Ascension (52 page)

“
Ah, Prince Erik.
So you have come to turn yourself in?
”
He
said to Erik, and then turned his eyes to me, raking them up and
down my body in a way that left me feeling utterly violated and had
my father in the background growling angrily.
“
So this is the wench that convinced you to leave to castle,
abandon all of your people, and become a traitor to your kingdom? I
think you could have chosen better,
”
he
laughed, keeping his eyes locked on mine. I kept my face hard,
refusing to let his comments in.

“
We have come for
an audience with the King,
”
I announced,
my voice unwavering and hard. I have lived with this kind of abuse
my entire life, and I wasn
’
t going to let this man, or any
man, for that matter, scare me any longer.

The man looked
amused by my demand.
“
Do you honestly
think the King would waste his time with you?
”

“
I
’
m sure my father would want to
hear what his people have to say. And if not them, at least the
words of his son, the Prince of Ahrenia,
” Erik
said.

“
Ha! You don
’
t have any right to call
yourself a Prince now. You are no better than the Nethers
themselves, just as dirty and stupid as the rest of them. Besides,
the King has no regard for you as anything more than an enemy of
the nation. In fact, he has put a ransom on your head. 100,000 gold
coins for anyone who brings you in, dead or alive,
”
the general threatened.
“And I
’
m pretty sure he would prefer
you, well, dead, more than alive.
”
As he
said this, the troops surrounding us closed in, pushing us tighter
together. The archers all faced outward, their backs to us and
their bows towards the guards, while the rest of us drew our
weapons.

“
How amusing. You
think you might stand a chance. Well, I
’
ve been out here for a week with
nothing to entertain me, so go ahead. I could use some
entertainment. Men, attack!
”

At that same
moment, Derrin blew on the horn he had carried with him, the signal
that called the rest of the Nethers out of the forest. In seconds,
the field was flooded with troops of both sides, and the fighting
began. I watched as swords swung, arrows flew, and spears stabbed
at warriors all around me. I had never before seen such a scene of
violence, and it had me rooted to the ground. I
couldn
’
t seem
to tear myself away from the bloodshed unfolding before my
eyes.

“
Fara! Watch
out!
”
I turned around just in time to see
a guard running at me, his sword drawn and a sick smile pasted on
his face. I blocked his strike just in time, and parried his
offensive swings until an opportune moment came for me to lunge,
slicing open a long gash down his side. He staggered for a few
moments, giving me an opening to deliver a death strike, but I
couldn
’
t bring
myself to do it. As he righted himself, he brought his sword down
on me with such force that I barely had time to block it, and I had
to use all my strength to keep his blade from reaching my chest. He
pushed down harder and harder, and I howled in pain as my muscles
ripped, pushing back with all my might. My trembling arms were
about to give in, and I knew he could tell by the fire in his eyes,
the sudden increase in his focus. Then, without warning, the light
went out, and he slumped forward, nearly landing on me before I
leapt out of the way and he hit the ground. My heart was racing and
I wasn
’
t able
to make sense of what just happened until I saw Heath standing
where the man had just been.

“
Fara, are you okay?”
He shouted over the clanging of weapons.

“
Yes, yes!”
I had
to repeat it a few times before I could get the shaking answer out
of my throat, which had been sealed in fear.

He nodded and
focused his sword on a man lunging towards him, and I shook myself
from my nerves, berating myself for my cowardice. Fara, this is
war. You can
’
t
be soft. As soon as I told myself this, I was charged by another
man, this one smaller, and I planted my feet firmly in the ground,
ready to fight.

Ξ

“
Come around this
way.
”
Croxley was following Jean as she
navigated through the tunnels of the castle. After ditching the
guards that were following them, they made their way towards the
castle to see if they could find the servants and release
them.

“
You never know
what the King is capable of,
”
Jean had
told Croxley when she was explaining her plan to him
earlier.
“
He might just decide that the
best way to end the revolt is by taking it out on all the servants
from the colonies. I want to make sure he doesn
’
t lay a hand on any of the girls
that were with me.
”

They had been
navigating through the tunnels for a few hours, and Croxley was
amazed at the network that had been underneath Stonewall this whole
time. The mischief Erik and I would have gotten into if we would
have known these tunnels were here, he thought to himself. He
chuckled as he remembered some of the more dangerous things he and
Erik had done, but stopped short when he saw Jean
’
s hand shoot
up.

“
Shhh,”
she
hushed, craning her neck around the corner, listening for anything
that might be coming. After a few moments, she motioned her fingers
towards her.
“
Alright, this way. We are
almost to the corridor that enter into the
kitchen.
”

“
Once we get
there, we should have a straight route to the prison, where the
girls will most likely be kept. I
’
m hoping that the number of
guards here in the castle will be lower because of the
rebellion,
”
Croxley
said.

They made the rest of the trip in
silence, listening for any approaching footsteps, as well as the
sound of people overhead. They were nearly there when they saw the
flicker of a lantern.

Croxley and Jean
searched frantically for a hiding spot, but there were no nooks or
crannies that could protect them from the lantern
’
s revealing blaze. They
backtracked a bit so that they were concealed behind the corner of
an intersection between two tunnels. This hid them well enough at
the moment, but if the lantern-wielder decided to go down their
tunnel, they would be spotted.

The lantern made its way to the
center of the intersection, and the sudden bright light blinded
Croxley momentarily. He blinked his eyes rapidly to adjust, and as
they cleared, he was shocked to find Jean running towards it. A few
moments later, when he had regained full control of his sight, he
was equally shocked to see that it was held by an old woman wearing
the basic garb of a laundry maid.

“
My goodness,
child, what are you doing here?
”
The old
woman asked Jean.

“
Winnerva, I
could ask the same of you!
”
Jean answered
in a hushed voice.

“
You know me. I
always try to come down here. I
’
ve been so busy running back and
forth between the nobles that I haven
’
t had a chance to check on the
tunnels. Honestly, why they have to change their gowns three times
a day is a mystery to me.
”

“
Croxley,”
Jean
said, turning back to him,
“
this is
Winnerva. Remember when I said I was living on the street? Well,
after I discovered this tunnel system, I decided to make it my home
and live down here. I mean, I
’
m from Grundale, so it fits,
right? Well, one day I was wandering the tunnels and I ran into
Winnerva. She took me under her wing and helped me find a better
way to live, one that didn
’
t involve stealing or beatings
or any of those other things I
’
ve had to go through.
She
’
s done this
with a lot of different people she
’
s found under here.
She
’
s made it a
kind of refuge.
”

“
Ah, the girl
flatters. I
’
m
just an old croon that can
’
t seem to stop getting involved
in other people
’
s business. Well, that, and I happen to have a direct line
to the castle. I
’
m on good terms with most of the staff there, so sometimes
I can convince the cook to give me leftover scraps every now and
then to feed to all the scrawny misfits I find down here, like
Jean. And every so often I meet a semi-decent noble that
wouldn
’
t mind a
foot servant or assistant, so I help these young
’
s get back on their feet with a
respectable future. How did Madam Thrope treat you, by the
way?
”
She asked Jean.

“
Very well,
Winnerva. I was her foot servant for quite some time, but sadly she
fell ill and passed away. After that, I found a job at an inn, but
that didn
’
t
work out, so I ended up back at the castle.
”

“
I
’
m so sorry to hear that,
child,
”
Winnerva expressed, putting her
hand on Jean
’
s
shoulder for a few moments before she turned to Croxley.
“
I know you. You
’
re that messenger boy, the
Prince
’
s best
friend. Everyone up there is looking for you,
”
she said.

“
I know.
That
’
s part of
the reason we are sneaking around down here. Do you happen to know
what
’
s going
on? Regarding the King and the rebellion,
”
Croxley asked, hoping to get any inside information that
might make their near-suicide mission a bit
easier.

“
Well, nearly all
the guards have been sent to the gate, so the castle is relatively
peaceful, except for the nobles who think they can raid the wine
cellar and drink themselves beyond reason. Mathelda and the staff
have been kept busy cleaning up after these parties, so some of the
older servants like myself are stuck doing all the rest of the work
in the house.
”

“
What about the
girls who were imprisoned? The ones who tried to escape?
”
Jean asked anxiously.

“
They were taken
out of the jail and moved to one of the rooms in the eastern tower,
where guards are always on patrol in front of their
room.
”

“
That could make
things a lot more difficult, or a lot easier,
”
Croxley mused.

“
Well, there is
only one way to find out,
”
Winnerva said,
slowly turning herself around. Croxley wondered how old she was,
and just how much she had seen here at the
castle.

He followed in the wake of this
mysterious little woman and her lantern as she guided he and Jean
out of the tunnels and into the castle.

Ascending into
the kitchen, Croxley noticed that there was an absence of clacking
utensils and cooking-ware. Normally, the kitchen was a cacophony of
chopping and orders and hissing kettles. Today, there
wasn
’
t even the
sound of soup simmering in the pot over the fire.

“
What happened
here?
”
Croxley asked.

“
Well, after you
and Jean left the castle, you started a small riot. When the guards
were moving the the group of servant girls from the prison to the
tower, one of them managed to get away and reach the
servant
’
s
quarters. By the time the guards caught up with her, she had spread
the news that Jean and Fara were going to liberate all the Nethers.
After that, well, I
’
m sure you can imagine the chaos that ensued.
You
’
ve given
them hope.

Word traveled
quickly through the castle, and soon all the Nether servants had
gone on strike, and even some of the non-Nethers teamed up with
them. Since this happened, there has been no one to help in the
kitchen, no one to help do the laundry, no one to do any of the
chores. A few of us older ones stuck around, because where else
would we go? And besides, staying here allows me to keep an eye on
everything.
”

“
Where did they
all go? After they went on strike,
”
Jean
asked excitedly.