Page 94 of Memory of Ashes

She came to the last cell and peered in. Emin lay curled in a foetal position amongst the other prisoners. She gasped, worried he was dead, but then saw the rise and fall of his chest.

“Emin!” she whispered through the barred window.

He looked up, his eyes widening until she could see the whites around them.

“Amelia!” He scrambled up and came over to the door. “You’re okay?” he asked.

“Yes, but what about you?”

“There are those worse off than me. Some of them are sick from the conditions we’ve been kept in. At least we’ve been given some food and water now.”

“I’m going to get you out of here,” she cried.

She marched back up to the palace. Ruven struggled to keep up as he escorted her.

Raised voices sounded from the council room as she entered.

“We need to release the prisoners. They are dying in those cells.”

Casyl looked up at her. He’d be angry at her interruption, but she didn’t care anymore. They owed her this.

“Perhaps after we’ve dealt with those creatures,” Tharos said.

She turned to him. “I have an idea. But in return, I want those prisoners freed and sent away, far away from here.”

“What’s your idea?” Casyl quietly asked.

They all turned to her. She was surprised that they’d listen, thinking they’d dismiss her instantly.

“First, I’m going to need Emin.”

He nodded.

Her tears fell when Emin was released and brought to her.

After he’d cleaned up and had some decent food, she took him onto the city walls to meet with Casyl and his generals.

“This is Emin,” she said, introducing him to Casyl and the others. “He was my superior in the archaeology guild.”

He gaped at them, forgetting himself, and then bowed his head slightly.

She reminded herself that he didn’t know these fae. He didn’t trust them, and why would he? He’d just witnessed an army of them destroy his whole world and was now at their mercy, and that was the only thing keeping him in line.

“There’s a more terrifying enemy out there,” she told him and brought him to the city wall to look out upon the creatures that stalked the city walls.

His eyes widened, and his mouth opened without producing a sound.

“What are they?” he stammered.

“They are what is stopping this army from leaving,” Casyl interjected. “They are from our land and they cannot be killed, so we need to trap them or contain them. Amelia said she had a plan but needed you.” Casyl looked at her expectantly.

“Look, Emin, do you see where they are?” She pointed. “The catacombs spread for miles beneath the city. You know those catacombs better than anyone. If we go down there with enough chrysonium bombs, will they collapse the tunnels and the ground above them?” she asked him.

Her idea was a little on the imaginative side, but she was desperate, and so were they. Maybe desperate enough to try.

She caught Casyl looking at her in bemused wonder.

Emin stayed quiet, considering.