They had made it halfway down the corridor when the bluish light revealed its shape as a flame. High and wide, set in a bowl of stone, and seemed to flicker tall into the chamber that the tunnel opened into. The three shapes paid them no heed. Too dark was the tunnel that was swallowing their movements.
Another few steps, and Armand froze beside her. “Addie.” It was less than a whisper but enough to make Gandrett stop and grab his forearm.
She took in the slender shape that stood between a woman in a big dress and a tall man, and her breath caught in her throat. Armand was right. That was Addie down there. And the chanting whisper was—
“Linniue.” It was Gandrett who spoke this time, and Armand’s infinitesimal nod was enough to confirm she had guessed right. “She’s going to kill her.”
Gandrett couldn’t tell if it was her or Armand who charged first as they rushed down the corridor, blades at the ready, and stormed into a dome-like chamber where Linniue and a man in the armor of the Denderlain guards blocked Addie’s path, forcing her toward the stone altar behind her.
Addie saw them first, eyes horror-stricken and skin as pale as the frost covering every inch of the room. Even the flame seemed to be made of ice rather than heat.
While Linniue seemed to have fallen into a trance, chanting in the ancient language of the times of dragons, the guard beside her very well noticed the intruders and pushed Addie against the stone before he drew a second blade and planted himself between Linniue, and Gandrett and Armand.
As he approached with slow, solid steps, Nehelon’s knife suddenly felt like a toothpick in her hand. But she had defeated men with less than that. And Armand was right next to her, his longsword ready to strike.
Before the first blow fell, Gandrett noticed Addie sliding to the ground, face down, and exposing a back covered in lines of blood. What had they done to her?
Then the guard’s sword hit Armand’s blade with a powerful strike, and Armand engaged the man in combat, buying Gandrett time to take care of Addie and Linniue.
The latter hadn’t so much as realized that someone else had joined their little ritual but continued her chants, arms spread wide and eyes closed. Gandrett snuck up from the side, half a thought on Armand’s aunt as she crouched down beside Addie, checking if the girl was still alive or if they had come too late.
Addie groaned at Gandrett’s touch, the bare skin of her shoulder like ice, and there was a symbol carved into her—a symbol Gandrett had seen before in her dreams. Only this one was crimson with Addie’s blood, while the ones in her dreams had been a turquoise-blue like the flame above the altar.
“She’s alive,” Gandrett said to Armand and tried pulling the girl up by her arm, but Armand’s shout of warning reached her just in time to turn and parry the guard’s blow, which would have surely hit its target in her back, with a twist of Nehelon’s knife, the curved blade somewhat helping to direct the force of the guard’s sword away from her. Caught off guard, the man landed on the altar, cursing as he pushed himself off the edge and attacked again.
Armand had already joined her, tugging on Addie’s arm as if he wasn’t certain Gandrett had assessed the girl’s condition right.
“We need to get her out of here,” Gandrett said to him over her shoulder, this time, boots ready to kick the guard’s blade out of their trajectory. “If she doesn’t die of her injuries, she’ll surely freeze to death.” She spun, letting the guard stumble into the empty space between Linniue and where Armand was crouching on the ground beside Addie, eyes wide as he watched her keep the heavily armed and armored man engaged in a battle he couldn’t win—even with little more than a toothpick in her hands.
The guard attacked again. This time, Armand took the blow with the flat of his blade before sending the man tumbling away with a push of his foot.
Not bad. Armand was fighting well—given that they had one injured and one religiously frantic to consider.
“What do we do with your aunt?” she asked, eyes on the guard who was restlessly coming for them again and again as if someone had erased all common sense. But his blades were still sharp, his blows still deadly. And it took Gandrett all her attention to not simply throw Nehelon’s blade to silence him forever. That wasn’t how she had been trained at the Order of Vala. Killing an opponent was the last resort—always. So she kept at it, taking turns with Armand, their strength slowly fading, and hoping that it wouldn’t be too late for Addie, while Linniue’s chanting turned from a whisper to a song, and eventually faded.
The silence that fell was sudden and dreadful, and when Gandrett looked up, Linniue was smiling at her from beside an array of blue-glowing symbols which was the altar in front of the fire.
Chapter Forty-Four
Nehelon cursed creatively at the first rays of sun peeking through the canopy of leaves. How long had he slept? An hour was what he had allowed himself. That had been after Riho had circled toward him from the night-sky, cawing urgently the news that he had found Gandrett. Also, the message that she would be on her way the second she’d eaten. No indication of what had happened to her, his mind was already flipping back and forth between anger and worry for her life. No clear statement about whether or not she was bringing back Joshua. What did it mean, She wasn’t sure he wanted to return? And most certainly no specifics about where and how she would exit the castle. Almost as if she wanted him to lose his mind.
He leaped off the ground, grabbing his sword in the process, and whistled for Alvi who came trotting from the nearby stream.
“It’s time,” was all he said to her, and the mare understood, black eyes blinking as she nudged his bicep with her nose, eager to see Lim again. “I hope she brings him,” he added. “If not, we’ll have to go in later and do that for her.”
Alvi nodded and stomped her hooves as Nehelon reached for the saddle and bridle and readied his horse for the most significant ride in a century.
“My nephew’s new toy,” Linniue cooed as Gandrett’s eyes met hers. The guard stopped his attacks as if halted by Linniue’s words. “And Armand.” She glanced at the ground where Armand was crouching beside motionless Addie. “What ever are you two doing down here?” She didn’t give them a chance to respond as she said with a wicked smile, “Nevermind. I had planned to take down the Lord of Eedwood much later, once Joshua is on the throne, but this way I am getting an early reward.”
Her gaze wandered to the altar lit up with the light of the symbols carved into stone. Armand straightened, planting himself between his aunt and Addie.
“Why her?” he asked, voice husky.
Gandrett noticed from the side that Armand’s free hand was signaling something with tiny gestures.
“Why?” Linniue shook her head, annoyance slipping through her mask. “Always those same questions. Why? How does it work?” She glanced down at Addie, that annoyance turning more pronounced. “I have been waiting for almost a year to get her ready, you know?”
“Ready for what?” Gandrett’s voice was carried by the freezing haze that escaped her mouth.
The symbols started pulsing beside her as Linniue took a step closer.