Ascension (37 page)

His eyes widened
when he thought about just how much she might know. He decided not
to completely contradict her, but rather to give her vague answers
until he figured out exactly what she was looking to hear.
“
Yes, but I don
’
t know where he has gone off to.
There are many colonies. He could have started at any one of them
first.
”

“
Well then, you
will just have to make me a map of where all these colonies are, so
that we can send guards to them promptly.
”

“
Your Highness, I
can’
t-“

“
Croxley,”
she
said, her voice all business.
“You don
’
t seem to understand. Either you
help me find the Prince and bring this absurdity to an end, before
all those Nethers get slaughtered by the King
’
s army, or I will send you, as
an accomplice to the rebellion, to the dungeons, where you can
listen to the sounds of their screams as their hopeless rebellion
is put down.
”

“
Your
highness,
”
Croxley sighed, wondering how
the simple errand of delivering a message for Mathelda turned into
this,
“
all I can tell you is that Erik
was going to the colonies. I can make you a map, but I
can
’
t give you
any more information than that, because it is all I know. Wherever
Erik and Fara went,
“

Lena cut him off
at the mention of Fara
’
s name.
“Don
’
t mention that little wench. Why Mathelda assigned her as
my personal servant girl, I
’
ll never know. She was a
bumbling fool who knew next to nothing about waiting on royalty.
Not to mention the infuriating way she always looked at Erik. I
wanted to wipe that silly love-struck grin off her face.
”
She turned her venomous glare towards Croxley
and he felt a chill as her lips curled into a wicked
smile.
“
I also saw the way you looked at
her. It was slightly entertaining, to see you follow her like a
puppy, only to see that she only had eyes for the Prince, who in
turn only has eyes for himself.
”

Croxley
’
s face flamed, and he cursed
himself inwardly about being so obvious. He was a fool. But he
wasn
’
t fool
enough to trust Lena. He could see now just how manipulative Lena
could be in order to get her way. He just had to convince her that
he was on her side until he found a chance to warn Fara and
Erik.

Croxley stood and
announced that he was going to return to his room.
“
As much as I wish to remain in your company, I
have just returned from nearly a month of traveling under the
King
’
s demand,
and I am quickly growing weary. I will get you the map you need
tomorrow morning. Shall I give it to your guard?
”

Lena shook her
head no but remained on the couch, spreading herself out into the
space that Croxley left open when he had stood up. Her gown slid up
to reveal delicate ankles and smooth, soft calves that seemed to
glow in the firelight.
“
I would rather
see you again, Croxley. I want you to bring it to me
yourself.
”

Damn, Croxley thought. This woman is
dangerous in more than one way.

He felt empathetic towards to all
the men she had chosen to manipulate, understanding now how
difficult it is to refuse her. He had to give Erik some credit for
so easily being able to overcome her temptations. But Croxley, he
was a man all too easily tempted by feminine talents. Before she
could pull him back in, he bid her goodnight and shut the door
behind him, sending a small whoosh of perfume that followed him out
into the corridor.

Chapter
32

“
Oomph!
”
Croxley ran into someone as he was distractedly
walking away from Lena
’
s room. Before he could apologize, the woman he had bumped
into was on her knees, bowing before him.

“
Forgive me sir,
that was my fault. I wasn
’
t watching where I was
going.
”
She looked up, and Croxley saw
that it was Lydia.
“Sir Croxley!”
She
looked at him, then past him to where he had come from.
“Oh
no.”

“
What is
it?
”

“
You
’
ve already given the letter to
Lena, haven
’
t
you? I thought I would be able to stop you from delivering it, but
before I could leave, Mathelda caught me and sent me to do some,
erm, chores.
”
She sighed and looked
worried.

Croxley helped
her up, but she kept looking down.
“
Lydia, what was in that letter?
”

“
Everything.
Absolutely everything.
”

“
Lydia, what are
you talking about?
”
Croxley looked at her
with concern.

Lydia said in a
quiet whisper,
“
I told her. Well, rather,
I told Mathelda. About Fara
’
s plan. About your plan.
That
’
s how she
knows about where the Prince is, and what he is doing.
”
Croxley stepped back, taking his hands off
her.
“
I did it to protect you! I thought
that Fara would just be risking her life, the
Prince
’
s life,
everyone
’
s
lives by starting a rebellion. I just wanted to keep everyone
safe.
”
She looked up, despair in her
eyes.

“
At first, I
didn
’
t tell
them everything. I just said that the Prince was going to run off
to another adventure. But I guess that was enough to have the King
send guards after him, worried that he was trying to evade the
marriage with Lena, I guess. But then the barn caught on fire, and
after the guards lost sight of Prince Erik and Fara in the forest,
Mathelda came back to get the full story. By then, I knew that I
made a terrible mistake in telling her. But it was too late. She
held me down, forced me to tell her everything. And now Lena knows,
so pretty soon the King will know too.
”

“
Why
would
’
t
Mathelda go straight to the King? What does Lena have to do with
any of this?
”

“
I
don’
t know. I think they have some kind
of plan in store. Ever since a few weeks ago, Lena has been having
private meetings with Mathelda. I stumbled upon them once when I
was coming back from a job late at night. They were huddled
together over a table in the kitchen, discussing something in
excited whispers. When Mathelda saw me, she grew angry and sent me
straight to my room. After that night, I stopped seeing Lena, but
her guard was often coming down to bring messages back and
forth.
”

Croxley just
stood there, silently going over in his mind everything that had
happened since he set foot in Stonewall. He sat down on the stairs
and rubbed at his temples. He was suddenly very tired.
“
Well, damn. What am I supposed to do
now,
”
he asked himself. Lydia
didn
’
t respond.
After a while, she sat down beside him.

“
Croxley, the
girls they arrested, they are torturing them down in the dungeon.
If I feel terrible about anything, I feel terrible about that.
These girls did nothing but hope for freedom, and I was too scared
to let them. I need you to help me rescue them.
”

Ξ

Croxley rolled over in his bed,
rubbing his eyes groggily and scratching his cheeks. His recent
travels left a thin layer of stubble on his chin and cheeks that he
had yet to trim off. I probably look like an outlaw, he thought. He
walked to his restroom and saw the bags under his eyes. Correction.
I definitely look like an outlaw. I could really use some beauty
sleep. At least three days worth. After camping out in the woods
night after night, sparsely interrupted by an inn every now and
then, his bed had felt like heaven. He looked back into his main
room, wanting more than anything to just lay back down and forget
all that had happened since he returned to Stonewall.

He had been up
late last night, talking with Lydia about how to go about rescuing
the girls from the dungeon. Luckily, he had a reason to visit Lena,
because she would be instrumental to their plan. He would bring her
a map of the all the colonies, with labels telling her where the
Prince and Fara would be most likely be. Of course he
didn
’
t know
where Erik and Fara actually were, but he wanted to keep Lena and
the King off their tracks for as long as possible. And it would be
futile to make a fake map of the colonies. It may trick Lena, but
if she brought the map to the King, as Croxley expected she would,
the King would quickly see through the farce and Croxley may be
arrested before he could escape the city.

After giving Lena the map, he hoped
to convince her to send him to the dungeon in order to interrogate
the prisoners. Perhaps he could make up some ruse about needing to
get more information. He just needed a letter from her in order to
get into the dungeon. If all goes to plan, he will make his way
down later tonight and give the guards the message.

If he managed to get the guards to
leave the dungeon, Lydia would be there to intercept them. She was
confident she would be able to distract them long enough for him to
get the job done. How she would do that, he left up to
her.

Once they got
everyone out of their cells, they would use the
servant
’
s
quarters to leave the castle. There shouldn
’
t be too many people using them
late at night, but if there were, Croxley just had to hope that
they wouldn
’
t
cause them any problems.

Ξ

After shaving his face and getting
dressed in more appropriate attire, Croxley headed out towards the
kitchen.

He
couldn
’
t
remember the last time he had eaten, and he was ravenous. He snuck
into the kitchen, hoping to get in and out without being seen. He
opened the door slowly, peering around and finding it empty. He
dashed in and found some leftovers of what must have been
yesterday
’
s
feast. He grabbed a leg of turkey, an apple, some cheese, and a
large piece of bread. He shoved the apple in his mouth and piled
the rest in his arms. He was looking for some pastries when a deep,
rolling laugh echoed throughout the kitchen. He slowly turned
around and saw none other but the King standing in the kitchen,
with an amused smile on his face.

“
Still snatching
food from the kitchen, I see? You haven
’
t changed a bit,
Croxley,
”
he said, shaking his
head.

Croxley attempted
to protest, but he couldn
’
t around the apple in his mouth,
so he just raised his shoulders in a shrug as if to say, it
can
’
t be
helped.

“
Come, boy. Let
’
s sit at this table and eat like
civilized human beings. You aren
’
t a Nether, mind
you.
”

Croxley nodded,
remembering how much the King hated the Nethers. His great great
grandfather was the one who created the system. It seems as though
the prejudice against them had increased as it passed from
generation to generation. If anything, the man sitting before him
was responsible for the current hatred of Nethers in Ahrenia. The
King made it seem as though they were all prisoners, the scum of
society sent to live underground so as not to pollute the utopia
above. Croxley, among most other Ahrenians, fully believed this.
And for a while, whenever Croxley had to deliver messages to the
lieutenants and captains underground, he got in and out as quickly
as possible, never taking the time to get to know its actual
inhabitants. But when he met Fara, he was surprised by her
curiosity, her intelligence, her overall enthusiasm for life. She
wasn
’
t a
deadbeat, a worm to spoil the pristine society
above.

If anything,
after returning back to Stonewall with her, the city lost a certain
kind of luster. He even found himself bristling every time someone
made a jab such as
“
dirt brains
”
or “
mud eater
”
,
supremely uncreative insults stemming from the ideas behind how
Nethers were forced to live their lives.

Musing through
this as he chewed on his turkey leg, he saw the King through new
eyes. This powerful man was more of a father to him than his own
father. Or rather, Croxley always imagined it as such. His own
father was never a source of pride to Croxley. Skinny and quiet, he
always thought his father was weak. Instead of growing strong from
years of delivering messages like Croxley had, his father had
nearly withered away, claiming that the forest caused him to grow
ill, making his eyes water and his nose run. How his mother could
stand his complaints, Croxley never knew. He supposed that was why
his mother had such a strong personality. She had to make up for
what his father lacked. She was outspoken and honest, big-boned and
strong. Thinking of his family stirred unwelcome emotions. Croxley
couldn
’
t
remember the last time he stopped to visit his family. After he
replaced his father as messenger, his family left the castle to
live in the hills of Farthenburg, a small town in the east with
rolling green hills and peaceful, easy living.