“Will what? Blame you for something the demons are going to do anyway?” Baris lost what control of his temper he had left. “OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!”
“Well you don’t have to be rude,” she snapped. She turned back to the face the door and slipped into the Sphere. Wind and waves seemed most appropriate, forces that pushed and moved inexorably forward. The song was brief, not even a song so much as a melodic phrase, but it did the job. When she opened her eyes, the door lay splintered in pieces no larger than a toothpick. The metal banding was twisted and thrown into the corridor beyond, and the fittings were tossed around like a child’s discarded toys.
“Now,” Baris said striding forward, “let’s get Janessa and get the hell out of here.”
They ran down the corridor, ignoring the pain that lashed at them each time they passed a cell or got too near the railings that ran down the walls. As they got near to the end of the hallway, Volinette raised her hand.
“Slow down, I want to check on the old man who was here. We should rescue him too. He was raving when they brought me in, but no one deserves to die down here. Not even a madman.”
They approached the cell slowly, but they needn’t have worried. It was still locked tight, as were all the cells. The demons hadn’t cared enough with what was beyond the door to penetrate it, so things were as they had been when she’d last seen them. Well, almost.
The old man who had been huddled with his blankets when Volinette had seen him last, now lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling. His eyes were dull and glazed. Never again would he be troubled by anything in the physical realm. His loss stung Volinette deeply, though she couldn’t say why. Tears sprung to her eyes and she swiped them away with the back of her hand. She’d made the right decision, coming down here. No one deserved to die this way, not Janessa, not anyone. Baris glanced at her, but said nothing.
They moved to the last set of cells and Volinette peered through the bars. Janessa still sat against the far wall, mostly hidden by shadow. For a brief, horrifying moment, Volinette thought she might be dead too, but then she saw the girl’s leg move. The chain attached to the leg dragged across the floor, the metallic ring seeming far too loud in such a confined space.
“Get her and let’s go,” Baris whispered under his breath. He glanced over his shoulder toward the door, and it wasn’t difficult for Volinette to guess his worry.
“Hello?” Janessa said, her voice small and timid. In fact, she didn’t sound like Janessa at all. She sounded like a scared little girl. “Is someone there?”
Volinette looked at Baris and he looked back at her. Somehow, she hadn’t planned for this part. Why was she so certain that Janessa would even accept her help? What if she told them that she wanted to stay in the dungeon and take her chances, what then? The entire ordeal now seemed to be as foolish as Baris had made it out to be from the start. A lump in her throat made it hard to swallow. She wasn’t sure how she was going to speak around it. She cleared her throat.
“Um, Janessa? It’s Volinette and Baris. We’re…uh…here to help you.”
Silence. The only sound in the dungeon was the grating of Janessa’s chains sliding across the floor as she got to her feet. Now the girl was entirely hidden in shadow. Volinette had a vision of a demon in the darkness. A demon that had torn off the girl’s legs and was speaking with her voice. Volinette put the thought out of her head, forcing the fear that was welling up inside her down deep into her belly. There would be plenty of time to be afraid later. Now, she had to finish this.
Janessa stepped into the pale light cast by the torch bracketed in the corridor. Her hair was askew, unkempt, and greasy. Her eyes were haunted, deep pools of darkness surrounded by swollen, dark skin. She’d been crying. A lot, by the looks of things. She walked to the limit of the chain, close enough to the bars of the cell that she could grab them with both hands. Aside from a little wince, there was no indication that she felt the pain of the metal against her flesh at all.
“No one’s been here for a long time,” Janessa said absently, as if she were only half paying attention to the words she was saying. “There was a fight, I think. Something happened. There was shouting. A lot of shouting. Then there was screaming. There was so much screaming that I thought it might never end, but then it did…and the quiet was worse. Then I wished that the screaming would come back.”
Janessa looked at Volinette, or rather, seemed to look through her, to some distant point on the horizon. Her head swiveled and she looked at Baris, then she looked back at Volinette.
“Volinette,” she said, tears beginning to stream down her face as sobs wracked her lithe frame. “Please help me.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Baris was shaking his head again. Volinette wondered if it was the incessant buzz of the steel around them, or his disbelief in Janessa’s apparent change.
“Don’t let her fool you,” he said, stabbing an accusing finger at the girl behind the bars. “She only wants your help because no one else is here to help her. As soon as you let her out, she’s going to be back to her old tricks, mark my words.”
“I won’t,” Janessa said in a weak voice. “I’ve learned my lesson, I swear. I’ll perform the Rite of Fealty if you let me out. Whatever it takes for you to help me.”
Baris whistled under his breath. Volinette raised an eyebrow.
“What’s the Rite of Fealty?”
“Those who don’t study history, Volinette, are doomed to repeat it,” Baris chided her. “The Rite of Fealty is a spell they used in the olden days when there were few Masters and even fewer apprentices. A Master would have his apprentice cast it to ensure their loyalty, to keep their secrets secret. It’s an archaic practice, but it proves that she’s willing to put her life in your hands. Once she completes the spell, she will be subject to your every request. Refusing you would cause her considerable pain, maybe even death.”
“That’s awful,” Volinette said with a gasp.
“It was different in the olden days,” Baris said with a shrug. “Besides, what better way to know that she’s turned over a new leaf? She’d be your personal slave until you release her from the rite.”
Every wicked thing that Janessa had done to her flickered through her head, and for a moment, Volinette considered using their situation to exact revenge on the girl for everything she’d done. Just as quickly as the thought entered her head, it was gone. Janessa needed her help. Just because she’d done some awful things to Volinette didn’t mean that she couldn’t change. If Volinette were to take advantage of her imprisonment in any way, that would make her no better than Janessa. She deserved a second chance. Everyone did.
“No, that won’t be necessary,” she said decisively. “Everyone deserves a second chance, Baris.”
Baris opened his mouth, about to protest, then closed it and shrugged.
“Just don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he said. “How are we going to get her out?”
“Magic won’t work,” Volinette mused. “That’s the whole purpose of this place. One of us has to go to Adamon’s office and look for keys.”
“One of us?” Baris cocked his head at her. “You realize there are demons out there, right?”
“I remember. One of us has to stay here. We can’t just leave her.”
She could feel his disbelief. He wanted to argue the point, but evidently decided that even his best laid argument wasn’t going to sway her from her decision. He shrugged with a sigh.
“Fine,” he snapped. “But if I die, I’m coming back to haunt you. You’ll never get a full night’s sleep again for as long as you live. I promise you.”
Volinette watched Baris trot down the corridor leading from the dungeon. Then he went up the stairs and was gone. She shivered. Without him near, the dungeon seemed far colder. It felt danker, darker, and more hopeless. She stole a glance at Janessa who hadn’t moved from the bars, though the pain it was bringing her had to be intense.
“You should let go of the bars, Jane
ssa. The pain isn’t doing you any good.”
The girl looked down at her hands and took them off the cold metal. She folded her arms over her chest and shivered. She looked down at her feet.
“Did you mean what you said about everyone deserving a second chance?” she asked, her voice the barest whisper.
“I did. We don’t always make the right decisions the first time around.”
“And after everything I’ve done to you, you’d give me a second chance?”
“I would. I will. That’s why Baris is out there right now risking his life to get the keys that will set you free.”
“I’m not sure I’d do the same,” Janessa said candidly. “My parents always taught us, me and my sister I mean, that ‘people do to you, unless you do to them first.’ That’s how they handle things. That’s how they’ve gotten to be so powerful. They’re always the first to pounce on any weakness…”
Janessa trailed off and Volinette looked at her. The girl’s head was still bowed, looking at her shackled feet. A few tears fell on the dusty floor, leaving little splash marks.
“Even ours,” Janessa sobbed. “We weren’t allowed to show any weakness. We were Navitas. We were supposed to do to others, not allow them to do to us. Do you know what my father told me when we were in the Head Master’s office? That I had to pay for the disgrace I brought to the family. That no matter if I wanted to return the Prism or not, I had to pay.”
Volinette wasn’t sure what to say, so she said nothing. It seemed to be helpful to Janessa just to talk about it, and Volinette was happy to let her unburden herself, but she wished that Baris would hurry up. She missed his ability to make her smile, despite the circumstances. It felt as if he’d been gone for hours. Janessa drew a shuddering breath.
“Tenika was the only person I could really talk to. When she died, it was like I’d been set adrift. I didn’t have anyone I could talk to. Not really. Syble and Nixi…Halsie too, all they wanted was the prestige and fame that went with running in the same circles as I did. They weren’t real friends. Tenika was my only real friend…and now she’s gone.”
The girl looked up at Volinette, the tears still fresh on her cheeks.
“I did it. I murdered my own sister. I was the one who summoned the water and the elemental. We practiced it, how she’d survive the flood. Our parents told us if we weren’t accepted into the Academy, we wouldn’t be welcome at home. I know it wasn’t your fault. It was just easier to take it out on you than to deal with what I’d done. I’m sorry.”
“I want to believe you,” Volinette said with a little shake of her head. “But I believed you once before, and look where it got us.”
“I know.” Janessa sighed. “I’ll try to fix it. I swear.”
They lapsed into silence and Volinette wondered again where Baris was. She was starting to get worried. She hadn’t heard anything from the end of the hall. His footsteps would be a great source of comfort right now, but all was quiet and still.
“What happened to them?” Janessa asked suddenly.
“Who?”
“The girls. Halsie, Nixi, and Syble.”
“I don’t know. We think they used the Prism to try and get back at Baris and me for getting you thrown down here. No one’s seen them since the portals opened, but the first portal opened in the girls’ dorm. Did they know where the Prism was?”
“Yes,” Janessa whispered, her eyes haunted. “Do you think they’re…?”
It wasn’t hard to piece together the rest of Janessa’s question. As conniving and cold as the girl was, Volinette didn’t believe that she’d wanted to kill anyone. Thinking about it, even threatening it, was one thing. Actually having the wherewithal to go through with it and deal with the aftermath was another matter altogether.
“I hope not,” Volinette answered honestly. “But it doesn’t look good.”
Janessa started to speak, but Volinette shushed her with a savage hiss. Something was moving in the darkness at the end of the hall. Whatever it was moved like an animal, close to the ground, darting from shadow to shadow as if the light would banish it from existence. Volinette tried to shut out the incessant buzzing of the metal surrounding them, just enough to concentrate for a single spell, but it was impossible. She should have been at the other end of the corridor. Now it was too late.
Fortunately, it was only Baris that burst from the shadow and pelted down the corridor, a large ring of keys clutched in his hand. Volinette blew out a sigh of relief that could have moved a sailing ship. She’d never been so happy to see anyone in all her life. She threw herself at him, ignoring the shock that jumped between them, crushing him with the strongest hug she could muster.
“Enough,” he panted, wriggling free of her grasp and running to the cell door. “You can throw yourself at me later. Right now we need to get out of here.” He was trying keys in the cell lock, fumbling a bit more with each successive try. “There’s stuff moving around out there, and I’m pretty sure they’re getting closer. It doesn’t sound like we’re alone.”
There was a metallic click and the door swung inward. Baris looked at Janessa, then back at Volinette. He paused on the threshold, still outside the reach of the girl in chains. “You’re sure you want to do this?”
Volinette nodded, not trusting herself to speak. If she was wrong again, if Janessa was just using her to get free of her confinement…
Baris closed the remaining distance to Janessa and grabbed the manacle clasped around her wrist. He grunted, shaking his head as if he could dispel the pain. The restraints were a simpler mechanism than the cell door and all opened with a single key. It didn’t take him very long to figure out which key was the right one and free Janessa from her confinement. She stepped away from chains, rubbing her wrists as she went.
As quietly as they could, the trio slipped down the hall toward the small set of stairs that would lead them back into the tower proper. The farther they went, the more normal Volinette felt. As they entered the upper corridor, the droning of the dungeon left them altogether, and her connection to the Quintessential Sphere came flooding back.
Janessa gasped. She must have felt it too. Janessa turned and Volinette saw the luminous sparkle in her eye, the telltale glow of power drawn from the Ethereal Realm. This was it, Volinette thought, she’d made the wrong decision one too many times and now Janessa was going to kill her for her folly. Instead, the girl reached up and fisted a bunch of hairs, yanking them from her head with a grimace and yelp of pain. She twisted them in a crude ring, tying the ends together with a delicate knot that belied her weary appearance. Janessa placed the ring of hair in one palm and hovered her other palm over it, speaking words of power. Golden sparkles floated down from the upper palm, seeking out the hair and being absorbed into it. Once the spell was complete, the ring pulsed once with a golden glow, then faded to its natural spun straw color.
With a timid smile, Janessa offered it to Volinette. Baris stood to the side, shaking his head.
“What is this?” Volinette asked, taking the offering between thumb and forefinger, as if it might explode at any moment. Given what she knew of Janessa, she wasn’t so sure it wouldn’t.
“It’s a Token of Fealty.” Baris said wearily. “Wear it on one of your fingers, and she’ll be compelled to do your bidding. Whatever you command, she’ll do to the best of her ability, or die trying.”
Volinette eyed the ring of hair, twisting it back and forth between her fingers. It had a light, almost airy quality to it. All magic carried an echo of the forces used to create it and this didn’t feel dark or brooding. Maybe there was some truth to what Janessa had said. Maybe she really was ready to turn toward the light. Volinette slipped the ring into the pocket of her tunic, tucking it down deep to make sure she didn’t lose it.
“What are you doing?” Baris asked in disbelief. “Put that on and let’s get out of here.”
“We’re going,” Volinette said, giving Janessa the same timid smile the girl had given her moment
s before. “I have the ring if we need it, but I don’t think we will.”
“Thank you,” Janessa said quietly.
“Oh, for crying out loud!” Baris stomped up to Volinette and poked her in the shoulder. “Have you forgotten everything she’s done?” He stabbed a finger at Janessa before poking Volinette again. “She’s the entire reason we’re in the mess we’re in. If it weren’t for her—”
Baris stopped short as Volinette took a sudden step forward. He cringed as if she was going to strike him, but she took him by the shoulders and kissed the tip of his nose. He blinked, and then sneezed as the link-shock made his nose twitch.
“Second chances, Baris. Everyone deserves one. Even surly old curmudgeons crammed into young men’s bodies. We have the ring if we need it. I don’t think we will, and we have work to do. You promised to help me. Are you going to live up to that promise?”
Baris blinked, then found an important reason to look at the tips of his boots. He scuffed them against the smooth glass of the corridor floor, as if he were trying to dig a hole that he could disappear into. “Haven’t I always?”
“You have,” she agreed. “You’re my best friend, and I’m lucky to have you with me.”
The moment of peace was shattered by an unearthly howl. It came from the direction of the landing and shook the walls around them with its awesome fury. The three of them turned toward the sound, then looked at each other. They were all very pale. Heavy footsteps echoed down the hall. It sounded as if a giant were stomping around on the landing of the Inquisitors’ level. There was no way out but through that level, Volinette knew. Her fingers lingered above the pocket that held Janessa’s hair. She was inclined to trust the girl, and if she didn’t believe in her own intuition, what else did she have?
Almost as if she were reading Volinette’s mind, Janessa slid to the floor. She crossed her long legs, folding them in toward herself. She laid her hands on her knees, palms up, and closed her eyes. She whispered to the Quintessential Sphere and a silvery-white ambient light blossomed up around her like a spring rose. The more she spoke, the brighter the light became.
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