by Holly Hook
Queen Nori got a serious look on her face as she stared ahead into the dark. "You brought her here."
"We did not think she would know we were coming here," Mica said, sheepish. I felt bad for the guy. "She might have spies."
I thought of Ebert and Humphrey. They might be down here, too. Just great. But if they were spies, they were for the Fox Kingdom, not Annie. No one had known she was going to come here.
"Stay there," Nori ordered, looking ahead into the brick tunnel. "We are coming to you. Then, we need to find a way out of here. I never thought I would have to use them."
"Um, Alric," I said.
Nori gave me a withering look. "I did not think it would happen in my lifetime, even with you here."
I wasn't sure when I would win her trust. I might as well give up. I sighed and kept walking.
I made out something narrow and purple in the distance, like a glowing thread the same color as the rampion. The yarn. It was up here.
It was my turn to breathe a sigh of relief. The light flickered as Nori lost concentration, but then came back on again. I couldn't see anyone in front of us.
"What's that?" Candice asked.
"It reminds me of something," Rae said.
"Hold on," I said. "Does someone have the magic yarn up that way?"
"Yes," a girl called just as the purple line rolled up into a ball. I guessed it was a couple hundred feet ahead. The ball moved like someone was carrying it. "I have it."
"We might need it to get out of here," I said. I turned to Nori, forcing myself to be polite. "Whoever built these tunnels a long time ago must have created a way out. I know you said they were meant for hiding in." I thought of the safe room that wasn't even that safe. "The builders wouldn't have been that stupid."
"You're right," Nori said. "You said something about magical yarn? I haven't seen any of that in about thirty years, when I sold some to a wise woman."
"You mean, you made the magic yarn?" I asked.
Nori smiled at me. She had changed her whole attitude now that there might be an escape from this. "I wove some out of rampion. It wasn't easy and required all my magic to do. It was a labor of love for me. I never found out what happened to it, but I guess I know now."
The purple ball got closer and a white dress emerged from the dark. Ignacia. She gave no indication that she'd heard Nori, but she held the yarn in both hands like it was a long lost relic.
"Ignacia?" I asked.
"Yes?"
"I'm Shorty," I said, shaking her hand. "Nori's grandson."
I hated saying that just then, but it beat the alternative. These people were on the run from Alric's forces. I didn't need to make this any scarier for them.
She didn't want to let go of the yarn. Ignacia clutched it to her chest and I couldn't stop staring. At the yarn, that was. I could feel Candice glaring at me. It gave off a pale glow like those glow sticks I'd seen in the other world. I hadn't been there long, only a few months, but some people had been holding them when they left a party I'd been walking past. This yarn looked the same, only I knew it was full of magic, not some chemical reaction they must use in the other world.
And Nori had created it.
"My yarn!" Nori said, eyeing it.
Ignacia backed away. "Who are you?"
"It's okay," I said. "She's safe. This is Queen Nori. Do we look that bad?"
"How do I know who you are?" Ignacia asked us. "How do I know who any of you are?"
Mica appeared by her side. He had his hand on the handle of his sword, ready to fight. Both of them were tense. They had been through some stuff and I couldn't be quick to judge them.
They might be very quick to judge me. Even Candice had judged me--at first.
"Because Annie is behind the cave-in," I said, gesturing behind me. "She's not getting through for a long time."
"A cave in?" Mica asked.
I waited for him to ask how we were going to get out of here, but he looked at the ball of yarn that Ignacia held. Of course.
"Can that really take us anywhere?" I asked.
Ignacia backed further away from me. I couldn't blame her. She didn't know me and things were bad right now. "Yes," she said. "Empty your pockets. In the full light. All of you."
"Why?" I glanced at Nori and Candice as well as Henry and Rae.
Henry nodded. "Just do it. They need to make sure you don't have something."
Mica reached for his sword again. "Now."
I turned out my jeans pockets. A piece of lint and several gold coins fell to the floor. I wondered what she was looking for. "Are you trying to rob me?"
Candice did the same as well as Henry and Rae. Nori was the last. She pulled up her skirt, showing her old lady legs. "Would you like a better peek?" she asked.
"No. No," Mica said, waving her skirt down. He grimaced and I almost laughed. "It looks like none of you have it. They're not Annie."
"Have what?" I asked.
"Nothing," Mica said. "It's not important now. We heard that huge crash and thought it was Annie coming through. What caused the cave-in?"
"I...I did," I said.
"With the wand," Henry pointed out.
"Well, it didn't take much magic," I lied. "The ceiling back there was ready to come down anyway. Ancient tunnels and all."
"So you can do some magic. That's good," Ignacia said.
Nori stiffened next to me, swallowed, and then spoke. "It runs in my family. Shorty has light magic, like I do."
I silently thanked her for that. Nori didn't like admitting she had magic, not because she was ashamed but because a lot of people didn't trust magic users at all. This was an emergency and all barriers were off now.
"That still might not do us much good," Mica said, voice echoing off the stone walls. "Annie also has seven-league boots."
I gulped. "Oh. Maybe that's how she found you guys." Annie sounded just as bad as Alric even if she didn't have a stockpile of gold. These people had only been trying to escape from her and if she was anything like him, she would be very hard to kill. "I met her back there. I don't blame you for running."
Mica's face was long and tired. "Well, we seem to be safe for now unless she's sneaking up on us. Are you sure that cave-in was complete?"
"Sure," I said. "I checked up and down. There were no openings."
"Then we need to go," he said. Mica was a guy used to being in charge--or he just had to be in charge. There weren't a lot of really young kings and queens in Fable. That usually only happened when their parents both died or were out of the equation. His shoulders were slumped like he was carrying a huge weight. "Annie might find another way around. She can move very quickly and cover huge distances in no time with those boots of hers."
We started to walk and Candice and I stepped side by side as the light moved with us. Nori opened her mouth to say something to me, but closed it again. My grandmother looked older than ever, with dark circles under her eyes. I wondered how much longer she could tolerate being Queen.
Then I realized with a punch to the gut that I was her only heir.
Well, that wasn't shut in a glass coffin somewhere in the underworld.
I walked faster, almost out of the circle of light like I was leading all of us into darkness. Candice struggled to keep up. "Shorty," she said. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," I lied. "It's all cool."
"No. Something's wrong. Your mother's down here in the underworld. You hate using magic." She kept her voice low. "Alric said something about her being buried under the sands. That would mean she's in the underworld, right? Henry and Rae said something about that, too. They've seen her."
"She is," I said. "Candice--we have to get her out."
"I know."
"No. We have to get her out now. She's been stuck too long and...and I don't want to be a King. I've had enough of castles and having to make servants taste my food to make sure it's not poisoned and not being able to go anywhere. I had freedom out there in the other world even though it
was hard. I want that again and I want you to come with me. Your own father's waiting for you."
"Shorty, how do you know that's going to happen?" She leaned close to me. On the other side of her, Henry walked, trying to pretend he wasn't listening. Everyone was sizing us up as we continued downhill. The brick never seemed to end but at least the jail cells with the skeletons weren't appearing down here.
"Why do you think Nori took me?" I asked. "My good looks?"
Candice thought. I could see that there was something she didn't want to tell me.
"You talked to Nori right before you freed me from the dungeon back in the Fox Kingdom. Did she say why she wanted me?"
Candice stared ahead, walking for several tense seconds. "She said you'd be a valuable asset."
I'd expected this answer. "Exactly," I said, checking behind me. Nori walked in the middle of the light, speaking with Mica in a low voice. It was traveling with her. "She doesn't like me, but she needs me. The Star Kingdom needs me. I'm the last resort."
"Don't talk about yourself that way."
"I'm just sick of everyone else trying to control me," I said. "I just want to be Shorty. You're the only person who gives a crap about who I really am."
"I won't stop giving a crap, Shorty. Even if you have to use magic."
"And I won't stop giving a crap about you even if you are a princess," I said.
Candice balked. She hated coming from wealth. I hated coming from magic. We were such a great team.
We continued for a bit and armor shone at us in the dim light.
It was Ebert and Humphrey, standing there in front of the villagers and several other knights. They had all hung back while Mica and Ignacia had gone to see who we were. Behind them, servants gathered. The elf and the blond girl stood there, too.
I got what I expected out of those two idiots. They backed up into the crowd and Ebert pointed at me. "He brought those ravens!" he shouted, voice echoing up and down the corridor and bouncing in the dark. "He brought them upon us!"
Mica looked at Nori. My grandmother nodded at him, tired. Mica stepped forward.
"I can assure you, he did not bring the ravens," Mica said like he'd broken up false accusations before. "None of us did. Alric's sister has been chasing us and we didn't realize she would find us here. It is her we need to worry about, not this guy."
The two knights hadn't even brought their swords down. Other knights stood around them impatiently like they were ready to go. We were all gathered now. There must be dozens of people down here in the tunnel. The air was hot from all the body heat. These folks must have seen our light coming and waited for an answer.
We told them what the deal was. Everyone shifted and stared at Ignacia, who still held the yarn. I kept an eye on Ebert and Humphrey, who were staying as far from me as they could. Things were going to get bad if we didn't do something.
"We need a way out of here," I said, trying not to sound like a jerk. "Would you be able to tell that yarn how to show us?"
There was a bigger question I wanted to ask.
And it had everything to do with my mother.
But not with all these people. It was something I had to do on my own. I couldn't risk Rae and Henry and everyone else who was down here with us. Not the servants, the knights, or my grandmother.
That made me think of Ebert and Humphrey again. They might have something out for her and I might need to do something about them before we found a way out, because when we got the servants out of here, I could ask Ignacia a favor.
"Sure," Ignacia said. She held the yarn up like she'd done this many times. "Show us the safest exit from the underground, please."
Mica grinned as the yarn floated above her hand and unraveled.
It shot forward into the tunnel and down, making everyone groan.
"I've done this before," Ignacia said. "You just have go get the right wording so it doesn't accidentally take you over some dangerous pit."
"We learned that lesson," Mica said.
"Are you sure we can trust these people?" Candice whispered in my ear.
"The other option is to face Annie," I said. "We can't wander down here forever. I'm just glad we have this thing and she doesn't. And no, I'm not sure."
It wasn't like we had a choice. Everyone scrambled into line, with Ignacia at the lead, and began to walk.
We moved through the dark for what felt like hours, always heading downward just a little at a time, and the air got colder and more stale. The bricks gave way and slowly converted to dirt. We were all walking through a tunnel that looked dug out by a giant dragon, not people. The only sign that it was manmade was the occasional half-buried brick that I had the joy of tripping over.
I shuddered. "This is awesome."
"I agree," Candice said. "You've never been down here, have you?"
"No. But I hear there are entrances to the underworld all over in Fable. Wells are a good way to get down. Usually someone falls down a pit to get down here."
The feel of the air was different now, more chilly like it had never seen the surface. A new feeling filled the pit in my stomach. It was neither good nor evil, light or dark. It was more...nervous. This place was independent of it all. We had entered a part of Fable few entered.
"Hey," I said to the elf in front of us.
He turned his head. Like all elves, he had a strange inner glow. This elf wasn't one of the ones molded into evil by the dark region, but he looked familiar in some way. Henrik had an elf prisoner once and I'd glimpsed him once several years ago. Henrik had been trying to force him to spin gold or something, but that elf had been dirty and gross and not someone I would cross paths with. Still, this guy made me think of him. Maybe all elves looked the same.
"Yes?" he asked. He, too, had fatigue in his voice.
"You know anything about the underground?"
"It's a neutral zone," he said. "I'm from here. All elves are. Don't expect to meet many of us. Most of us don't like dealing with people directly. You might want to watch out for the dragons, though. There aren't many of them, but they're not something you want to face."
I coughed. "Awesome."
"We're not near any, are we?" Candice asked.
"No. They're usually a lot further down. This is the upper level of the underworld and a part that's been abandoned for a long time."
"Good," Candice said.
"I'm not going to let any dragons near us," I promised her. "I'll use magic if I have to."
"Shorty, I know you hate it."
I did hate it. The more I used it, the more people hated me, but it was better than being eaten alive.
At last, a faint draft blew against us and hope seemed to rise in the crowd. People walked faster and the yarn made a sharp turn to the right, always floating next to us. The light fell on a narrow tunnel with stairs that headed upwards towards the surface. Relief flowed through me. These people weren't trying to murder us after all.
"Go ahead," I told Candice as everyone got in single file to go up the stairs. "I'll take the wand from Nori and I'll come up last."
"Shorty, you don't have to."
Ebert and Humphrey waited at the back of the line. "I need to."
If those two were going to try anything, it would be down in this dark tunnel. And if I had to do something, I didn't want anyone else to see it. Especially Candice.
"I'll take that wand," I said, holding my hand out for Nori. My grandmother hesitated, then handed it over. She climbed up the stairs without a word. The tunnel was clearing. Almost everyone was out now. A couple of village women brushed past her, heads lowered.
Candice waited next to me. Why wouldn't she go up the stairs with everyone else?
Henry and Rae pushed past Nori, eager to get up to the surface. Rae dropped her hair and had to stop and pick it up. The two of them and a few of the villagers were the last to scramble up the stairs. This group of refugees had succeeded in making their numbers swell.
And I hadn't helped by trying to
fight Annie. I'd done nothing but give her a new reason to pursue us.
It figured.
Darkness would follow me everywhere I went.
"Shorty, I'll keep the wand safe," she said, holding her hand out.
"Why do you need the wand?" Nori asked.
I shot her a look. My mouth was dry. The light was still around us, but not as strong as it used to be. My grandmother had used up a lot of energy keeping the tunnel lit. "You're tired. You shouldn't have to keep all this up. You need to get up to the surface and rest." I shouldn't have let her take the wand but I'd been exhausted after collapsing the tunnel.
Nori nodded, leaned against the dirt for a second, and started up the stairs, leaving just me, Candice, and the Idiot Squad.
"What are we doing?" Candice asked.
"There's something I need to deal with. It might start with E and H."
She stared at me like she didn't get it. I flicked my gaze over to Ebert and Humphrey, who were very quiet on the other side of the tunnel. They still didn't have their swords, but Ebert was reaching into his chest plate, which he had pulled away from his body and lay half-off. He backed into darkness.
I pushed past Candice and the remaining villagers.
This was my chance to show them I was on their side.
I raised the wand and uttered the first words I could think of, the ones for fall back.
"Zurückfallen!"
A cold energy swept through me, a horribly familiar one, and Ebert grunted as a force slammed into him and he came off his feet. He slid across dirt and there was a thump and another grunt as Ebert hit the wall. I pointed the wand at Humphrey, whose mouth fell open, and yelled the same spell.
"Shorty!" Nori shouted. She'd come back down the stairs. "What are you doing?"
I turned to her for a second and faced where Ebert and Humphrey had vanished into the dark. "They were getting ready to hurt you!" I yelled. "Ebert was reaching into his chest plate for something. He's got a knife. Get up the stairs!"
"Shorty!" Nori repeated, advancing on me. She was livid, so much that Candice backed away and Henry and Rae stopped on the steps to watch. No one was left here. "The two of them are harmless. I hired them to keep an eye on you, to see if you were dangerous. It looks like that question has been answered."
