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“So, you killed her.” I stated, calmly.
“Killing and orchestrating her death are two different things.” She answered sweetly before she crouched lower to bring her face to my level. “Your mother broke her oath. She betrayed me, our families, her sister-maidens and for what? A peasant boy adopted and turned into a lord who had the favor of the King. She was in the perfect position, and she chose love.”
“You’re Asena, aren’t you?” Anger and pain flowed through me. My mother had told me once about her maiden sisters. This woman, this witch, had killed my mother and the other maidens, plus started the war between Thimmaria and Brural. She was also the woman that Einri had loved so much, and she’d betrayed him.
“Yes I am. And you, maiden's daughter, have been awakened. A maiden can only access her power once it’s been activated by a fellow maiden. I figured your mother refused, but I’m happy to see that my magic inside of Einri did the trick.” Her smile was wicked and at the same time beautiful.
It explained the feeling I had when we arrived. I felt it now being in Asena’s presence. She was behind everything. She had seduced the bastard older brother of a king. She had created an army from Bruralian soldiers then turned her sights on Thimmaria.
A memory surfaced but one that had been altered. I remembered when the ladies from Brural arrived and my interaction with Captain Rekker. What I hadn’t noticed the first time was Asena amongst the servants. I remembered her again in the forest burying Will.
She’d been there the whole time. In Brural, Einri said she enthralled the people there, but in Thimmaria she’d done the opposite. She made people forget her or ignore her presence all together. A silent phantom, she forced two kingdoms against the other and had brought both to their knees.
Now the question waswhat would she do now?
Asena spoke under her breath what sounded like a spell. Then it felt like a horse kicking me in my head and everything went black.
Iwoke up in the corner of my cell alone, cold, and wishing I didn’t have a head.
Rolling over, I expelled my stomach all over the cobbled floor. Finished, I wedged myself into the corner and drew my knees to my chest. The smell of urine, vomit, and damp earth assaulted my nostrils, making my stomach churn anew.
I had to escape. Who knew how many people were injured and captured? I just needed a few moments to compose myself and figure out a plan. I breathed deeply for several moments until I felt composed enough to look around without my head, or stomach, revolting.
Taking stock of my cell, I searched for anything that could be used as a weapon. It wouldn’t help me against magic, but it would help if someone attacked me.
My options were a broken clay pot, presumably a chamber pot that I hoped I wouldn’t have to use, and a wooden bed with a thin mattress. I wondered if I could break a piece of the bed to use, but after several painful bangs, I realized I didn’t have the time, nor the energy required to accomplish it.
Chamber pot it is.
I shuddered. That would not be my preferred method of death, that’s for sure. I took a peek inside – it wasn’t fully empty.
The creak of a heavy door echoed through the quiet, setting my hair on end. I stood still, waiting to see who would enter this time. I listened as the slow, slinking footsteps drew nearer, until a face I recognized turned the corner.
“Papa!” I raced to the bars, needing to be as close to my father as possible.
Seeing me alone, he too sped up and reached through the bars to me. “Arrow! My girl. Are you hurt?”
“Just my head. Are you? I’ve missed you!” I couldn’t seem to get the words out fast enough as I feasted my eyes on my hero. My father.
He chuckled as he held my face between his callused hands. “My fierce Arrow.”
The grinning face of Will peered around the solid shoulder of my father, and he held up and shook a pair of keys. “We’ve come to rescue the maiden.”
“I think this just makes us even.” I snorted. This was the Will I was used to, the Will that had played with me in Loxley as a child. I grew serious, “How did you not get captured with me?” As grateful as I was, I was still curious. The thought had been circling at the edges of my consciousness.
He instantly sobered. “I thought I smelled Captain Rekker for a split second and tried to warn you, but then Brex saw soldiers come around the corner and she tried to push you out of sight. I’m so sorry, Arrow! I couldn’t get the door open in time to get you, and then you both just seemed to vanish into thin air. It was Brex, actually, who found the secret tunnels.”
“Wait, secret tunnels? What are you talking about?”
“You didn’t see them?”
“He forced me to breathe something and it knocked me out.” I practically growled. His face turned furious, and I noticed the hair on his arms began to grow longer. “Will, I’m okay, tell me about the tunnels.”
“How about you give her the information while you let her out?” My father recommended pointedly, and Will turned sheepish as he fumbled the keys, trying to find the right one.
“Right. So, there are so many tunnels, all leading from Epione’s apothecary to I don’t even know how many places!” He said excitedly. “I was able to follow my nose to find the tunnels you took, while Brex went to go find Uncle Jasiro and the keys. Once I found the right path and door, I went back to lead him here.”
“Did you see Einri, Tuck, and Little John?” I asked.
