at the multitude of pathways, overwhelmed by all the choices and perturbed that Alex wasn’t moving yet. What was he waiting for? Was he just as lost as she felt? Even though they were no longer in the same room as that vile woman and her twisted son, she had no desire to linger.
She began to grow worried that something had stopped him from moving again. She prayed that wasn’t the case, because she had absolutely no idea what Johanna had done to help him before. In the end, something else sent her into a state of panic: fear of the unknown.
Alex slammed his foot on the floor three times. Before Marie had a chance to ask him what he was doing, the floor beneath them gave way and they began plummeting down a large, metallic shaft.
Alex immediately shifted into his human form and appeared behind her. He fastened his arm around her waist, holding her snug to his body. He then clamped his free hand over her mouth, muffling her scream of surprise.
Alex tightened his grip on Marie, pleading with her to be quiet as they flew down the shaft at increasing speed. She eventually stopped screaming, realizing it would do more harm than good, but she felt anything but calm. Aside from being flush against his naked form, one crucial question plagued her thoughts: What was waiting for them at the bottom?
After falling for what felt like an eternity, there was a light at the end of the tunnel, preceded by the overpowering stench of fecal matter and decay.
Alex and Marie shot out of the bottom of the shaft, straight into a massive pool of raw sewage. Fortunately, Alex was strong and fast enough to keep them afloat so it didn’t go over their heads. Unfortunately, from the neck down, they were swimming in excrement.
“Oh my god!” Marie fought the urge to vomit. No need to make matters worse. “Get me out of here, NOW!” She thrashed wildly.
Alex grabbed her shoulders from behind, pushing her forward until she reached the bars of a metal ladder. She reached out to grab the rung, but he clamped his fingers around her wrist and jerked her hand back.
“Get on my back.” He positioned himself in front of her.
“I can climb a ladder by myself,” she snapped. “You landed us in a septic tank! I’m a little weary of following your direction right now!” Marie said as she shoved Alex out of the way.
She firmly planted her hand on the first bar of the ladder and tightly grasped it. She screamed the second her fingers closed around the rung, ripping her hand from the simmering steel. The bar was so hot that it had melted away several layers of flesh from her palms and fingertips.
“Oh my god! We’re going to die in here!”
Alex positioned himself in front of Marie again with his back facing her. He delicately reached behind himself and grabbed her legs, lifting her up so they were resting on his hips. She didn’t put up a fight this time. She wanted to bury her face into the crook of his neck, but resisted, since it too was covered in waste. He grabbed hold of the ladder and climbed it effortlessly.
“How are you able to do that without burning yourself?” she asked, having calmed down a bit.
“My skin is different than yours,” Alex replied vaguely. “When we get to the top, stay on my back, or you’ll burn your feet too.” This time, she wasn’t going to protest.
Marie didn’t understand how he could climb the ladder with such ease. When she grabbed it, it was like touching fire. How could he touch it without feeling anything? It was beyond her comprehension. A lot of things in this world were beyond her comprehension.
Once Alex reached the top of the ladder, he climbed up onto a steel platform. They came face to face with a large steel door, barely stifling the stream of muffled voices on the others side.
“I told you we didn’t need to watch for ‘em!” a voice shouted. Marie tightened her grip on Alex, hoping they hadn’t been discovered.
“Yeah, yeah. You were right. We smelled ‘em before we spotted ‘em,” a second voice spoke, followed by a roar of laughter.
“Are they talking about us?”
“Yes. They’re expecting us.” Alex opened the door and crossed the threshold, letting Marie down off his back with the utmost care.
The room wasn’t very big, especially considering it contained nearly fifty servants or so. Marie hoped for their sake that the two adjoining rooms were much bigger, especially since the people present were probably just a minuscule portion of the palace servants.
“Come with me, dear.” A short, rotund woman approached Marie with four young girls in tow. It reminded Marie of a mother duck with her ducklings trailing along behind her in the water. “Name’s Agatha. This is Chrystina, Kirsten, Anya, and Anne,” all four girls curtsied one by one as she introduced them.
“I’m Marie,” she reached out to shake Agatha’s hand and dropped it halfway, remembering her disgusting state.
“Everyone knows who you are, dear,” Agatha smiled. “I’m sure you want to get cleaned up as soon as possible. Come with me.”
Agatha flounced toward the adjoining room on the right, and the four young girls followed behind her in a fluid line. The last thing Marie saw before entering the room was Alex heading into the left adjoining room.
“Where’s Alex going?”
“The showers.” Agatha swiftly closed the door behind them.
“Showers?” Marie’s face lit up. “Isn’t that where I should be going too?” The four young girls looked appalled by her question.
“Oh no, Miss!” Chrystina gasped.
“Definitely not, Miss!” Kirsten shook her head.
“The water’s so cold, Miss!” Anya grimaced.
“So cold it burns, Miss!” Anne finished emphatically, hugging herself.
“You don’t want to go there, Miss,” all four girls responded in unison. Marie couldn’t help but smile at their melodic synchronization.
Before Marie got a chance to ask them why she couldn’t use the showers, Agatha shooed them out the door.
“We’ve been expecting you. We prepared a bath for you in here.” Agatha cast Marie and irritated glance and pointed to a large wooden washtub filled with questionable, murky water.
“Why can’t I use the showers?”
“It’s this, or remain covered in…”
“A bath it is!”
“You’ll find soap, a scrubbing brush, and a towel in there.” Agatha pointed to a cupboard in the far right corner of the room. “Put your things in here,” she impatiently thrust a burlap sack toward Marie. “There’s clean clothes for you in the cupboard as well.” Agatha curtsied and left the room abruptly.
Marie grabbed the soap and scrubbing brush from the cupboard, being extremely careful not to touch anything else. She stripped down and gingerly stuffed her things into the sack, eyeing the water unfavorably.
Shivers racked her body as she dipped her toe in the washtub. The water was freezing cold and didn’t exactly look fresh, but Marie would take whatever she could get. She was in no position to be picky.
She quickly, but thoroughly, cleaned herself, thinking of how much she missed warm showers, among a few other luxuries like shampoo and rooms without flesh décor. She dried herself off and unfolded the clothes they’d left for her, examining them. She groaned when she discovered that they’d given her a simple black dress and a vintage leather bodice.
She’
d never worn a dress a single day in her life; not even to her Aunt Kat’s wedding, which had caused quite an uproar. She definitely wasn’t thrilled about it, but she figured it was better than her t-shirt and jeans caked in excrement, and she couldn’t deny that the silk felt good against her skin. Almost immediately after she’d finished getting dressed, she heard a knock on the door.
“Yes?”
Alex came in and closed the door behind him. “These shoes will be better for traveling.” He set down a pair of black, cracked leather, lace-up knee-high boots.
“Thanks,” she took a seat on the floor and set to loosening the laces. “Alex, if I ask you some questions, do you promise to answer them honestly?”
“Always,” he sat down across from her.
“I’m sure you did what you had to do, but…why, for the love of all things clean, did you bring me here through a septic tank?”
“It’s the only way to get here.”
“If that’s the only way to get here, how do we get out?” The color drained from her face at the thought of having to go through the disgusting experience again. Why had she even bothered getting clean?
“The only way to escape is through the dungeon.”
“Alex, what exactly goes on here?” Marie spoke in broken tones, not quite knowing how to word her question.
“What do you mean?”
“You know, like…” Marie took a deep breath. “Why is the only way to get here through the septic tank, and the only way to get out through the dungeon? Why is the ladder impossible to climb? Why can’t I use the showers?” Marie ticked the questions off on her fingers, without taking a breath in between them. “Don’t play dumb with me. You promised you’d tell me the truth.”
Alex stayed silent for a moment, carefully considering his words. After a pregnant pause, he spoke.
“When these good, hardworking people are done being abused by that wretched excuse for a woman and the twisted prince, the only way for them to get back to this vermin-infested dump that they’re forced to call home is to go through the septic tank. The Queen finds it imperative to remind them, daily, how disgusting and filthy they are. She doesn’t want them to ever think they’re equal to her, just because they’re allowed to work in the palace where superior beings such as herself reside. Queen Cailene claims that the ladder above the sewage tank is so hot so as to weed out the weaker slaves and strengthen the ones that remain. The truth? She just likes to see them suffer. They’re forced to throw their fallen friends into the vat of filth that they swim through every day, and are never given the chance to mourn their deaths. The showers,” Alex laughed darkly. “They’re a particularly malicious invention of hers, to punish them for their state of filth that she induces! The water is so intensely cold that it burns, causing those weak of heart to fall dead. The pressure of the water is so strong that it rips their flesh and breaks their bones. These kindhearted people didn’t want you to feel the pain and degradation of the showers, so each servant donated a portion of their drinking water so you could take a bath when you arrived,” Alex’s words cut through her. She couldn’t have been more ungrateful when they’d offered her a bath! “The reason the only exit is through the dungeon is because it leads straight back to the castle, ensuring that they’ll never escape and therefore relinquishing any hope that might linger in the back of their minds. Cailene’s goal is to leave them broken and defeated. There’s no end to that woman’s cruelty.” Alex took a minute to regain his composure, and eventually resumed his usual stoic demeanor. She had no idea how he could calm himself so quickly after being so fired up.
Marie was outraged by Alex’s story. She couldn’t even begin to fathom what these poor people went through every single day of their lives. It was heartbreaking.
She now understood why Agatha seemed standoffish with her. Marie couldn’t have possibly been any more disrespectful, and now she was absolutely mortified.
“Gustav should be back by now. He is who we need to see.”
As if summoned by Alex’s words, Gustav appeared in the doorway, wiping himself off with a large towel. Marie jumped to her feet as he entered the room.
“You don’t need to stand for me, child,” he smiled kindly.
Marie zoned out as she studied Gustav strange features. His voice made him sound elderly. He could be, for all she knew. She’d never seen a creature such as him before, and she wasn’t sure what they looked like when they reached old age. The fact that he called her child made her think he might be.
“You didn’t hear a word I said just now, did you, child?” Gustav chuckled. “Lost in your head, were you? You’re so like your mother. She was a dreamer too.”
“My mother?” Marie positioned herself on the floor across from Gustav, watching him with rapt attention.
“I’m sorry, child. I shouldn’t have mentioned her. I’m sure you’re very curious,” Gustav smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “One day, I hope to tell you all about her, but now is not the time. You may not have been caught, but Cailene is no fool. The longer you stay here, the greater your risk of being discovered. Let us get this over with so that you two can be on your way, shall we?”
Gustav grabbed a small pocketknife from the folds of his robe and slid the blade across his index finger, causing beads of blood to well up at the fresh seam. He straightened his arm and held his hand out flat, letting the blood drain from his finger. Each drop expanded and stretched, pooling in midair as they coalesced to form a three-dimensional rectangle. The obscure shape shone as if it were constructed of thousands of sparkling rubies.
“Put your hands out flat,” Gustav instructed as he pressed a cloth to his finger, finally allowing the blood to clot.
Marie hesitantly outstretched her arms. Alex reached over and straightened them out for her in an attempt to reassure her, but his touch had only made her grow more rigid. Gustav grabbed the floating shape, causing it to instantly solidify into a beautiful silver box, and placed it in Marie’s waiting hands.
“What is it?”
“This is the Agrísta. It is a family heirloom, and the key to everything.” Gustav placed his hands over Marie’s.
“That’s kind of vague,” she laughed nervously. When Marie saw the look of disapproval plastered on their faces, her features grew stiff as she set her face to stone. She looked down at the Agrísta, and began trying to pry it open. “It won’t budge.”
“You cannot open it by yourself,” Gustav chuckled. “You need to find the rest of your siblings. They will know what to do. Above all, keep the Agrísta safe, and stay in the shadows.”
“Are you ready to go?” Alex asked the second they were alone.
“Not quite,” Marie reached around him and closed the door. “I have one condition. As beautiful as your body is, I’m not comfortable with constantly seeing it. Instead of leaving your clothes in a shredded pile of tatters every time you change into your other form, you’re going to set them aside, before you change.” She grabbed an empty satchel from the corner of the room and held it out to him. He immediately began stripping. “But after I turn around! Good grief!” Marie whipped her body around, facing her back to him. She hoped by the time he finished undressing, the crimson color will have faded from her cheeks.
Once Marie felt the weight of his clothes in the bag, she turned around to see Alex waiting for her in his Umbraic form. She stuffed the Agrísta into the bag, hiding it beneath his clothes, and pulled the drawstrings tight, knotting them.
“Okay, I’m ready,” she ruefully smiled at Alex and climbed onto his back. She wanted to get the hell out of here.
FRIEND OR FOE
Marie held herself against the icy wind that blew through the room as her teeth chattered violently. The extreme cold set her skin ablaze and left her trembling as a painful pressure built up behind her eyes. Excruciating screams and the overpowering scent of blood filled the room. She struggled not to dry-heave as tears welled up, freezing before they had the chance to fall, giv
ing her no release.
“Let’s get out of here fast, okay?”
She kept her head down and her eyes closed as Alex barreled through the room, picking up speed as he went. He knew he couldn’t shelter her from all the horrors of this world, but he wanted to get her as far away from here as quickly as he could.
Marie knew when they’d reached the dungeon by the noxious fumes burning her nostrils. The stench of blood, urine and fecal matter pervaded the damp air, causing a shudder to course through her body as she clenched her stomach. She learned forward and clung to Alex as if her life depended on it – which it did – before forcing her eyes open.
Their moldy surroundings stung her eyes, leaving them searing and raw. The dank air was stifling and left a bitter taste in her mouth. She struggled not to cough, suppressing her body’s need to expel the poor conditions it was forced to take in. Alex sensed her distress and was moving as fast as his legs would take him.
Filthy, vacant prisoners were strewn along the walls, half-dead and covered in flies. The prison cells blurred together as Alex charged past, creating an optical illusion of endless captivity. Marie couldn’t tell one face from the next. Their tortured screams pulsed in her ears; each one faded as quickly as it had erupted, merging into the next.
She cupped her hands over her ears and averted her eyes, focusing her attention forward. Her heart skipped a beat as she welcomed the glorious sight of an opening not far in the distance. It glowed with a warm light that represented freedom, taunting the prisoners by giving them the faintest taste.
A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth when the golden light began to skitter across her skin, but it quickly dropped to a frown when Alex stopped dead in his tracks. Standing still made everything significantly more potent. All the smells and sounds of the prison hit her at once with the impact of a kick in the face, causing her to lurch forward and retch continuously.
“Alex,” a faint whisper cut through the tension as a knot exploded in her stomach.