"I've got sway in the army, but I wouldn't have been able to round up more than two horses. Thank the Spirits Maerc wrote the requisition order for six of them." Danor was growing a bit of beard stubble on his chin and he absently scratched at it and his long mustache while I inspected the horses. They were loaded with the bare minimum of camping gear and the only food was grain for the animals. Once we traveled away from the capital, I was confident that my hunting abilities would feed us until we made it to Nadea's castle.
"They will work," I said to Danor as I mounted a chestnut stallion with leopard white spotting. He looked to be the most finicky of the lot and I wanted to make sure he could be managed during the three mile ride to the oak forest on the edge of the Stone River. The horse danced a little to the right, but I uttered a few words of gratitude and stroked his neck to calm him.
Danor kicked his mare into a canter and the trailing horses followed. My own steed inched forward with desire and I let him follow the other animals away from the walls of the city, the fires of the campgrounds, and the flight of Nia's army. Danor and I would return shortly, but the route would be one that the Elvens would not expect.
Or so we hoped.
Before long we approached the oaken forest and slowed our mounts to a walk. From what Danor had told me there were dozens of paths through the webs of trees, but one of them led to a small brook that fed into the Stone River. Near the spring was an entrance to the sewers underneath Nia. It was the same tunnel that Runir had used with his rescue team in their quest to find Nadea. Danor wasn't sure of the exact way back into the city through the maze, but I thought the odds of a stealth entry were better here than attempting to sneak directly into the castle.
It was easy enough for me to listen to the sounds of the forest and find the melodic tune of the brook. I imagined that Danor and the horses couldn't see through the inky blackness. To aid them I channeled some Air and Earth through my hand and created a small fire for illumination. Then I led my group of horses past Danor's and moved toward the sound of the water.
After twenty minutes of wandering with purpose, we came to the entrance of the sewers. It was near a group of boulders and about thirty feet away from the spring that fed the brook. It looked like the tunnel may have once been built to handle additional runoff from whatever main channels cleared the muck from the city. Now it ran relatively dry, but its open maw reminded me of the wurm creatures that Danor and I had encountered beneath the actual sewers.
"This must be it." He dismounted and tied the animals to a nearby oak tree. I did the same with my group, being careful not to startle the horses with the fire I clenched in my right fist.
"Runir told me that the tunnel had a thick ironwork grate over it." He pointed to the entrance of the shaft and there sat a circle cut lattice of rusted iron attached to dilapidated hinges. If it hadn't already been opened, twisting it free would make a ridiculous screech of noise.
"Will the horses be alright?" There were hundreds of variables on the mission, and an uncountable number of things that might go wrong. But what would displease me almost as much as failing Jessmei and Nadea would be escaping the city with them safely only to discover that our horses had vanished and we would not be able to get away.
"There hasn't been a cougar attack near the capital in a dozen years." He shrugged in the pale orange light from my fist. "If the Ancients find the horses, then we are fucked anyway, so I don't want to think too much about it."
"Agreed." I adjusted the straps on my pack and took a black short bow off of the saddle of Danor's horse. The only other weapons we carried were small daggers. I didn't expect any violence during this mission, and I planned on leaving the bow in the dungeon.
"If we make it out of here alive, you must show me how to do that trick with the fire in your hand," he said a few seconds after we climbed the boulders and entered the tunnel.
"That is the plan, my friend," I whispered over my shoulder. The scent of the tunnels grew viler and I longed for heavily perfumed pieces of cloth Danor had brought on our last trip. The tunnels were high enough that we could stand, except at the points where they intersected other branches. The original designer of the system must have guessed that the sewage would pool there and had raised the sidewalk area to account for potential spray. A small trickle of foul liquid crawled down the smooth stone alley well below our feet. It made a sucking, slippery sound, but besides that there were no other noises in the corridor.
"The tunnels sound clear," I said when we reached the second intersection.
"No wurms?" Danor breathed through his mouth.
"I don't think they can make it up here. The caverns below the sewers probably do not have an access point big enough for them to fit through."
"Unless they crawled through when they were babies." My friend chuckled and then pointed down to the right. "Runir's report indicated that we should turn here. Then it is pretty much a straight walk to the bottom of the dungeons."
"This is the easy part."
"Doesn't smell easy."
"I can't argue with that." We both laughed a little and I took the point position down the tunnel. I had debated bringing Danor along with me. I knew this mission would be dangerous and at first I thought he might be more of a liability. But he grew up in the capital, knew the dungeons, the sewers, and the layout of the castle. He also had ideas of where Nadea, Jessmei, Beltor, and Greykin could be in the castle. Every time I tried to leave my room in the giant fortress, I got lost. If Beltor hadn't found me eating with the servants last time I infiltrated the castle, I might have wandered around for weeks looking for my friends.
I also enjoyed Danor's presence. He was honest, steadfast, and confident. My memories were filled with experiences of teamwork with my fellow soldiers and friends. Roaming alone searching for Iolarathe had been miserable and lonely. Having comrades to share in the experience made the journey more fulfilling.
My mind drifted back to memories of Thayer, Malek, Alexia, Gorbanni, and of course Shlara. I betrayed them all in the end, but everything until that point had been a wonderful struggle for survival that we all shared. I wondered again how I could have killed Shlara, and how my love for Iolarathe had overshadowed everything I created. My musings grew as dark as the tunnel.
Finally, we made it to an ancient stairwell covered by a thick rusted grate that might have taken two humans to lift. The gate was bent open slightly, so we squeezed through with no trouble or noise. Then we ascended the stairway for half a minute and came to one of the junctions in the dungeon.
I listened at the top of the stairs and heard only the sputtering of a distant torch and the heartbeats of a group of rats in a nearby cell. I signaled to Danor that we were clear and the mustached warrior followed me into the darkened hallway.
If castle Nia was a giant spider, the dungeons beneath it were a multi-layered web of stone corridors and cells. Fortunately, each of the major hallways ended in a flight of stairs, so it was relatively easy to make our way to the surface. I felt confident I would be able to remember all of the turns and steps we took, but I was still thankful that Danor marked the walls with a blue line of chalk.
Eventually, we reached the top floor of the dungeons. Torches lit the few cells still holding the remains of imprisoned humans. The stench of rot and decay was almost as bad as the smell of the sewers. Our careful movement past the corpses disturbed families of rats and maggots. I heard Danor grunt behind me in an attempt to hold back vomit and I shot him a warning look. If there were Elvens posted at the door, they would be able to hear our approach.
We reached the main corridor of the top floor. I had been here before, after I was separated from Danor’s men and had made my way up from the caverns below the sewers. I signaled for Danor to hold here while I notched an arrow and crept down the hallway toward the exit to the courtyard. I turned the last corner, and while I expected the guard post to be manned by thirty angry Elven soldiers who all knew we were coming, I was relieved that there
was actually no one there. I listened again for any signs they were nearby and then returned to Danor when I was sure it was clear.
He nodded at my signal and we opened our bags, producing servant’s attire that had been carefully wrapped in fennel, pepper and onions. I hoped the strong scents would mask my own enough so that the Elvens would not notice us passing through the hallways. I doubted that Danor’s scent would matter, but if we smelled like cooking spices, were delivering food, and were dressed like servants, the Elvens would hopefully assume the most obvious reason for our presence and ignore us.
Danor stashed our old clothes and the bags in an empty cell of the dungeon while I listened at the door leading out to the courtyard. When my friend returned I nodded at him that it was all clear. Then I held my breath before we opened the door and walked out into the night sky, acting like we were supposed to be there. I half-expected a garrison of Elven archers to be waiting for us, but there was nothing there but the cool night air and a nighthawk we had disturbed. Danor breathed a sigh of relief after the bird took wing and I guessed that the knight captain might have been as worried as I was about our chances.
When I was last here, I had wandered around the castle for almost an hour before the servant girl Bethany took me to the kitchen in the bowels of the castle. I might have found my way back there easily, but I nodded to Danor and pointed to the fortress, indicating that he should take the lead position and guide us there. He grinned and we moved through the well-manicured courtyard and into one of the many side doors that would lead into the belly of the stone spider.
The hallways were empty, save for the thick carpet in the middle of the marble floor and the lit lanterns. I wondered how common it would be for two male human servants to be walking around the halls at this time, but I guessed that if Danor thought it was something so odd as to arouse suspicion, he would have brought it up while I was telling him my plan.
We turned toward the South Wing of the castle and began our stressful walk through the dead hallways. After a few minutes the silence and stillness became oppressive and my companion finally spoke.
"It normally isn't this quiet. It is still before midnight." His voice was more than a little concerned. "Where is everyone?"
"We'll find out before the night is over," I whispered with a relaxed shrug. I didn't want him to think I was also worried.
"Here," he said after we walked for what had seemed like days, but was probably only ten minutes. He pointed to a wide set of stairs that descended to thick double doors. It was the entrance to the kitchen. The scent of roasting meat and baking bread had grown stronger and I could have found my way here by following my nose and the growls from my stomach alone.
"I smell food. That is a good sign, no doubt." I heard voices on the other side of the door so I walked down the stairs and pushed aside the doors to enter the kitchen.
Over twenty Elvens stopped their conversation and turned to look at us. They were dressed as servants, in the new colors of green that the rest of the castle wore. We wore servant clothes that Danor had managed to gather from the army, but they were the old purple colors and made us stick out even more than our race. Time seemed to freeze and I couldn't hear anything save Danor's heart thundering in unison with mine, like two speeding horses fleeing a lion.
"The duchess wishes for a late night meal." My voice was hardly more than a squeak. I should have guessed that Telaxthe would replace the human servants with Elven ones. They would work faster and be more loyal to her than humans. Were there any humans in the castle?
"You should be using the second kitchen. West Wing," one of the Elvens sitting closest to the door said. He had dark red hair and cold blue eyes.
"The empress told our duchess we could use this one." The Elvens on the other side of the room returned to their conversations, but the eight or so near me, and the few that stood at the food preparation tables were still paying attention to our dialogue. They hadn't immediately attacked us, so I gambled that I could push my luck.
The red-haired Elven turned my words over in his head slowly and then sat back with a shrug. I noticed that his uniform seemed a bit cleaner than anyone else’s and it was stitched with gold-colored thread instead of black or green. He must have been in charge.
"If the empress said it was fine, you can take her whatever the cooks feel like making."
"Thank you," I said with a smile. My heart began to slow down and I wiped my damp palms on the side of my pants. None of these Elvens appeared to have weapons, but all I had was the dagger on my lower back. They could easily over power Danor and me.
We approached the kitchen staff. A few cooks were stirring pots and preparing dough for bread, but most watched us with looks of minor annoyance on their faces.
"What do you need, human?" asked a female. She had short ebony hair and eyes the bronze color of a cat's.
"The duchess would like some food."
"I thought we sent her some up a few hours ago?" Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"I'm just following orders. You know how it goes." I shrugged my shoulders and tried to relax my smile.
"That was the princess. Our empress dined in the human's room." Another cook looked over from his dough making.
"Duchess, princess, same thing." The cat-eyed cook looked away from the other chef and back to us. "How many are eating?"
"The duchess and her two attendants." I wondered if Runir and Greykin were actually being kept in the same room as Nadea.
"I will make trout and steam asparagus. I've got some potatoes and cheese as well. If you can wait for fifteen minutes, she'll have a fine dinner."
"That sounds great." I smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe I should have said that we didn't have the time to wait, but arguing might have raised more suspicion.
"If you are hungry, grab a bowl of soup and some bread. I'll let you know when it is plated." She had already begun cutting up a bundle of chives and gestured over her shoulder with a nod toward the pot and stack of dishes behind her. I looked to Danor, who nodded with a slightly exasperated look on his face. The kitchen did smell of wondrous food, and I couldn't remember the last time I ate anything. Then I remembered the slop Iarin had cooked at the campsite last night when Kannath brought me back.
It seemed like a week ago, not just a night ago.
We took a bowl of soup each, split a loaf of dark rye bread, and then made our way to the benches where the other Elvens were sitting. There was an open spot near the end of one of the tables by the door and we sat across from each other.
The soup was a nice mixture of chicken broth, garlic, and winter tuber vegetables. As soon as my tongue tasted the blend my stomach groaned with anger and I fought against the overwhelming desire to guzzle it as quickly as possible.
Danor and I did our best to listen to the conversations of the Elvens that shared the table next to us. Most of the talk was about the logistics of serving those in the castle and the various methods to travel to the different sides efficiently. A few Elvens spoke about the reconstruction of the wing I had destroyed several months ago. From what they said, the repairs were going very well and they expected the rooms to be useable in three more months.
"Humans. The food is ready."
We brought our empty bowls to a sink and placed our dishes on the counter next to twenty other dirty plates. Danor grabbed the silver covered tray the cook had prepared, and we bid her a good night. She gave a slight smile and then returned to her vegetable preparation. No one looked at us during the short walk out of the kitchen, and as soon as we climbed the stairs we were back in the main halls.
"That went better than I expected," Danor whispered.
"We still don't know where they are though," I whispered back.
"True. But can't you just smell them or something? You said you have a sniffer like a bloodhound."
"The castle is big and there have been many people through these hallways. If I could pick up her scent it would be easy to follow where she went
." I thought about the last time I was in the castle and I had tracked Nadea by the sound of her heartbeat. When I woke from that dream I was brimming with more magic than I had ever felt. My senses had been so incredibly sharp and I felt more than invincible. I didn't feel that sense of unlimited power now, and my efforts to identify the duchess by her heartbeat became lost in a sea of thousands of other small sounds in the fortress.
"We can find the other kitchen. Some of the servants must know where they are being kept."
"Voices up ahead," I warned Danor after we had walked for a few more minutes.
"Ancient or human?"
"I can't tell. My people call them Elvens. It is a better word for their race."
"Got it. So what if there are twenty Elvens up ahead?"
"I'll ask them for directions." I grinned at my friend to reassure him.
The man chuckled softly and then readjusted the tray when the flatware inside made a soft metal clinking noise.
A hundred yards of hallway was between us and the foyer of the North Wing. With each step the voices became clearer to my sharpened ears and the heartbeats, along with their topic of conversation, confirmed my earlier belief that it was a group of four Elvens.
"When is Fehalda's team moving into the castle?" one of them asked.
"Word is the empress is angry with her,” another replied.
"So her warriors won't join us? Seems a shame, even with the Greens here, the rooms are mostly empty."
"Isn't one of your lovers a Flame?"
"One of my children is in her army. It would be easier to see him."
Their voices died off as our padded footfalls grew nearer. The foyer was a vast marble floored room with three massive stone staircases winding upward to an open second and third level. At the top of the ceiling hung a hefty chandelier that looked like a nest of cast iron in the middle of a cat fight with twenty icicles. Except the icicles were crystals that reflected candlelight across the large room in an array of beautiful rainbow colors.
The Destroyer Book 3 Page 47
