Will nodded, not sure what to say. The four of them stood in an awkward silence until Niet cleared his throat, raising his eyebrows. “Want to come with?”
“Depends,” Rowan said slowly. “Is Serena going to be there?”
“No, she’s on patrol.” Niet’s face darkened.
“Then, yeah.” Rowan beamed, striding to lead the way back down the hall. “Let’s go together!”
“I’m sorry,” Will muttered, falling into step next to Niet as they proceeded down the hall.
Niet shrugged, snorting. “Don’t be. Serena has a hard time being pleasant of late. She wasn’t like this in Kelkor–but there’s a lot happening and…” He shook his head. “She’s changed since coming here. She doesn’t seem to know how to trust Alamore now. Especially with the Ranger.”
“Do you know what that’s all about?” Will asked, frowning.
Niet paused then nodded. “Yeah, I do.” But he didn’t continue and Will, feeling uncomfortably aware of anger still in Niet’s face, didn’t push the matter.
Before long they were mounting the steps to the healing chamber and Rowan was pulling the door open, announcing. “You’ve got company, fair maiden!”
Kalia and Eldin both turned toward them. Kalia shook her head, a sad smile playing at her lips, and leaned back in her chair. “No welcome for me then, Rowan?”
“Eh, hi,” Rowan offered lamely.
Kalia laughed. “I feel honored.” Her smile faltered at the sight of Niet stepping into the room behind them. “How are you doing?”
“Fine,” Niet said coolly. “I’m fine.”
“Niet, I should have told Serena off and,” Kalia hurried to add but he held up a hand.
“It’s not your fault, Kalia.” His eyes softened as he took in Eldin, sitting upright and wearing a bemused expression as she turned between her Princess and the squire she admired. “How’s the arm?”
“Believe it or not, still broken, despite having an entire two days to heal,” Eldin offered dryly, wincing as she tried to lift it and show off her bandaging.
“Don’t move it,” Niet ordered. He strode to Eldin’s bed, sinking onto the foot of it and turning to the Alamore squires. “You three wanted to talk to Kalia?”
“Yeah,” Rowan muttered, now seeming hesitant.
“We’ve got an idea,” Will said, stepping forward. He glanced at Rowan and Colin then continued. “We want to save the Ranger.”
Niet’s brows raised, vanishing in his fringe of black hair. “And do you have a plan?”
“Save the Ranger?” Eldin looked from Kalia, who was gnawing on her lip, to Niet. “What’s going on? Why are you two hiding things?”
“We weren’t hiding them,” Kalia protested. “I just hadn’t told you yet.”
“The Ranger was captured and Marl himself came to tell us that they’re going to execute him if we don’t hand Will over,” Niet interjected. Turning back to Will, he narrowed his eyes. “That better not be part of the plan.”
“It’s not,” Will assured him. He didn’t admit that he hadn’t even considered that far into his plan. They’d only been planning how to get out of the walls. “But we need to be outside of Alamore to do anything.”
“And that’s not going to happen.” Kalia shook her head. “Haru won’t let it.”
Niet smirked, glancing at Kalia who had reddened. “Maybe they intend to have you ask him for them?” he asked, sweetly.
“Eldin, can I borrow your pillow?” Kalia asked, in the perfect picture of a composed Princess. Taking the pillow, she leaned forward, belting Niet in the face with it. “You’re a rat.”
Eldin giggled, reaching her good arm forward to grab the pillow back. “Knock it off, I’m sure Will’s got a plan.”
They turned to Will again and he shifted uncomfortably. “We do… but it means, Kalia, we would need your help. See, there’s tunnels under the castle…”
“I’ve heard,” Kalia assured him. Her brow furrowed. “I’ve heard they’re locked.”
“They are,” Will agreed quickly. “But the locks were made by a local blacksmith and his apprentice is a friend of mine. I was thinking, if I could get a message to him, he might bring me the key, or a copy of the key…” His spirits started to sink. She was looking at him quizzically, her eyes unreadable.
After a moment, she gave a small nod. “And you’d get out of the castle and walk to Thornten?”
“Blazes,” Rowan groaned. “Hadn’t considered that part.”
“No,” Colin muttered. “We hadn’t.”
“If I ride with Kalia, we could bring horses to the blacksmith and say they need reshod?” Niet offered, grinning. “We could even pull the shoes off some of your horses then leave them in the city. The soldiers at the gate won’t notice.”
“But our knights would,” Colin pointed out. “They know which horses are ours.”
“Your knights are on the same guard as Haru tonight,” Kalia said and reddened as they all turned to her again. “He told me he was guarding. That’s it. Niet, if you keep smirking I’ll murder you.”
“So, then you’d have to leave sooner rather than later,” Colin said, forcing the matter on track again. “Probably before Serena comes back. I think she’d recognize our horses as well.”
“Do you think they’d let me leave?” Kalia asked, shaking her head. “I mean, there’s danger of Cutthroats.”
“I don’t think they’d stop you, you’re a Princess,” Will pressed. “You just have to have a good reason. Would there be a reason for you to go to the blacksmith?”
Kalia paused a moment, her eyes hardening. “One. I have my crown.” She looked up at them and the grief and pain in her eyes shone in unshed tears. “My crown as Princess. I want it turned into a dagger handle. If I can’t rule Kelkor, then it should be mine to defend those I have left, I think.”
Niet reached over, his smirk dropping, and gripped her shoulder. “Kalia, that’s your crown. When we win it back…”
“I don’t want the throne.” Kalia shook her head. “Look what it cost us to try to keep Kelkor. My parents, your brother… I don’t want to be the heir of anywhere ever again.” A tear tracked down her face and she wiped it with the back of her hand in frustration. “I’ll do it. You just tell me where I can find him, and I’ll go.”
“I’m coming with you,” Niet said, rising to his feet.
Will looked between them, torn between a need to comfort Kalia and the urgency of saving the Ranger. Urgency won out and he uncurled his fist which he hadn’t realized he’d clenched. The parchment was wrinkled but the words were still legible as he held it out to Kalia. “Glimmern’s shop. Any guard or person can point you there once you’re in the town. You’re looking for his apprentice, Zudin.”
Kalia took the note, rising to her feet. “Very well.” She seemed older, more powerful, and Will appreciated for the first time that she was Revlan’s niece. “Come on, Niet. We’d best leave before Serena comes back.” Turning to the Kelkor squires, she gave another shadowed smile. “I think it best we keep the horses in the city with us. I’ll come up with some excuse for staying there. Haru mentioned there’s a safe tavern, we’ll just stay there until dark and Niet can bring you the horses or something.”
“The Dancing Stag.” Will nodded then hesitated again. Was he putting another person in danger for his foolishness?
“We’ll be fine,” Niet assured Will, gripping his shoulder and striding toward the door. “We have the help. The Ranger saved us, it’s the least we can do.”
“You better come back and say bye,” Eldin said, looking sulky. “Since I’m guessing I can’t come along.”
Niet turned, beaming. “I’ll come say bye and then it’s your job to act ignorant. Have we a deal?”
She smiled, her eyes dancing with mischief. “Ignorant of what?” she asked, innocently.
***
They watched Niet and Kalia ride through the gates, Niet leading Admere and Strider, Kalia riding Naja, from one of the
high windows. Will was surprised when none of the guards questioned their departure and relieved to see that Henry–the knight on duty with the guards–was too preoccupied trying to get up the stairs with his cast foot.
“You reckon Niet can get back here on foot with that key?” Rowan asked, glancing toward Will and Colin.
“He’s got to,” Colin said, somewhat nervous.
“He will,” Will said firmly.
The three of them did their best to stay busy and out from underfoot. Unfortunately for them, this strategy didn’t work well and Richard was soon taking charge of their lessons for the day. He handed each of them a thick and very boring book, ordering them to read the first chapter of each book and summarize the battle strategies discussed. Then he’d strode away to take over the guard duty from Henry. Within the first hour, Will was certain he never wanted to see the inside of the Hall of Records again.
Overhead, the gathering clouds of the past two days finally shattered, bringing with them a crash of thunder and forked lightning that split the sky. Curtains of rain pounded down over the castle, making the comfort of the Hall of Records more bearable even as Will’s nerves frayed. Would Niet even get back to the castle in this? What if he and Kalia couldn’t find Glimmern? What if Zudin ignored his plea for help?
“Will, you’ve got a guest.”
Will looked up from the page he’d been studying for the past quarter hour to see Miller, dripping with rainwater, stepping from between two rows of shelves. He jerked his head behind him, and Will sprang to his feet as Zudin appeared, gazing around in awe, water pooling at his feet.
“Zudin!” Will beamed, his relief making his reaction of surprise seem genuine.
“Your friend here let us know that Kalia and Niet will be staying with Glimmern till this rain passes,” Miller said, looking annoyed. “I guess some of the guards didn’t think that they should, perhaps, clear it with the King before letting a Princess leave…morons…”
“She’ll be fine with Glimmern,” Zudin assured, bowing his head to Miller nervously. “He used to be a soldier here and all.”
“Well, nevertheless, thanks for getting here with that news. I’ll tell Serena,” Miller said, raising his eyes to the ceiling. “Alamore help me, she might try to murder me for this. It’d be just like her to kill the messenger.”
With a glum wave, Miller turned away and strode from the Hall of Records, leaving nothing but a patch of wet footfalls in his wake.
“This place is huge,” Zudin said, turning and whistling. “Mean books everywhere, ain’t there?”
“Yeah, and most of them are boring,” Rowan grumbled, pushing himself to his feet. He held out his hand, grinning. “I’m Rowan, that there bookworm finishing his page is Colin.”
Colin looked over the top of his book, scowling. “If I don’t finish the page I’ll waste time rereading it.” But he still set aside the tome and stood, shaking Zudin’s hand after Rowan.
“Nice to meet you.” Zudin ducked his head again and turned to Will, raising his bushy brows. “Blimey, you asked a lot in that letter there, Will.”
Will reddened. “I’m sorry, Zudin. I just was hoping,”
Zudin held up a hand and grinned, stopping him. “Don’t ‘pologize. That squire, Niet, said it’s ‘cause you’re gonna save the Ranger. That true?”
“Yes.” Will nodded. “It is.”
Zudin whistled again, running a hand over his drenched hair and making it stand on end. “Wish I could do somethin’ like that. Glimmern’d kill me though, if I was out or anything. But here.” He reached into his pocket and withdrew something small, wrapped in a brown rag that seemed as sopping wet as he was. “Least I could do an’ all.”
Will took it, surprised to find his own hand shaking and pulled away the cloth. The key was small and made of simple black iron, already shot through with red rust from its short journey. He looked up at Zudin, grinning. “I seriously can’t thank you enough, Zu. If I can repay it in any way, let me know.”
“Just don’t get killed,” Zudin offered. “And,” he added, almost as an afterthought, “destroy that when yer done. It’s a copy I made today but still, only Glimmern and the King are supposed to have keys like that now. It’s pretty important to keep that gate to the tunnel locked. Throw it in the moat when you get back, that way Glimmern don’t throttle me.”
“Got it.” Will slid the key into his pocket. “Thank you again. Want to see the castle? We can show you round?”
Zudin shook his head, already pulling his hood up again. “I got to get back to the shop. My horse is down there getting soaked through in this rain and doubt he takes well to it neither. Good luck, you three.”
Once Zudin had left, Will turned to his friends, grinning. “We’ve got our key.”
Rowan whooped but Colin only managed a small smile. He looked ready to be sick. “Just what I’ve always dreamed of,” he said, running a hand over his face. “We’re going back into the tunnels.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
For the second night Will found himself climbing the stairs with Rowan after washing dishes. Only this time, they climbed them in silence. He could almost hear Rowan’s heart slamming like his own as they mounted each step. Outside, thunder growled and the storm continued in all its fury.
“Think Niet’s going to be able to find us in those woods?” Rowan asked, breaking the silence.
Will shrugged, closing the door to the kitchens at their back. “Hope so. I mean, I’m not sure where the tunnel even comes out. It’s just a rough estimate.”
“And we won’t have torches in this.” Rowan jerked a thumb toward the window as more lightning illuminated the dinner hall in ghostly white light, leaving them temporarily blinded.
“Yeah, I don’t imagine we will,” Will agreed in a whisper. They waited until another flash of lightning before stealing across the dinner hall and sneaking into the squire chamber. Will had to stop himself from yelping as he almost collided with Colin.
“Blazes, Col,” Will gasped, stepping back. “You nearly scared me to death.”
“Sorry,” Colin whispered. “I was coming to look for you two. You ready?”
“To get soaked? Not hardly,” Rowan moaned. “It’s pouring out there.”
“You literally said you were a duck last night,” Will pointed out, backing through the door again into the dinner hall.
“But that was on my terms, I like it better when it’s on my terms,” Rowan explained. In the dinner hall, Will held out a hand as Colin passed around the three saddle bags he’d slung over his shoulder. Will was taken aback by the weight.
“What’s in here?” he asked, opening the flap. It was too dark to make out much, but his chest tightened as, on the top, Will saw the diving dagger falcon he’d taken from The Cutthroat Prince. He’d nearly forgotten it was in the chest by his bed.
“Everything I thought was useful of your stuff, plus anything else I could find,” Colin hissed. “But come on. We’ve got to get moving before a knight comes poking round.”
“The quest begins then!” Rowan said boldly, throwing his bag over his shoulders. “You packed dry clothing, right? Because we’ll need it.”
“Yeah, and a hot meal,” Colin said dryly. “Rowan, everything’s going to get soaked. We just have to accept that.”
“Well bugger all,” Rowan grumbled.
“Let’s stop wasting time,” Will whispered. “Come on.” He strode forward, skin crawling, and led them toward one of the doors leading off the dinner hall. Not the double doors to the entry hall but the side door that he’d avoided for months. He hadn’t been through here since the battle of the crypt when he had fought Marl to save Haru’s life.
Haru. A stab in his stomach made him hesitate and Colin passed him, gingerly pushing through the door. What would happen if Haru decided he didn’t want to be Will’s knight after this? He was hiding secrets again from Haru. He doubted the knight would forgive him again so easily.
“Will!”
He started. Rowan and Colin were peering at him through the door. Rowan had grabbed a torch from the wall, its orange glow pouring over him.
“Coming.” He pushed down the regrets, the worries, and hurried to join them. He would have time for regrets later. There were things more important than that now. Even if he was thrown from the castle, if he was excused from his training to be a knight, this was more important than that.
They didn’t speak but Will could feel the uneasiness of his two friends when he led them through the door that branched to the right of the corridor. This chamber seemed to swallow the light of Rowan’s torch when they entered; black drapes like endless shadows hanging from the walls, lines of dark benches facing forward, toward a dais and beyond the dais, the door. The door that would take them into the cemetery.
“You know,” Rowan grumbled, throwing a dark look about the room, “if I die, go ahead and skip this whole part. I just want to have a bright sunshine and daylight place, not this creepy room. No wonder people come here to be sad, it’s dead depressing.”
“Let’s not plan to bury anyone,” Colin growled.
“We aren’t getting killed,” Will assured him.
“No, course not,” Rowan agreed, grinning. “I’m just saying, when that does happen, in about a hundred years, once I’ve become master of the entire world, I want you to make my death like a party. Cake for everyone and a box of kittens to be set loose during the speeches that talk about how fantastic I was.”
“Shut up,” Will said, half laughing–from nerves more than from humor.
He pushed through the door at the end of the chamber at the same moment another fork of lightning illuminated the sky, bringing with it a deafening boom of thunder. The three of them jumped, taking a step back from the courtyard before them where gravestones stood–long dead sentries–guarding the resting places of those who had already gone before them.
“Bloody Thornten,” Rowan hissed. “Forgot how damn creepy this place is.”
“Lucky you,” Will grumbled. He watched the sheets of icy rain throw themselves at the earth, spraying mud into the air, and shattering over the gravestones. Shivering, he pulled his hood lower and squeezed his eyes shut a moment. “Right.” He opened his eyes and took the first steps into the storm. “Let’s go.”
The Cutthroat Prince (William of Alamore Series Book 2) Page 33