They gawped at her.
Enjoying her newfound strength, she pulled the cage back towards her. Metal ground upon the stone.
She peeled off the gloves and held them out to Kaelan. He grabbed them from her and stuffed his hands into them.
The guards argued about who was going to handle the iron key to open the door.
Kaelan knelt and heaved the grate up from the floor, dropping it to the ground with a cracking clang that silenced the guards’ argument.
“I’ll do it,” the smallest guard finally said, turning back and disappearing down the hall.
Kaelan stripped off the gloves and held them back out to her. She put them on as he slid into the drain, folding his shoulders so he could fit.
She gripped the bars once more and pushed with all her might, moving the cage oh-so-slowly clear of the drain. Her arms burned, not from the iron, but from the effort. Kaelan had healed her and she felt stronger than she had in days, but she still couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten. And she had been tortured.
The bar bisecting the drain inched along. The opening grew, four inches, five...
The hole was longer than it was wide. She probably didn’t need to uncover it completely, but with her broad shoulders and generous bust, she didn’t want to get stuck because she hadn’t bothered to push it another two inches.
Then Lavana appeared in all her blue-eyed, haughty, red-lipped glory. And she wasn’t alone. Endreas hovered in the shadows behind her, watching with those glorious dark eyes of his.
“What is this? What’s going on! Stop!” Lavana shouted, pushing past her gaping guards.
Magda chuckled through her gritted teeth. “Say please, dear cousin.”
“You’ll never escape. I know where that drains.” She seized one of the guards. “To the Brittle Stream at the edge of the forest. Go now!”
He nodded and raced away.
The other guard returned, ashen, sweating, and trembling. The pungent stink of scorched flesh preceded him.
Magda continued shoving against the iron bars, though her arms were starting to shake and her knees to weaken. Kaelan’s protection against the iron gave way. Though she wasn’t touching it directly, she was surrounded by it. For a moment, she faltered, her progress halting.
“Oh, don’t give up now,” Endreas said, stepping up to the threshold. “You’re so close.”
She shot him an irritated look, but started pushing again.
“Hurry!” Lavana shouted at the quivering, green-gilled guard as he jabbed the key at the cage’s lock.
Before he could get the key in, he collapsed. The key clattered to the floor.
Lavana grabbed the other guard’s collar. “Pick it up!”
The guard paled, but bent to scoop up the key.
“Do all Pixies heal so quickly?” Endreas asked as if he were in the midst of a dinner party conversation.
“What?” Lavana snapped at him.
“How has she recovered?”
The guard grasped the key, letting out a growling howl through his teeth as the reek of his burning flesh filled the cell.
“The Prince must have healed her, obviously,” Lavana said.
“Oh, you’ve lost your Prince too?”
Eight inches... nine... was that enough? She stared down at the black hole, trying to determine if she would fit.
