by Erin Johnson
He handed the guard some papers. The man sifted through them. I bit my nail. Where had Horace gotten this ship? By the waves, it better not be stolen. I sighed to myself. Who was I kidding? He’d stolen it.
“You.” The other officer who stood near the cabin crooked a finger at Wiley. “Come ’ere.”
Wiley’s throat bobbed, but he started forward. Annie and I exchanged wide-eyed looks. Did he recognize him somehow? Or maybe we hadn’t altered the uniforms enough?
Wiley stopped before the officer and stood stock still.
The guard pointed down at the tray of appetizers. “May I?”
“Oh. Sure, yeah.” He held up the tray and the guard plucked a few of the endive leaves.
“I love shrimp. Haven’t had lunch yet.”
Wiley chuckled, his face relaxing into relief. Then he chuckled again, and looked as if he were about to cry.
The other guard turned away from Horace. “Everything’s in order with the ship.” His colleagues nodded.
The guy with the snacks finished his last bites, then turned and pushed the door open. “All clear, sir.” He stepped to the side and held the door open with one arm.
Urs Volker climbed the two steps up into the passenger compartment. “Goot mornink, ladies.” He held his hands clasped behind his back.
“Handsome,” the duchess whispered to Annie.
Annie winked and nodded.
“You are beink afforded oon fery special privelage. Before today, mine security measures and protocols haf alvays seen shtrict adherence. But, za board, een all its visdom, has decided to allow you all to tour za prison. Know that theese ees not oon game. Zer are za most horrifically violent and disturbed minds housed vithin those valls!” He jabbed his thumb behind him at the prison.
Emmaline leaned closed to my ear. “Is he always yelling?”
I raised my brows. “I think so.”
“You vill be subject to a shtrict search.”
“A strip search?” A woman in her fifties raised her hand, then fell back into her seat, giggling with her friends. They clinked their champagne glasses together and took another swig.
Urs’s face grew red. “Zis ees exactly vhat I vas talkink about. Vee vill haf shtrict obedience to za rules, yes? Zis ees for your safety as vell as zat of za whole kingdom!” He clicked his heels together. “Let us go, zen.” As he turned he muttered to his men. “Keep oon tight vatch on zeese vomen.”
“Yes, sir,” they chorused.
Urs turned and walked down the steps to the landing platform, followed by his guards. They joined the large group of men waiting for us below. Then Wiley and Yann stepped onto the platform and handed the women down the stairs. Annie and I hung back, while the duchess asked Emmaline to walk with her. Louella shot me a furious glance. I smiled brightly back at her—even though my insides felt like a tornado of fear and crippling fear. And more fear.
After Wiley and Yann helped us down the steps, Horace moved to the doorway of the ship. He gave me a lazy blink. “Good luck.”
“Thanks.” I think. Why did everything he did have two meanings? Was that a genuine “good luck”? Or the kind that meant I’d need it because he knew something terrible was about to happen?
As the guards that flanked us spun on their heels and marched us toward the prison, Wiley and Yann spelled their uniforms back to their original form.
“Ahem.” Horace cleared his throat and Wiley and Yann suddenly sported buzz cuts. Yann’s beard disappeared, and I gaped at his smooth baby face. He looked younger and nearly unrecognizable.
Wow. Now they looked like they really belonged. They held their wands at the ready and that completed the disguise. We marched toward the seven-story-tall gray box that loomed before us. The wind whipped my bangs and blew my skirt about my knees.
Soon, we stood in the prison’s long shadow. It seemed even more imposing up close. No windows. A guard punched a code on a keypad next to the one and only door and opened it. A guard came from within, received a nod from Urs Volker, and then held the nondescript gray door open for us. I waited my turn to enter, single file, and stepped inside.
20
Security Checks
We stepped into a dark, tall room, lit only by blue flames that hung from lanterns above. The ceiling loomed a couple of stories above and the gray cement floors and walls kept the big space cool. It reminded me of a bank vault.
I leaned over to Annie. “Quite the cheery place.”
She grinned.
The guards corralled Annie and me along with the other ladies into the center of the room. A familiar round little man bounced into view.
Henrick, from the prison board, clapped his hands. “Ladies! Welcome! I’m so pleased I’ll be joining you today. And if anyone gets frightened or upset, I’ve been told I have a soft shoulder to cry on. Very soft. Like dough.”
Emmaline waved, and murmured greetings went up from the group.
Urs strode down the center of the room, his polished boot heels clicking on the cement. We all grew quiet.
“First, vee vill check your identification cards.”
Annie and I exchanged glances. Last night, Horace had given Annie a false license which identified her as Countess Lucy Wakefield of the Earth Kingdom. He better have a good forger in his army to fool these guys.
“Zen, vee vill search your belonginks and look for active shpells and veapons.”
Henrick folded his arms and rolled his eyes. “Is this really necessary?”
Urs turned to face him.
“I’m sure these ladies will behave themselves.” He winked at Louella.
She made a face back.
“Ja.” Urs’s nostrils flared as he levied a hard look at Henrick. “Ja, zis ees fery necessary.”
A lengthy security sweep ensued. Annie and I opened our purses and handed our identification cards over to Wiley and Yann. I beamed with pride at outwitting Urs, until our cards were checked by a second guard, and a third. I held my breath until the last guy handed Annie’s card back to her with a nod. She shoved it back into her clutch.
“Thorough, isn’t he?” She flashed her eyes at me.
“Mm-hmm.” I held my arms a little way from my body and tried to air out my armpits. Though the room was chilly, I had a massive nervous sweat going.
“Classy.” Wiley lifted his brows and half turned away from me.
I glared. Sure. Mock me for having a healthy endocrine system.
Next, the guards searched for active spells, enchanted objects, and weapons. I handed over my purse to a guard who, with his buzz cut and uniform, looked just like all the others. My lips quirked to the side. Good thing for us, since all the women on the plane had seen Wiley and Yann. I worried someone might still recognize them, despite their uniforms and haircuts. Then again, Yann was nearly unrecognizable to me and I’d seen him every day for the past year. Without the beard, he looked a decade younger and quite intimidating.
The guard rifled through my wallet, uncapped a tube of red lipstick, and examined the lighter. When he flipped open the metal top, Iggy’s flame burned there, though he’d somehow hidden his face.
“This an enchanted lighter?”
I shook my head. “Not the lighter itself. Just a Damavash flame—ever lit.”
His brows lowered but he dropped it back into my purse. He then felt around on the inside, waved his wand over it, and finally, handed it back. Phew. I wiped a hand across my brow and found my bangs stuck to my forehead by sweat. I hugged my purse close and dipped my chin. “All clear.” I barely breathed the words.
“Don’t blow it,” Iggy hissed back.
Gee. Thanks for the encouragement. Wiley and Yann had vanished into the milling crowd of guards, but I spotted Annie. She scowled at the guard who held her clutch. Uh-oh. I moved past Louella, the duchess, and a couple other ladies, and jogged up to Annie.
“Uh, Countess, is everything all right?” My heartbeat sped up.
Annie sniffed. “No.”
“
Ma’am. I need to hold on to this mirror. It’s spelled.”
My stomach iced over. I grew very still. Not the mirror—it was our way out.
Annie planted her hands on her hips. “Well, I never!”
I lifted my palms. “Maybe you should, uh—you should keep it down a little.”
She shot me a wide-eyed look. “Don’t tell me to keep quiet, this man is being ridiculous!”
Eyes turned our way and my face grew hot. The guard glared at Annie.
Urs parted the crowd and moved toward us, Henrick bouncing at his heels.
“Vat ees za problem?”
The guard held up Annie’s compact mirror in one hand, her purse held in the other. “Enchanted mirror, sir. I’m just following protocol.”
“Protocol, my butt!” Annie stomped her foot and my eyes widened. What was she doing? So much for keeping a low profile.
Her face flushed red. “So a lady likes to enchant her reflection a little, is that a crime?” She fanned herself. “Never, in all my years. Is this the way you treat mature ladies where you’re from, huh? Embarrassing them because their flower of youth has faded and they simply wish to hold on to it a little longer?”
Urs maintained a flat expression but Henrick reached his hands out toward Annie. “Oh ma’am, our apologies. I’m sure Urs here never meant to embarrass you.”
Annie sniffed and looked away. “Maybe I should just tell my husband to tear up the check he was writing to fund this place.”
Henrick looked stricken.
“Uh.”
I turned.
The duchess stood nearby, watching. “Isn’t your husband dead?”
I froze.
Annie blinked. Lifted her brows, licked her lips, and then spoke. “He formed a trust. I was diverting some of the money to Carclaustra, so he was figuratively cutting the check, you see?”
“She was cutting us a check,” Henrick ground out. He fixed his wide eyes on Urs. “Remember the half-finished renovations? Let the mature woman have her mirror, for sky’s sake! What’s she gonna do with it?”
Urs kept his lips pressed tight but gave a sharp nod to his officer. Urs spun on his heel and marched off. The guard handed Annie back her purse, including the mirror, and I breathed again. Next came our pat downs. This was done magically of course, though some of the women insisted on a more hands-on approach for themselves, claiming it was for security reasons. I think they enjoyed it a little too much.
Urs moved to the far wall, where he punched some numbers into a keypad. The entire wall split in two and the halves slid apart, revealing a deep chasm and a narrow bridge that spanned it, lighted by blue flames.
“Velcome”—Urs threw an arm out—“to Carclaustra.”
Annie and I stayed near the rear of the group as we made our way across the bridge. It was longer than it had first appeared and I glanced back to the enormous doors that slid shut behind us. I blinked as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. The only light came from the blue flames burning in shallow trenches that made two long rows down the length of the bridge. It cast deep shadows over everyone’s faces.
I nudged Annie. “I feel like we should be telling scary stories.”
“I’ve got one for you.” Wiley appeared on my right and made me jump. “Once, there were four magical bakers who had to sneak into a prison to—”
“Five!” came a tiny voice from inside my purse.
“Zis ees za bridge.” Urs’s voice boomed from the head of the group and his voice bounced off the walls around us, lost in the darkness. “Eet spans a sort of moat.”
“Is it water below then?” A woman’s voice floated up above the soft footsteps and hushed whispers of the women and the two dozen guards that escorted us.
“No vater.”
“What then?”
“Vee do not shpeak eets name.”
Hushed murmurs rippled through the bunch. Was he just being dramatic or was there really some ungodly creature below us? I shuddered. Urs didn’t strike me as the type to embellish.
“Za bridge ees nicknamed za ‘ponte of no return.’ Because ponte ees Latin for bridge. Do you understand za pun?”
I grinned. Could he be more dry?
“Next vee shall enter za outer rink.”
“Good.”
I lifted my purse to my ear to hear Iggy better.
“The outer ring is good. You wanna wait till you get to the inner ring, though.”
I lowered my purse to hang at my side again. We passed from the darkness of the moat room into a concrete hallway, wide enough only for a few of us to walk side by side. The blue flames that ran along a trough near the ceiling cast more light than over the bridge, but still, the corridor was dim… and depressing.
“Vee keep za halls narrow, so zat een za case of oon riot or breakout, eet ees easy to create bottlenecks and haf easy views.” We curved to the left. “Vith no corners, vee can see long distances to avoid oon shneak attack.”
I let out a shaky breath. Not such good news for us.
We walked on for a few more minutes with Urs pointing our various features. Near what I guessed to be the center of one of the long sides of the oval-shaped prison, Urs led us sharply to the right. “Vee now enter za eener circle.”
We climbed some steps. Were we on a new floor? Or did this floor just have different levels? Hopefully Iggy, our schematics expert, could make sense of it. We came out onto a platform that branched left and right, down more narrow, concrete hallways.
“You’re in the inner circle?”
I lifted my purse and whispered, “Yeah.”
“Okay. Now.”
My chest heaved and I gave Annie a nod, then Wiley, and finally Yann. Annie tugged my sleeve and drew me closer. “If you kill me, I’ll haunt you. Just so you know.”
I shook my head. “Don’t even joke about that right now.” I held up my shiny palms. “Do you see how sweaty my palms are?”
Annie grinned. “I trust you. Mostly.”
“All right, countess.” Wiley’s throat bobbed. “You’re up.”
Annie took a deep breath, then threw the back of her hand against her head. “Ooohhhh.” She moaned and swayed on her feet. Heads turned, women and guards, to look.
I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and found Annie’s energy, soft and warm. I pulled from it. I hadn’t practiced this yesterday; I hadn’t wanted to. I hated pulling from people. But now I wished I had more practice. I couldn’t bear the thought of pulling too much and hurting Annie… or worse.
I drew more and more to me, little sips.
“Is she okay?”
“Countess, you look pale. Do you need to sit?”
“Can we get her some water?”
The voices of concerned women sounded in my head but I ignored them and kept on taking more and more of Annie’s energy until—.
A scuffle, a cry, and then I peeled my eyes open. Wiley held a limp Annie under the arms. Her head lolled and my stomach clenched. I rushed up to her and pressed my fingers to her throat. I thought I could feel a pulse, but I wasn’t sure. “She’s fainted!” I said it loud enough the whole group could hear.
People stepped back against the walls to make room for Urs to pass through. He came back, from the head of the group, and knelt beside Annie and Wiley. He checked her pulse at her wrist and pressed the back of his hand to her neck and cheek.
He rose. “Take her to za infirmary.”
Wiley dipped his chin. “Yes, sir.”
He hoisted Annie up and her hat tipped forward to halfway cover her face. Yann grabbed her ankles.
“I’d better go with her.” I clasped my hands together and didn’t have to act worried—I genuinely was. Would she be okay when she woke up? Would she wake up?
“I hope she’s okay.” Emmaline bit her lip.
We started left and Urs turned and frowned. “The infirmary ees za ozer vay.”
Yann cleared his throat. “Right. Off courze.”
Urs jerked his chin at another guard.
“You go, too.”
Wiley’s eyes widened. “Uh, we’ve got this sir, I think. Just the two of us.”
Urs glared at Wiley. “Are you za varden?”
Wiley hung his head. “No. Sir.”
After another tense moment, Yann and Wiley carried Annie past Urs, with me and the other guard trailing behind. Once we left the tour group behind, Wiley paused and readjusted his grip on Annie. He looked at the other guard. “Why don’t you lead the way, it’s hard for me to see where I’m going.”
The guy nodded and moved in front.
“Let me out.”
I unclasped my handbag and retrieved the silver lighter. I flipped up the lid and a tiny Iggy flame turned right and left. “We’re still in the inner circle?”
I nodded and whispered. “I think so.”
“We haven’t gone down any stairs?”
I shook my head.
“Okay.”
We left some distance between Yann, carrying Annie’s feet, and us, just in case the guard up front could hear.
“He’s probably heading towards the lift since it’d be tough to carry Annie up stairs. When you reach the lift, there will be a door just to the right that leads to a storage closet. Dump the guard in there.”
I frowned. “What do you mean dump him?” I hissed.
“You know.” Iggy mimicked punching himself. “Knock him out and hide him in the storage closet.”’
“Oh, just knock him out, huh?” I gave him a flat look. “Easy peasy.”
“Sneezy deezy. Wow, see, I can say gobbledygook words, too.”
“That’s not what I was—”
“You knocked Annie out easy, do it to this guy.”
I huffed. “Not as simple as it sounds. It’s pretty exhausting actually, to focus that hard. I could really hurt someone.”
Iggy rolled his eyes. “Just do it.”
“Fine.” My stomach twisted with nerves as we rushed Annie through the hallways. Finally we reached the lift and the extra guard pressed a button to call it. While we waited, I summoned my courage, closed my eyes, and inhaled. I breathed in the guard’s muddy brown energy. It was interesting—I was starting to have a sense of different shapes, colors, and kinds of magical energy. This man’s was rather unsavory. I pulled more energy and quicker than I had from Annie. Thump. I opened my eyes. The man lay slumped against the wall, his mouth slack. Wiley and Yann turned shocked faces to me.
