Ascension (50 page)

By the time they reached Jean, she
was ready and had the trap door lifted. The men nearly jumped down
the hole, Croxley and Erik close behind. Jean pulled the door down
above her head, and the last thing Croxley saw before it closed was
a group of troops running past the door.

They waited in
silence, not even daring to breathe, as they waited for the
men
’
s shadows
to pass by the door. It seemed like an eternity, but finally the
guards moved on, apparently not knowing to search the ground for
the entrance. Croxley blessed the slaves and all their secret
passages. When they could no longer hear any sounds coming from the
guards, Croxley turned around and looked at the men Erik had
brought with him.

“
This is Knox
from Weldar, Garvan from Laurevell, and Calder from
Sprokil,
”
Erik introduced the men with
him, and they all nodded successively.

“
Glad you could
make it,
” Croxley joked. “
There are
plenty of spears and swords in the weapons room for us to use. I
don
’
t know how
many you can carry,
” Croxley
’
s statement was met with an
amused look from each of the men, so he decided to keep
going,
“
but there are nearly enough
weapons for all of our people. Jean and I saw some weapons
scattered throughout the camp that we can pick up on the way out,
but I don
’
t
know if we will get a chance, now that they know we are
here.

Erik
nodded,
“
I will keep that in mind. Now,
where is the weapons room?
”

“
This
way,
”
Jean said, taking them through the
corridors until they reached the room. Croxley saw Erik stop to
study the door, and when he looked back at Croxley with his
eyebrows raised, Croxley just shrugged.

As soon as they
entered, the men didn
’
t waste any time piling up the weapons. Croxley noticed
that they brought with them large pieces of fabric onto which to
lay the weapons down, and when the pile was large enough, they
wrapped them up and bound them with some animal skin. Smart,
Croxley thought. Each man would be able to carry around 50 spears
or 30 swords, so between them all they should only have to make one
trip. In a short matter of time, they had all their weapons loaded
and began to make their way back to the entrance.

“
I
’
ll open the door and make sure
the coast is clear,
”
Jean said, climbing
the ladder and silently pulling herself up and through the door,
closing it behind her. They all waited in silence until she pulled
the door open again a few moments later.

“
Go now,”
she
whispered down.
“
They sent a search party
out for us, but they haven
’
t yet woken up the rest of the
troops. I think they are still trying to figure out who we were and
if it
’
s worth
it to sound the alarm. We should consider ourselves lucky. Right
now, they are on the southern edge of the forest, pretty close to
our camp, which means as soon as we clear the opening, we need to
steer them in the opposite direction. We should run north east.
Once we reach the thicker parts of the woods, it should be easy
enough to lose them. We can reconvene at the camp and then
distribute the weapons.
”

Croxley had to
admit, she came up with a good plan, and he
couldn
’
t think
of any immediate faults. He didn
’
t know how the other men felt
about following her command, but no one spoke up against
her.

They all handed
her their packs and she pulled them up, leaning them against the
wall. As each man made it up, they put their packs back on and made
their way through the camp. It was much harder to be both swift and
silent due to the heavy load of clanking weapons on their backs, so
they had to sacrifice speed for silence. They decided not to risk
their lot by trying to take all the weapons they came across, but
any notable weapons, such as a large mace and pointed club, were
added to their numbers. Erik and his men were leading the way, and
when he turned around to check on Jean and Croxley, he noticed that
they weren
’
t
carrying any weapons. Why didn
’
t they pack anything, he thought
to himself. He wondered what they were up to, knowing that they
hadn
’
t conveyed
to him the whole of their plan earlier this morning in the
forest.

As soon as they
reached the clearing, Knox, Garvan, and Calder all sprinted to the
opposite end of the forest. As was expected, the guards took
immediate notice, and after they realized what was on their backs,
they sounded an alarm and started chasing after the men. Erik
turned to Croxley, and told him,
“
Whatever you are up to, I wish you good luck,
”
before sprinting off to join his men. When he
reached the border, he turned back to see Croxley and Jean dash out
into the open. They succeeded in distracting some of the guards
trailing Erik before running off back towards the gate, making a
ruckus and calling for the attention of all the troops. Men came
rushing out of the tents, causing chaos as the guards who were
chasing Erik and his men suddenly had their view blocked by a crowd
of confused, adrenaline-pumped soldiers, and the guards quickly
lost track of their target as they wove through the masses of
people. It didn
’
t help that it was approaching dawn, so the moon was
lowered and the stars fading, making it nearly pitch black outside,
the flicker of their lanterns swallowed by the darkness. Erik
lingered a bit longer, hoping to know the fate of his friends, but
Knox put a hand on his shoulder, urging him to leave. He gave one
last glance back before he turned and ran into the darkness of the
forest.

Chapter
39

This morning I woke in a panic.
Having gotten use to waking with Erik at my side, I immediately
noticed his absence as I groggily rose to the rising sun. A jolt of
anxiety swept through me as I realized that he never came back from
his morning watch. I frantically looked around, searching for his
mat nearby, but it was still rolled up with the rest of his
supplies, minus his sword. So he came back for his sword and then
left without telling me. My mother must have heard my panicked
breathing, because she rolled over and pushed herself up into a
seated position, looking at me with half-shut eyes.

“
Faradene,
what
’
s
wrong?
”
She asked me.

“
Erik
didn
’
t return
from watch last night,
”
I choked, fear
tightening my throat.

“
Now Faradene, don
’
t work yourself up. He may have
decided to rest somewhere else, or perhaps your father has already
snatched him up to get things ready. I
’
m sure he is fine.
”
I highly doubted that what my mother said was
true, but it was calming to hear her words
none-the-less.

“
I
’
m going to find father,
”
I told her, running off in search of my father
in the hopes that Erik would be with him.

After a few moments of franticly
dashing around the camp, I found my father speaking to one of the
elders from another colony.

“
Father,
”
I ran up to him, breathless. I
’
m sure I looked like a ragged
mess, because the elder to whom he was speaking looked startled by
my appearance and took a step back. I ignored this and continued my
interrogation.
“
Father! Have you seen the
Prince?
”

“
Faradene, calm
yourself. What has you so worried?
”
My
father put his hands on my shoulders to steady me, and I sunk into
their strong grip until he was nearly holding me
up.

“
I can
’
t find Erik!
”
my father raised an eyebrow and I realized I was still
speaking quickly. I took a breath and started over.
“I
can
’
t find Erik. I was
hoping that he would be with you.
”

“
He
isn
’
t with me,
but I can tell you where he is. He left early this morning with
three other men. They went with Croxley and Jean to retrieve the
weapons.
”
I looked incredulously at my
father and the absurdly calm manner in which he said this. I opened
my mouth in protest but closed it when he narrowed his eyes.
“
Their plan was strong and the timing was
perfect. It would have been wrong for me to not allow them to go.
Regardless, they would have gone anyways. This way is safer, I
assure you.
”
He let go of my shoulders
and pulled me into an embrace.
“
Have
faith in your father, have faith in your friends, and have faith in
Erik. We all have to make sacrifices, Fara. Trust me when I tell
you that Erik will do everything that he can to make it back to
you.
”
I let a few silent tears fall into
my fathers broad chest, inhaling the familiar scent of his cloak.
Smoke, dirt, and sweat. When I had control of myself, I pulled away
and smiled at him.

He turned his
body to the side and I noticed the elder was still standing there,
looking impatient. My father extended his arm in my direction and
introduced me as his daughter.
“
Faradene,
this is Enric, one of the councilmen from the Dirskin
colony.
”

I extended my hand to shake his,
while at the same time sniffing my nose, and he recoiled. My father
winked at me and my still racing heart slowed a bit in
ease.

Ξ

Erik and his men came loaded with
weapons in the early morning. I was running out to greet them when
I noticed that Jean and Croxley were missing. I slowed down to a
stop while my mind ran over all the possible explanations for their
absence. I had to stop it from wandering too far before it took me
down a dark path. I was sure that Erik would have a good
explanation. That they had to take a different path back, that they
were just behind them. Anything would do.

When Erik came
close enough, he wrapped his arms around me in an embrace but I
remained stiff.
“
Where are Croxley and
Jean?
”
I asked.

“
They had a plan
of their own. I
’
m not sure where they are right now, but if I had to guess,
I would say they were in the castle.
”

“
What do you
mean, in the castle?
”
I
couldn
’
t
believe him. How did he not know where they were?
Weren
’
t they
together?

“
When we were
running away, they left the group and went their own
direction.
”
I was ready to unleash a
stream of rather impolite words, but he put his hand up to stop
me.
“
I didn
’
t know what they were going to
do until the last minute. And without them, I don
’
t think we would have been able
to escape and make it back.
”

That reminded me of the other reason
I was angry at him.

“
Why
didn
’
t you tell
me you were leaving?
”
I accused as I hit
him repeatedly in the chest. He took it all unflinchingly until I
was finished, my shaking hands resting above his heart, the beat
thudding under my touch.
“
I
didn
’
t want to
wake you. Now wait, before you get angry, you have to admit, if I
woke you up and told you where I was going, you would have insisted
in following. Not only that, even if I convinced you to stay here,
you would
’
ve
been up all night with worry. You needed the rest. And I knew I
would be back.
”
I pulled away from him
but he pulled me back in and planted a kiss on the top of my head
before letting me go.

I clamped my
mouth shut to keep my thoughts from escaping, trying to convince
myself to hear what he was saying. We walked back in silence as I
wrestled over this in my mind, finally coming to terms with the
situation. I wasn
’
t okay with it, but at least I
understood.

We met my father
among the goats and sheep, going through the supplies to prepare
for the day. With him were Heath and Mr. Harris. I
haven
’
t seen
them much since we returned to Cethin, although I
’
ve had a few chances to talk
with them while we were traveling from Cethin to Stonewall. Mostly
they spent their time with the other Nether leaders. It turns out
they made fast friends with the leaders of the colonies they had to
recruit, which doesn
’
t surprise me in the least with Heath, but I was a little
surprised that Mr. Harris was so amicable among the
Nethers.