Foremost (The Lost Princesses Book 2)

by Jody Hedlund

  I nodded, trusting him to keep us safe. “Do you think the other opening is on the eastern side of our map? Perhaps in an identical spot to the one we entered?”

  He peered carefully at the map. “It would appear the image is identical and so likely would have an entrance in the exact area. At least that’s what I’m hoping for.”

  “Does this mean we shall attempt to make our way there?”

  He traced his finger first along one route, then another, and another. He followed several more until sighing. “I’m not sure we can reach the eastern edge by sticking to the paths on our little piece of the outer rim of the map. I see only dead ends.”

  “So you think the route to the eastern entrance passes through a different segment of the map?”

  “It’s likely, and we cannot venture into the midsection without its map to guide us. It’s too risky. We need to stay in this area and on the trails that are clearly marked, even if that means we have to wait to leave until Ethelwulf’s forces are gone.”

  I deflated only a little. I wanted to remain hopeful that with our map and the knowledge there was another way out, we’d locate it. Perhaps in the process of exploring, we’d even discover more the hidden treasure.

  We continued winding our way through one tunnel after another. Since each passage and doorway looked the same, I felt as though we were walking in circles and never going anywhere. I easily became disoriented and wasn’t sure I’d be able to find my way, even with the map.

  I prayed Edmund was more confident in his sense of direction than I was. From his slight limp and the echo of his strained breath, I’d have to encourage him to rest soon. He was taxing himself.

  When he came to an abrupt halt, I almost bumped into him. I peered beyond him, but could see nothing but the curving tunnel. “What is it?”

  He pressed a finger against his lips in a motion for silence and stood absolutely still as though concentrating. After a few seconds, he pursed his lips in displeasure and then spoke. “They’ve entered the labyrinth. We need to find that hiding spot.”

  By “they” I knew he was referring to King Ethelwulf’s knights. I strained to listen, but the echo of our breathing against the stone drowned out any other sound. “Are they close?”

  “No, they’re at the beginning with the three tunnels. I heard the screams of those who chose wrongly.”

  A shiver raced up my spine at the realization of how careless I would have been had I explored the labyrinth on my own without Edmund. I wouldn’t have thought to test each of the routes before starting.

  I reached for Edmund’s arm and squeezed. “I am grateful to have your wisdom and guidance, Edmund. Without you, I would have experienced their fate.”

  “I will remind you of your praise next time you object to something I request of you,” he teased, starting forward faster.

  I rushed to keep up with his stride, even with his limping. When finally the tunnel veered into a small cavern, we stumbled to a stop.

  “Here we are,” he said. “Our hiding place.” He raised the torch high.

  I gasped at the sight that met us.

  Skeletons of all shapes and sizes littered the floor . . . including those belonging to humans.

  Chapter

  12

  Edmund

  “We cannot stay here,” Maribel said, her wide eyes taking in the piles of bones—likely the remains of people and animals long lost in the maze. Or perhaps, this was a lair of the creature who lived in the underground tunnels, one of the places he ate his prey.

  I had no doubt the beast was alive somewhere in the labyrinth. I’d caught faint echoes of the creature’s language, a strange and ancient one. The beast was far enough away for now but was steadily moving closer, likely having heard us and picked up our scent.

  “The bones won’t hurt us,” I teased, trying to ease her fear and mask my pain. The wound in my shoulder throbbed unrelentingly, making me want to drop to my knees and groan.

  Maribel didn’t return my smile. Instead, she trembled. “Did all these people get lost?”

  I shoved aside a pile of the skeletons with my boot. “We’re not lost, Maribel. We’re exactly where I hoped we’d be. And now we need to get comfortable, extinguish our torch, and wait for Ethelwulf’s men to leave.” Without a map, the soldiers would have a difficult time navigating. But it was possible they could stumble across our hiding place. In that case, I’d have to be prepared to fight.

  Maribel took a step back into the tunnel, her face pale, her eyes still wide. “Perhaps we made a mistake coming down here.”

  It was too late to rebuke her for being stubborn and remind her she could have gone with Sheba. But neither would it help to focus on how much danger we were in.

  When Ethelwulf’s men tired of looking for us or if the search became too hazardous, they’d wait at the top for us to emerge—like a fox waiting outside a hare’s burrow, ready to pounce. I doubted they’d leave until they knew we were dead.

  I hadn’t wanted to tell Maribel we’d be trapped down here if I didn’t find an alternate way out. Even without the other pieces of the map, eventually I’d need to explore further into the maze for another exit, testing scents, sound, light, and any other clues I could locate. But I’d do the searching without Maribel so that I didn’t put her into any further danger. My first priority was to ensure her safety. And to do so, we had to make ourselves invisible until Ethelwulf’s men grew discouraged looking for us.

  I cleared aside more bones, enough that we’d have a spot to sit without Maribel fearing the skeletons.

  “At least you will get to rest.” She opened her medical bag.

  I refrained from telling her I wouldn’t rest much. I’d have to stay alert in order to defend her against any soldiers who happened upon us.

  “Now sit.” She retrieved a small clay pot and opened it. “I shall put more of the painkilling poultice on your wounds to ease your discomfort.”

  I didn’t have the energy to resist. In fact, I relished the thought of the cool relief her medicinal supplies would bring. I leaned against the cave wall and slid down until I was sitting with my legs stretched out in front of me.

  When she started to lift my cloak and shirt, I closed my eyes. I pretended to rest, but the truth was I didn’t want her to see how much I liked her touch. I’d already made a fool of myself by reacting to her beautiful hair earlier. I had to stay in control and keep my feelings for her stashed away.

  With my bare skin exposed and her fingers brushing my bicep, I tensed.

  “It will only sting for a moment,” she said softly. Her words were followed by burning pressure against my injury. The pain took my breath away and made me dizzy. Only then did I grasp the seriousness of my injury and the possibility it might not heal—that I could grow weaker and that I might not be able to lead Maribel to safety.

  Mentally, I shook myself. I couldn’t think that way. Wade had taught me the skills to survive any hardship. No matter what, I’d make sure Maribel was secure before succumbing to my injury.

  Once she’d applied the poultice to my shoulder and the wounds on my leg, we refreshed ourselves with water, ate some of the roots we’d gathered, and then extinguished the torch. The darkness was so complete we couldn’t see anything, not even the space directly in front of our faces.

  “Do you think the soldiers have left yet?” she whispered.

  “No, they wouldn’t dare.” Her leg brushed against mine, as did her arm, the sign she was sidling closer. Although I wanted to draw her into the circle of my arm, I resisted the temptation.

  “Perhaps the three entrance tunnels scared them away,” she offered hopefully.

  “Captain Theobald won’t let anything scare him away.” My voice came out more bitter than I intended.

  “Who is Captain Theobald?”

  “The twisted man who murdered my family.” Once the words were out, I wished I hadn’t uttered them. In all the years living at the convent, I’d never spoken of my family
, of what I’d experienced that fateful day they’d died. As we’d grown up, Maribel and Colette had known I wouldn’t talk about it, that their questions would be met with silence. So they’d never brought it up. Neither had Wade. I guessed he’d seen too much senseless violence and had wanted to forget about it every bit as much as I had.

  Even now, Maribel didn’t push me to explain, respecting my desire to forget after all these years. Through the dark, her fingers groped for mine. I gladly, willingly, let her find my hand and didn’t resist when she laced our fingers together. I knew it was her unspoken way of offering me her support.

  I clutched her hand, hoping she understood it was my unspoken way of saying thanks.

  We sat in comfortable companionship. After a while, she rested her head against my uninjured shoulder. I wanted to tell her more, tried to think of what I could say to give voice to those awful days that had changed my life forever. Where did I even begin?

  I opened my mouth, but couldn’t formulate any words.

  She squeezed my hand. “We had a good life at the convent, did we not?” she whispered hesitantly.

  “We did,” I whispered in return. I would be forever grateful to Wade for the risks he took in smuggling me out of Delsworth, for bringing me to the convent, for the years he spent teaching me everything he knew. My throat tightened at the loss of such an honorable man. He’d been a strict instructor, but I wouldn’t be half the man I was if not for him.

  “Will we ever be able to go back?” Sadness tinged her voice.

  I wanted to reassure her, give her hope, make everything right in her life. But she deserved my honesty. “No. At least not while Ethelwulf remains on the throne.”

  She sighed. “What will happen to the nuns? And to Colette?”

  “We shall pray God keeps them safe.” I hoped Theobald had no need of them now that Maribel was gone and would leave them in peace. But Theobald’s methods were unpredictable and inhumane. There was no telling what he might do.

  The soft clink of Maribel’s rosary told me she was taking my request for prayers seriously. For long minutes, she touched the various beads, offering silent pleas. I added my own, although less formal, prayers to hers.

  At the faint tap of bootsteps, I stiffened. Two pairs of boots.

  “What is it—” she started, but I cut her off with a squeeze of her fingers and then leaned in to her ear.

  “Don’t move or speak.”

  She nodded.

  I rose and crept along the perimeter of the wall until I stood next to the entrance, my dagger in one hand and my sword in the other. I would use the element of surprise to my advantage. I suspected the soldiers were working in pairs, which meant I’d have to act quickly to silence them both before they shouted an alarm that could give away our location to the others in the labyrinth.

  Their torches illuminated the tunnel and brought enough light to our cavern that I could see Maribel’s outline where I’d left her. She was trusting me, as usual, to get us out of a difficult predicament. I just prayed I’d have enough strength in my injured shoulder to lift the dagger.

  As the sounds of the soldiers drew nearer, I could hear the fear in their hesitant steps. I doubted they’d known about the labyrinth before descending. Ethelwulf would have exploited it by now if he’d realized it was here. Even so, they’d likely heard tales regarding a Labyrinth of Death and the creatures that lived in its depths.

  The glow from the flame grew steadily stronger, and my muscles tightened in readiness. As the first soldier held out the torch and ducked into the cavern, he made little more than a gurgle as I silenced him. At the same moment, I jumped in front of the opening and plunged my sword into the other soldier. He, too, had no time to make a sound or react. Instead, he crumpled to the ground next to his comrade.

  I used one of their torches to examine them and to divest them of their weapons. Then I dragged them away from the opening, hiding their bodies behind the pile of bones. When I finally glanced at Maribel, she was watching me with a horrified expression.

  “I’m sorry you had to witness that.” I wasn’t proud of myself for having to injure or kill other men. The only man I longed to kill was Theobald. However, I’d harm anyone who attempted to lay hands upon Maribel.

  Was it possible Wade had taught me so diligently because he’d known one day I’d have to take over protecting Maribel for him?

  “Was it truly necessary to harm them?” Maribel’s whisper was filled with condemnation.

  “If I hadn’t, they would have killed me and captured you.” I wiped the blood from my weapons with the edge of the black cloak that had belonged to one of the soldiers.

  She watched me a moment before biting down on her lip and looking away.

  After confiscating any further valuable supplies from the dead men, I extinguished their torches, immersing us once more in utter darkness. I stood near the entrance again, waiting, expecting that additional guards would soon follow. Even if I’d been quiet, sound carried easily in the tunnels.

  As minutes passed with no shouts or calls, the tension eased from my muscles, and I supported myself against the cave wall. Even though I hoped we’d have no more encounters, I suspected if one pair of soldiers had tracked us to the cavern, others would eventually as well.

  After waiting at least another hour, I slid down and sat. My shoulder throbbed with returning pain. Maribel’s ointment was wearing thin. I winced and leaned my head back. Perhaps it was time to move on and attempt to look for the other entrance. And yet, even as I considered standing up and searching, my body wouldn’t cooperate. I was weary and wanted nothing more than to close my eyes and rest.

  But as my lids drifted shut, a distant growl rumbled through the labyrinth, a sound that could only belong to one of the creatures living here in the bowels of the Highlands. It likely hadn’t been disturbed by humans in a very long time.

  As it released another drawn-out sound that was more of a hiss, I tried to analyze the cadence and intonations. It was a reptile of some kind. Not a snake, but perhaps a lizard. It moved heavily but slowly, with stilted steps, which told me it was large and old.

  My mind worked to remember the old languages Sister Paula had taught me. At first, the old Fera Agmen hadn’t paid me any attention. I followed her around every spare moment and started learning on my own just from watching her. After realizing how quickly I understood the difficult communication that had taken her years to master, she’d finally taken an interest in me.

  Since I’d been Wade’s apprentice, he’d insisted on my total devotion and commitment. In fact, I’d hidden my Fera Agmen training from him for many months, until Sister Paula had been the one to tell him. She wanted to have more structured time with me in order to tutor me properly and sought Wade out to ask him.

  Initially, he opposed Sister Paula, not wanting anything to detract from my warrior drills. But eventually, he relented, likely realizing I’d never be the soldier he was. Or perhaps he decided my skill with animals could be another weapon to add to my cache. Whatever the case, he’d allowed me to have more time with Sister Paula.

  Although my Fera Agmen apprenticeship had been cut short by Sister Paula’s sudden death when I’d been but a lad of twelve, I’d already surpassed her by that point, having learned everything she knew. Since then, I’d sought to expand my abilities, listening and memorizing all I heard and testing the new communications.

  In the darkness of the cavern, I fought against my pain and drowsiness to understand what the creature was saying. My guess was that it had been hibernating for the winter, that our entrance into the labyrinth had awoken it early, and that now it was experiencing the pangs of hunger.

  It was searching for its first meal in months. And I didn’t want either Maribel or me to be a part of its feast.

  Painstakingly, I listened to the creature until I began to understand the various sounds it made. The language was so ancient that I couldn’t keep from wondering if this was one of those extinct dragon-l
ike animals fabled to have lived long ago. I’d only read about them in the scrolls among Sister Margaret’s collection.

  Footsteps and torchlight alerted me to the presence of more soldiers coming our way. As before, two were working together.

  I pushed myself up from the stone floor, my shoulder and leg stiff and sore.

  Hearing my movement, Maribel began to scuffle, and I guessed she was rising to her feet too. “Stay where you are, Maribel,” I whispered, unsheathing my dagger and sword, preparing to surprise the approaching soldiers the same way I had the previous two.

  Too late, I realized the creature was nearing our cavern from the other side. Was it drawn here because it smelled the blood of the fallen soldiers?

  Mentally, I lashed myself for not dragging the bodies away. Now, we were trapped between a starving, bloodthirsty beast and two more elite guards. I’d have to take down the guards first and then we’d need to flee far from the cavern, praying the bodies of the slain soldiers would be enough for the creature’s feast.

  The coming torchlight began to give shape to the cavern, which meant the soldiers would be upon us in a moment. A growl from the other direction informed me the beast was picking up its pace and would also soon reach the room.

  “What was that?” Maribel whispered, staring at the dark entrance, having heard the creature now too. Her expression was taut with terror.

  “Make haste and stand close to me,” I replied as I backed away from the door.

  Needing no further urging, she scrambled over.

  I raised my dagger as the footsteps increased their pace into a run, the men likely having heard our whispers or the beast or both.

  Maribel stood behind me and clutched my cloak with trembling fingers.

  The soldiers thrust their torches into the cave first, blinding me as they moved in. At the same time, a mighty roar resounded from the other side of the tunnel, and a beast filled the doorway behind them.