That didn’t sound good. “Why can’t we wait for Sebande and Jaaniyah?” Nica asked.
“A horse travels slower with two people on it,” Shanks explained. “Three horses traveling together are much easier to track then horses going in opposite directions.”
Nica shook her head. “We can split up once we know they’re safely out of the Ortawn.” She crossed her arms. “And what about Versonga Blacksmeer? What if he’s set a trap for when you return to the Ortawn for Jaaniyah? Doesn’t he need to be found and dealt with?”
“Don’t worry about Blacksmeer. Sebande and I will take care of him when the time comes.”
“What if Sebande runs into trouble? What if he needs our help?” The more she thought about it, the less Nica was inclined to agree with them.
“Sebande will be fine,” Shanks said, but his tone didn’t sound convincing.
A long moment of silence stretched between them. The only sound was the twitter of birds high in the trees.
“No,” Nica finally said.
“No?” Shanks repeated with raised eyebrows. He looked at Sebande to see if he’d heard correctly. His gaze shifted to Nica. “What do you mean, ‘no’?”
Nica took a deep breath and raised her chin. “I mean no, I’m not leaving until Jaaniyah and Sebande are both safely out of the Ortawn.” Nica dared Sebande with her eyes to challenge her decision. To her surprise, he dropped his head and looked away.
“Nica,” Shanks said weakly, at a loss for words. “You’ve got to think this through. We can’t risk you and Jaaniyah. You are both heirs to the throne of Jarisa. I can’t knowingly risk your life to save hers.”
“Well, that makes it simple enough. You’re not risking my life,” Nica said with a forced smile. “I’m choosing to risk my own life.”
With a painful grimace, Shanks pushed himself up and walked away from the fire. Nica could tell by the way he held his shoulders he was angry. He stood at the edge of their small camp, his hands on his hips and stared out into the trees. She decided it was best to ignore him for now. After a while, he walked back toward her.
“We’ve been camped here too long. We need to move on. What’s your plan?” His lips were unsmiling but his words were even.
He towered over her. Nica rubbed her palms down the front of her pants. “Well,” she said slowly, “I have been thinking on it a bit.” She heard Sebande cough. She turned to look at him but his arms were resting on his knees with his head bowed, hiding his face. Nica started again. “As I was saying, I was thinking maybe we should use one of Mosaba’s tactics.”
“Such as….” Shanks drew the word out.
“A diversion. I remember Mosaba explaining to me once about the vent holes in the Ortawn. He said they couldn’t get plugged up or the smoke from the fire inside the Ortawn would force everyone out for fresh air. I asked why all the blowing sand above the Ortawn didn’t fill up the holes and he told me they’d built metal shields, like little caps, over each hole. There was a piece of metal on the top that turned the cap with the wind so the sand was blocked from falling into the holes.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sebande’s head lift. “If we can block the holes, and then wait by the other entrance, maybe everyone will be worrying about the smoke instead of a few strange faces. We can go in, get Jaaniyah, and head north before anyone notices she’s gone.” Nica rubbed her hands up and down her thighs again. “That was what I was thinking, anyway.”
“Shaun, it might work,” Sebande said.
Shanks nodded. He stared off into the distance, thinking. “I remember those vent lids. They’re visible and easy enough to get to. I wonder if they’ve thought to guard them?”
“Why?” Sebande snorted. “Who would dare take on Mosaba and the entire criminal population who hide in the Ortawn? Most want them to stay hidden down there forever.” He shook his head as though trying to dislodge unpleasant memories. “The prisoners are usually as bad as the criminals who kidnapped them.”
“It might just work.” Shanks looked down at Nica. “Aren’t you afraid of being captured by Mosaba again?”
“Yes,” Nica nodded. “But I’m more afraid of you two going in there without me and not coming back out. Besides—” she shrugged as she got to her feet— “you and Sebande will take care of me.”
THE SUN WAS high in the sky when they stopped again. To their left the Great Divide stretched, so vast in places the other side shimmered like a mirage. A group of huge boulders dotted the edge of the gorge, colored in the red and orange hues of the setting sun. They shot into the sky like giant markers thrust into the ground for a non-existent river to follow. Ahead of them a sea of sand stretched. Nica could hear the wind whistle as it soared over the unbroken terrain. Shadows danced across the surface, making the sand appear to be undulating, like the moving back of a partially submerged creature.
“Why is it so windy?” Nica asked.
Shanks squinted against the brightness of the sun. “The wind comes from the Sea of Nephalon, up the Great Divide. There is nothing to stop it until it blows out over the desert of the Scablands or hits the trees on the other side of the Divide in northern part of Jarisa.”
At the same time, Shanks and Sebande lifted their hands to shield their eyes from the sun and sand. Shanks pointed. “There she is. The third sister.”
Sebande nodded in agreement.
“What are you talking about?” Nica asked. She took a step closer, leaning against the force of the wind. Shanks continued to scan the horizon as he spoke. “Most people don’t realize the peaks of the Spires Mountains are visible across the desert. The mountains blend in with the rest of the shifting sand dunes, but their tips never move. We use them to gauge our direction.”
“And who’s the third sister?”
“There are a series of peaks within the Spires known as the Three Sisters. Sebande and I picked one to use as our marker to find our entrance and named her the third sister.” Shanks wrapped his arm around Nica’s shoulder. He put his head close to hers and pointed. “See, it’s the one in the middle there, with the ridge like a fish hook?”
Nica nodded, enjoying his closeness. A twinge of regret tugged at her when he moved away to talk to Sebande. A short time later the horses were hidden among the trees, next to a huge boulder a short distance from the edge of the desert. As they stepped onto the sand the wind assaulted her, tearing at her hair and clothes. Every step was an effort. Shanks slid his arm through hers. “Keep your head down. Just follow my lead.”
The whistling she’d heard earlier became a howling cry as they moved deeper into the sand-swept landscape. Even the deepening shadows shifted and moved, like dark clouds blowing through a winter sky.
Time became suspended as she planted one plodding foot in front of the other. Sand pricked her skin like a million tiny needles. Nica draped her cloak across her face so only her eyes were exposed. Then, out of nowhere, a wall of solid sand loomed up before them. With a sigh of relief she stepped behind the wind break.
“That was unpleasant,” she said, as she shook the sand from her clothes. Their barrier was one of many little walls that had built up over the years from a combination of the natural limestone deposits and the blowing sand. Sebande dropped to his knees and began digging in one corner. It only took him a few minutes before he held up one end of a cable. Shanks squatted down beside him, and together they scraped away the sand. Because of the natural wind block, the sand had not accumulated in great amounts and it didn’t take them long to expose a big chunk of rock.
Now that the wind was blocked the sharp odor of fire hung in the air. Shanks leaned down to help but Sebande shrugged him off.
“Don’t rip your stitches yet,” the dark haired young man said. “Wait until you need to do something really important, like save me.”
Shanks laughed and backed off as Sebande tugged on the cable, pulling a section of the porous rock free. He tipped it to the side and together they peered into the darkness below.
Nica peeked over his shoulder. The smell of fire was much stronger, and her stomach clutched at the dark memories associated with the odor. “How long ago did you make this exit?”
Shanks rested one knee on the ground, and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, leaving a streak of dirt. “About four years ago.” He glanced at Sebande. “I guess we’ve grown a bit since then.”
Nica was surprised to see Sebande actually laugh. “Thank the Gods. You were the scrawniest fourteen year-old I’d ever seen.” Nica ran her eyes over Shanks’ broad shoulders and long legs. Even though he was thin it was hard to imagine Shanks ever being scrawny. Sebande was even bigger than Shanks.
“Do you think we’ll fit now?” Shanks asked.
“Only one way to find out,” Sebande muttered.
“I wonder if we should make sure we can get in and out before we stop up the vents,” Shanks said with a thoughtful look. “I don’t want to force everyone out of the Ortawn if we can’t get in.”
Without another word, Sebande slid his feet into the hole and balanced himself with his hands. He lowered himself into the darkness until he got to his shoulders, then it appeared the hole was too small. In one fluid motion he lifted his hands above his head and dropped down into the darkness. Shanks leaned over and put his face low into the hole. Nica couldn’t hear what they said. Suddenly, Shanks sat back and Sebande’s fingers gripped the opening. He pulled himself up and struggled to position his broad shoulders so he could climb out without ripping his clothes and skin on the edge of the rocks. After a moment, he twisted, braced his hands on the rocks and pulled himself from the dark cavern.
“It’ll work,” Sebande said, huffing from the exertion. “The tunnel has remained hidden. It still feeds into the corridor by the cells.” They spoke a bit more about the logistics of sneaking in while Nica waited. She had a million questions she wanted to ask about their time in the Ortawn but she bit her tongue. Shaun would tell her if he wanted her to know.
IT DIDN’T TAKE long to determine the vents were not being guarded. Shanks and Sebande used the weight of their booted feet to crush the metal into the holes, effectively blocking the outflow of air. With forty vents, it took less than an hour for the two of them to block the air going in and out of the underground chambers.
Nica waited behind the wind block, nervously checking their location every few minutes. It wasn’t long before they both returned and hunkered down while they waited for their efforts to take effect.
After close to thirty minutes Shanks sat up. “Ready?”
Sebande went first.
The stone was rough on her hands as Nica balanced herself on the edge. She let herself slide through the hole and could feel Sebande’s hands tighten around her waist and guide her to the ground. Shanks followed her into the Ortawn, careful to move slowly so as not to rip out his stitches.
They were crouched in almost total darkness in a narrow tunnel. One crooked shred of light pierced the darkness up ahead on the left. Nica drew her dagger and held it tightly in her right hand as they crept forward, fear making her stomach roil.
“We’re going to enter an area where they keep the prisoners,” Shanks whispered to Nica. “Just follow us and stay close. Keep your hood up and try to walk like a man.”
Nica nodded then realized he couldn’t see her. “All right,” she whispered.
Eerie cries and moans echoed in the hallway as they walked down the dim corridor. Torches flickered along the stone walls. The smell of smoke hung heavy in the air and Nica fought the urge to cough. It was as she remembered—a place out of her worst nightmares.
Up ahead, two men turned onto the passageway toward them, deep in conversation. They paused when they saw their group.
“Tye rank briuken?” The taller of the two said, addressing Sebande. “Sik miin utten?”
Nica’s heart skipped a beat. Sebande didn’t speak the language. She opened her mouth to answer the question when Sebande replied.
Y’re grantten srob. No puedikkin ware,” he said in perfect Sartish.
Another secret revealed, Nica thought. The men continued on and she dropped her head as they passed. Her gaze landed on a face staring up at her from the shadowy depths of a cell. For a moment the world spun out of control. It was Toppen.
ica covered her mouth with her hand to stop from crying out. Shanks turned at the pressure of her fingers and peered back through the dim light.
“What is it?”
She leaned close to his ear. “Toppen,” she whispered. “He’s in the cell back there.”
Shanks called to Sebande’s receding back. “Rorgen.” Sebande glanced over his shoulder and stopped. Nica pulled Shanks back toward Toppen as Sebande retraced his steps.
“Nica.” Toppen scrambled to his feet as she drew near, his face alight with excitement. “How did you get away from Mosaba’s men? I’ve been so afraid of what he was doing to you. I almost didn’t recognize you.” Toppen’s eager eyes went from Nica to the tall form who had moved in close behind her. His eyes widened. “You,” he whispered in shock. His gaze darted back to Nica in disbelief. “Why is he here, Nic?”
“Toppen.” Nica ignored his question. “Have you seen someone who looks like me?” She clutched the bars of his cell, waiting for his answer.
Toppen’s eyes traveled from Nica to Shanks to Sebande then back to Nica again. “Exactly like you?”
“Yes, yes, exactly, she’s my sister, we’re twins.” She clutched the bars eagerly, sensing he had information.
Toppen leaned close to the bars and whispered to Nica. “Are they making you say this?”
Nica stared at Toppen for a second as his words sunk in. “Toppen,” she snapped. “I’m not delirious. I have a twin sister. Jaaniyah Jacoby is my twin. Mosaba stole me as a baby.”
The wine apprentice’s expression went from confusion to concern to anger and he shifted his gaze to glare at Shanks. “Look what you’ve done to her. How can you stand there looking down at me like you think you’re so much better when you’ve reduced Nica to some demented state where she doesn’t even know who she is anymore? The Gods will strike you down for this.”
Shanks’ hand reached through the bars so fast Toppen didn’t have time to move. He wrapped one big hand around Toppen’s neck and squeezed until the boy’s eyes bulged.
“Shut your mouth and listen to me,” Shanks growled. “I don’t give a rat’s ass what you think is happening here. Have you seen a girl who looks like Nica or not?”
Toppen tried to nod his head.
“How long ago?”
“Ten minutes,” he squawked.
“Where is her cell?”
Toppen pointed across the hallway.
“Where did they take her? To Mosaba?”
Toppen tried to nod again. Even in the dim light it was apparent his face was turning bright red and he started making a strange choking sound.
Shanks shoved Toppen back so hard the boy staggered backwards until he sagged against the wall. Shanks looked over at Sebande. “He must have her right now. Probably Becknah too.”
Toppen bent over coughing. He rubbed his throat as he hurriedly stepped away from the door and out of Shanks’ reach. “Lunatic,” he muttered, gazing at Shanks with hate-filled eyes. His eyes shifted to Nica. “Are you all right, Nic? Have they hurt you?” He gave Shanks a wary glance then whispered, “Get me out of here. We can still get to Pont d’Suree.”
“Oh, Toppen,” Nica said in a low voice. “Everything has changed.”
“What’s changed?”
“Come on, we need to move.” Shanks took Nica’s arm and pulled her down the hallway in the opposite direction.
“Wait!” Toppen pleaded. “Let me out and I’ll help you! Don’t leave me.”
“Toppen,” Nica whispered, “We’ll come back for you. I promise.” Shanks pulled her far enough along the corridor she couldn’t see his face any longer.
/> “Nica….Nic……”
The smoke became thicker as they moved through the hallways. Coughing could be heard and the babble of voices had increased in volume. Though one corridor looked the same as another, Shanks and Sebande wound their way through the stone tunnels as if they knew where they were going. Within minutes Nica was hopelessly turned around.
The people they passed were filthy, blending in with the darkness and rocks that surrounded them. The smell of rotten eggs and decay mingled with the smoke, making Nica want to gag. They reached the end of the hallway and looked down into a huge cavern. Far below, a fire burned, smoke billowing from the orange flames.
“What is that?” she whispered.
“The pit.” Shanks pulled her to the left and the huge fiery cavern disappeared as they were swallowed by another dark hallway.
They passed a guard at a doorway, but neither Shanks nor Sebande paid any attention to the man. They went around another corner and Sebande stopped abruptly, leaning back against the rock wall.
Sebande spoke in a low voice to Shanks. “Only one guard. No telling how many on the inside.” He edged his back along the wall and peered around the corner. “No doubt Mosaba has an exit from inside the room.” He pulled back and looked at Shanks. “How will we know if Jaaniyah and Becknah are in there?”
“We could take out the guard and see if we can hear anything,” Shanks suggested, “but I doubt we’ll be able to hear through that door.”
A loud bang echoed against a wall.
“Why is it so smoky in here?” Mosaba’s irritated voice echoed down the hall in their direction. The guard’s mumbled reply was unintelligible.
Nica swayed. To have Mosaba so close again was terrifying. She put her hand out to brace herself against the wall and tightened the grip on her dagger. She would never be captured alive by him.
The Midnight Spy Page 21
