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Fortunately for those at the back, it was something they wouldn’t have to contend with, not that I could say the same for those of us at the front.
I swiped at my face, trying to clean off the latest assailant. It tangled with my lashes, my hair. I sincerely hoped the spider that made it wasn’t still in it. Not that spiders bothered me perse, it was just the idea of a bug crawling on me in the pitch black, unannounced, that gave me that creepy-crawling feeling.
In truth, the cobwebs were probably helping to ease some of the anxiousness that curdled my stomach. Although we were on the move, we still were not free. And we still had one major hurdle to jump.
“How much longer do you think?” I whispered to Boy as I walked behind him, my hand on the pommel of the sword I’d stolen from one of the guards. It was nested in its sheath, hitched to a belt that wrapped around my waist—another stolen piece.
“Not long,” he answered, his voice as hushed as mine.
I nodded in the dark, nibbling on my bottom lip feverishly.
As the castle backed a cliff, there were only a few ways to get in and out of it, and one of those required swimming with the fish—something I doubted the majority of prisoners had the ability to do—which ruled that option out. That left two more: the front entrance—which had a steady hum of people coming and going through it—or the side door—reserved for guards and royal departures.
Both of them were garbage options.
But we didn’t have a choice—it was one or the other. We picked the latter.
I bumped into Boy, who had come to an abrupt stop. My hands clasped his shoulders, my body reverberating from the impact.
“We’re here,” he said, his voice drifting into the dark void.
“How do you know?” I asked, squinting in the dark, unable to see anything.
“I know these halls like the back of my hand,” he said. He pressed on something, and I heard the slightest protest of a squeak before a stream of light filtered in. Both Boy and I peeked through the crack into the much larger hallway which sat on the other side.
“I’ll go first and scope things out,” I whispered. “You stay with the others.”
“But I want to come. I want to help—”
I cut him off. “And you will, but let me check things out first.”
“Okay,” he agreed softly. “Take the first hallway on your right, that leads to the entrance, but be careful.”
“Alright,” I said with a nod. I stepped around him and pressed my spread fingers to the door and gently pushed it open. I peeked my head outside, scanning the hall. Other than a plethora of old paintings staring suspiciously at me, this hallway was empty.
Now was my chance . . .
But before I stepped out, I felt a small tug on the back of my dress. “Just come back,” Boy pleaded softly.
“I will,” I reassured him, ruffling his hair before I snuck out into the hallway, closing the painting-turned-door behind me. The painted portrait was of a young queen with lovely auburn hair. She was watching me, her judgmental emerald eyes boring into me. I heeded her no mind, as I pressed my back against the wall and slowly inched along it, my senses alert and ready.
I knew my appearance was abhorrent. My dress—what was left of it—was in tatters. I was covered in crusted blood and I had the telltale iron collar looped around my neck—declaring who I was for anyone who spotted me. And then there was my skin—littered with black and blue bruises, not to mention the wound in my side.
Reaching the end of the large, quiet hall, I craned my neck as I dared to look around the corner. The hallway before me was arched, and it was a short stretch, maybe ten paces before it ended, leading into a massive room, at least four times as large as the throne room. On the far end of the room, twin doors, which I presumed to be the exit, were swung closed.
My heart turned to stone as I surveyed what stood between the exit and me, row by armored row. There weren’t just a few guards stationed there . . .
It was an army.
But something was off about them.
Even well-disciplined soldiers shifted or moved every once in a while. But these men? They wereperfectlystill.
I leaned in, studying their armor. Long gone was the clunky metal the king forced them to wear, replaced by armor that looked as light as a feather, and yet, it didn’t seem weak—it looked the opposite of that. It gleamed brilliantly, trimmed with glistening gold—a sun embossed on each chest plate.
Footsteps sounded in the distance.
Damnit.Someone was coming.
