by Taylor Leigh
But Arkron was gone.
Victoria blinked in surprise. ‘Ugh. Never mind. I’m going to bed.’
There was no hope of falling asleep; Victoria discovered that rather quickly. After milling about her room for a good few hours, listening to the distant party music and trying to read, Victoria accepted that she didn’t have a prayer of sleep any time soon. The upcoming days were enough to frighten any rest away from her, not to mention all the strange conversations she’d taken part in recently. She couldn’t shake the feeling something was going to happen, and it clung about her like a cloak, making concentrating on anything—or relaxing—next to impossible.
Her stomach growled impertinently. She realised miserably that she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. She’d skipped the banquet after the ball and now, hours later, she was beginning to regret it. Her stomach grumbled again. There was nothing for it. She had to raid the castle’s larder. The party had to be over by now. It should be safe.
It wasn’t a first for Victoria. Often she locked herself away before dinner in protest of whatever her mother was doing she disagreed with. Unfortunately, going hungry was not something Victoria was familiar with and she had become rather an expert at raiding the storeroom over the years. The thought of all of the good food made by their brilliant chefs had her out of her bed and down the hall in moments.
The castle was quiet, but as Victoria crept past the front gates, she heard a stifled commotion that broke the standard stillness.
‘Get out of here, boy! Don’t you know what hour it is? Go back to the lower levels! Party’s over!’ a guard was saying in an irritated, loud whisper.
She stopped, curious.
Another voice trembled in the darkness. ‘Please! You have to let me in, I have to see someone who’s here!’
A second guard grumbled. ‘We have no record of another gladiator spending the night here. They’re all accounted for.’
Victoria peered round the corner and was shocked to see a dishevelled, bloody Assad, covered in dust and wild eyed.
‘Please!’ he begged. He lurched forward, grabbing the iron bars of the gate. ‘I need to speak to someone inside, immediately!’
Well, now, what could this be about? Curiosity raged through her in a wild fire. His earlier invitation to slip out of the castle with him came back to mind. Surely he wouldn’t be mad enough to break in to see her! The idea was thrilling. She couldn’t leave without knowing.
Victoria took a deep breath to come to her most regal self and stepped into the light. ‘What’s the problem here?’ she asked.
Everyone jumped in surprise.
The guard straightened. ‘Lady Victoria? Sorry to disturb you, Miss, this gladiator was just disturbing the peace of the castle. I was about to remove him.’
Victoria looked at Assad. His face was desperate, pleading, as he stared at her.
‘Let him in,’ she said firmly, hardly realising what she was doing.
‘But Miss, look at the state he’s in—’ one of the guards protested.
‘Let him in!’ she snapped. ‘He’s with me.’
The guards muttered disapprovingly, but without further question, pulled the gates open. One of the guards grabbed Assad’s arm as he passed and growled, ‘No funny business, got it?’
The gladiator was quick to nod.
Once they were beyond the ears of the guards, Assad turned to her. ‘I can’t thank you enough for letting me in. I’m not sure what I would have done.’
Victoria looked him over. ‘What happened to you? What’s going on? I know you’re not here to see me, so who is it?’
Assad shook his head wildly, running a trembling hand across his nose. ‘It’s better if you don’t know. Thank you for letting me in, but just forget about it, okay? Go back to bed!’
Victoria gaped at him, open mouthed. The impertinence of Assad was, quite honestly, dumbfounding. She blocked his path. ‘How dare you? I just stuck up for you! I demand you tell me what’s going on!’
Assad pushed past her, down the darkened hall. ‘Leave it alone, Princess. Believe me; it’ll be better if you do.’
Victoria watched him go, fuming. How could he order her about in such a way? His audacity was astounding. She should call the guards back here and have him hauled out. She chided herself for actually thinking he wanted in to see her. How ridiculous!
She stood in the gloom for a moment, fighting down curiosity. The gladiator rounded a corner and was lost in shadows. It was no good. Victoria couldn’t resist.
She quietly hurried after him, doing her best to keep out of sight. Assad headed down a hall which held the guest rooms of the people invited to court. He stopped in front of one of the doors and cast about nervously. Victoria sank into the darkness, eyes narrowing.
Assad took a deep breath and then hammered on the door.
Whump! Whump! Whump!
There was no answer and he swore, impatiently pacing the hallway, wringing his hands. He went back to the door and gave it another sturdy pounding. This time the effect was almost immediate. The door flew open and an enraged, shirtless Marus appeared.
‘What?’ Marus snapped, fuming.
Assad looked understandably uncomfortable. ‘Right, uh, sorry to bother you, I know you’re busy.’
Marus, towering in the doorframe, appeared oddly bemused, despite the state he was in. His eyebrows went up. ‘Yeah, kinda.’
Someone from inside the room called his name.
‘In a minute!’ Marus snarled over his shoulder. He turned back to Assad. ‘What do you want?’
Assad coughed into his fist. ‘Can I talk to you a moment? Alone?’
Marus muttered and ducked inside the room. ‘I’ll be right back!’ He pulled the door shut loudly. ‘This had better be good.’
Assad paced, out of breath. ‘Yeah, I wish it was. There’s been a bit of a problem.’
‘Yeah, I can tell. What the hell happened to you?’ He leaned against the wall.
‘A few of us went out to the Bone Vault, you know, just to have a peek at what was happening with those bloody pods.’
Marus seemed to know what was coming. He shook his head, apprehensive.
Assad continued. ‘We weren’t the only ones there. There were…’ He lowered his voice and Victoria had to strain to hear. ‘There were Denizens there, Marus!’
Victoria felt a chill slide through her.
Marus’s narrow nostrils flared. ‘Please tell me you didn’t get involved, please, please tell me you didn’t get caught.’
Assad swallowed. ‘I’m afraid so. They saw us before we saw them. There was no way out of it! They jumped us and just came from nowhere. Not many of us got away.’
Marus nodded. ‘Did they see your face?’
Assad looked up at him. ‘Not well enough to know who I was, but if they identify the other bodies then there will be some questions coming our way. Might be difficult though, considering how badly they were mangled. I had no idea they could fight like that.’ He took a deep breath. ‘I killed one of them. They’re responsible for those pods, Marus, I’m sure of it. I think everyone has it backwards; I could have sworn they were sending them up, not taking them down! They’re lying to everyone.’
Marus cursed and flopped against the stone wall. ‘This really put a dent in my evening.’
Assad winced. ‘I’m sorry! I know it was stupid, but I couldn’t just keep this to myself. What do we do?’
Marus held up a hand. ‘Just stop! Don’t say anything else, understand?’
From somewhere in the castle came the unmistakable sound of a Denizen’s chilling scream.
Marus fixed Assad with his midnight blue eyes. ‘We’re not going to do anything. Whatever those creeps are planning is not our concern.’
Assad started to protest but Marus cut him off.
‘Did you tell anyone else about this?’
Assad shook his head. ‘You’re the only one who knows. Well, the princess, she knows we went down there.’
&n
bsp; Marus glowered. ‘Romantic idiot! What were you thinking? She doesn’t know what happened, let’s keep it that way. You saw something nobody was supposed to see. Not to mention killing a Denizen is a crime that warrants the death penalty. If we weren’t already gladiators I’d say we were dead men just for having this conversation.’
His eyes drifted down the hall and Victoria shrank back. She could have sworn Marus was looking directly at her, though she knew he couldn’t possibly see her in the shadows. ‘Whoever knows about this, what you saw, may as well slit their own throat because they’re already dead.’
That was when Victoria decided to run.
* * * * *
Reginald was jerked out of a deep sleep by a pounding at his door. He tossed about, trying to orient himself and threw the thick curtains over his window open. Bright white light from the Dead World spilt across the room. He staggered to his door drunkenly and pulled it open. He gazed, bleary eyed, down at a veiled woman in front of him. ‘V—Victoria?’
Victoria pushed past him, slammed the door, locked it and slumped down to the ground against it. She buried her head in her heads.
‘What happened to you?’ Reginald demanded. He cast about for a tunic to put on, embarrassed by how much skin he was showing. ‘You look bloody awful!’
Victoria moaned. ‘I don’t know what to do.’
Reginald stared at her with wide eyes. ‘If you did something wrong, don’t get me involved!’ He backed away from her, hands raised.
Victoria swallowed and pulled her veil off, looking particularly ill. ‘You know that gladiator, Assad?’ she asked quietly.
Reginald shook his head. ‘No. What did you do with him? Victoria, we have to be married! You can’t make a bad public image for us! Gladiators can’t be associated with, not outside of a public setting. They’re…Lowers!’
Victoria glared at him. ‘I didn’t do anything with him! I just…overheard something. Something disturbing.’
Reginald’s narrowed his eyes. ‘What does that have to do with us?’
‘I don’t know. Maybe nothing. Maybe everything.’
Reginald sat back down on the bed awkwardly. He was uncomfortable having her in his room.
Victoria went on when she realised he wasn’t going to ask. ‘Assad went down to the Bone Vault to have a look at those pods and fell into some trouble. It sounds like the Denizens are planning something. Something they’re willing to kill over to keep secret. I have a feeling we might be in danger.’
He frowned. ‘You’re not making sense. Why would you think that? They’re on our side!’
‘I don’t know, but Reginald, the Denizens are doing something with the pods. They’re the ones sending them up and they don’t want anyone to know about it. I’m sure of it.’
Reginald frowned. ‘You think they’re the ones behind sending them up? But why?’
Victoria shook her head. ‘I don’t know. It seems that way. Reginald, they’re telling everyone the Dead World is sending them, but it’s the other way round. They’re sending something to the Other World and they don’t want anyone to know about it.’
Reginald sighed. ‘Why are you telling me this?’
She shook her head again. ‘I don’t know. I needed to tell someone. Something isn’t right, Reg. I don’t know what it is; what those gladiators saw tonight sounds treasonous. The Denizens don’t do the work of mere soldiers; they never leave their monasteries unless there’s a special occasion. I came in on a meeting Sinsetun was having with my mother. He said they were working on the pod problem. It doesn’t make any sense. What do you think is in them?’
Reginald stood up from his bed and hauled her up off the floor. ‘I dunno, but it’s not really our problem, is it? I mean, it’s interesting, and a bit strange, but what can we really do?’
Victoria stared at him numbly.
‘Have you gotten ready for tomorrow?’ he asked, desperate for a subject change.
Victoria ran a hand through her curly hair. ‘Tomorrow?’
Reginald gaped at her. ‘You’re joking! You’ve forgotten? You have to make your journey tomorrow! Up to the temple!’ He glanced out the window. ‘By the look of things out there you’ll be off in a few hours!’
Victoria’s eyes widened. ‘The Journey! I’ve completely forgotten. Oh sting, what am I going to do? I’m going to die!’
Reginald opened the door and ushered her out. ‘Look, just calm down. Get some sleep. It’ll be all right. I think.’
Victoria gripped his wrist. ‘You won’t tell anyone, will you? About the Denizens and all of that?’
Reginald shook his head. ‘Why would I say anything about it? We don’t even know what they’re up to and if I mention it, I’ll be in deep trouble too!’ He took a deep breath. ‘So thanks for telling me,’ he added bitterly.
He closed the door behind Victoria and put his head in his hands. The sound of wind moaning in some far-off hallway cut through the slumbering silence of the palace. He looked out at the lonely desert and took a deep breath. It was so rocky and treacherous out there beyond the walls, he knew that first-hand. If there was one thing he learnt during the Trials, it was how ruthless the wasteland could be. Victoria didn’t have a chance in hell of making it to the temple. Of course, if anyone found out what she’d heard tonight, it might be a mercy if she didn’t come back.
Chapter Four
Victoria didn’t hear the pounding on her door till it became so loud it was rattling the glassware on her shelves. She groaned and pulled her pillow over her head. She figured she’d gotten round ten minutes of sleep. How was it already morning? She looked towards her open window. It was still dark.
‘Miss? You must let me in! You have to leave in an hour. You need to be prepared according to tradition!’
Victoria rolled into a ball. ‘Go away!’ she shouted.
‘M’lady, please let me in! You must be ceremonially prepared.’
She squeezed her eyes tighter. Ceremonially prepared? What was she? A roasted boar?
Victoria never forgave herself for opening the door. The next hour was one of torture. She was exhausted and cross from her late night and it took the slaves who attended her twice as much work to get her decent.
When Victoria finally saw her reflection in a cloudy mirror she hardly recognised herself. Her eyes were caked with so much makeup and paint she could barely blink. A red jewel was placed between her brows and her lips were coloured such a crimson shade it looked like some sweet had been glued to her face. Her top was long sleeved, low necked and gossamer, her stomach bare and covered with swirling marks and she wore a skirt with so many layers of red fabric it was impossible not to get tangled. So much jewellery and fabric covered her it was difficult to move. It was definitely not desert survival wear.
‘They expect me to walk all the way up to the ridge temple wearing this?’
The slaves didn’t answer her, not that she expected them to. They probably knew she was a goner and thought it best to keep quiet about it. Her eyes drifted up towards the stone ceiling. It was going to be a long day.
After her gruelling makeover she was hurried to the dining room. She hardly had time to eat before she was pushed into a dark room and confronted with Sinsetun and several foggy-eyed priestesses. There she was wafted with incense, overloaded with charms and muttered over with spells. The whole time she was in the dark room she was terrified. Sinsetun’s beady eyes showed no emotion or inkling that he knew about what she’d overheard last night. No-one seemed to notice just how jittery she was. Maybe they were so drugged on spores they didn’t care. Maybe she was safe. Or perhaps, Sinsetun was just crafty, biding his time till sometime when he could find her alone…
They left the palace in a huge procession. Great canopies resting on the backs of elephants carried the royal family. Reginald and Victoria were in one, Rovin and Lucinda were in the other. Horses, camels, dogs, musicians, dancers, nobility and slaves were all in the parade, following or riding and generally making rath
er a show of things.
‘Just imagine what the wedding will be like!’ Reginald shouted, watching the crowds beneath them cheer. He waved exuberantly.
Victoria felt her stomach flip. ‘I’m trying not to imagine it!’ She sat down heavily. ‘There probably won’t even be one. I’m not going to survive the journey to the temple, anyway.’
Reginald sat down next to her. ‘Hey, you’ll be all right. Just…have your wits about you.’
He gave her hand a timid squeeze.
She groaned, covering her face with her hands. She didn’t voice her thoughts about how it might be nicer if she did just die out in the desert. It would be a blessing to everyone. ‘I wish you’d just stop pretending like you care. Don’t you realise what me coming back means?’
Reginald gave his shoulders an indifferent shrug. ‘Be that as it may, you’re still my cousin. I’d rather you be safe than dead. Even if that means we have to be unhappily married for the rest of our lives.’
Victoria felt a thin smile pull at her lips. ‘Thanks, I think.’
The procession to the bottom layer was much shorter than Victoria would have liked. She felt the elephants lower themselves to the ground and she gripped the edge of her seat with white knuckles. Her heart pounded. Sure, she’d been out of the city gates before, the gladiator arena was out there, but she had never been out alone.
As she dismounted the platform and was guided through the crowd, she felt her dizziness increase. Most of the crowds round them, kept at a safe distance, were peasants. And they didn’t look too happy. Distractedly she could see their anger and hear the jeering. Her panic grew as she stared, wide-eyed, at the faces round her. If the beasts didn’t get her, these lowlifes would.
She was brought to the front of the gates and turned round to face her mother and Sinsetun. Her mother addressed her, but it seemed as if she was speaking more to the people round her. ‘Go with my blessing, dear. Go make us proud. You must face this harrowing journey alone, but I know if I could do it, you can do it as well!’ There was a polite smattering of applause. Victoria imagined people making bets of just how long she’d last.