The Shadow Weaver, page 27
‘What happened to Cillian?’ The pounding of my heart reverberated through my chest as I imagined the three of them fighting for their lives trapped in that narrow passage.
‘Rhett was badly hurt, and I took a blade to the shoulder. Cillian yelled for us to get back to the door while he fought off most of the soldiers alone with his hammer and fists. We wouldn’t have made it out if Cillian hadn’t done what he did.’ Tomas looked at me sorrowfully.
‘What?’ I whispered.
Torgrin’s warm hand found mine, and he squeezed it gently.
‘He was right behind us in the passageway.’ Tomas shook his head and looked down at the ground between his feet as if he could see the scene playing out there. ‘He said, “Get Caris out of the city – they know.” Then he closed the door and locked himself in with the soldiers.’
‘No!’ I cried.
‘I tried, Caris. I banged on that door, but there was nothing I could do!’ His eyes begged me for forgiveness. ‘Rhett and I came here to warn you all, but it was too late. Goodwin was waiting for us.’
‘Cillian has to be alive. They’ll want to question him. He’s still down there. I need to go in and get him out.’ I was thinking out loud, trying to reassure myself that this was all true and that Cillian’s life did not end in that passageway.
‘No, Caris.’ Torgrin let go of my hand as he got to his feet. ‘You will leave the city tonight with everyone else.’
I stood, meeting Torgrin eye to eye. I would not have him tower over me for this. ‘We’re not leaving him there!’
‘I’m not leaving Cillian behind,’ Torgrin said through gritted teeth. ‘I will free him.’
‘No. I can’t lose you too.’ Dread, heavy and dark, coursed through me.
Going unnoticed by the others, the shadows lurking in the corners of the room came to life and slithered along the ground.
I clenched my hands to my sides, but my ability to control them eluded me.
The shadows continued to expand and weave between the objects in the room. They shuddered and shifted. Torgrin’s eyes never left mine while the other’s attention became drawn to the empty chairs rising and falling back onto the floor.
Crashes echoed through the room as unlit lamps plummeted off tables, their glass shattering on impact. The room’s air filled with the scent of dust and old paper as books soared out of bookshelves; their pages fluttering in the chaos.
Tomas threw himself over Rhett’s chair, protecting him from an airborne vase.
‘Shit!’ Finn jumped back from the fireplace as the gold-framed portrait of the royal sisters flew off and smashed into the opposite wall. ‘What kind of earthquake does that?’
I looked at Finn and saw him baulk.
‘Um, there’s something wrong with your eyes,’ he squeaked out.
‘There’s nothing wrong with her eyes,’ growled Torgrin.
‘Ah, yep, you’re right! I’m sure it’s just a trick of the light or, um … dark?’ Finn ducked to avoid being hit by a flying book.
‘Listen to me, Caris.’ Torgrin took my trembling hands once more and pulled me in close to him. His face was near enough that his breath cooled my overheated cheeks. I felt my breathing slow and my heartbeat returning to normal as if Torgrin’s touch was the tonic the Darkness required. The air stilled around us as he held me tight.
‘It won’t be long before someone notices that Goodwin is missing. They won’t be focusing on someone trying to break into the dungeon. They will set a trap for those trying to leave Capita. Rhett and Tomas won’t make it out unless you are there to help them.’
‘They can wait! You and I will free Cillian, and when we have him, we can all leave together.’
‘No, we are on borrowed time. They will put things together – the longer we wait, the higher the chances we will be caught.’
‘I can’t let you go alone!’ I gripped his hands tightly to my chest.
‘Yes, you can because I promised Cillian that if something like this happened, I would not let you risk your life for his.’
‘You had no right to promise that!’
‘The others need you.’ His tone was final.
I looked at Rhett and Tomas. They wouldn’t make it out of the city alone, and I wasn’t sure Rhett would survive the night if he had to wait for us to rescue Cillian.
We all jumped in unison at the soft knock at the door.
Torgrin pulled his hands from mine and signalled to Finn, who drew his sword and moved to one side of the door. Torgrin stationed himself on the opposite side, then motioned for me to open the door. I nodded, wondering who the stars it was going to be. If it were Merrick with more of the king’s guards, they surely wouldn’t knock before coming in. I turned the golden knob and opened the door just enough for me to see who our unwanted visitor was.
It was the lady in white who had been sitting outside Queen Yaris’s cell door.
‘Um, yes?’ I said inelegantly.
‘Can I come in?’
She spoke firmly and in a heavy accent I’d heard before. Torgrin’s father from Ephemeros had the same intonation. I looked behind me at the dead soldiers everywhere, the headless corpse of the king’s son, all covered with destroyed books and broken glass.
‘Umm …’ The woman pushed the door wider and marched into the chaos. I looked at Torgrin helplessly, but he just shook his head.
What was I supposed to do? I couldn’t hurt an old lady.
She was still wearing the queen’s emblem on her mantle, and a white veil concealed her hair.
After taking in the room before her, she turned to face me. She seemed entirely unbothered by the gory scene.
‘As you must know, my dear friend Queen Yaris is dead, and she gave me one last request: I was to find you. She asked me to serve and help you as I have done for her all these years.’
‘Why?’ I asked in utter confusion. ‘Wouldn’t it make more sense that you serve her family? Like Bethel, her niece? Or Lord Warwick? He will be here any day now.’
‘No,’ she said firmly.
‘Look, we’re leaving the city. Bethel is in the room down the hall, and you can wait with her if you like.’ I sighed, looking around the room. Honesty seemed the best approach in our current situation.
‘See that body with no head?’ I gestured to Goodwin’s gruesome remains. ‘That is King Hared’s son, and I did that to him,’ I admitted to her with no regret.
‘Good. Yaris strongly disliked him,’ she said, looking me directly in the eye.
Is she crazy? Had Queen Yaris’s death sent her around the bend?
‘I’m not crazy.’
Did she just read my mind?
‘If that was what you were thinking,’ she added.
I didn’t know what to think or say to this odd, persistent woman. Torgrin came forward, seeing I was getting nowhere with her. We didn’t have time for this.
‘Look, I don’t think you understand,’ he said. ‘They will discover what we have done, and guards and knights will be waiting to stop us from leaving the city.’
‘Well, you must get to your horses first, correct?’ she asked. ‘I know a way to get you to the royal stables without being seen by the castle guards.’
Torgrin raised his eyebrows in surprise. That could be helpful.
‘Of course, I will only tell you the way if you take me with you.’
I liked this sly old lady.
‘Can you ride?’ Torgrin asked her as the corner of his mouth twitched with amusement.
She nodded with a smile, knowing she had prevailed.
There was no more arguing. I knew our choices were limited, and I must think with my head and not my heart. Torgrin was going to find Cillian. I was going to take everyone else and get out of the city. Torgrin and Cillian would meet us in Danu Woods, and together, we would return to Atlas in Murus.
Rhett wouldn’t be much help in a fight, but Tomas’s aim with a bow would. Now we had an old lady joining us – and then there was Finn. Could I trust him? He was a king’s guard and might have become a knight one day. Even if he proved his worth, we would need a miracle to live through this.
Everyone was ready. Finn and Tomas supported Rhett, and the woman in white waited patiently by the door. Torgrin went to check on Bethel’s restraints and to secure her gag so she couldn’t call for help once we were gone.
When he returned to where we waited for him, he walked directly to me and pulled me roughly against his solid body. Face to face, chest to chest, we stood. He wrapped one hand around my upper arm and slid his other hand under my braid to grasp the back of my neck.
I stared into the inky depths of his eyes, and everything else went out of focus. For a moment, it was as if he and I were all that existed.
He did not ask this time. Positioning my head how he wanted it, air whooshed from my lungs as he lowered his head. His surprisingly soft but firm lips found mine, and I tensed as every nerve in my body sparked at once. How could a first kiss feel this familiar? How can the sensation of his body pressed against mine feel so right – like two broken pieces being put back together?
With a breathless sigh, I submitted to him as his tongue caressed mine. This was one battle with him I didn’t want to win, and he knew it the moment I arched against his body. His kiss grew more tender. I would let him take what he wanted, what he needed.
I heard Finn give a long, low whistle.
Torgrin withdrew, but he held me still as his eyes, now dark shiny pools, moved restlessly over my face, drinking me in. He caressed the fluttering pulse at my throat with his thumb.
I reached for his cheek, running my fingers over the ridges of his scar.
‘Don’t. You will see me again, Tor.’ I leaned in and kissed him again, putting all of my unspoken feelings into it. Our tongues fought desperately as the dam holding back our passion for one another crumbled. My hands dug into his waist, pulling him closer, wanting more, wanting everything.
We breathed as one, and I knew fate had won.
I reluctantly released his lips and felt another rush of warmth when he looked at me, a little dazed.
‘You will ride until you meet Lord Warwick and warn him of what’s happened. Tell him to go back to Murus and start building a bigger army. War is coming,’ he said.
I nodded against his hand still cradling my neck. ‘I will wait for you. Bring me Cillian, Tor.’
‘I will,’ he said, his voice raw and husky.
He let me go abruptly and stepped back. I felt cold without the heat of his body pressed against mine.
Torgrin checked that the passageway was empty before we left the safety of the room.
My heart pounded in my chest as he started to walk away, fear gnawing at me. I couldn’t lose him – not like this, not after everything.
‘Tor!’ I called, my voice cracking as I rushed forward, desperation thick in my throat.
He turned just enough to meet my gaze, but his face was unreadable. For a moment, he just stood there, silent and unmoving.
‘Survive, no matter what,’ I said, tears threatening.
His eyes softened for a brief, painful moment, and in that split second, his mask faltered. ‘Death couldn’t stop me coming back to you,’ he said, his voice low and filled with something I couldn’t place. But just as quickly, the emotion was gone, and he vanished around the corner, leaving me standing there, aching, emptiness already settling in.
The old lady delivered on her word. She led us through empty corridors and down several flights of stairs. We had to go slowly because of Rhett’s injuries, but we made it to the castle kitchens unseen. It was quiet and empty, as you would expect in the middle of the night.
Finally, she ushered us into what looked like an ordinary pantry. Sacks lined the walls, and in the centre was a pile of loose grain. I wasn’t the only one looking around the room, confused. There were no other doors except the one we had just come through.
The older woman clicked her tongue at our bewildered looks and gestured upward. There was a trapdoor in the ceiling, big enough for a person to fit through.
Finn and Tomas went in search of something to stand on. Tomas came back with a wooden tea chest for me to climb onto. The trapdoor had a latch that I turned, and I pushed the wooden door up. I heard a clatter as it opened, but there was no sound of anyone coming to inspect the noise. Still, I took out my knife and held it in between my teeth as I hoisted myself up and through the hole.
It was dark, and it took time for my eyes to adjust. I could smell the familiar scent of horses, which meant I was close to the stables. The room appeared to be a storage room filled with ropes and harnesses, and in the dim light, I could see a metal bucket attached to a rope on its side. It had been on top of the trapdoor when I’d opened it. The stable hands must use the bucket to bring up feed for the horses.
I put my head back through the hole and signaled that it was all clear. Tomas’s injured shoulder was giving him some pain, so I gave him my hand, which he took gratefully. We worked together to pull Rhett through the hole while Finn supported the injured man from below. Next came the older woman. Finn simply lifted her slight frame to us through the trapdoor. Once Finn was through, we closed the trapdoor and went to find the horses.
I had to shush Nightmare, who greeted me with low-pitched nickers and restless hooves. She was challenging to saddle, but I did it in record time. My belongings were nearby, and I replaced my borrowed blade with the sword Iain had given me. I passed my bow to Finn and he quietly helped me with my armour. The new armour Cillian had made for me was light and cleverly designed so that every piece fit me perfectly. It should have cost a king’s ransom, not the pittance he’d charged me.
Thanks to the old lady leading us straight to the stables, we wouldn’t need to fight past the knights stationed in the bailey. We led the horses silently through a back door that took us to a dark city street. Everyone mounted a horse, with Rhett sitting behind Tomas.
There were only a few hours until dawn, and I could feel the group’s tension joining my own. We were all waiting for the alarm to be sounded. This had been far too easy.
A dense, eerie fog crept along the narrow cobblestones, shrouding the buildings in a ghostly veil. The old lady and Tomas kept their horses behind me, and Finn had the rear. All our eyes were on the road ahead. I could hear a dog barking in the distance and a baby crying in a nearby house, but that was all. No hooves echoed through the air, no faint chinking of chain mail or armour, and no sharp metallic noise of swords being drawn.
Then the gate came into view, and I knew we were doomed.
CHAPTER 33
Amid the fog at least a hundred black-robed men from the Order awaited our arrival, their arrows trained on us, resembling crows perched and ready to hunt.
They were not alone. With their swords drawn, King Hared’s knights formed a line along the base of the rampart wall.
I looked at our odd little group, who were depending on me to get them out of the city.
‘We could run. Hide somewhere in the streets?’ I knew it wouldn’t be possible even as the words came out of my mouth.
‘Even if we could, how long before they find us?’ Tomas argued.
‘I don’t think I can get off this horse, so I’m for staying on it as long as possible.’ It was the most I had heard from Rhett all night. It gave me some hope he would pull through, but we needed to get him out of Capita. I looked over at Finn, who brought his horse in line with Nightmare.
‘I think I’d rather die trying than die hiding.’
The older woman moved forward, sat astride her horse like she had been born to ride.
‘All you need to do is open the gate, and we can run for it.’ She shrugged as if the men with weapons were nothing but decoration. Her confidence was beyond comprehension.
I shook my head. ‘You’re all crazy.’
They nodded in unison, and I had to bite back a smile. The decision was made – we would go onwards.
As we got closer, I recognised Merrick’s bearlike silhouette on the ramparts among the black robes.
‘What do we have here?’ his mocking voice floated down to us.
I halted my horse, and the others did the same. I focused on Merrick as hard as I could, imagining his head turning to ash just as Goodwin’s had, but nothing happened. Damnation. He was too far away.
‘Let us out and we won’t hurt you,’ I yelled. Laughter erupted around us.
‘Is that so?’ Merrick asked. ‘Open the gate!’ he ordered, much to my surprise.
The old woman leaned forward in her saddle ‘There, you did it.’ Her eyes gleamed with a mixture of approval and amusement.
I raised my eyebrow at her. Was she serious?
The gate opened. ‘Well, what are you waiting for?’ Merrick shouted down at us.
‘For you to step aside,’ I called back.
‘Now that won’t do, my lady-in-waiting. You have a few men with you who broke into my dungeon. Perhaps if you give them up, I’ll go easy on the rest of you.’
‘That won’t be happening,’ I said.
‘What were you planning to do when you rescued the old queen? Hmm?’
I didn’t answer.
‘Where’s Torgrin, your protector? I assume someone hired him and the blacksmith to break into the castle dungeon. He should have asked for more coin if all he could afford was a woman who likes to play dress up in men’s armour.’ There were sniggers all around from the robed men.
My heart hammered painfully against my ribs at the mention of Cillian and Torgrin.
‘It must have been Lord Warwick,’ he guessed. ‘I will admit I killed his wife, but that was only because she poked her pretty nose in where it didn’t belong.’
