Though it was uncomfortable and cramped inside the shuttle, at least we were together. If these were the last few hours before we all met our doom, then at least they were happy ones.
“Okay, ready?” I called. “Make sure you don’t lift your goggles, girls.”
“For the millionth time, okay,” groaned Lily, her warm breath against my neck.
She’d refused to take the drugs I’d managed to secure in England, as had Miranda. Though Marko and I weren’t happy about it, we both agreed that it would be suicide to show up in Marin with two drugged women by our sides so it was quickly decided they wouldn’t have to take it.
But I still worried. The memory of my retinas burning when I’d tried to take a peek at Miranda—when I thought I’d never see her again—was still fresh in my mind. That one second my eyes had been exposed to the light in the shuttle had cost me my good sight and my job as Marko’s head guard.
I didn’t want Lily or Miranda to go through the same thing. Not only the physical pain, but the fact that everyone in Marin now considered me infirm and not a threat. A “blind mouse” as they liked to call me. I still cringed at the memory of the altercation in Marko’s rooms last year, when Damir and his men seized the castle and took Marko prisoner. As Marko’s head guard, I should have protected him. But my stupid eyes had failed me.
And that was why, even though Marko had begged me to stay on as his guard, I’d refused. I couldn’t handle putting his life in my hands, which was basically putting him in danger.
Lily slipped her hand into mine and gave me a squeeze.
“I’m ready and I promise not to open my eyes. I’ve got my goggles on and I’ll only take them off when you say.” She rested her cheek against my chest and sighed.
“Good,” I whispered into her hair. “Love you.” Though I whispered it, I was sure the others had heard. But I didn’t care.
Lily was quiet for a moment and then she whispered, her voice hoarse, “Love you too.”
My heart tightened to hear her broken voice. She thought we were travelling the light crystal chute to our deaths. And perhaps we were. This could be our last moment together, alive.
“Lily?” Though I thought I’d been in love before, or what I perhaps thought was love, what I felt for Lily right now, I’d felt for no one before. My face felt hot as I contemplated what I was about to say next. Marko and Miranda had gone quiet so I knew they were going to hear every word, but I needed to say it. I needed her to know. Just in case this was the end.
“Will you marry me? One day? It doesn’t have to be anytime soon, unless you want it to be. I just want to know if you’ll marry me one day.”
She was silent for a very long time, and for a second I was worried she’d passed out—swooned maybe—but then she exhaled.
“Okay.”
I sighed.
Well, at least it was better than a “no”.
“I mean, of course. Yes. But we’re not going to die. So we don’t need to rush into marriage yet.”
After a long, awkward pause, Marko broke the silence.
“Well, that was romantic.”
“Shut up,” I said, but I was smiling. Until someone punched my arm. “What the? What are you, a contortionist?”
Marko laughed.
“Are we ever going to get going?” Miranda whined.
“Brace your selves,” I said, before wrapping my fingers around the lever and pulling it back.
“That tickles,” said Lily, giggling.
The shuttle vibrated momentarily before launching forward, hurtling us through the light crystal chute and towards our destiny.
17
Miranda
The shuttle slowed then came to a sudden halt that had Marko and Robbie, beneath me and Lily, cry out. My head hit the top of the shuttle and then banged against Marko’s forehead.
“Ouch.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t take the goggles off just yet. Not until I’ve popped the hatch,” said Robbie.
“And don’t you two open your eyes,” I warned back.
“Ha. I won’t be making that mistake twice,” said Robbie.
“Can anyone reach their dagger?” said Lily, her voice muffled. She must have been trying to do so.
“Try for mine, Miranda,” said Marko.
I worked my hand down Marko’s hip and then his thigh. Things started to get difficult at the knee. No matter how much I stretched, I just couldn’t touch it.
“Wait. I’ll slide up a bit and you press your back against the shuttle ceiling.” Marko shuffled his body upwards, taking me with him at first, but when I raised myself and ground my back against the ceiling, I was able to remain stationary for a couple of seconds.
“Okay,” said Marko, panting now. “You can drop.”
I eased myself down, my eyes stinging from sweating up a storm inside my goggles. My face was now at the top of his stomach, just below his sternum, and when I wriggled my sweaty hands down Marko’s legs, this time I was able to scrape my fingers across the very tip of his dagger hilt.
“I can just feel it.”
“Feel what, exactly?” said Robbie, in a way that had Lily giggling. Marko laughed too, his stomach tightening beneath my cheek. The suspense of not knowing what awaited us in Marin was driving us crazy. Nervous laughter bubbled up inside of me too, but had to stop in order to concentrate on getting my hands on Marko’s dagger.
Inching my fingers down, stretching them as long as they would go, I managed to grip the bejewelled dagger with my fingertips, and slide it up until it was firmly secured in my palm, the gems cool against my warm skin. Very carefully, I brought it up and placed it in Marko’s waiting hand, his palms as sweaty as mine.
“Nobody out there has opened the hatch. I suppose that’s a good sign,” I said.
Everyone made noises of agreement.
“Okay, so are we going to do this?” said Lily, clearly impatient.
“Can you reach your dagger?” asked Marko.
“No,” said Lily. “But I’m quick. I’ll whip it out as soon as we’re out.”
“Me too,” said Robbie. “That is, if my numb limbs ever wake up.”
Nervous laughter followed.
I didn’t have a dagger myself, but Marko had a spare one.
“Wait. Can I have your other dagger, Marko?”
“When we get out I’ll flip it your way.”
Marko squeezed my hand tight. “This is it, Miranda. Are you ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
“Let’s go,” said Lily.
“Open it, Rob,” said Marko. “Let’s see what kind of welcome party awaits us.”
There was a click, followed by a sucking sound before the shuttle opened with a whoosh.
We all fell out of the pod, as ungracefully as you’d expect four people crammed together, horizontally, in a small space for several hours would do.
The cool air on my skin was as revitalising as a slap to the face after a long sleep. I ripped off my goggles and looked around.
Marko shoved me behind his back and raised his dagger but soon lowered it. The shuttle room was empty.
Lily remained crouched in a fighting stance, waiting.
Robbie kept rubbing at his eyes and swearing.
“Where is everybody?” Marko wondered aloud.
Robbie shook his head, his hands shading his eyes. “I thought we were dead men as soon as we opened the shuttle.”
“I’m not complaining,” said Lily. “This is way better than I’d imagined.”
Robbie took Lily’s hand in his, and together they walked around, taking slow, careful steps on their wonky legs. After they made their way across the room and searched every corner, they turned to Marko and me and nodded.
“We’re definitely alone,” said Lily. “I can’t believe it, but we are.” She stared at Robbie. “This means either that idiot is still tied to my bed or he’s kept his mouth shut about us. But why would he do that? And why would the guard
who tried to stop us when we left not say anything?”
Lily shuddered and wrinkled her nose, probably thinking about whoever was tied to her bed. “Who knows?”
“So what now?” I asked. “Now that they aren’t waiting for us, what’s the plan?” My voice came out light and jokey, but my insides were heavy, weighed down with my last memory of this place, of a pregnant Lauren kissing me goodbye and promising me that she would be fine.
Marko leaned close and took my hand. “You okay?”
I nodded and shook his hand off. Sympathy was only going to make me feel worse. I had to harden myself against any softening emotions.
“I say we enter the castle, my rooms, as though we belong here, because we do.” Marko straightened his shoulders. “It’s time I took reign of my kingdom.” He glanced at Robbie. “What do you say, head guard? Have you got my back?”
Robbie nodded, staring into space, a small smile on his lips. “Yes. I’ve got your back....” he stretched his hands out in front of him in a comical fashion, “wherever it is.”
Lily and I shared a grin. It wasn’t the best time for jokes, but what tiny amount of relief it gave us helped with all the tension.
“Let’s go,” said Marko, his voice a little lighter.
Lily took my hand and together we followed Marko and Robbie out of the shuttle room and down a long corridor that led us to a door.
“Wait,” Marko said, just as Robbie put his hand on the door knob.
Marko waved Robbie aside and kicked the door open, before stepping in first. After taking a good look around, dagger raised, he waved us in.
“My room is unmanned,” he said, shaking his head. “What do you make of this, Rob?”
Robbie came to stand beside him. “Something must be happening, something more exciting than us returning.”
“My niece,” I said. “Sylvia must be too busy being a fake mother.” Saying her name out loud brought a sour taste to my mouth.
Marko’s rooms were just as I’d remembered them, smelling like a mixture of pine and the salty ocean, immaculately neat and lit up by a glittering light crystal chandelier. The bedroom was the darkest part of his quarters, the four poster bed made up with black satin sheets and a black, crimson-edged bedcover. A polished black piano sat near the bed, positioned so that Marko could wake up at any time of night, whenever inspiration struck, and play to his heart’s content.
There was a bowl of fresh fruit and a vase of flowers at the centre of the table.
“It’s like they’re expecting us,” I said to Lily. “Maybe even welcoming us back?”
Marko turned around. “I think we should use the secret passageway.”
Robbie raised his brows. “What do you mean? What secret passageway?”
Marko stared at the far corner of the room, where the secret door lay hidden and nodded at me.
“Show them, Miranda.” He threw me an arrogant wink. “Show them how much you love me.” He was referring to the fact that the door only opened for those who truly loved Marin, as well as those who truly loved the ruler of Marin.
It was a strange phenomenon. Marko and I could open it, whereas Sylvia and Damir could not.
I whacked his arm with the back of my hand and crossed the room, stopping directly in front of the stone wall before turning around to wave the others over.
Lily frowned. “Okay. You two are starting to worry me. With all due respect, Marko, witnessing Miranda’s...’ she paused to watch me run my hands along the wall, ‘weird love for a stone wall isn’t exactly helpful right now.”
Robbie grunted in agreement.
“But Miranda can only open the secret door if she loves me.” Marko sheathed his dagger and crossed the room, his boots clicking against the stone floor as he passed the dining table. On the way he snatched a green apple from the fruit bowl and bit into it, before coming to stand beside me.
Robbie and Lily hadn’t moved an inch. Both stared at Marko, who had already scoffed down the entire apple, as though he’d gone mad.
“What Marko says is true,” I said, grinning at them over my shoulder.
Lily grabbed Robbie’s hand. “Come on,” she said and ran across the room, stubbing her toe against the leg of a dining chair on the way.
“Ouch. My legs aren’t working properly because of that stupid cramped shuttle.” She put her hands up when Robbie tried to help her. “But I’m okay.’ She eyed Marko and me suspiciously. “Just show us the secret door already.”
Lily and Robbie shared a look when I grinned at Marko and placed my palms firmly against the cool stone wall in front of me.
After a couple of seconds the wall heated the flat of my palms, then shook and trembled beneath my fingers before it shot up to reveal an opening—the secret passageway.
My fingers tingled as adrenaline pumped through my veins. Opening walls did that to you.
Robbie gingerly stepped forward, sticking his head in the gap to glance around the dim interior through narrowed eyes. “Where does it lead? How long have you known about this? God I hate my eyes. I wish I could see this thing properly.”
“It’s a secret room only my father, mother, myself, Miranda and now you both know about,” said Marko. “Sylvia and Damir don’t know about it as they could never open it. It leads to the dungeons and the other side of the castle and another secret room, a room I believe to have once belonged to Kraja. It may even house the control room of Marin...” His eyes shifted between Robbie, Lily and me, “which I have reason to believe is some kind of aircraft or ship.”
“I...wow... I can’t believe it,” said Robbie, shaking his head in wonder.
“This secret doorway is proof enough for me,” I said. “It’s straight out of a science fiction novel. I mean, only the true ruler of Marin and those who love him, or her, can open it. As though the wall is living breathing thing. And wait until you see Kraja’s room,” I said, my heart pounding with excitement at the mention of Kraja. Since the day I’d first peered through the window of her room and caught sight of the beautifully detailed etchings of Marin on her wall, I’d been fascinated by her.
Lily cleared her throat. “I suppose this doorway is pretty crazy.”
“It all seems crazy, but it’s true,” I said. “It’s like the walls know the people of Marin. Like this place is living and breathing along with us.”
Robbie nodded thoughtfully and Marko sighed.
“I understand what you’re thinking, Robbie, and yes, I’m stupid. I should have used this doorway in the first place, when Sylvia said you’d committed treason. We could have sorted it out in a matter of seconds. The door would have opened for you. I know it.”
“Do you want to close it again, so I can open it? So you know you can trust me completely? Because I’m happy to do it.” Robbie raised his head to stare up at where the piece of wall had disappeared. I wondered if he could actually see it or if it was all a blur. “In fact, I want to.”
Marko shook his head, looking almost revolted by the suggestion. “No. I don’t need you to do that. I trust you.”
“Can we enter?” asked Lily, who was by now jumping up and down with excitement. “Can I look inside Kraja’s room?”
“Follow Miranda,” said Marko. “She’ll show us the way.”
Hot blood pounded in my ears as I stepped into the secret corridor, and I shivered as cool air rushed over me. A spider web floated in front of my face and I quickly wiped it away with my hand.
I stopped in front of Kraja’s room and said nothing as Marko explained to Lily and Robbie, in further detail, about the other doors along the dim corridor. They shook their heads in surprise and wore stunned, crazy smiles, their eyes wide with wonder. That was how I must have looked the first time Marko showed me. Only Robbie occasionally dropped his smile and stopped to rub his eyes in frustration.
I waited for Marko to give me the nod to open Kraja’s room and when he did, I placed my palms on her wall and concentrated as hard as I could. Last time it took quite a whi
le, but this time, Kraja’s room must have remembered me because the door shot up instantly.
The others followed me in, through the film of grey dust that settled on our heads and shoulders, their eyes bulging when they saw the wall opposite the bed. It was some kind of control panel lit up in a rainbow of light crystals. I’d never seen coloured light crystals in Marin until I entered Kraja’s room for the first time several months ago.
“Don’t ever touch those controls or especially that lever,” said Marko, pointing to the large light crystal shooting out of the ground, in the centre of the room.
“What do you think all this stuff controls?” asked Robbie, blinking rapidly and squinting at everything with interest.
“The ship. Our domed city.” Marko stood beside the light crystal lever. “And I’m guessing that if we were to pull this lever, the ship would rise against the weight of the ocean, destroying the dome and all of us beneath it. We cannot let the wrong person or persons into this room, ever, at the risk of not only our lives, but that of the entire city.”
“But the dome’s made of light crystal. If it’s strong enough to handle the pressure of the deep sea, wouldn’t it be strong enough to handle anything?” Robbie asked.
“Yeah,” said Lily, who was standing at the opposite wall now, staring with interest at the sketches of the city that Kraja herself had drawn.
“The ancients would have raised the ship years ago and left the ocean if they thought it safe.” Marko stood beside Lily and stared at the tiny faces of the ancients gathered in the city centre below the castle steps.
“As strong as light crystal is, the weight of the Pacific Ocean, combined with the pressure of the ship’s engine moving the craft upwards, would be enough to break it. We’d all be dead.”
Lily turned and stared at the lever and the controls with wide eyes, then took a step back, as though worried she’d bump them. She turned back to the drawings.
“Look at all the pregnant women dancing by the golden moon.”
After a few minutes of staring at the drawings, Robbie whose sight must have momentarily sharpened, gasped.
“This looks just like the one you removed from the ballroom and placed on Kraja’s statue. This moon glows golden, however. Exactly like the one at the bottom of the Colosseum.”
Release (The Submerged Sun, #3) Page 13