Instead of tossing the darts away as she’d done before, Mariah held them carefully by the ends and scanned the room for the one she’d thrown, but the floor was clear. There was no sign of the dart or, in fact, any evidence of her sickness. Apparently, someone had come in while she was sleeping and cleaned up. And she’d been so far gone, she hadn’t even noticed.
Mariah crawled to the furthest corner of the small room and carefully laid the darts where they’d be unlikely to be stepped on and tried to assess her situation. Han was absent, as was Shadow. If they had been taken, they were being kept somewhere else. He would have fought, she knew. Had he escaped or, worse, been killed? The former was more comforting. If he had escaped, maybe he would find a way to free them. She hoped he would, but she still wasn’t sure of him. Would he abandon them now that they had been captured?
Who had taken them? Soldiers? The rough walls did not resemble anything she had ever seen, including the king’s dungeons. Was it a secret underground prison for Ceo San? She and Shira had revealed themselves after all. Or had they just been at the wrong place and the wrong time and been taken by bandits? She had no idea if there were even bandits in these parts. But if they were bandits, maybe they were hoping to gain a reward by handing them over to the king. But would bandits have this kind of setup with a cell ready and waiting?
Mariah realized that their gear was also missing. Besides herself, Shira, and the door, the cell was empty. Her pack, her bow, and her sword—all of them were gone. Even her cloak and muslin scarf had been taken. So much for keeping her silver locks covered.
She rose to her feet slowly, fighting off a wave of dizziness as she did. Her throat was parched, and the inside of her mouth tasted terrible. Couldn’t they—whoever had taken them—couldn’t they have at least left a water skin? Maybe they didn’t care. If their captors worked for the king, they certainly wouldn’t. They would probably want them to suffer.
There were no sounds in the room or from beyond the door, so she approached it slowly once the dizziness passed.
She reached the door in silence. It was made of rough, dark metal welded together in a rough grid. She could see through to the passage beyond, but the holes in the grid were so small, she couldn’t even reach her arm through, and the hope of transforming to get out and unlock the door for Shira from the outside died. Even her hawk wouldn’t be small enough to fit through those spaces. She’d have to be a mouse.
She surveyed the area beyond the door. They were definitely underground if the rough dirt floor and craggy walls were any indication. An oil lamp was fastened to the wall just outside the cell door. She saw no other doors, just a long passage that led into darkness beyond the circle of lamplight.
Mariah stood there for several minutes. She thought about calling out but changed her mind. That could only bring her captors to her, and she didn’t want to face them alone, so she turned back to Shira, sat down beside her sleeping form, and gently began stroking her forehead.
The other woman’s skin was cool, and her sweat had begun to dry. Mariah hoped that removing the darts had helped, that her friend would wake up soon.
As she sat in the dark, she worried about Han and Shadow and then about Shira’s parents. Where were they? Swallowing her fear, she tried to hold on to the thought that all of her friends back home, Bria, Gwyn, and the rest, were safe from this horrible land and its terrible king.
* * *
Mariah realized that she had drifted off once again when a persistent scraping sound pulled her out of a dream. Shira muttered sleepily beside her.
“What the blazes is that? Can’t a person get any sleep around here?”
A wave of relief passed through Mariah upon hearing Shira’s voice, and she put a hand on her friend’s shoulder as she propped herself up on her other elbow. “Are you all right?”
“My head has seen better days, I tell ya.” Shira groaned.
Mariah smiled. Her friend was going to be okay. She sat up and helped Shira do the same.
Wiping at her mouth, Shira laughed weakly. “I musta been droolin’.” She looked around and suddenly seemed to notice their predicament. “Where in gods’ blazes are we?”
“I don’t know,” Mariah said. “We were ambushed in that ravine after we left Direstrand. I don’t even know where they came from. They just … appeared.”
Shira’s eyes lit up as she remembered, and her hand shot up to her neck. “Someone shot me!”
Mariah gestured to the darts in the corner. “Me too. I took those out of you a while ago. They must have been poisoned. Well, they weren’t fatal obviously, but they were potent enough to knock you out.”
“Yeah, that’s what my head says.” Shira pushed her hair back and rubbed at her temples. After a minute, she raised her head. “Hey. Where’s the big brute?” Her tone was casual, but her eyes looked worried.
“I don’t know,” Mariah said softly. “I saw”—it had all happened so fast—“people … They pulled Han off Shadow, but that’s all I remember before I blacked out. They shot me too.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know,” Mariah replied. “I haven’t seen anyone …” She realized that the scraping sound that had woken her was getting louder. It was coming from inside the wall to her right. She backed away from the sound, and Shira followed suit.
“What the …”
Mariah felt around on the floor for a rock, for anything to protect herself, but there was nothing. She looked at Shira. Whoever had taken them already knew they were Ceo San. They had nothing to lose by revealing themselves again. They nodded to one another and then changed into their animal forms.
In a moment, the bear and the hawk stood facing the wall, both ready to attack whatever was on the other side.
Flakes of dirt began to drift down from the wall about a foot up from the floor before Mariah spotted a paw, a small, furry one with sharp, sturdy claws that made quick work of the remaining dirt. A fuzzy leg and a flattish face emerged, and beady black eyes peered up at Mariah. The rest of the creature was oblong and fluffy with short legs and barely any tail at all. Whatever it was, it was no bigger than a cat, and Mariah wondered if it was a baby … whatever it was. It blinked and turned to look at Shira, who had risen to her hind legs, her head nearly touching the ceiling. The creature’s eyes widened as Shira’s lips pulled back from her teeth, and she growled low in her throat. The little creature skittered back against the wall, running in small circles.
Then a small child sat suddenly before Mariah. She held an arm over her pale head and curled her body into itself, shaking. “Please!” she pleaded in a weak voice. “Please don’t hurt me. I just came to talk. I promise.”
Mariah changed back without thinking and started to wave Shira down, but she had already changed as well.
“Girl, whoever you are, you ought to know better than to sneak up on folks like that, ’specially in a place like this.”
Mariah agreed but remained quiet, rubbing her nose to fight off a sneeze from all of the dust now in the air.
“I’m sorry, miss,” the girl replied, lowering her arm. “Gods, you gave me a fright.” She laid a hand over her heart. “I didn’t know you were a bear. You’re big enough to scare the Dragon himself, lady.”
Shira’s mouth hung open, and then, she smiled. “Why thank you, young miss,” she said formally. “I’ve been told I’m rather impressive.” She put a hand out to help the girl up.
Mariah’s lips quirked up on one side, but she restrained herself from arguing. “Who are you?” she asked the girl, reminding herself that they were prisoners, not just sitting on the village green for a picnic.
“Oh, yes, miss. I’m Kaddan. I live here.” The girl brushed the dirt off her dress, which was not much more than a plain brown shift, and shook out her hair. She couldn’t have been more than ten and was pale as milk down to the roots of her hair. Her fear seemed t
o have gone as quickly as it had come.
“In the wall?”
The girl stared at Mariah and then giggled as if she had just heard the funniest joke.
So not in the wall. “But isn’t this some kind of prison?”
“No. Why would you …?” She looked around. “We just have this cell here for people who don’t follow the rules. And for new folks, so we can figure out if they’re safe or not.”
“Safe?”
“My ma says we can’t be letting people free that are just gonna run back to the king. We gotta make sure they’re on our side first. If he found out about us … well, it wouldn’t be good, ya know.”
Mariah stared at her, and Shira scratched her head.
“I don’t understand,” Mariah replied, sitting down and crossing her legs in front of her, hoping it would make the girl more comfortable than having them hovering over her. Shira took her lead and sank down beside her. “What is this place exactly? Who are you?”
“We’re the Sovereign, miss.” The girl plopped down across from them, adopting the same position. “And this, well, some call it the Cellar, but it’s just home. I’ve been here since I was born.”
Before Mariah could ask her what she was exactly, Shira spoke. “Sovereign? Sovereign of what?”
“Not of what,” the girl replied, seemingly unphased by Shira now that she was just a young woman again instead of a giant bear. “From what. We’re free from the king. We make our own rules and try to do what the gods meant for us to do. My ma says that the king stopped following the gods, and when he did, he lost his right to have us follow him. So Sovereign of … well, of us.”
Like a candle being lit, an idea came to Mariah. “You people … you’re the help. My mother … a long time ago … she told me there was help to be found in Direstrand.”
“Well, we’re not exactly in Direstrand, but we usually find those that go there, those that need help or are looking for us.” Her face screwed up into a grimace. “If the king’s guard don’t find ’em first.” Her eyes lit up again. “But you’re lucky. Eva found you first, so our people were looking out for you.”
“Eva? You mean that girl outside the tavern? The one who took care of Shadow?”
“Shadow?”
“Our horse,” Mariah clarified.
“Oh, yeah, that would be Eva. Bet she’s in the stables lookin’ after the beast now.” Kaddan smiled brightly, revealing crooked teeth. “She’s a hound, ya know. Eva, I mean. Got the best nose ever! She can smell your godly forms even when you’re showing your human faces.”
Godly forms? Mariah had heard animal forms, even beastly forms, but never godly. Mariah’s heart began to beat faster, and eagerness to learn more filled her. “My mother tried to send me here years ago … I think. But the guards found me first, before I even left my village. I barely escaped, but then I managed to get out of Varidian entirely.”
The girl looked at her curiously, her eyes darting up to Mariah’s hair. “Your hair, miss, is it blond? It’s so pale … but not like mine.”
Mariah felt herself flush, but she shook her head.
Kaddan’s eyes narrowed as she looked more closely. She came up onto her knees, a hand reaching toward Mariah’s head and then pulling back. “It’s silver!” Her face showed her thoughts as she put things together. “A silver-haired hawk! You’re the one … the one who escaped the king … three times now, right? Including once right out of his dungeon?”
“How did you—?”
“Is it true, what they say?” She was leaning toward Mariah eagerly.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re her!” Kaddan squealed. She got up and began to run in circles like she had in her strange animal form. “I can’t believe it. Right here in the Cellar! And I’m here to see it. Wait until I tell Vallen. He’ll never believe it—”
Shira rose and clamped a hand down on Kaddan’s shoulder, and the girl froze. “Girl, whatever you’re goin’ on about, we’re not gettin’ a word in. Calm down and explain.”
“She’s her! The Banished One. Come to save—”
Shira raised a hand, and Kaddan stopped bouncing once again. Mariah’s heart nearly stopped right along with her.
“Please,” she said quietly. “Please slow down and explain what you—”
“Kaddan Melosi!” A low, deep voice echoed through the tunnel and into their cell.
The girl’s head swung toward the door, and she paled, her dark eyes widening. “I have to go,” she squeaked. “Please don’t tell him I was here.” And with that, she transformed, shrinking to the floor, and disappeared back into the hole she’d made to get into their cell.
A looming shadow appeared outside the door. “Kaddan, girl, how many times have I told you this cell is off limits? It’s not your personal gossip den.” A key suddenly rattled in the lock, and as it did, the voice dropped in volume to a mutter. “One of these days, you’re gonna put yourself face to face with something dangerous.”
Mariah scuttled over to the wall and put her back to the hole, blocking it from sight. She wasn’t sure why she was protecting a girl she hardly knew, but Shira plopped down right next to her as the door swung open.
A man with a lantern in his hand stepped through the doorway. He swung the light from side to side, searching the cell. Mariah squinted and turned her head away from the brightness, but as the light swung back, she saw that the man was not particularly tall, but he was brawny and well-armed, with two knives on one side of his belt, a short axe on the other, and another knife sticking out of the side of his boot.
“I coulda swore …” His gaze, icy blue and direct, pinned them where they sat. “Was there a little runt of a girl in here?”
Mariah just stared at him, but Shira responded. “Does it look like there’s a little girl in here? You’re the first person we’ve seen since you decided to ambush us on the road and fill us with poison.”
If it weren’t for the hole they were blocking with their bodies, Mariah had the feeling that Shira would have been on her feet poking the man in the chest. He wasn’t that much taller than her, after all. Mariah probably had at least a few inches on him herself, but she harbored no illusions that she could take him on without her talons. But in this place … it was possible that he had talons too, or worse, to match her.
The man didn’t appear to have heard Shira at all. “I’m gonna have a talk with that child’s mother. Again.” And with that, he began to back out of the cell, pulling the door behind him.
Hole or no hole, Shira jumped to her feet. “Wait! You can’t just leave us here! At least tell us why you attacked—”
As her hand closed around one of the metal strips on the door, the lock clicked closed. Without saying a word or even bothering to look at them, the mysterious visitor disappeared into the darkness beyond the door.
A string of curses flew out of Shira’s lips, and Mariah’s eyebrows rose at her imaginative epithets. A few moments later—the energy seeming to have been sucked out of her by the lack of response—Shira sank back down beside Mariah with a loud sigh.
Several minutes followed before Mariah spoke as she turned to examine the hole at their backs. “Do you think we could …?”
Shira caught her meaning and shook her head. “Already thought of it. I could dig, sure, but all we know is that hole goes somewhere else in this … Cellar. We need to get out, and we have no idea which way to go. And I’d have to dig a hole much bigger than that to fit just myself through.”
“You’re right,” Mariah muttered. “Let’s just fill it in here at the end in case that … that oaf comes back. I’d hate to think of little Kaddan getting in trouble over us.”
“She was a sweet little thing.” Shira chuckled and began helping Mariah fill in the end of Kaddan’s tunnel.
As they did so, Mariah said, “Maybe they won’t keep us in here
long. Maybe the girl is right, that they’re just trying to make sure we’re not enemies before they let us out.”
“But that don’t make sense. They took us!” Shira grumbled as she scooped up handfuls of dirt from the floor.
“Let’s just try to be patient and figure out where we stand before going on the offensive, all right? If they are the people my mother sent me to, they can’t be all bad, right? I mean, surely she wouldn’t have sent me into the hands of the enemy, right?”
Silence followed. Both she and Shira knew that there had been a time, a very long time, when Mariah had believed just that. Her conviction that her mother had betrayed her had kept her in Cillian for years, and now, guilt that she hadn’t been home to keep her parents safe was Mariah’s ever-present companion. Damn whatever Old Cat Eyes wanted or planned for her! She should have stuck with her parents.
Her last day with them flooded her thoughts. It had started with her father being seriously injured at the forge. She had never known he could scream like that until the hot blade he had been forging landed on his leg and seared through his flesh. The day had passed in a blur, with her running for the healer and then waiting to see if Magnus was all right. Her mother had packed her a bag and told her she must go to Glenley to get her father a healing tincture. Shortly after, Ashanya had pushed her out the door. Still half-human, half-hawk, Mariah had found herself pursued by soldiers right there in the village, only steps from her home. It was then that she had made her first real flight. A flight that had led her away from Eaglespire, her family, and the only home she had ever known.
Shira elbowed her, and she realized she had stopped filling the hole and was just sitting on her knees, her hands in her lap, lost in thought. She tried to smile and began scooping up dirt again. “Whoever these people are, I think I’d like to know more about them,” she muttered, and Shira nodded in agreement.
After they finished filling in the hole and patting it down, Mariah was brushing her hands off on her trousers when she heard someone approaching the door again. This time, both women stood and faced it. Mariah itched to bring her claws out, attack the people who had ambushed them. But she had counseled Shira to have patience, and she would try to do the same.
Revelation of the Dragon Page 18
