by Day Leitao
This felt like a nicer version of Odell’s accusations.
“They’re not my shoes. Even if they were, I’m not sure I can—”
“They brought you and Cayla here.”
“Really?”
Nia was serious. “Don’t tell me you didn’t know. I can’t take you out of this tower if you can’t get my son and me out of the castle. You know I tried to save you before without asking anything in return, but now I need your help. Do you want to come or not?”
Karina had promised herself she would follow whoever suggested taking her home, so she didn’t want to refuse Nia’s invitation, but she was still unsure about her ability to help anyone. Karina remembered Zoe, then she remembered Rose and the hill, and how she had done something with the shoes. She had even almost teleported home, although “almost” was a problem.
“I tried to use the shoes. To go home.” Karina looked down, somewhat embarrassed. “And blow up the walls. They didn’t work.”
“It’s this tower. It blocks magic. It’ll be different outside. Now, time’s running. If you want to come, then promise to help me, and come.”
“I want to come. I’ll help you. I promise.”
Nia then gestured for Karina to follow her, and climbed a knotted rope leading to the high door, which was open. Now, the ladder would have been much nicer, but Karina didn’t complain. The door was much higher than she had thought, but she put her best effort and climbed that rope, until she got close enough that Nia pulled her by the hands. At the hallway, two men were sitting, looking straight ahead. Karina gasped. For a second she feared they were dead, until she noticed they were breathing, so they were sleeping with their eyes open. Weird. The only reason she didn’t ask Nia about them was that she had a stern face and gestured for silence. The woman closed the door from where they had come from, which was translucent from that side, meaning that Karina had indeed been watched.
Nia walked down the hallway and Karina followed. Further down, there were a few more men who seemed to be in that open-eyed sleeping state like the others, but Karina didn’t get close to them. Instead of continuing, Nia touched one of the walls, as if looking for something. While she looked, part of the wall moved and a door opened by itself. Nia was startled and stepped back. Odell stepped out of the door and gasped in surprise. He noticed Karina, then looked at the men on both sides, as if grasping the situation. He gestured for silence. Nia took a knife and was about to stab him, but he pushed it away from her hand and took it.
“You’re smarter than that,” he said. “Follow me. I can help you.”
Nia stepped back as much as she could. “I don’t trust you. Never did.”
Odell loosened the grip on Nia’s arm and returned the knife to her. “Who do you trust then? The king? At least you know on whose side I’m not.”
Sounds of steps were heard coming from the end of the corridor. Nia looked.
Odell continued, “You’re out of options.” He pleaded, “They’ll arrest you. Please, come.”
Nia sighed then followed him through the door, and so did Karina. Was that what she was supposed to do? The man closed the door, then walked fast through small corridors.
When they were in a long corridor, soldiers came from both sides and surrounded Odell, Nia and Karina. Leading them, a man with a silver overcoat. It was General Keen. He laughed. “Who would guess? The two traitors together.”
“You should thank me I stopped them,” Odell said.
Keen laughed. “Nice try Odell, but I meant you and the woman. You helped her escape.”
“Preposterous!” Nia said. “I can escape by myself.”
Nia shouldn’t be so offended. At least the general still counted her as a person.
“Are you that much of an idiot?” Odell asked Keen.
While he spoke, Nia whispered in Karina’s ear, “Hold your breath.”
Karina did as she was told, but she didn’t fill her lungs with air for fear of being noticed.
Odell continued, “How do you suppose I can imprison them if they don’t believe I’m on their side? Now they’ll escape and the king will know about this.”
The general had an unpleasant smirk. “I have twelve soldiers with me. I don’t think anyone will escape. But the king will know what you are doing.”
Odell was calm. “Let’s bring our accusations to the king, then. But if they escape, the fault is yours.”
Karina started to feel out of breath.
Keen laughed. “Except they won’t.” He turned to the soldiers. “Seize them!”
Odell raised his arms as if surrendering. Karina did the same. She didn’t know for how much longer she would be able to hold her breath, and even if it mattered. A soldier approached her and held her wrists. General Keen himself approached Odell while four soldiers walked towards Nia. Karina figured it was all over, and she almost caught some air, but she made one last effort, trusting Nia’s words. She wondered whether her face was turning purple. Instead of tying her, the soldier let go of her arms. In front of her, Keen lost balance and fell. All the soldiers collapsed on the floor, and Odell and Nia ran. Karina followed, and after some seconds finally caught some air.
They ran through narrow corridors until they reached a door that hadn’t seemed to be there before. Karina wondered why she was following the man who had come up with weird accusations and kept her locked. She considered turning around and running, but she preferred not to distance herself from Nia. The secret door led to a small circular room, where he opened another secret door, leading to what looked like a cave, with rocks for walls. As the door to the cave was closed, darkness engulfed them, and Karina realized she had nowhere to escape, and how problematic that was. Odell lit what looked like a type of candle, which made things slightly better. The room, cave, cave room, whatever, had a table on a corner where Odell put the candle.
Odell turned to Nia. “Thank you for that. What did you do?”
“Thank you? I have no proof you weren’t telling Keen the truth.”
“Unfortunately, I can provide none. But you’ll have to agree I had no choice.”
“Choice? You should have fainted with them.”
“I noticed you held your breath,” Odell said. “Unlike General Keen. But you need to go quickly. If that was a gas bomb, as I suspect, they’ll wake up in a few minutes and the castle will be on lockdown.”
“I’m not leaving my son,” Nia said.
“He’s the best-protected person in the entire kingdom. But you have to go.” Odell pleaded. “They’ll be twice as careful next time. You don’t suppose they had more than ten soldiers for Karina.”
Nia laughed. “You’re joking, right? Keen will be after you too.”
“No. I’ll be right there, fainted with him. And the King still trusts me. If anything, General Keen will be the one who’ll have to explain your escape. If you don’t leave now, I don’t think I’ll be able to get you out of the castle. Keen might have someone follow me. All the hallways will be watched. Either you go now or you stay and… I don’t want to think about it.”
“I know how to protect myself,” Nia said.
“Yes. And you also know how to protect the girls. Nia, please, I know you’ve never trusted me, but you’re an intelligent woman. You know I’m the enemy of your enemy.”
Nia raised her eyebrows. “You mean to say I was always right about you?”
“Just trust that I am on your side. And the girls’ side.”
Nia frowned. “The girls? Why?”
“I… I’ve been taking care of them since they were little. Way before you, in fact.”
“But you said it as if protecting them was a task assigned to you.”
“It is a task…” Odell glanced at Karina then continued, “I assigned myself.” He said this last part quickly, as if wanting to end the subject.
Nia still had narrowed eyebrows. “And how do you propose to help me?”
“This room leads to a way out. It’s secret. I’m the only on
e who knows about it. Cayla and Ayanna are there already. They need to be taken away from the castle. Cayla is in trouble, she might still be safe for some time, but I can’t predict how long. As for Ayanna, she’s her sister, she’s worried, and she’s been asking questions. I can’t vouch for her safety either.”
Nia frowned and looked down, thinking. Karina felt a little guilty for the things she had said about Cayla, wondering if she had caused any trouble. Odell seemed to notice and turned to her. “It’s not your fault. Although, why didn’t you just do as I said? Why did you contact anyone outside the castle?”
Karina felt defensive. “It was Cayla, she—”
“I know,” Odell interrupted. “Like I said, not your fault.”
Because he no longer sounded evil, Karina had the courage to ask a question that had been bothering her. “You’re not afraid I’ll use the shoes?”
“Not in the way you think. But they’re dangerous, and you can’t control them, so don’t try anything.” He turned to Nia. “Now, please, trust me. Your son will be safe. You’ll be reunited.”
Nia snorted. “Sure. Like Cayla’s mother? Or Ayanna’s?”
Odell closed his eyes as if in pain. “That’s why I have to save you.”
“I don’t want to be saved. Now, are you going to let me pass, or do I have to get rid of you?”
This time Nia sounded scary. Even Odell looked intimidated. Or was it something else? She wondered what she would do to him, perhaps immobilize him like the guards in that corridor?
Odell took a deep breath then said, “You’ll just leave the girls?”
“Why don’t you go with them?”
Odell shook his head. “I can’t.”
Nia scowled. “Is this some kind of trap?”
“You don’t know me. Or you’d never ask that question. There are other ways to protect them.”
Nia’s eyes were misty. “I can’t try to save my son, because I have to help the King’s daughters and their friend? It’s not a fair choice, you know?”
“Choice is a privilege we can’t always afford.”
“And what do you want me to do?”
“Ayanna will tell you. You’d better leave now.”
She looked down for a moment, thinking, then turned to him.
“If anything happens to Leo, I swear, I’ll make sure you remain alive. You’ll regret having been born.”
He nodded. “I will, for sure. And if anything happens to any of the girls, I’ll understand it’s not your fault and you did your best.”
Nia grimaced, as if annoyed.
Odell opened a trapdoor on the junction of the floor and the wall. It had a ladder leading to an underground tunnel. He turned to Karina and Nia. “You need to go down here. The girls know what to do. They are waiting for you.”
A voice came from the tunnel. “We’re here!” It was Ayanna.
Karina trusted the girl and felt relieved that it wasn’t a trapdoor leading to her doom. Okay, maybe it would lead her to her doom, but at least she’d have company. Odell looked worried and urged her to go quickly. She went down the ladder, realizing she had no equipment or supplies, and that they would be three girls and a young woman with an army after them. Still, she felt relieved when she got down and saw Cayla and Ayanna.
Nia followed, her face somber, as the trapdoor was closed above them. She stared at Karina. “You. Take me to my son.”
Cayla stared at them in alarm. While Karina was thinking what to say, the woman pulled a knife and put it against her throat. “Teleport. Now.”
Cayla stared at her. “What are you doing?”
The cold blade still touched Karina’s throat. Nia said, “An emotional spike. She needs an emotional spike to teleport.”
That made some sense, and then Karina wondered how come she had the nerve to be interested in teleporting logic.
Cayla pleaded, “You can’t expect her to… she doesn’t know any magic!”
“The shoes!” Nia was breathing fast. “She promised. The shoes will bind her to her word.”
Cayla moved fast towards them. Karina closed her eyes, fearing something would happen to her, but as she opened them Cayla kicked the knife far.
“The shoes are dangerous!” Cayla said. “What if they teleported you, her, or even your son somewhere else? What if the shoes killed you all?”
Nia sighed.
Cayla stepped closer to her. “He’s my brother. I also care about him.”
Nia looked away, gave Karina one last scary stare, then asked the sisters, “What are you planning?”
Ayanna replied, “We need to get to a tunnel that will take us to the Apex. From there we’ll get to the Black River and go to Lylah’s place.”
Nia shook her head as if in disbelief. “Lylah? What madness is this?”
“All this problem is because our father thinks we want to take his power,” Cayla explained. “But once we destroy the shoes, he’ll understand we are on his side. Everything will be brought back to normal.”
Karina was astonished at the idea that they should escape only to do the bidding of the people who had imprisoned them.
Nia rolled her eyes. “Is that Odell’s plan? He’s trying to fool you all. And things will never go back to normal.”
“Can we please discuss later?” Ayanna pleaded. “We need to hurry before they find this tunnel.”
The girl started walking towards the darkness. She had a blue crystal in her hand, and, as she lifted it, it illuminated a long straight tunnel, going downwards.
Cayla looked at it. “I’d never heard about this tunnel before. How come you know it?”
“Odell taught me last night,” the younger girl replied.
“Why you?” Cayla asked.
Ayanna shrugged. “He said they were watching you.”
“Still… He should have told us about it before…”
“Them,” Ayanna said. “There are many tunnels. He said they were secret. We have to take the third door on the right.”
“There are no doors,” Cayla said.
Karina agreed that she didn’t see any doors, but maybe they were further down.
“We’re gonna have to find them,” Ayanna said as she touched the rough wall.
“I can see them,” Nia said.
Karina only saw rough, rocky walls, and she made a mental note to go to an optometrist when she got home, hoping of course that she would eventually get home.
Ayanna was surprised. “You do? That’s so great, because I’m still not very good at finding those doors.”
Nia walked a few steps, then showed a part of the wall. “This is the third door.”
“Now I can also see it,” Cayla said.
“Do you want to open it?” Nia asked.
Cayla shook her head. “Odell said you would be our guide.”
“I don’t want to hear about him,” the woman said as she touched the wall. She then pressed a spot that didn’t look different from any other spot, and part of the wall moved forward. The door was not square, but roundish and irregular, accompanying the shape of the rocks, which explained a little why it was so hard to be seen.
The girls and the woman entered. Ayanna lifted her crystal. She turned to Nia, “Are you sure this is the third door?”
“If you want, we can go back and I’ll show you.”
Ayanna looked at the tunnel. “I believe you, but I thought it should go up.”
“Didn’t you learn about these tunnels?” Cayla asked.
“Yes,” the girl replied, “and this one should lead us to the top of the highest mountain.”
Karina looked at the straight tunnel and came to her conclusion. “But if the tunnel is secret, it has to have some distance from the castle before going up.”
Ayanna nodded. “Yes, that makes sense.”
“Hopefully,” Cayla said.
“Yes, let’s go,” the younger girl said. She started walking, then stopped. “No. Wait. Can you help me carry these things?”
She dropped a large bag on the floor, then took out two bags from inside it and put some things in them. She gave one to Cayla and the other to Karina, who was relieved that someone had thought about bringing supplies. But a question bugged her, “Why only two bags?”
“I picked them up in a hurry,” Ayanna replied, then started walking.
Cayla walked fast, passed her sister then took the lead. Karina took a deep breath, then followed. She was finally on the way to her freedom, something she’d been dreaming and wishing for the past two days. She should be jumping up and down with happiness, but the tunnel felt oppressive and gloomy, and she wasn’t sure where this path would take her and when she’d be able to go home.
The group kept walking, and, as they moved, the tunnel became slightly sloped. So it was going up. A little at least. Cayla asked her sister a few questions about the tunnels, and Ayanna again confirmed that they would go to the top of a mountain. Now that Karina thought about it, it didn’t make any sense. “If it’s a tunnel, why not go straight to the other side?”
Ayanna shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Karina left it at that, now used to questions without answers. The group kept walking.
After a few minutes, Nia addressed Karina in a soft voice. “You’re assuming whoever built this wanted to cross the mountains. Perhaps that was not the case.”
Karina nodded, then felt bad that she agreed with Nia, and bad again for having failed to rescue her son, even though she wasn’t sure if she would have been able to. “I’m sorry.”
Nia didn’t reply. She only looked at Karina as if taking in the information. The woman walked slowly, increasing her distance from the girls in front of them. Somehow, instead of taking the opportunity to distance herself from her, Karina matched her pace, perhaps curious to hear if she had anything more to say.
Nia gestured for silence and replied in a whisper. “I know. This must be hard for you. I should have understood you were afraid. But I’m afraid as well.”
The idea surprised Karina, because she thought Nia was powerful and confident. Ayanna turned around to look at them, and Nia addressed the whole group. “Don’t you think we should stop and sleep?”
Cayla frowned. “We’re still close to the castle.”