Oath of Deception

by Jennifer Anne Davis

  “What did he ask you?”

  “He asked about Emperion’s plans. Specifically, where we wanted the weapons shipped and where the majority of our army is located. I told him that we were instructed to have the weapons sent to northern Romek. I also told him I’d heard my father say that the emperor planned to gather his troops there. Since the location is between two mountain ranges, the prince believed me. I cried, just as you suggested, then I begged for him to let me go. He told me there was no way out—that the entire city is surrounded by kepper flowers.”

  “What did you do then?” Savenek asked, still holding her hand.

  “I cried even harder. Patteon instructed two soldiers from his personal guard to take me back to the dungeon. One of the soldiers had a smirk on his face, and I knew he had to know the way out of here. Sure enough, when we neared the stables, he mumbled to the other soldier that the entrance was right in front of me, next to the armory, and I was too stupid to even know it.”

  Savenek was thrilled she’d done it. And on her first try, no less.

  “He nodded his chin slightly to the right as he said this, indicating the hill near the armory.”

  Savenek remembered seeing another structure and small rocky hill about a hundred yards behind the stables. Could that be the location? Once they escaped the dungeon, they didn’t have time to go traipsing around searching for the entrance. “Did you see anything on the hill? A door or a cave?”

  “No. There are vines hanging all over the hill, concealing the entrance.”

  “Do you think it leads to a tunnel?”

  “Yes. I think it goes under the valley of keppers.”

  “And he said the building next to it was the armory?”

  “He did. I think the armory is there so the entrance to the tunnel can be guarded at all times without anyone realizing that’s what’s being guarded.”

  Savenek leaned back against the wall, thinking. How long was the tunnel? Could they ride horses through it? Or did they have to walk? Would they need torches to light the way? Were soldiers stationed throughout the tunnel? There had to be guards at the other end so when they exited, they’d have to contend with those men.

  “Well?” Ari asked.

  He was tempted to say he wished she’d at least seen the entrance. Instead, he said, “Brilliant work.”

  “Thank you.” She squeezed his hand and released it.

  He wanted to ask her if the prince hurt her in any way. However, if Patteon hit her or roughed her up, there would be evidence. “What time of day is it?”

  “Late afternoon.”

  In roughly eight hours, it would be time to break out of here.

  “Ven?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Never mind.”

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to go to Lakeside with me?”

  One of the reasons he’d had her tell the prince they were from Emperor’s City was because once their absence was noted, a hoard of soldiers would be after them. He wanted those soldiers following him to Emperor’s City so Ari could make it to Lakeside unharmed. If he went with her, he couldn’t lead the soldiers away from her. “I’d like to, but I can’t.” He also needed to report everything he’d discovered to the Brotherhood.

  “I understand.”

  “I suggest you try to get some sleep,” he said. “We’ll be traveling most of the night without stopping.”

  Savenek removed the handle from his chamber pot and inserted it into the lock. His hands weren’t as steady as they normally were since he hadn’t eaten in two days. The lock finally opened on his third try. As soon as he and Ari were safely out of there, he needed to find them something to eat. Not only was his stomach grumbling, but his head was starting to pound, a raging headache forming from a lack of food.

  After exiting his cell, he closed the door and went to Ari’s. He managed to open her lock on his first try. He entered her cell and knelt next to her where she was curled up, sleeping. Gently touching her shoulder, he woke her. Without saying a word, she stood and followed him out of her cell.

  They made their way to the end of the corridor where they stopped and leaned against the wall. Savenek peered around the corner. No one was there. They snuck down that corridor. At the next turn, Savenek again looked around the corner, not finding a single guard. They hadn’t passed any other prisoners either. Strange.

  They went up the stairwell, stopping at the narrow landing and examining the door. It didn’t have a handle or a lock. The only way it would open was from the other side. Which meant Savenek had to knock, a guard had to open it, and then he had to fight the guards on duty while standing on top of a narrow, slippery set of steep stairs. Blasted. This was not going to be pleasant.

  Savenek held up a hand, indicating for Ari to stay put, and she nodded. He went back down the stairs, grabbed two torches, and then rejoined Ari. He handed the torches to her. “When the door opens, I want you to rush forward with those out in front of you, careful not to set the stables on fire. Hopefully, the soldiers will jump back, allowing you to get into the stables. Your job is to get a pitchfork and knock out anyone you can.”

  “I can do that.”

  It was time to put this plan into motion. Savenek pounded on the door while Ari stood right next to it with a torch in each hand.

  “Ya?” someone from the other side said.

  Ari whispered, “Tell them Seveta von carma lota.”

  Savenek wanted to ask her what the hell that meant, but there was no time. He quickly repeated the words she’d said.

  The door swung open and Ari waved the torches back and forth, running forward while doing so. Two guards jumped back, unsheathing their swords. Savenek burst out of the stairwell, punching the man on the right while kicking the one on the left. A sword arced next to his back so he twisted, narrowly missing the strike. Ari tossed him a pitchfork. Savenek caught it and engaged both men in combat.

  The two guards who were stationed at the front of the stables rushed to help. Ari swung at one of them. When he caught her shovel, he yanked her closer to him. She slammed her foot on top of the man’s boot, hard enough to do some damage, and clutched onto the hilt of his sword, pulling it from its scabbard. Without hesitating, she plunged it into the man’s stomach. The second guard wrapped his arms around her.

  Savenek swung the pitchfork, hitting the shorter guard over his head, rendering him unconscious. He turned to face the second guard, sizing him up. He was taller than Savenek, light on his feet, and right handed. Savenek faked left. The man swung his sword, and Savenek hit the man’s exposed left side, but not hard enough to gain an advantage. Not having time to fool around, he stepped toward the guard who lifted his sword to strike. Savenek punched the man’s face and kicked his feet, tripping him. When he went down, Savenek rammed the pitchfork into the man’s stomach, killing him.

  The horses in the stables had become restless from the fighting. Leaving the guard pinned to the floor, Savenek grabbed the unconscious man’s sword and turned toward Ari. The guard holding her had his sword pointed at her neck. Savenek stalked forward, ready to rip the man apart.

  Ari slammed her heel into the guard’s shin. He grunted and leaned forward. Savenek rushed at him, slicing the man’s sword arm. The guard released Ari and said something Savenek couldn’t understand. He was fairly certain it had to be some colorful language. With Ari safely out of harm’s way, Savenek darted in, hitting the side of the man’s head with his sword. The guard dropped to the ground, not moving.

  Savenek listened for any sounds of alarm coming from outside the stables. Not hearing anything, he rushed into one of the stalls where a bucket of water and a bucket of oats were hanging. He said some soothing words to the horse who occupied the stall before taking the water and gulping as much of it as he could. He then poured some water in the bucket of oats and handed the water to Ari.

  While she drank, she gagged.

  “I know,” he said. “But try and
get as much of it down as you can.”

  She nodded and drank some more.

  He scooped up a handful of the soggy oats and shoved them in his mouth. He held out the bucket for Ari to do the same.

  “We need to go before someone arrives and raises the alarm.” He exited the stall and strapped two swords to his belt. Ari picked up a sword and did the same. Then she found a handful of carrots in another horse’s stall. She took two and handed two to Savenek.

  He went to the door and peered outside into the dark night. No one was in sight. He waved Ari over. Together, they exited the stables. The armory and the rocky hill were directly behind the stables about a hundred yards away. While they jogged toward the hill, Savenek observed the armory. No lights shone from within. If someone was in there watching, that person could easily see anyone approaching. Which meant the entrance to the tunnel had to be facing the armory. He grabbed Ari’s hand and yanked her to the ground.

  “What are you doing?” she hissed. “I almost landed on my sword.”

  “Then put it behind you, not in front.” He glanced at the armory, fifty feet away. “We need to crawl the rest of the way so no one can see us approaching.”

  “Fine,” she groaned. “This just keeps getting better and better. Break out of a dungeon, kill some people, eat horse food, and crawl like a dog to a secret tunnel.”

  Clearly she was not fine. And this wasn’t over. “Pull your sleeves over your hands,” he instructed. He didn’t want either of them to cut their hands on a rock or be bitten by something. They didn’t have time for an injury.

  They crawled slowly so they wouldn’t sway the surrounding grass and draw attention to themselves. As they went, Savenek constantly scanned the area, looking for soldiers. He didn’t see anyone, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. The key was to move carefully and be vigilant.

  As they neared the rocky hill, he searched for some sort of an entrance. The area surrounding the hill was sandy so he couldn’t look for trampled grass to find it. Drawing an imaginary line between the armory and the hill, he positioned his body on that line and angled himself toward the hill. The entrance had to be right there. He crawled forward. And then he saw it. A wooden door built right into the side of the hill. He suspected there was some sort of complicated lock on it. Good thing he’d kept the handle from the chamber pot.

  Ari grabbed his ankle. He glanced back at her, and she vomited. Poor thing. She’d eaten too much too quickly.

  “Stay there,” Savenek whispered. She nodded.

  He crawled the rest of the way to the door. Placing his body against a large rock, he sat and reached up, examining the lock. It was a little more complicated than most, but nothing he couldn’t handle. His skin prickled and he feared someone was watching him. Trusting his instincts, he pulled his arm down and held still, waiting. After several minutes, he reached up again and started working on the lock. It was time to get the hell out of here.

  The lock clicked open, making Savenek want to whoop with joy. However, he suppressed his excitement and glanced over at Ari, waving her toward him. She held up a finger and then crawled away. What the heck was she doing? A moment later, she was gone. Having limited options—and time—Savenek didn’t know what to do. Closing his eyes, he tried to calm his raging nerves and remember that he trusted Ari. She must have left for a good reason and would be back as soon as she could. After all, she wanted to get out of this blasted kingdom just as much, if not more, than he did.

  The reason she’d left became glaringly apparent a few minutes later when the stables erupted in flames. Bloody hell. What was she thinking? Unless she hadn’t set the fire and there was a problem. He’d give her five minutes. If she wasn’t back by then, he’d go and investigate.

  A dozen men ran out of the armory shouting and heading straight for the barn. Savenek held still, afraid to move. Once the men were out of sight, he heard a thumping noise coming from the other side of the hill. Standing, he peered around it and saw Ari riding a horse, another horse in tow.

  “Hurry,” she said, dismounting and leading the horses toward Savenek. “We only have minutes.”

  He wanted to kiss her and yell at her at the same time. Instead of doing either, he opened the door. Ari led the horses into the narrow tunnel. Savenek joined her, closing the door behind them. They were engulfed in complete darkness.

  “Here,” Ari whispered, pushing something into his hands. The horses whinnied, jittery from the dark space.

  “Is this a torch?” he asked, feeling the two-foot-long wooden pole.

  “Yes.” There was a spark and then Ari’s torch caught fire. She smiled and lit his as well. “Let’s go.” She climbed on one of the horses, her head almost hitting the ceiling, and started riding deeper into the tunnel.

  Savenek took the other horse and mounted. “Let’s put as much distance between us and our pursuers as possible.”

  “Agreed.” Ari urged her horse faster. Although the tunnel was narrow and low, the ground was compact dirt which allowed the horses to walk at a quick pace.

  Since the horses were loud, the shape of the tunnel amplifying any noise they made, anyone at the other end would hear them coming. Unless the other end was simply a locked door. Then Savenek would have to break the door down which wouldn’t be easy, especially if it was guarded from the outside. He decided to worry about that when the time came. For now, he focused on keeping his horse calm as they traversed through the tunnel in the dead of night.

  The tunnel seemed to go on forever. The torches burned low and wouldn’t last much longer. Heck, Savenek didn’t know how much longer the horses would last. They had no food and no water. Trying to think rationally, they’d probably been in the tunnel for about five hours. That meant they’d gone at least twenty miles. The tunnel had to end soon.

  Ari hadn’t spoken a single word since she’d mounted her horse. She just kept charging along, not complaining. She had to be worried, but he didn’t feel it was wise to comfort her. After all, if he said anything at all, it would be a lie. And he didn’t want to lie to her.

  Ari pulled her horse to a stop. Glancing over her shoulder at Savenek, she whispered, “We’ve reached a door.”

  Savenek dismounted, handing his reins to her. His torch was just about to burn out so he quickly examined the door. It was solid wood and locked from the outside. However, there had to be a way for those who traveled through the tunnel to signal the guards out there. Maybe there was something on the walls. He searched the right side, not finding anything. When he moved to the left side, he found a red flag with the royal family’s crest rolled up and shoved in the corner. He flattened it out and got down on his hands and knees. There was a one-inch opening between the bottom of the door and the ground. Taking the flag, he slid it under the door. Then he scrambled backward and withdrew his sword, preparing to fight. Hopefully, there weren’t too many soldiers guarding the door.

  “What do you want me to do?” Ari asked. The horses pranced nervously next to one another.

  “Back up. I’ve got this.” He hoped.

  A minute later, the door swung open and sunlight burst in, blinding Savenek. The horses whinnied in agitation. He blinked, trying to see what lay ahead of him. Two soldiers, with swords in scabbards stood there, not expecting any sort of attack.

  Ari said something in Apethaga, and the men backed up, both squinting, unable to see too far into the dark tunnel. That was the only advantage Savenek needed. He rushed forward and swung, striking the first man across his chest. The second reached for his sword, and Savenek twisted and sliced his sword across the man’s stomach. Both soldiers fell to the ground. Ari rode her horse out of the tunnel, throwing the reins of the second horse to Savenek.

  While it was tempting to make a quick getaway, he had to force himself to stop and be rational. They couldn’t leave a blatant trail. He dragged the soldiers into the tunnel and shut the door, locking it.

  “Hurry!” Ari said, pointing at the building twenty feet to t
he left.

  Savenek ran for his horse and mounted. Instead of heading away from the building, he steered his horse toward the back where the stables were located. He opened the door and released the horses, encouraging them to run away.

  Four men exited the building, half dressed and rubbing their eyes. They must have been sleeping. They started to chase Savenek, waving swords and yelling.

  Ari was already a good distance away, heading for the cover of the nearby trees. Savenek took off after her, leaning low in the saddle, encouraging his horse to move faster. He couldn’t help but laugh at the grown men in sleeping attire chasing after them with swords while horses ran every which way. It was complete chaos. He cheered—they’d done it. They’d managed to escape from the town surrounded by poisonous flowers, travel through a tunnel in the dark, and fight off the soldiers. It was bloody brilliant.

  “Save your celebrating for when we’re in Emperion,” Ari chided him when he caught up to her. “We still have to figure out how to get past the wall. When we find the wall. Are we even going the right way?”

  Under the cover of the trees, the dirt was softer and the horses slowed. Now that they’d put enough distance between themselves and the soldiers, they needed to focus on where they were going.

  “Hang on,” Savenek said. Pulling his horse to a halt, he observed the sun and the shadows. “I think west is that way.” He pointed to the left.

  “You think?” Ari asked. “I thought you knew everything.”

  “I’ll know for sure in thirty minutes.” Once the sun moved. If they hadn’t been traveling in the tunnel, he’d already know for certain. “Follow me.” He steered his horse to the left, and they took off at a decent pace.

  “We should have switched our horses for fresh ones,” Ari mumbled.