Three of Clubs (War and Suits Book 2)

by J. A. Armitage

  “Erm, guys. I think you might want to come and see this,” I called over to them. Something was happening, but I couldn’t understand what. The roaring sound of the river had also quietened quite significantly.

  “What’s going on?” asked Alice, by my side. I just shrugged. Even Alma put down her new project for a second to come and see what was going on.

  “The water level is dropping. What could cause that? A drought?”

  “It’s January,” replied Ruby. “There’s no way this is a drought. It rained for weeks before I was brought in here.”

  “It’s dropping too quickly to be natural. Something else has caused this,” said Cass. “Allaya, do you think you could swim against the current now?”

  “I’m sure of it!” She made to take her clothes off, but Alma stopped her. Just wait. If this carries on the way it is going, we’ll all be able to wade through the opening.”

  “Are you actually telling me that you think we might have a chance to escape, Alma?” asked Cass, in astonishment.

  “Aye, that we might!” The straw she had been holding went into her mouth, and she began to chew the end of it, completely oblivious to the looks of surprise that were being directed at her.

  We all sat in a line along the stone edge of the river. Within half an hour, my toes didn’t even reach, and another fifteen minutes later, the rest of them had to stretch to get their own feet wet.

  Someone jumped in with a splash. It was Allaya. Perhaps she had the intention of trying to swim upriver, but she found herself standing on the riverbed, the river only up to her waist.

  “It’s not that deep. We can walk through. Look, you can see through the tunnel.” I looked to where she was pointing, and sure enough, we could now get through it without having to duck under the water. I watched as the others jumped in after her.

  “Come on, Star,” Alice shouted back up at me. “What are you waiting for?”

  “I can’t swim, and I’m much shorter than the rest of you. I’ll get swept away.” I knew I sounded pathetic, but it was a real fear. I was the only Club there and, therefore, the shortest by a long way. Even Alma, who was short for a Heart, towered over me.

  Alice waded over to me, fighting the current with each step and held out her hand.

  “I’ll keep ahold of you.” I grabbed her hand and jumped in. Before my feet even hit the ground, I began to float away, pulled by the strong current. My feet gave way under me and my head went under the water. I struggled to figure out which way was up. The only reason I didn’t panic was the fact I could feel Alice gripping me tightly. She pulled me toward her, but the current fought against her efforts. I tried to put my feet in the direction, I thought was down but the water was still too strong. I could feel my slippery grasp of Alice’s hand begin to give way. As I let go, someone grabbed hold of me and pulled me out of the water. With a gasp of air, I saw it was Helena. She was the tallest of us all. She pulled me onto her back, and we began our journey upriver and out of the Palace.

  Since Helena had stopped to rescue me, we were now at the back of the group. One by one, the others ducked their heads to walk through the tunnel into the next room. I knew what room it was. It was the same room I’d first come through, almost identical to the one we had been locked in but with a huge set of doors to allow vehicles. As we passed through the tunnel, I began to wonder if this was some kind of trick. Maybe we would come face-to-face with a hundred guards with weapons. I tried telling myself that there was no point as the guards could come and get us anytime they wanted, but something didn’t add up. I also had a fear of the river coming back to life, so to speak. Even though I didn’t have a massive fear of water, the thought of a thousand gallons a second washing me away was enough to elicit, at least, a little worry. I needn’t have, as the next room was deserted. The van I’d been brought in on was still there as well as a selection of weird and wonderful cars and bikes, the epitome of Heart vehicular technology. The most elaborate vehicle was a carriage that looked a little like the carriages our shire horses pulled for royal functions, but this was made entirely of gold with the only bit of color, a red heart on each door. Four magnificent golden horses stood in front of it, still harnessed to the carriage. Since Helena was carrying me, it afforded me time to watch them as we passed. They didn’t move, not a millimeter. I then realized they were not real horses dressed in gold but clockwork ones. I could even see the huge key still stuck in the side of one, ready to be turned when it was time for the king and queen to go out. I’d never seen anything like it before.

  Helena pulled me down, and before I had a chance to resist or panic, my feet hit the floor of the river. I could feel silt and mud squishing between my toes and the vibrations of the fish and the occasional Mhyrmid swimming past. The river had dropped considerably and was now only up to my hips (which meant it was mid-thigh for the others). I still had to hold onto Helena’s robes to keep steady, but, at least, she didn’t have to carry me. I could see light up ahead. The others were making their way out of the palace through the hole the river flowed through, rather than attempting to get through the big doors. With each step, wading through the river became easier and easier, and by the time I saw the light of day, it was only up to my knees, barely more than a stream.

  The early morning sun, although the most welcome sight I’d ever seen, meant that the palace would soon wake. They’d be coming down to collect Helena to send her to the gallows at some point soon. If the cold river water wasn’t cold enough, a freezing gust of wind hit me, making me shiver. A lot of snow had fallen since I’d been kidnapped, and everything was a glistening white. I would have admired the beauty of it if I wasn’t so cold that I could barely move. My teeth began to chatter, and I rubbed my bare arms, thinking, not for the first time, that Hearts were completely insane with their choice of winter clothing.

  Flurries of freezing rain or snow stung my body, and I had to close my eyes. I felt around until I hit the bank and attempted to climb out. The cold had sapped me of all energy. It was then that the realization hit me that we would all be dead of hypothermia, long before the queen came to murder us. I realized then that had been her plan all along. The river had not seemed so cold in the castle, nor had the room we had been kept in. They had somehow figured out a way to heat both. Yet another Heart Technology that I didn’t know about. She had kept it that way and then threatened us with death so we would try to escape. We fell into her plan completely, walking up the river, ensuring we were all soaked and then wading out into the freezing landscape to die of exposure. I tried scrabbling up the bank, but it was no good. I couldn’t do it. When someone put their arms around me from above and pulled me up into the air, I didn’t even care.

  I could feel my teeth chattering, but it was something else that brought me out of the darkness I had descended into. It was my name. Someone was calling out my name.

  “Stargazer Lily.”

  I recognized the voice, but I was too tired, too cold, and too dazed to place it. Still, it insisted.

  “Star, wake up, please.” My arms shuddered, and this time, it wasn’t the cold. Someone was gently shaking me. I opened my eyes. At first, I thought I must be dreaming. That this whole thing had been a dream, and, really, I’d been at home in bed the whole time, because I was warm and comfortable, and for some strange reason, it was Willow who was talking to me.

  “What? Where? Am I home?” I felt disorientated. My body was warm, but my face felt icy. A brisk, wet wind was blowing my hair around my face, whipping my wet hair behind me. I could feel the warmth of a thick blanket around me, and to my utter embarrassment, I realized I was naked underneath.

  “You’re safe. Look down.”

  Following his instruction, I pointed my head down to find that I wasn’t in my bed at all. I was as far from my bed anyone could possibly get. I was on the back of a sozelle, a hundred feet off the ground. His wingspan, fifteen feet across and I sat right in the center of his back, a thick blanket wrapped around me and, ev
en more strangely, Willow’s arms around me. Suddenly, feeling more alert, I looked around for the other women. Beside us, in front of us, and behind us were dozens of sozelles flying through the air. Even through the wind and sleet, I could see Alice on a sozelle next to us. She had one of the boys from our warrior training holding onto her. She had a look of pure joy on her face. I wasn’t sure if it was because she was flying or because she was free, but I had a suspicion that it was because the boy was well known for being the best looking of all of Wufric’s men.

  To my right, on the opposite side of Alice, was another sozelle being ridden by one of our men. He seemed to be struggling to stay on as Alma kept hitting him.

  “Is everyone…?”

  “They’re all safe, milady. We got them all. We are bringing them back to the castle on your father’s orders.”

  “But...But...” I was too disoriented to be coherent, and I had to think for a few seconds while I formed the words in my mind. “Where are my clothes?”

  He was quiet for a few seconds. I turned to look at him and even though his face was only illuminated with the thinnest sliver of moonlight, I could have sworn his cheeks were burning brightly.

  “I had to rip them off you. I made sure you were fully covered the whole time, but the moisture in them was turning to ice. I needed to get you warm, and I couldn’t do that with icy clothes on you. I’m deeply ashamed, milady, and I meant you no indignity. But it was all I could do to save your life.”

  I suddenly felt incredibly sorry for him. He was always so shy around me. The choice he was faced with must have put a terrible burden on him. I could either be angry with him, or I could let it go. I decided on the latter because he, more than likely, did save my life with his actions. Apart from my exposed face, the rest of me felt toasty and warm. The blanket he’d wrapped me in was some kind of animal hide and was doing a marvelous job of keeping out the elements.

  “It’s fine, Willow. I appreciate you saving me.”

  “I didn’t look, your highness, honestly!” He looked at me so earnestly and almost with fear in his eyes. I could feel him trembling beside me which I knew had nothing to do with the cold—He was very warmly dressed. I wouldn’t have believed many men that told me that, but I believed Willow.

  “You did what you had to do. It’s ok.” I felt him relax as he realized I wasn’t angry at him. I snuggled back against him, his arms around each side of me, holding the bridle of the sozelle. Suddenly, another thought popped into my head—something much more serious than my clothing situation. I sat bolt upright.

  “What about Ash?” I asked, preparing myself for the worst.

  “Ash is fine. He’s still in bed, but the infection is receding.”

  “But how? We had no Feverthorne, and I failed to bring some back.”

  “Dockleaf kept him and the others alive just long enough for Lady Rose and Oaken to get back with some. He perked up right away once the Feverthorne elixir was given to him. There hasn’t been a single death since you left.”

  “Well, that’s good news, at least.”

  “A lot of the Hearts are almost well enough to go home. They’ll be setting out tomorrow.”

  “No!” I said, sitting up straight. The blanket fell off my shoulder a little, exposing it to the elements. Willow grabbed hold of it and pulled it back up, covering me tenderly and with care. The gesture was sweet, and I was grateful for it. I looked up at Willow and gave a shy smile. He looked different somehow. Brave. His long hair flapped about in the wind, and I felt safe in his arms. I instinctively knew that he’d not let me fall.

  “They are well now, milady.” He stroked my hair back from my face and with it, his hand brushed against my skin. A touch of warmth against the biting cold air. It felt...nice.

  “They need to know what is happening. The Queen of Hearts will kill them if they go home.”

  “Now, why would she do a thing like that?”

  “You came to rescue us from her. You’ve seen that she is keeping prisoners without trial. The woman is insane.”

  “Yes, but why would she kill her own men? I think you may be exaggerating a little because of your experiences with her.”

  “My experiences where I watched her men starve us? Where they cold-bloodedly murdered a woman and brutally raped a fourteen-year-old girl? The queen knew all about all of that and her way to deal with us was to erect a gallows where she was going to hang us one by one. And as for me exaggerating about killing her own men, she told me to my face that’s what she was going to do and the reason she gave me was that she didn’t want the Heart people to know that her men had been treated well by the Clubs. Or that her own army had left them to die.”

  “But… Why…? I…” His shocked expression told me that he believed me.

  “I need to speak to my father as soon as we get back. How far away are we from home?”

  “Of course, milady. We are about six hours away, but we will need to stop for half an hour to give the sozelles a break.”

  “I think we can dispense with the ‘milady’ now, Willow, after you’ve rescued me.” It somehow didn’t seem right for him to be addressing me so formally when I was wrapped up in his blanket with nothing underneath.

  “Of course, milady.”

  “Willow! Please call me Star or if you feel more comfortable, Stargazer.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He looked uncomfortable, so I dropped it.

  “Why did you rescue me anyway? I mean, how did you even know where I was.”

  “The king received some intelligence last night. He was told that you and some other innocents had been locked in the dungeon at the Heart Palace. I delivered the message to him. He asked me to round up any troops that were fit enough to go and get you. I agreed on the condition that I could go too.”

  “Why would you do that?”

  “I’ve spent the last week looking for you. I’ve been all over Urbis, and when I couldn’t find you there, I came home in the hope you were there. When I was passed the note to give to the king, I knew I’d come and find you.”

  He pulled the blanket tighter around me and for the first time I realized the reason he’d been following me around the castle for the past year. It had nothing to do with him being a diligent member of the staff. I gave him a shy smile, and he pulled me close.

  We stayed like that for at least an hour until Willow pulled on the sozelle’s rein a little and we began to descend.

  “We are finally over the border. This field is in The Club Kingdom. It’s as good a place to stop as any.”

  When we landed, Willow jumped off the sozelle, and before helping me down, he took his own shoes off and placed them on my feet. They were at least three sizes too big, but they stopped my feet from having to tread in snow.

  “Thank you, Willow,” I said. “I really appreciate everything you have done.”

  “I wouldn’t have done it for anyone else, milady.”

  I believed him.

  The other sozelles landed safely, and we left them to forage around in the snow to try and find some grass underneath. We found an abandoned barn and went inside. The roof had a hole, and there was no door, but it was dry, for the most part. Helena made a magical fire, which we all sat around to warm up. Twelve women and fifteen Club soldiers.

  We talked for an hour, drying our clothes and warming our bodies. One of the men handed out some bars that the castle kitchen staff had made out of edible tree bark, berries, tingo leaves, and chocolate.

  I shared the story of the queen with the rest of the men, and one of them told us how they had rescued us. The water level of the river had not gone down by magic or by drought. They had built a temporary dam to stop the flow. They had planned to come in and get us, but we beat them to it, emerging from the depths of the palace, just as they got to it.

  “What I don’t understand,” began Cass, “is how you found us in the first place.”

  “My father was sent a note, telling him that I, plus a number of other innocent wo
men were locked up in the Heart Palace dungeon,” I said.

  “But who sent the note? No one, bar the queen and her men knew we were down there.”

  I looked at Willow for an answer. He was still glued to my side, even though we were on the ground. It was almost as though he was expecting someone to grab me away from him. I noticed for the first time, just how long his eyelashes were.

  “A boy delivered it. He didn’t say who had given it to him.”

  “Did you recognize him? Did he say anything?”

  “No,” replied Willow. “He was just a kid from the street. He told me to give the letter to the king, so I did.”

  “Something strange is going on,” I said.

  “We will have to work it out later, ladies,” said another of the men. “We need to get you home.”

  We all trooped back out and climbed onto the sozelles. I gave a chuckle when I noticed that the man who had carried Alma now volunteered to carry the supplies instead.

  We set off, once again, into the air. For some reason, I felt completely at ease in Willow’s arms. How strange it was that I’d known him since I was little, and yet now, things were changing. It was as if a switch had been flipped somewhere. I was almost sad when we had to land, and I had to let go of him. However, instead of herding the sozelles up with the other men, he followed me right into the main hall, along with the other women. I pushed open the large doors with bated breath, remembering how bad it was in there when I left, a week ago. It was a pleasant surprise to see that there were less than half the number of beds laid out. The first person I saw was Ash. He was sitting up in his bed, chatting away to the soldier in the bed on his right, a picture of health apart from the bandages on his arm and leg. I scanned the room and found Mother, Sorrell, and, strangely, Father, tending to the sick. Well, in my father’s case, he was sitting on the bed of a Heart soldier sharing a joke.

  “Mother!” I shouted out to her. She whipped her head around so quickly that it almost looked like it would fall off.