“This is my birth mother,” I said, angling my head toward her.
Thena put her thin hand on my shoulder for support.
“Something's wrong.” She clutched her chest as if it was in pain. Gasping. “We must hurry.”
There was no hurrying, for Thena could hardly make it up the stairs. With each step she took, she had to brace herself against the wall, and wait moments before taking another one. I wrapped her arm around my shoulders and supported her weight as we made our escape.
“A gnome,” Thena said softly. “It has been ages since I’ve seen one of your kind.”
Nimm reached out his hand and tried to help Thena up the stairs. As we neared the top of the prison steps, there was another door with no handle. Running my fingers along the wood, I searched for a way to open it, but found nothing to grip. Pressing my cheek between the frame and the door, I saw we were locked in from the outside. At the top of the door was a small, barred window that let in fresh air and moonlight.
“Do you think you could fit through?” I asked Nimm. He cocked his head, measured with his hands the width of the spacing between the bars, and then brought them to his pudgy waist. He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. He was willing to try.
Gripping Nimm under his arms, I lifted him above my head. He grabbed the bars, put his foot on the bottom frame and worked on angling his body through. First his head, then his chubby belly—which got wedged between the bars. He kicked his legs, and he pulled with all of his might, but he couldn’t get through. He was stuck, and I knew when he gave up as his feet dropped and he hung there like a fancy door knocker, feet above the lock.
“Do you think . . .” I turned to my mother and pointed to the door. “Do you think you could release us?” I asked.
Thena shook her head. “I can’t . . . with you so close.”
I pinched my lips together to hide my frustration. Once again, I was the problem, not the solution—and even my mother was afraid of me.
“What if I go back down into the prison, far enough away from you. I wouldn’t hamper your magic? Then maybe you could open the door and save yourself?”
“Honor, you don’t understand. Conjuring the illusion of a coin is one thing, but if I used anything other than small amounts of defensive magic near you, the whole kingdom could pay the price. I don’t want to lose you when I just found you.” Her brown eyes pleaded with me to understand.
With a scream of frustration, I pounded my fist into the door with a thud. Pain traveled up my arm, and it actually felt good. I did it again, and again. I pounded the meat of my fist into the wood, releasing all of my pent-up anger and frustration.
What good was I if I couldn’t save anyone? If all I did was hinder?
Years of training, and I couldn’t even get out of a prison cell. I had nothing going for me.
A squeak of fear came from Nimm. Something he saw coming near us scared him. His legs wobbled, and he tried to force himself back into our side of the door. When that didn’t work, he went invisible.
A second later, a heavy thud hit the side of the wooden door, and dust came raining down from above us.
I backed away from the entrance in fear. Creaking followed, and the wood splintered, and a crack appeared on the inside of the door.
A high-pitched voice hollered, “I’m coming for you, Honor!” Another thud, and more of the wood cracked.
“Rumple?” I called out in surprise through the door. “Is that you?”
“Of course, I’m here to rescue you!”
“Shut it, you stupid axe! You’re going to alert the guards,” a muffled voice followed.
“Bravado?” I almost cried when I heard his voice. A third swing of the axe and Rumple had cut off the wood around the lock, and it fell to the ground. The door swung outward, and a wonderful sight greeted me.
Bravado, Amaryllis, Sorek, Saphira, and Humperstink.
“You came back for me?” I stepped through the door, helping Thena who seemed terrified by the outside world.
“Of course, we came back. You’re part of the family, and we don’t leave anyone behind.” Bravado put Rumple on the ground and reached out to give me a hug, followed by Amaryllis.
Tears formed in my eyes, and I turned back to the frail woman who was clinging to the broken door.
“Everyone, I’d like you to meet my mother, Thena.”
Amaryllis immediately went into protective mode. She pulled the cloak from around her shoulders and covered up Thena, rubbing the fabric up and down her arms, and speaking words of encouragement to her. She motioned to Sorek, who handed over his skin of water, and Amaryllis helped hold it up so Thena could drink.
When I had exited, I took in the surroundings, just as I had done when I was taken to the prison. We were in an outer courtyard by the guardhouse, and normally it was heavily patrolled, but now it was empty. Burners were scattered throughout the yard, and flames flickered, casting shadows upon the stone walls.
“Where are the guards?” I asked, turning to Bravado.
“Gone,” he said simply.
“I don’t understand. What do you mean gone? There were hundreds out here earlier this evening.”
“Yes, we know, but something happened, and they deserted their post. There was a commotion on the other side of the palace. We would’ve come sooner but couldn’t. That distraction is what allowed us to get you out.”
A squawk came from the door, and Saphira laughed when Nimm revealed himself again. With the door opened, we only saw his bottom half, still hanging facing outward, and his front was pinned against the outer wall.
Sorek moved to the door, and with his massive hands, pulled on the bars enough to release the gnome.
“Really, Nimm,” Saphira chastised. “You should have easily been able to squeeze through that. You might need to give up the sweets for a while.”
Nimm made a disgruntled noise and stuck his tongue out.
“Hey, don’t forget to thank me!” Rumple yelled from against the wall.
“I’d never forget you.” I leaned down and picked him up.
“You forgot me a bunch of times. Whatever happened to running into danger? Seeing action and fighting? All I’ve seen is the back of the ogre’s behind.”
I crinkled up my nose and held back the laugh.
“Watch your words, Dwarf, or you’ll rue the day you insulted Ogress De La Cour.” From beyond the courtyard, Ogress towered over the wall. Gone were her colorful robes and her daintily painted makeup.
She was draped in a furred garment, a necklace with a deer skull, and streaks of paint ran vertically down her face. She held a club larger than one of her ox. Against the many fires that burned, she looked intimidating; a beast of enormous power, and many would have said ugly. But not to me. It was her real armor, meant to intimidate and put fear in her enemies.
“Ogress,” I called up to her, and she bent down. “You look wonderful.”
Her green lips curled up in a smile around her bottom tusks.
“Thank you, child, but it’s time for you to prepare for war as well.” She motioned with her hand to the other side of the palace where the night sky was lit almost like day, and orange flames flickered against the sky.
Now I understood where the guards had gone. The palace was under attack, but my only question was, by whom?