by Rae Brooks
“There is no way we’ll be able to pull two people up,” Aela said warily. The idea of Leif jumping recklessly into the window of a prison was not sitting well with her. Still, she knew they had to get the others out of there. If they did refuse, and they were hanged, Taeru would never forgive himself—even though it would not be his fault. Still, these people didn’t deserve to die.
“I’m going to have to make more than one trip,” Leif answered.
Aela nodded her head, knowing that arguing would only waste precious time. Her heart twisted in her chest at the idea of anyone else she loved being hurt, and then she glanced at Katt. Katt was dealing with the knowledge that several people she loved and cared about may be hanged soon. Aela could do this—for Taeru, and for the decent part of Telandus. “Alright,” she said.
“What if they are chained?” Katt offered as another question. “This is a prison.” She tried to keep her voice low, but Aela was realizing that Katt’s voice was just naturally shrill. She had never thought about it for all the time they had spent together this past cycle.
Leif laughed, and from his belt, he yanked his lock pick. Aela had known Leif well enough to know that he was never in short supply of that particular device. With a quick smile, Katt nodded her understanding.
Without bothering to waste any further time, Leif glanced across to the window. He risked getting to his feet, and upon inspection, Aela didn’t see any guards within visual range of them. In fact, no one seemed in range of them. All inside, she realized, as they were probably speaking with Juliet and her family rather than protecting them. Leif eased backwards as far as the wall allowed him to, before he glanced with narrowed eyes at the window. The jump wasn’t that long, Aela reminded herself, Leif could make it, and if he didn’t—she would pull him back up.
Katt put her hands on the rope, and Aela nodded to her gratefully. Leif sprinted towards the edge of the wall, jumping at just the right moment so that he was able to clear the gap. He landed against the window, with his hands clinging to the sides desperately. Aela tightened her grip on the rope. Without incident, though, Leif pulled himself up into the window and, using the very thin ledge, he glanced into the prison.
He glanced once back at them, and then he nodded. Aela felt her heart constricting in her chest. Oh, please stay safe, Leif. Please. He mouthed the reminder “when I pull,” and then he disappeared into the darkness to which the window led. Aela tightened her grip on the rope, and eventually, it stretched until it was strained over the ledge of the window. “So, why did a princess end up coming to spy on Telandus?” Katt asked quietly. “I hadn’t asked you that—but I wondered.”
“Well,” Aela answered, as she had nothing better to do, and a conversation may save her the heartache of thinking every movement held Leif being brutally murdered. “I was a very bored princess.”
“You didn’t leave in hopes of finding your brother?” Katt asked again. Her eyes were shining with curiosity. She reminded Aela briefly of Calis’s advisor, and Aela was filled with a sense of hatred. No, Katt was not Calis’s advisor, and there was no reason to dislike her.
Aela laughed quietly, but then she nodded her head. “I didn’t want to let myself hope that I might—but I did. I thought about him often after he left, and I was looking for any opportunity to leave.” She didn’t know if she ought to be explaining this to Katt, though she couldn’t see much harm in it now.
Then, Katt smiled affectionately, as though she were recalling the memory and not Aela. “And so when the man you loved was going to leave, you couldn’t bear the thought of remaining behind again?” She was teasing Aela, and the princess knew it, but Aela’s cheeks burned brightly at the thought.
She said nothing, not knowing what the proper way to respond to that was. After all, she hadn’t left because she was in love with Leif, she had only found out that she did while she was with him. But perhaps she had always known, which was why she had decided to leave. Still, this girl did not need to know that. Katt laughed. “I envy you. I wish I had someone who cared about me like that.”
“Did you ever—” Aela realized that she shouldn’t be asking this—that it was a terrible idea—and yet she was going to ask it anyway. “Did you ever think about my brother, you know, in that way?”
This time, Katt was the one blushing. “Oh, Kili—ah, Taeru? Well…” Katt shuffled a few times. She seemed to be more embarrassed than Aela had been a few moments ago. Then again, Katt wasn’t Leif’s sister. “Well, I mean he’s very handsome, and I noticed that. But he was always very forward about his disinterest in that sort of thing.” She squirmed.
Aela laughed quietly. “He was like that in Cathalar too,” she murmured. Taeru had always batted women away from him as though they were some sort of illness. A few times, he had even seemed interested in them—and yet, he had always put an end to it before it was allowed to develop. Perhaps he needed someone that would take the initiative, and of course that person was a traitorous flea.
“Oh,” Katt said oddly, “I suppose that isn’t surprising.”
“I wish he’d kept doing it. I wish he’d stayed away from that bloody prince, and then he might not be suffering right now!” Aela’s teeth ground together at the thought. She could see the smug grin on that blond’s face even now. She wanted to kill him—she had never hated anyone so much in her life.
Katt’s brow creased with worry as she regarded Aela. “I don’t think Calis did this,” she said warily. Neither did Leif, neither did anyone else—even Taeru probably didn’t blame Calis for what had happened, but Aela knew that it was his fault. Whether he’d meant it or not, this was his fault, and he wouldn’t be punished while her brother was.
“He caused it,” Aela said hatefully. Katt just frowned in response to this statement, but she didn’t argue further. Perhaps she agreed, or she realized that the conversation was futile. Still, her silence reminded Aela that she was holding the rope—waiting for Leif to return, and he had been gone for a while.
What could be taking so long? After all, he hadn’t gone too far, as she could still feel his weight attached to the rope. He couldn’t have gone to look for the women either, as the rope would not have stretched that far. What was he doing? Aela thought of tugging on the rope, but Leif had no way of communicating with her but tugging back. And if he tugged back, then Aela and Katt would have to bring him up, since that was the signal. The entire idea would fail, and Aela knew she would have to wait. “He is taking a while,” Katt murmured worriedly.
“I know,” Aela returned. As if she needed any more reminders of that particular fact. She swore she could hear some strange crying from far away, perhaps through the window, and she tried to assure herself it was her imagination. “Can you hear that?”
“Hear what?” Katt asked. Right—so it must have been her imagination if Katt wasn’t able to hear it. Then, the blue eyes widened, and Katt nodded her head. “I did—just now. It sounded like a girl.”
It did sound like a girl, like a frightened girl. Aela glanced around the wall, but once again, no one was near her. The deserted feel of the prison remained, and they were the only two people around. The sound was coming from inside the prison. “Leif,” Aela said lowly. “Come on.”
At last, it came—the briefest of tugs on the rope, and as soon as she felt it, Aela nearly fell over herself pulling backwards. The weight was nearly impossible to pull, though Katt’s assistance was helping. They both used the space behind them to walk backwards, trying to pull Leif up as quickly as they could. Aela’s hands burned against the rope, but she ignored them. “Pull,” she snarled to Katt.
“I am,” Katt returned, though she didn’t sound irritated. She was pulling, they were making progress, though not nearly at the speed Aela wanted them to be. She needed to see Leif, to know that he was alright. The pulling felt tedious, as though they would never finish. She felt as though they would be yanking the rope forever.
Then, at last she saw Leif’s hand grab the ledge of
the window. In another instant, and as she kept pulling, he appeared, holding a young woman in his arms. She was blond, and she was holding onto him with desperation. The soft crying—it had been coming from her. The blond barmaid. “Alyx!” Katt cried in relief.
“You’re going to have to help me over,” Leif said from across the way. “I’m not going back in there with her.” Aela slowly began tying the rope about Katt’s wait. The girl didn’t even bother to show her surprise, if she was. Next, Katt tied the rope about Aela’s waist, and then Aela walked to the edge. She would have to try and catch Leif’s hand—as the rope would drop Leif and Alyx far too low.
Aela realized suddenly that the rope was no longer tied about Leif’s waist, but instead it was around Alyx’s. Leif managed to pull himself up onto the thin ledge. Then, after Aela and Katt had a firm grasp on the rope, he jumped—with no way of running, though, his jump was not nearly enough.
Aela managed to reach forward just enough to catch him about the wrist, and as his body slammed against the stone wall, Alyx and he separated. Aela released the rope, desperately holding onto Leif. Katt used the rope to yank the blond girl over the edge, and Aela kept her hands on Leif’s wrist for a few long moments. “Try not to drop me,” Leif said dryly.
“I am considering it,” she snapped. With a quick thrust, she pulled him back up so that he could grab onto the ledge, and then, she managed to ease him over it. They both laid down warily, breathing hard. Aela hated the fact that they would have to do it all over again.
Getting up, though, she was taken by surprise as Leif grabbed her by the face and pressed their lips together. The kiss lasted far less time than she’d wanted, and he left her craving more, once again. “Thanks, love,” he said gently. He moved over to Alyx and Katt, and Aela followed, swaying to and fro.
“Alyx, Alyx, are you alright?” Katt begged. Alyx was covered in dirt, and her eyes were swollen from tears. Bruises lined one side of her face, and Aela could make out handprints where people had manhandled her. Aela felt anger pierce through her body.
Alyx sobbed for a few more moments, and then she nodded weakly. “They—they are… they want us to tell the people that he did it to start the war. I can’t, I can’t… I can’t do it,” she whimpered. Aela’s eyebrows furrowed in concern. “He said to do whatever they asked, but I can’t. All he wanted was to bring peace to Dark District—it isn’t fair… and now he’s…” Once again, she fell into a fit of sobs.
Katt pulled the blond girl to her, rubbing her back and whispering gently to her. “It’s alright, Alyx, everything is going to be alright. You’re safe now.” Aela glanced across to Leif, who was just shaking his head in disbelief. These men had beaten a girl. A young girl.
“My mother… and Aitken. They are still…” A loud, piercing scream startled each of them into a quick jerk. “Mom!” Alyx choked out after a moment of stunned silence. Leif’s teeth snapped together, and he started around the wall. Though, Alyx was clearly struggling to walk, she managed to get to her feet, hurrying after Leif.
Katt and Aela followed, both still dazed into confusion. Leif was moving so quickly, and the scream had sounded so desperate. Aela could feel her heart threatening to pound into oblivion—just when she’d thought it was going to be alright. Once they ran around what felt like the entire wall, they ran into Leif again, who had stopped, lying down near the edge of the wall. Alyx was kneeling beside him.
Aela eased her body down beside Leif’s, feeling Katt approach the other side of their small group. When she glanced down, over the ledge of the wall, she saw a group of what appeared to be twenty armed guards. And in the center of them was Juliet, with her hands bound behind her back, and her face more ravaged than her daughter’s. Aela threw a hand over her mouth, trying to conceal her gasp. “Ma’am, we are going to ask you to cooperate one, last time. If you refuse, we are going to take you, and your son, here, to be hanged as an example in front of all of Dark District. All we are asking is that you inform the public that the boy staying with you was a Cathalari, and that he was loyal only to Cathalar—surely you understand how that could be the case.”
Aela’s mouth dropped open. Hanged? Would these men truly hang a boy that could be no older than seven years of age? “I will not lie for you,” Juliet said warily. “Surely you wouldn’t hang a little boy! You will only further the public’s belief that you are falsely imprisoning Taeru Lassau.” Her voice shook with fear, and her eyes moved to her child.
A child that Aela had yet to notice. Yet, there he was, sobbing and reaching desperately for his mother. Juliet’s eyes were filled with tears as she stared at her son. “Lady, you’re going to sentence your little boy to death? Don’t forget your daughter is still inside, and we can have a little fun with her before we get her to talk too.” Juliet took in a quick, horrified gasp of air.
“How can I allow you to keep ruling the people when you care nothing for them? This revolution needs to happen!” she cried.
The silence that transcended over the area was deafening—the men stood, as if stunned, staring at the woman before them. At last, though, one of them stepped forward and slapped her viciously across the cheek. “Very well—then you have made your choice. If logic cannot appeal to these rats, then perhaps fear will! Bring her and the boy!”
“No! Aitken!” Juliet reached desperately for her son, but she was subsequently hit another time.
Alyx’s reaction was immediate. She leapt up from where she knelt, and she appeared to intend to jump off of the wall. Leif moved forward and grabbed her. “Moth—” His hand clamped around her mouth as she fought against him. She struggled for several moments, even as the men started towards Dark District.
“Stop—stop, Alyx! Stop! If we go there now, then we will all be killed. I have only a dagger, and the rest of us are weaponless.” His voice was a worried hiss.
“I will not let them kill my mother!” Tears streamed down Alyx’s dirty and bruised face. Aela felt her heart twist and convulse further. They couldn’t let Juliet be hanged for this—and the child—the child couldn’t hang! No. Aela would not let them do this! “I won’t!”
Leif glanced back to Aela, and his eyes shone with resolve. “We need to get to the noose before they do. We can take them by surprise. Come with us, Alyx!” he commanded. The blond girl stared up at him, as if she were debating his words. With another glance towards her mother, she nodded. “We have to climb down.” This was the only warning he gave before he began pushing himself down the wall.
The other three followed as closely as they could. For someone who had just been beaten, Alyx seemed to be climbing extraordinarily well. She pushed her body downwards, with a steely determination that Aela had to envy. Then again, her mother’s life was on the line. Aela knew she would be an expert climber if Taeru’s life had depended upon it. “Hurry,” Leif instructed. “But be careful—if we get caught, we’ll never make it.”
They each reached the bottom, Katt reaching it last, but much more quickly than she had climbed upwards. Leif started off the moment she was on the ground, though, moving back the way they had come. This time, the route was a little less roundabout. They moved through as much open area as was possible. Though, there were still plenty of guards and nobles with which to contend.
They were forced to stick to roads that occasionally dead-ended and left them with nowhere to go but back the way they came. In spite of everything, Leif remained collected, as though he had nothing to worry about. Aela, on the other hand, felt as though she might burst. How could Leif be so calm when a little boy was just moments away from being made a public display of? “We have to hurry, Leif,” Aela whimpered.
“We won’t be too late,” he said, with confidence that calmed even Aela’s racing heart. Katt seemed to trust him, as well. Alyx, on the other hand, was very near madness. She even looked the part, with blond hair stringy and frizzed. Aela couldn’t blame her, but she did hope that Alyx could keep herself in check long enough for them to reach the wa
ll. Time was running out—and they weren’t moving as fast as they could have been.
Finally, twisting through a few more back ways, the wall came into sight. Aela was relieved to find that no guard had bothered to notice the crumbled hole in it. Then, though, as if some divine being had heard her plea, and wanted intentionally to thwart her, a man appeared. He frowned—and though he didn’t look to be a guard, he stared at the hole. “Guards!” he called at once.
They were upon him at once, a group of five men—as was the usual patrol. They glanced at the man, and then they gawked at the hole as if it was a personal offense. “Did you do this?” one of them asked him.
“No, you lout,” the man snapped. “It was like this when I arrived. I can’t believe none of you’d seen this! No wonder we’re having such trouble with those peasants—imagine if one of the rats got in here!” Aela’s mind snapped instantly to violence. Oh, she wished the guards hadn’t arrived so quickly—she would have taken Leif’s dagger and run him through herself.
He was a thin man, with white hair and a purple robe that just looked gaudy. Her teeth clenched as she watched the scene. Leif had his hand outstretched, indicating that they shouldn’t move just yet. There were too many armed guards for them to have been able to slip by unnoticed, but this diversion was not what they needed. She could see the way Leif’s jaw clenched, as sweat beaded on his brow. He was beginning to worry.
“Just wait,” Leif begged, though Aela didn’t think she was the addressee. “They’ll have to go get someone to repair it, we can…”
“No! We can’t wait! My mother and brother are in danger! No!” Alyx finally snapped. Her eyes squeezed shut, and she sprung forward. Leif tried to grab her, though his hand just missed, and she ran towards the group, slamming one of the guards back against the wall—hard—before they knew what had hit them.
Then, though, the other men reacted. One of them slammed the hilt of their sword towards Alyx, hitting her across the jaw. She staggered, and another of them grabbed her by her hair, slinging her to the ground as though she were a doll. Help her, fool! Aela’s mind found itself quite agitated with her paralysis.