“Lovely,” Wellion said as Riann draped him over his shoulders, like a woman might do with a fur stole. “You should really just put medown.”
“In your state, you would be impaled in an instant.” Riann carefully stepped onto the next brick. “Follow my lead,” he told theothers.
Tariel waved Lord Raffis forward, and he gingerly traced Riann’s footsteps. Luckily, between the moonlight and Riann’s torch, it was easy enough to spot which bricks to avoid. The white bricks led them around the mosaic in a twisty path, certainly impossible to pass if inebriated or blind, but easy enough as long as one treadedcarefully.
“Go on,” she urged Natha, who was wringing her hands. “Just follow LordRaffis.”
The woman shook her head. “I c-can’t,” she stammered. “M-m-my whole body is shaking. I’ll never make it. I should just die here in the tunnels, and let my spirit join my husband in theafterlife.”
Tariel’s heart ached for the woman’s loss. “Your husband would wish you to live,” she said, taking Natha’s hand. “It will be hard, but you must continue to live on for the both ofyou.”
“I…I think I’m pregnant,” she whispered, placing a hand against her flat stomach. “Infected with that monster’sseed.”
Tariel’s heart twisted at the rage and anguish in Natha’s voice. “Lord Traize might have been a monster, but the babe in your belly is innocent. And he will need his mother when he isborn.”
“What if I don’t want him to be born?” Her voice hardened with anger. “What if he grows up to be like hisfather?”
“Tariel?” Riann called. He, Wellion, and Lord Raffis were safely on the other side. “Natha? Are youcoming?”
Tariel gripped Natha’s hand. “If you need proof that children do not always grow up to be their fathers, look at Wellion.” She pointed at the bandit leader’s son, standing weakly, supported by Riann’s arm around his shoulder. “He risked his life to saveus.”
“After doing nothing while his father raped me for months,” Natha said bitterly. But her gaze softened a little, and she looked down at her belly. “Ralith and I never were able to have children, and we so wanted to have at leastone.”
“Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise,” Tariel suggested. “But you will never find out if you don’t make the crossingnow.”
Natha sucked in a shuddering breath, nodding. Squaring her shoulders, she took her first step onto the path. The white brick held steady, and she let out the breath she’d been holding as she slowly placed her foot on the nextone.
“I’m right behind you,” Tariel said soothingly as she followed behind her. She kept a hand on Natha’s shoulder to ground her, murmuring encouragement. “You’re doing sowell.”
Tariel felt Natha’s confidence grow with each step she took, and before they knew it, they were more than halfway across. “Almost there!” Riann cried. “Just a fewsteps!”
Natha smiled. She took another step forward, but the next brick was several paces away, and as she stretched her front leg, the back one slipped. Terror turned Tariel’s blood to ice as her foot touched one of the bluebricks.
“Jump!” Tariel cried as the spike shot from the ground. She shoved Natha hard, and the woman leapt forward, narrowly missing the spike. Riann reached out to catch her, but as she landed in his arms, her foot came down hard on another colored tile. Bile stung Tariel’s throat as the spike shot straight through, and the woman’s screams echoed through thetunnel.
“Dammit!” Riann cried. He tried to tug her free, but her foot was stuck fast. “Tariel, you’ll have to helpher.”
Tariel swallowed. She was still ten paces away. She tried to call on her magic, hoping she could somehow remove the spike with her power, but she had little left, and performing such a feat without touching the object was beyondher.
“Hang on,” she called to Natha, keeping her voice steady. Slowly, she continued on the path, tracing the next five bricks with her gaze and locking them down before she moved. Her heart hammered, but she refused to show fear. Natha needed her to bestrong.
Finally, she managed to get within three paces of Natha. Holding her breath, Tariel tried to reach Natha’s impaled foot, but she was too short, and she could not crouch too low without the risk of toppling over. Frustration bubbled up inside her as she scowled at the problem. If only she had astick…
“Wellion.” She turned to face the bandit, who still looked rather ill, though less so than before. Had her magic helped? “Hand me yoursword.”
“Why?” Wellion’s eyes narrowed as he drew the blade. “Are you going to chop off herfoot?”
“Of course not,” Tariel snapped as Natha cried out in dismay. “I promise, Natha, I’m not going to harmyou.”
“P-please,” she stammered as she trembled in Riann’s arms. “Get me free of thisthing!”
Wellion handed Tariel the sword, hilt first. Wordlessly, she turned, then slid the blade beneath the front of Natha’s foot. Gripping the blade with both hands, she pushed up as hard as she could, sliding Natha’s foot back up the spike. She whimpered in pain as her foot came free, and Riann pulled her into his arms, safely onto the otherside.
Tariel let out a huge sigh of relief. She returned the sword to Wellion, then completed the crossing. Her shoulders relaxed when her foot touched the dirt ground—they were standing just inside the tunnel entrance, which opened into the same passage Tariel had used to enter thevalley.
“Jolly good show, the both of you.” Lord Raffis patted Tariel on the shoulder. “That was quite nerve-wracking, and I was onlywatching!”
Tariel smiled, but Wellion scowled as he pushed to his feet. “We’re not out of the woods yet,” he said. “We need to make it to the other side of thepass.”
