Capture the Crown

by Estep, Jennifer

  But chasing whispers until they congealed into louder, more distinct murmurs and then hard, concrete evidence was a spy’s job. I might not know what the Mortans were up to, but I had seen Conley’s treason. Perhaps the foreman would cough up some answers when he was arrested and interrogated by the royal guards—and Princess Gemma.

  Topacia waved her spoon at my coveralls. “Going back down into the mine today?”

  “Yes. I should maintain my cover for as long as possible, and I want to find out exactly how many people are stealing from the mine. So far, it’s Conley, his six men, and Penelope. I want to make sure we nab everyone at once. Otherwise, someone might start up Conley’s scheme again after we leave.”

  While Topacia finished her food, my thoughts turned back to the tearstone. Two wheelbarrows of tearstone was enough to make at least a dozen swords, or twice that many daggers, but those were drops in the proverbial bucket given the thousands of pounds that had already been stolen from other places. Or perhaps the Mortans were planning to do something else with the ore—something worse.

  Worry and uncertainty filled me, lumping with the frustration and the oatmeal in my stomach. Despite everything I’d learned, I still felt like my time had run out and that it was already too late to stop whatever horrible thing the Mortans were plotting.

  * * *

  I cleaned up the kitchen, petted Grimley again, and left the cottage. I also grabbed the wheelbarrow and rolled it back toward the city. Conley was sure to be suspicious about my not returning to the mine yesterday afternoon as ordered, but I would just have to endure whatever punishment he might dole out.

  Topacia and I went to the same alley we had stopped in yesterday. Miners trudging to work, merchants hawking their wares, the gargoyle fountain bubbling in the plaza. Everything looked the same as before, but the longer I glanced around, the more uneasy I became.

  I reached out with my magic, skimming people’s thoughts, but no one was thinking anything suspicious, and I couldn’t put my finger on what was bothering me. Perhaps it was simply my own guilt at having to work with Penelope today. Now that I knew she was part of Conley’s scheme, I would have to tell the royal guards, and she would be arrested, along with the other miners involved. At least her motive hadn’t been pure greed. Perhaps Grandfather Heinrich would pass down a lighter judgment once I explained how badly injured Penelope’s daughter had been.

  “Go back into the city, and see if you can find any more inns where Wexel and his men have stayed,” I told Topacia. “Maybe someone will remember something useful about them. And be careful. Wexel might have left a guard behind to deal with anyone asking too many questions.”

  “I’ll find out everything I can,” Topacia promised. “Meet you back here at lunch to compare notes?”

  I agreed, and we went our separate ways.

  I pushed the wheelbarrow out of the alley and fell in step behind the miners. No one gave me a second glance, despite the steady squeak-squeak-squeak of the wheel.

  I started to roll the container by the gargoyle fountain, but that uneasy feeling swept over me again. Some good luck certainly couldn’t hurt, so I stopped, dug a penny out of my pocket, and tossed it into the gurgling water. I had two more pennies so I threw them into the fountain as well. If one penny brought good luck, then three should give me a plethora of grand fortune. Either way, the superstition eased some of my nagging worry.

  I left the wheelbarrow with a group of them outside the mine, then hurried through the entrance into Basecamp. I didn’t see Penelope in the cavern, so I got in line with the other miners.

  Instead of Conley, a lower-ranking foreman was sitting at the checkpoint table. He glanced at me, marked something off on his list, and handed over my map and shaft assignment. He didn’t say a word to me, but nervousness surged off him, as clear and loud as cymbals clanging together in my mind.

  “Next!” he bellowed.

  Several miners were in line behind me, and I had no choice but to move forward. I stowed away my lunch box, pulled on my gloves, and shut my locker. The other miners were doing the same, and nothing seemed amiss, but I couldn’t quite shake my worry.

  “Have you seen Penelope?” I asked one of the other miners.

  He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Yeah. She already went down for the morning. Shaft 4, I think.”

  The miner walked on, but his words made even more worry trickle through me. Penelope had lagged behind every morning, either in Basecamp or here by the lockers, so that we could go down into the shaft together. Perhaps she didn’t want to face me, given what had happened yesterday.

  I dawdled by my locker, pretending to tighten my bootlaces, while the other miners streamed past me. Soon, I was the only one left, along with Reiko. The dragon morph had partially shifted and was sitting on a bench, using a file to add an extra sharp edge to her black talons. Her head was bowed, and she was focused on her filing, but the green dragon on her right hand swiveled around on her skin and stared up at me.

  I nodded respectfully at the dragon, which rolled its black eyes and peered up at Reiko again. The morph kept right on sharpening her talons, still not looking at me.

  I finished my pretend inspection of my bootlaces, then straightened up and reached out with my magic. Grimley. Come to the mine, please.

  He answered me a few seconds later. Is something wrong?

  I’m not sure. There’s no sign of Penelope or Conley.

  On my way. I’ll find a spot on one of the rooftops and keep watch over the plaza.

  I didn’t know how he could help me, but knowing he was going to be nearby eased some of my worry. Reiko was still filing her talons, so I turned my back to her, grabbed the chain around my neck, and fished my gargoyle pendant out from underneath my clothes.

  The silver pendant was warm from where it had been resting against my skin, although the sensation quickly vanished in the cool air. I rubbed my thumb over the pieces of black jet and the blue tearstone shards that made up Grimley’s snarling face. The weight of the pendant in my palm and the pricks of the jewels against my skin steadied me. I rubbed Grimley’s midnight-blue eyes, my own version of a good-luck charm, then tucked the pendant back underneath my clothes and left the locker area.

  A couple of miners were waiting to take a cart down into the shaft. Footsteps scuffed behind me, and Reiko joined the group. She leaned a shoulder against the wall and crossed her arms over her chest.

  An empty cart arrived, and we all climbed inside it. Reiko ended up sitting next to me. She kept her gaze fixed straight ahead, although the dragon on her hand kept sneaking glances at me, its face creased into a frown, as if it felt the same unease in the air that I did.

  The driver released the brake, and the cart rolled forward and dropped down into the shaft. Nobody spoke, but this time, I found the darkness suffocating instead of soothing.

  Eventually, the cart slowed, and we coasted into the shaft at the bottom of the mine, the same one I had worked in yesterday. The other miners headed into their assigned sections, but Reiko lingered by the cart, frowning down at her map as though she didn’t like what it showed—

  “It’s about time!” a loud voice barked out.

  I glanced to my left to find Conley striding toward me. What was he doing down here?

  Conley stopped and looked me up and down, leering at me the same way he had Penelope yesterday morning. His lust punched into my gut, making me nauseous. Then his dark brown gaze moved past me, and his eyebrows drew together in anger.

  “Why are you lollygagging around?” He stabbed his finger at Reiko, who was still lingering by the cart. “Get to your assignment. Now.”

  Reiko’s face remained blank, but her talons punched through the paper map, betraying her anger. Her gaze darted over to mine for a moment, then she whirled around and stalked into another chamber, disappearing from view.

  Conley gestured for me to follow him. As we moved through the shaft, I reached out with my magic, but all I sensed was his smu
gness. Sometimes, when people’s emotions were particularly strong, it blocked out their actual thoughts, and Conley was extremely pleased with himself right now.

  We ended up in the cavern at the very back of the shaft. Fluorestone lanterns hanging on the wall, miners digging their tools into the rocks, half-full buckets of tearstone sitting at their feet. Everything looked the same as yesterday, but tension filled the air, squeezing my chest like a vise. Perhaps the miners were nervous because Conley was here.

  An open spot along the wall caught my eye, and I finally realized who was missing—Penelope. My gaze flicked over the miners, but they were all men. Strange. Had Penelope been assigned to another chamber?

  More unease filled me, but Conley jerked his head, and we stepped off to the side, away from the other miners, who kept tink-tink-tinking their tools into the rocks.

  Conley got close to the chasm, but I stopped in front of him, making sure my back was facing the wall so that I wouldn’t accidentally step off the edge.

  “What did you think of my meeting yesterday?” Conley asked.

  “It’s not my job to think about things like that.”

  He nodded, as if my answer pleased him. “Good girl.”

  I bristled at him calling me girl again, but he didn’t seem to notice. Instead, he stepped forward, so close that I could smell the eggs, garlic, and onions he’d had for breakfast.

  “What did you do with the body?” he asked.

  I didn’t know what Penelope had told Conley, so I shrugged and gave a vague answer. “Dumped it in a ravine where no one will ever find it.”

  He stared at me, but I kept my eyes on his. Conley must have thought I was telling the truth, because he relaxed. “Good. Now it’s time for your cut.”

  “Great. I could use it.”

  An amused chuckle rumbled out of Conley’s lips, echoing through the cavern and bouncing back to me like a child’s ball.

  “What’s so funny?”

  A sly light filled his eyes. “It’s hard to use money when you’re dead.”

  His snide words echoed as loudly as his laughter had. Suddenly, the tink-tink-tink of the miners digging into the wall stopped, and malevolence filled the cavern, surging around me like an icy whirlpool.

  I backed away from Conley and spun around. Two of the miners were standing in front of me, and they lunged forward and latched onto my arms.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, struggling to break free of their tight grips.

  “Getting rid of my last loose end.”

  Conley jerked his head at the men, who used their mutt strength to pick me up off my feet and carry me forward—toward the chasm.

  The mountain shifted . . . and Clarissa was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The chasm opened up right under her feet.

  Penelope’s voice whispered in my mind. That’s what she claimed had happened to Clarissa, the forewoman who had first reported the missing tearstone. Now Conley wanted me to have a similar accident. Greedy, murdering bastard.

  Anger and determination roared through me, and I grabbed hold of my magic and used the invisible force of it to punch one of the miners in the throat. That man choked, dropped my arm, and stumbled away. The instant my feet touched the ground, I spun around and slammed my physical fist into the throat of the second miner, who was clutching my other arm. He too choked and stumbled away.

  “Get her!” Conley hissed.

  The other four miners advanced on me, all of them clutching a pickaxe. These were all Conley’s men, the same miners who’d been in the clearing yesterday, just like the first two who’d grabbed me.

  She won’t get past me . . .

  Hope she screams before we kill her . . .

  This is going to be fun . . .

  Their horrible thoughts crashed over me, each one as hard and vicious as a slap across the face. Suddenly, I was rooted in place, although my paralysis didn’t stop their malice from blasting over me like winds howling off a tornado.

  With every step the miners took, the gargoyle pendant grew warmer and warmer against my chest, as the pieces of jet strained to block out the men’s deadly intentions. I seized on to that sensation and let it scorch away the horrid thoughts crowding into my mind and paralyzing my body. Then I focused on my own anger, which was burning even hotter than my pendant was.

  One of the miners charged forward and swung his pickaxe at my head. I ducked his blow and curled my hand into a tight fist, grabbing hold of the invisible strings of energy attached to his weapon. A flick of my fingers yanked the pickaxe out of his hand. Another flick sent him staggering back into the rock wall.

  The other three miners yelled and rushed toward me, along with the first two that I’d sucker-punched.

  In the dim gray glow of the fluorestones, I battled them all, using both my physical fighting skills and strength, along with my magic, to dodge their weapons and shove them away.

  I’d just thrown a fourth miner across the chamber and was reaching for the dagger in my boot when a fifth man, a mutt with enhanced speed, slipped past my defenses and punched me in the face. Pain exploded in my jaw, radiating up into my skull, and white stars exploded in my eyes. My head spun, throwing me off balance and making me stumble around. Given the dim light and the stars still erupting in my eyes, I couldn’t see where I was going, and I didn’t realize how close I was to the chasm until my boot slipped off the edge.

  Somehow, I managed to jerk my foot back and stagger away from the chasm. I blinked some of the stars out of my eyes and whirled around—

  Conley was standing right in front of me. I had been so busy battling the six other men that I’d lost track of him.

  He gave me an evil grin. “If you want something done right.”

  Conley surged forward and shoved me into the chasm.

  Chapter Nine

  For a split second, I had the sensation of being utterly weightless, like a butterfly floating along on a breeze.

  Then, in the next instant, I plummeted down.

  My arms and legs flailed wildly through the air. Desperate, I reached for my magic, hoping to find some thread of energy to grab on to, or some way to use my power to propel myself closer to the rock wall so that I might have a chance to latch onto something—anything—that would keep me from falling to my death. But my mind kept spinning and spinning, and my magic just wouldn’t work—

  The left side of my body slammed into solid rock, and several audible crack-crack-cracks sounded as the bones in my left arm and leg shattered one after another. White-hot agony blazed through me, burning brighter than a magier’s lightning, although the force of the fall punched the air from my lungs, leaving me unable to scream and release any of the torment rushing through me.

  Seconds passed. A minute. Two. Maybe ten. I couldn’t tell. All I could see, hear, and especially feel was that white-hot agony blazing through my body, pushed along with every frantic beat of my heart. Slowly, the agony receded enough for me to notice other things, although I still felt like a porcelain doll that had been dropped on the floor and shattered into a hundred pieces.

  Rock scraped beneath my twitching fingers, and I blinked and blinked, trying to focus in the dim, murky light. I was sprawled across a small ledge that jutted out from the chasm wall, with open air only a foot past my face. Despite the overwhelming pain, I was lucky I had landed on the ledge instead of tumbling down to the bottom of the abyss . . . however deep that was.

  Pain spiraled out through my left arm and leg, but the right side of my body had landed on something that wasn’t hard, solid rock, something that seemed soft, wet, and sort of . . . squishy. I slowly turned my head to the right, trying to figure out what else might be down here—

  Penelope’s sightless blue eyes stared back at me.

  If I’d had the breath and strength for it, I would have shrieked and jerked back in surprise, which would have sent me tumbling off the ledge to my death. But all I could do was lie there and stare at Penelope.

  Conley mus
t have shoved her into the chasm too. Only Penelope had landed solely on the hard, unyielding ledge, and the fall had killed her outright.

  “I didn’t hear her hit the bottom.” Conley’s voice drifted down to me. “Give me a lantern. I want to make sure she’s dead.”

  Several harsh scrapes sounded, and I shut my eyes an instant before a light fell on my face. I kept my eyes closed and willed myself not to move, twitch, or especially moan with pain.

  Several seconds ticked by. I stayed frozen in place, although tears leaked out the corners of my eyes.

  “She’s as dead as the other one is.” Conley’s voice drifted down to me again. “Problems solved. Now get back to work.”

  The other miners grumbled, and the light on my face vanished.

  I opened my eyes and peered upward, but all I could see were the faint gray glows of the flourestone lanterns casting twisted shadows on the cavern ceiling high, high above.

  The steady tink of pickaxes digging into the wall rang out again. Penelope’s murder and my impending death weren’t enough to disrupt the mine’s busy schedule. After all, Conley had more tearstone to steal and deliver to the Mortans.

  Tink-tink-tink. Tink-tink-tink. Tink-tink-tink.

  Perhaps the severity of my injuries was dulling my senses, but the harsh sounds of the miners’ tools seemed as soft and soothing as a lullaby coaxing me to sleep. My eyes slid shut, and I drowned in the darkness.

  * * *

  One moment, I was lying on the ledge, willing myself not to scream with pain. The next, I was sitting at the top of the chasm, strangely pain-free, with my legs dangling off the side and my boots scraping against the rock wall below.

  I glanced around, but the cavern was empty. The lanterns had been turned down low, although oddly enough, I could see much better now than before, when Conley had shoved me into the chasm.