‘Oi, Bear,’ whispered Raven, his voice close to the bars in the cell next door. ‘Where have you been?’
‘Business,’ was all he was willing to share while ears were awake all around. He would have to tell his family the truth at some point. They were already suspicious, and he couldn’t keep his secret about Scarlen from them forever.
Darkness was all around him as the guards mooched to the main door for a quiet chat, allowing the inmates to sleep.
Bear puffed up his bedding to make it look as though he were in bed, then slipped low to the floor and used the tip of his finger to lightly peel away the papier-mâché wall around the small air vent, something he’d made months ago to hide the hole he’d dug that was just big enough for him to crawl through.
All was quiet outside his cell, so he slipped through the hole, carefully replacing the false wall, then shimmied along a narrow shaft that led to a metal grate, already prised open by him, then he slowly climbed down an iron ladder fixed to the wall that went all the way to the aqueduct, reaching for a small ledge so he didn’t step on any dampness lining the ground. It wasn’t just having wet footwear to explain, he was wary of the prison witch, Jesserlie, somehow sensing the water she used around the building had been touched. She held such strong magick, there was no telling what she could sense.
One thing she hadn’t picked up on was Bear’s nightly dig into the ground in the nook to one side.
Two months after he had arrived at the prison, his job had taken him to Red Block Two and a crazed inmate three days from hanging. The man came from a village not far from Bear’s own and had rambled nonsense while sedated of smugglers’ coves and weakened rocks beneath the prison. ‘One day someone will escape Horstal to prove it can be done,’ the prisoner told Bear, creating all sorts of ideas.
Bear had been using a spoon to scrape into the ground ever since, in hope there was such a cove below.
4
All week it had been the same routine for Scarlen, although Elbar had joined them in the silent system for the last two days, as she’d been caught tampering with her Rings during block time, so Miss Binnow said. Not that Elbar denied the accusation.
There were no lessons on Saturday, but there was mat time after an hour of passing cannonballs, and it was only curiosity keeping Scarlen awake as she changed into shorts and a t-shirt in her cell, as she could have done with a nap.
‘I fucking hate mats,’ said Dionne, stepping out of her cell. ‘Last time, my shoulder got dislocated.’
Scarlen met her on the landing, eyes wide with concern.
‘Got me out of jobs for the rest of the day.’ Dionne grinned. ‘Upside and that.’
‘Surely you’d be out of action for longer than a day.’
Dionne made her way downstairs. ‘Nope. If you get a bad injury, a healer fixes you, then you get one day rest for the weakness to wear off, as it only takes that long, then you’re pretty much back to normal, which means, so is your routine.’
‘Not sure I care too much for the sound of mat time.’
‘Some like it.’
Scarlen couldn’t see why anyone would like fighting, she hated sparring with Zana, but Zana had always told her it could come in handy one day. Had the general’s daughter been told about Horstal Island? Perhaps Zana knew what happened to Milon so decided to be prepared. And there was Scarlen thinking it might only be of use the times she had run away, but so far, she hadn’t had to use the lessons.
‘Don’t worry, Scarlen. It’s your first time on the mats, and it’s only Binnow who’d throw you in the deep end, and she’s not normally around. I don’t know why. Probably doesn’t like controlled violence, what with her being a sadistic bitch.’ Dionne scoffed.
‘She’s definitely one of the screws who should be in Red.’
Dionne snorted a laugh. ‘With any luck, we’ll have Miss Harnish on our mat. She’s the softest one around here. Not exactly the best fit for a prison, but works for us. I wish they were all like her.’
‘Have you seen the way Kane looks at himself more than the inmates? If anyone ever escapes here, I wager it’ll be on his watch.’
They shared a laugh as they followed some others through the doorway to the main corridor, the last of their block to leave.
The gymnasium was a large basic room with barred windows up high and black sparring mats covering most of the floor, where small groups surrounded each mat, and a one-on-one fight was taking place on most by the time Scarlen entered, the smell of musty sweat hitting her at once.
‘Is this supposed to be classed as exercise?’ she asked Dionne.
Dionne shook her head as they made their way to their section. ‘Designed to let out frustrations. Word is, way back when, the government wanted to know why there were so manydeaths each week here due to fights, so the warden made some changes to lower stress levels around here. Nowhegets to say when someone dies.’
Scarlen raised her brow. ‘When someone dies?’
‘Oh, people still die in here. He just prefers it to be on his terms. The government expects fights to break out and deaths to occur, just not every week. Warden Cardell has a setup that suits everyone and is praised highly by the officials.’ Dionne wrinkled her nose. ‘Doesn’t suit us though.’
The sparring seemed to be under control, from what Scarlen could see so far. Grappling and strikes, no weapons, yielding when needed. ‘I guess if it helps stop people fighting in the yard.’
