“Do you have any idea how dangerous that is, Shadow?”
I thought back to his hand clutching the knife and shuddered.
“It was my fault,” I said. “I heard a noise and wandered off.”
“We need to get to safety,” Shadow said. “We can figure out what happened later.”
“To the mines, then,” Estrella said. “But this isn’t over.”
“At least I didn’t abandon the mission before it started,” I said.
“Don’t you dare. Do you know what this is? What it can do? I can repair ten wells with this, at least. I might be able to extract the salt from the ground so they can grow crops next year.”
She waved the crystal in my face. I pushed her hand away. The movement startled Seda. He jumped to the ground. Estrella caught him before he could run away and pulled him close.
“The tunnel entrance is this way,” Shadow said.
“We’re meeting Captain tomorrow night by the mountains,” Estrella said. “As long as Joe remembers to tell him.”
A boulder hid the entrance to the mines. Shadow and William pushed it away, and Estrella pushed it back with magic after we entered the tunnel. She snapped a dozen stars above us. The light glistened on Seda’s fur.
He slept in her arms. I had not seen him in so long. It wasn’t fair that she insisted on holding him. Worse, she did not offer to help carry the baskets. I stumbled through the corridor as the jewels grew heavier and heavier. The Rosas Rojas pressed through my apron and dug into my leg.
I replayed the events of the raid in my mind. Shadow thought he had seen the Princess. Lady Alma had called to her. But that was impossible, and for a moment in the moonlight, I had recognized the face.
Only it didn’t make any sense.
Why would Elsie be sleeping in my bed?
Chapter 21
We walked deeper into the tunnel and entered a cavern so tall Estrella’s stars did not light the ceiling. Shadow snapped his fingers. Nothing happened.
“These mines have gone dark,” Estrella said. “Miner’s magic won’t work here.”
“Dark?” I asked.
“All the fairy salt has been mined.”
She snapped her fingers and more stars appeared above us. They floated upwards, but still did not illuminate the ceiling. I could see the walls in the distance. It was larger than the largest ballroom in the palace.
Across the cavern, an underground lake reflected the stars so perfectly that I thought it was a mirror until a single drop of water fell. The splash echoed through the room, and the ripples disrupted the light in an ever growing circle until they reached the shore. Shadow led us through another tunnel. It sloped downwards. How far underground were we now?
We entered a small room with furnishings similar to the cabin on the Ghone. I glanced around for beds but saw none. I tapped my foot against the rock to see if it was as hard as I expected.
It was. I groaned.
Shadow put his baskets on the table and sat. We all did the same.
“Now,” William said, “What in Salara’s name did you do back there?”
“Not quite what we planned,” Estrella agreed. “What were you doing near the Princess?”
But she smiled and scratched Seda behind the ears. He purred.
What was going on? Would she really enchant a kitten to make it like her?
“We ran into a bit of trouble,” Shadow said. “But Rook and I took care of it. And we stole the gown Salara wore in the opera!”
Estrella raised an eyebrow.
“The one covered in diamonds?”
“It is one of a kind, thank goodness,” I said. “Should be worth a fortune.”
William whistled.
“And Captain will pay a lot for that cat. He’s always asking about it.”
“Seda isn’t going anywhere,” Estrella said.
She clutched the kitten as if he would disappear at any moment.
She didn’t let him go as we settled into the cavern. The mines were surprisingly comfortable. Estrella’s stars illuminated the room with twinkling light. A barrel and empty shelf stood in the corner. Several doors branched out from the main room. I saw furniture and shelves through the openings. Shadow and William chose an opening to the right as their room. Estrella and I claimed the one on the left.
“Beds!” I said.
I set my pack on a bed, grateful I wouldn’t have to sleep on the rock floor.
“These were miners’ rooms,” Estrella said. “Once they extract the fairy salt from a section of tunnels, they move on.”
“So it is abandoned?”
She nodded. We met William and Shadow back in the main room.
“We’ll need water,” William said.
“You know where to find it,” Estrella said.
She flicked her wrist and a few stars hovered above William’s head. They followed him when he left.
“Did we get enough?”
I meant the question for Shadow, but he wasn’t there. I glanced around the cavern. Sometimes he seemed to melt into the walls.
Estrella nodded and opened a basket to examine our haul. She pulled wrinkled papers from the top and frowned.
“William must have brought those accidentally,” I said. “He was in the council chamber looking for information about the salt tax when we ran out.”
Estrella frowned and smoothed out the papers.
“These are documents about the treaty with New Salaria. Not very useful.”
She leaned Seda on her shoulder and skimmed the papers.
“Let me hold him while you do that.”
She shook her head.
I patted my lap, trying to coax Seda away from her. He stretched, but didn’t leave her shoulder.
“You can release the charm,” I said. “We don’t have to worry about him running away now.”
“What charm?”
“Whatever charm you’ve enchanted Seda with. I don’t know why you’re so determined to make him like you, but it is unnecessary.”
“I haven’t enchanted him.”
She set Seda down on the table. He looked at both of us, then ran into the bedroom and scratched on the bedpost.
“Why does he like you then?”
She shrugged. “He was my kitten first.”
“What?”
“It was a long time ago, but I guess he never forgot. I found him on the streets, and my mother healed him.”
I stared at her.
“He kept getting sick, so she created a soul loop for him. Like you and I did for the well. It should have used his life force to strengthen his healing abilities, but she made it a bit too strong.”
“Just a bit?”
“By the time we realized what had happened, it was too late to fix it. The soul loop had been in place for months. Changing it would have killed him.”
She turned her attention back to the papers.
“So your mother is the one that made him immortal?”
“I don’t know if he’s immortal. His aging has certainly slowed down or stopped. Loops are unpredictable.”
Seda purred in the next room and jumped from bed to bed. Estrella smiled. She looked happier than I had ever seen her.
“Why did you give him away?”
She glared at me.
“I thought Princess Salara would like to play with him. I was stupid.”
I tried to remember the first time I had seen Seda, but it had been so long ago. The usual sea of blond girls had surrounded me while I amused the kitten by reflecting light from my diamond bracelet for him to chase around the room.
“She cried when I took him home. It was strongly suggested that I might like to give Seda to her majesty as a birthday gift. I said I would like no such thing, but they took him anyway. The next day, I told Salara I hated her. I was banished from her presence.”
This I did remember. A girl emerging from my sea of blond companions screaming insults. She managed to scratch my arm, to draw blood with her nails
, before guards dragged her away. Lady Alma healed the wound with a wave of her hand. It left no scar, but I remembered the hatred in the girl’s eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
“It was boring. Incredibly boring, being a member of court banished from the palace. My father’s position as Admiral kept me from serious punishment, but I couldn’t attend any social function where Salara was present. Which was all of them. I spent a lot of time in our garden.”
William returned and emptied two buckets into a barrel in the corner.
“Is that all?” Estrella asked.
“There are only two buckets. I’ll get more.”
“Let me,” I said.
“They’re heavy,” William said.
“Heavier than diamonds? Or sixty gold coins?”
He laughed and shook his head.
Estrella snapped some stars to follow me and turned her attention to the papers William had stolen.
“These will lead you to the river,” she said.
“We don’t get water from the lake?”
“Too stagnant,” William said. “Where’s Shadow?”
Estrella shrugged. William pulled a paper from the back of the pile and read it.
“Look at this! The treaty with the colonies includes a proposed marriage between the delegate and Princess Salara.”
I halted in the doorway.
“Sir Gilbert proposed marriage to the Princess?”
“Almost all treaties with Salaria include that,” Estrella said. “It doesn’t really mean anything. Kingdoms use it to show who their most eligible bachelor is in case the King is interested. Marrying Salara to a colonist would be a terrible political move.”
“I suppose someone from Castana would be better?” William said.
“It would unite nations across the ocean. They could control trade routes.”
“Always thinking like a pirate.”
“I'm not a pirate!”
I left. Their voices faded as I followed the stars through unfamiliar tunnels. Thinking about Sir Gilbert made my heart beat faster.
He had proposed marriage?
Others had. I knew that. But I had never met most of them. And I had never felt-
What did I feel for Sir Gilbert?
The sound of rushing water echoed through the tunnels, and Estrella’s stars multiplied to illuminate a long, narrow cavern. An underground river rushed through and poured into a black abyss edged with jagged rocks. Even with the stars, I could not see where it led.
I found the calmest part of the river and filled the two buckets. I set them on the shore and watched the water churn, reluctant to return.
A sound mixed with the rush of the river. A voice? I left the buckets and walked along the bank.
It came again. A scream, cut off suddenly.
I searched the water and saw a girl thrashing in the river. She clung to a rock in the center. The current pulled her towards the sharp rocks at the end of the room.
I waded in before I remembered I could barely swim. The girl’s dress and long hair flowed behind her, caught in the current. Her hands slipped, and she drifted a few feet closer to the abyss. Her head hit a rock. She inhaled to scream and choked on water.
The river’s bank was not deep. I waded towards the center and reached for her she floated past. My hands connected with something, and I pulled.
It was her hair, but she didn’t scream. Her body floated limp in the current. Her head bobbed underwater.
I pulled her towards me with her hair until I found her shoulders and pushed her head above the water. Blood streamed past her closed eyes.
I dragged her to shore and laid her flat. I patted her face, not sure what to do. Her skin was hot.
“Please wake up,” I whispered.
She coughed. Her eyes did not open, but she was breathing. Tears of relief streamed down my face.
“You’re safe,” I whispered. “Who are you?”
She raised her hand, felt the wound on her head, and winced.
“I have friends nearby,” I said. “I can go get them. One is a healer.”
“I can walk.”
Her voice was little more than a whisper. She pushed herself to a sitting position. With her eyes still shut, she tried to stand.
“Let me help you.”
I wrapped her arm around my shoulder. She leaned on me. I was practically carrying her.
She was much heavier than rubies or gold.
The stars led the way, hovering just in front of us. The girl moved slowly. Blood streamed from her cut, mixing with the water dripping from her hair. Her skin was red and swollen, and she kept her eyes shut.
We did not speak. I was too out of breath for conversation, and she was panting as well. The light grew brighter as we came near the cavern. A warm glow illuminated the tunnel up ahead. Shadow’s voice mixed with William and Estrella’s. So he was back.
The girl stopped walking. I waited for her to gather her strength.
“Turn off the lights,” she said.
I turned to her. She covered her eyes with one hand.
“I can’t.”
“It is too bright.”
She found the rock wall with her other hand and slumped to the floor.
“We’re so close,” I said. “You can make it.”
“It’s too bright.”
She put both hands over her eyes.
“I’m going to run ahead,” I said. “I’ll bring back help. Will you be alright alone for a few moments?”
She rocked back and forth on the floor, grimacing.
I ran to find the others.
“What happened to you?” Estrella asked.
I had forgotten that I was soaking wet.
“I found something. Someone. I need help.”
“You did what?” Estrella asked.
Shadow stood.
“Show us.”
William reluctantly put down the food he had been eating, and they followed me. I had no trouble finding my way. I had left a wet trail on the floor. Estrella’s stars followed us.
We heard the screaming before we saw the girl. She sat on the floor, curled into a ball with her face buried against her knees, wailing.
“Roslynn?”
William froze for a moment, then ran to her. He put a hand on her shoulder, but she did not stop screaming.
“What’s wrong with her? What happened?”
He turned to me, and then to Estrella. Roslynn’s screams dissolved into sobs.
“Light,” she whimpered.
“Turn off the lights!” I told Estrella.
“What?”
“Just do it!”
Shadow nodded to Estrella. She snapped her fingers. The stars went out.
I stood in complete darkness. Roslynn’s sobs grew softer. They stopped. Heavy breathing echoed in the dark.
“Roslynn?” William whispered.
“Are you alright?” Shadow asked.
“I searched everywhere,” William said. “Where have you been?”
“Where are you injured?” Estrella said. “You’re bleeding.”
“She hit her head on a rock.”
“I can heal you, but first I need to see what’s wrong. If I turn on a light-”
“No!” Roslynn said.
“Don’t,” William said.
I stood where I was, trying to stay calm in the complete darkness. The floor seemed to shift, and I lost my sense of direction as the voices echoed around me.
“I can help.”
Shadow’s voice was a whisper. I heard him move towards Roslynn.
“I’m coming,” William said.
“To do what?” Estrella said. “If I can’t help you certainly can’t.
“We’ll be back soon,” Shadow said. “You can turn the lights on after we’ve gone.”
A pair of footsteps echoed through the cavern and disappeared. I heard a snap, and three stars appeared. I blinked in the sudden brightness, momentarily blinded. We walked back to our room.<
br />
“Where did you find her?” William asked.
“In the river, obviously,” Estrella said. “Shadow found food if you want any, Rook.”
I opened the boxes on the table, examining the contents. They all contained something shriveled that didn’t look edible. I pulled a piece out and sniffed it. Dried meat, maybe?
“So that really is Roslynn?” I asked.
“What was she doing in the river?” William asked.
“What is she doing with Shadow?” I asked.
“Can you heal her?”
William turned to Estrella.
“Be quiet or you’ll wake Seda,” Estrella said. She gestured to the kitten asleep in a chair.
“I don’t care about Seda,” William said. “What’s wrong with Roslynn?”
“She’ll tell us when she returns. But surely you’ve guessed.”
I had no idea, but William looked crushed.
“It fades, doesn’t it?” he said. “It heals with time.”
“Sometimes.”
“Most of the time,” he insisted.
I took a bite of a shriveled hunk of meat. It was tough. Impossibly tough. I gnawed at it, trying to break off a piece. My wet clothes dried to my skin. I slumped back in my chair and stared at Seda. He sharpened his claws on a basket, not caring that the humans around him had been thrown into chaos.
I was halfway through the piece of dried meat before Shadow and Roslynn returned. She wore a blindfold. The blood had been washed from her face. William gasped and ran to her. She flinched when he touched her shoulder.
“Sorry,” she said. “Give me some warning next time.”
“Are you alright?”
She nodded.
Estrella glanced to Shadow, who nodded as well.
“The cut on her head isn’t serious,” he said. “You should heal it. And the sunburn if you can.”
Estrella waved her hands over Roslynn’s head. A green light flashed, and she stepped back.
“What about her eyes?” William asked.
Estrella shook her head.
“Do you want some food?” I asked.
Roslynn nodded, and I handed her a piece of the meat.
“It is kind of hard to chew.”
Roslynn smiled.
“Thank you. For everything.”
“I’m Rook.”
“I know. Shadow told me. Thank you, Rook.”
Rook and Shadow (Salarian Chronicles Book 1) Page 18