“It’s awful,” she said to him. “We can’t rightly sleep. I keep thinking I need to hurl up my dinner. We haven’t had real cooked food other than jerky. And they’ve no gates to shut for those two entrances. And with no fires, we’re chilled to the damn bone.”
“There’s something afoot,” Keir said to Reed. “I don’t understand their culture or their nasty saint, but something preys on these people. Even the guards are uneasy. They don’t live here, they only work in shifts, and they’re careless—like leaving a key in a door. That’s so unusual to me.”
Reed rubbed his jaw. To me, he said, “Do you feel like you are being lulled into subservience?”
I shook my head. “No, but I am wearier each day. It’s hard to resist something when you’ve no life in you.”
“We have to get you out of here.”
“Not without my niece,” I said. “We must work that out first.”
Hearing distant footsteps, we all stilled at the same time.
“In,” ordered Keir, nodding at my hand holding the key.
“The landing is really very small,” I warned, inserting the key in the lock.
Keir went first, cursing under his breath at the steepness of the drop. One by one, we followed, our movements hastened by fear as the sounds of guards approaching grew louder. Evangeline shut the door behind her and we stood in a row, each balancing on a slim step with one or two hands on the wall for purchase.
“Go slow,” Reed said in a low voice.
Keir began to move, and the rest of us followed.
It took extended creeping before we reached what must have been a dungeon or cellar of the tower. It was a large chamber that was perhaps a third of the size of the first level, making it still enormous. It was made of that same smooth, white stone as the first level. We could only see a vague idea of it, however, as all we had was Keir’s torch.
As our eyes adjusted, we noticed the river that bisected the chamber. Where it ended was too far off for us to see, but it began behind us, an outlet in the wall that the steep steps were built in, allowing for the mouth of the river to come through from whatever natural spring it grew. Though the water was bubbling, as it did in the founts that flowed around the first level, it seemed to not flow almost at all, merely a shallow, slothful surface that reminded me more of a long lake than a river.
“Would have thought that was a rushing thing,” remarked Evangeline. “What with all those damn founts.”
“I just thought the same,” I agreed.
“There,” pronounced Reed and pointed to a spot far down on the walls on our side of the underground river. “That looks like a door.”
It was. What Reed could see from where we stood had looked like a vein in the rock, but it was actually a small archway with an iron door. This too had a flame carved into it, and this too unlocked when the same key was inserted.
Behind the door—a thick, heavy, iron-and-wood slab that took both Reed and Keir pulling to open—and through a short tunnel that was about the length of two wagons, there was cool outside air.
Reed stepped through it first and, despite the time of night, he turned and said, “I can see the timber forest from here.” Then he turned again and pushed Evangeline, who stood near him, back inside with him, shutting the door behind them. “There is a patrol outside the gates. About twenty men that I could see. The tower is just up against the wall, and they must have built this section into the tower. This will have to be timed exactly if this is the way we choose.”
“It’s the only way that I can see,” Keir said. “Thane asked if the five of you could leave, and he was told no repeatedly. Just the once to see Adelaide today. And you were likely closely watched.”
“Yesterday now,” Evangeline corrected. “It’s past the midnight hour.”
“Wait, he asked for us? He requested we get to leave the tower?”
Keir nodded. “He knows I court Jade. I told him I would prefer she and her companions have different accommodations. He readily agreed but when he asked, the army refused him. He was only able to get permission for you and Tessa to leave because his daughter refused to come inside.”
“Oh that’s perfect,” huffed Ilsit. “This is the only way out, and the girl won’t tread foot inside this place.”
Reed grimaced. “The streets outside and the entrances are flooded with guards. We’re only allowed in and out as employees of Thane’s under the guise of checking that all of his properties have been returned.”
“We’ve likely two or three days before they no longer accept that reason for us entering,” Keir added. “That’s why we have not been by. We’ve been busy working for Thane, and every time we came to the gate we were given such grief, we decided we should only try our luck a few times.”
“What is this door for?” Evangeline wondered, running her hand down the inside of it. “What’s the reason for the symbol of the flames other than their saint’s setting himself on fire?”
“An escape route should a fire break out?” suggested Keir. “Along a river would be the safest path. That’s my guess.”
“We’re missing something,” said Reed, tilting his head to see all the way around the chamber. “Why are they so concerned about a fire breaking out in a tower made of stone so old it predates written history? It’s not a barn of hay or a library. It is a confusing rule.”
