Damnation—
We were trapped in a room with only one exist—
Weapons drawn, Francis pushed me behind him, waiting for whoever followed us here to appear.
Roxanne pointed her arrow at the exit, ready to let it fly free.
The tip of Simon’s sword faced the nearing shadow—
The shadow stopped: the face of our enemy appeared. Roxanne’s arrow glided through the air.
“Dear Gods!” Caleb swung to the side, avoiding the arrow by an inch. “It’s me!” He put his hands up in surrender. “It’s me!” He walked out of the shadow; no one lowered their weapons.
“What are you doing here?” Francis seethed, his dagger ready to fly.
“Whatam Idoing here?” Caleb shook his head. “Whatare youdoing here?”
Francis charged towards him, a muffled roar pushed through his throat as he shoved Caleb against the stoned wall. “With the Moon as my witness, I tried to spare your pathetic life.” He brought the Royal steel dagger to Caleb’s heart.
“We don’t have time for this Francis!” Roxanne hissed, her bow still charged with an arrow.
“We can’t let him walk away.” Francis allowed himself a glance at Roxanne. “He will report us to his leader,” Francis spat out.
“Let me help,” Caleb swallowed, eyeing the dagger by his heart. “I can help with whatever you are here to do.” His breathing heavied the longer Francis held the dagger against his flesh.
“After you burned my house to the ground?” Francis seethed.
“I had to.” Caleb shook his head, sweat falling down his forehead. “Kane was suspicious of me, and I needed his trust.” Caleb closed his eyes, drawing a small breath in. “I know all of his plans. Please, trust me.” He swallowed before adding, “I will kill myself before I betray you again, brother. Please, trust me.”
The dagger stood unmoving against Caleb’s chest, Francis’ hand visibly shook around the hilt.
“Kane is planning an attack on the Barren’s estate in a few days,” Caleb whispered. “Let me help.”
“Let go of him, Francis.” Roxanne lowered her bow, her voice echoing through the forge. “We are wasting time, and he might be of use.” Roxanne looked Caleb up and down.
Francis glanced at her before lowering his dagger, “If he runs, shoot him,” he said, walking back towards the hidden door—with no handle—behind the chimney. “How do we open this?” He asked me.
“There has to be a key hidden behind one of these stones.” I felt the stones around the door, pushing at their corners.
“You won’t find the key there,” Caleb walked towards the door, his hand in the pocket of his cloak. “Because I have it.” He passed the silver key with a Royal stamp at the top of it. “I found it a few weeks ago, but the room behind is empty, whatever you are looking for is not there.”
“Perhaps you weren’t looking well enough.” Simon put his sword back into its scabbard.
“The room is empty.” Caleb shook his head.
I took the silver key, setting it into the hidden lock as my stomach turned in nausea. If Caleb was right, we were doomed.
The lock opened when I rotated the key, the door opened silently at a slight push. I took a step into the empty room.
“Simon, guard the entrance by the stairs,” Francis instructed before following after me. “You guard the entrance to this room,” he told Roxanne. “You,” he pointed at Caleb. “Better start telling us about Kane’s plans before I decide you are useless.”
Caleb cleared his throat, joining us in the empty space. “Kane has lost a lot of his support.” He looked around the room before meeting Francis’ gaze. “After gaining the power of human royalty, many did not want to attack their own.”
I walked along the wall, my fingers brushing over the cold stones, searching for entrance. “Gabriel said the flint is behind one of the stones—same as the key.”
Francis followed my lead, reaching where I couldn’t.
“What do you mean bytheir own?” Francis glanced at Caleb before pushing at every corner of each stone.
