Ascension (40 page)

“
Sir Croxley. I
would have thought that your conversation with Lena had convinced
you of the recklessness of your plan. You could have been such a
help in capturing the Prince. Ah well, you are replaceable. And so
are you,
”
Mathelda said, piercing the
base of her captive
’
s throat. The woman cried out, and Croxley struggled
against the guards holding him down.

“
Stop!”
A cry
rang through the dungeon room and everyone turned to look at the
entrance. Lydia stood at the entrance, her arms bracing the sides
of the door. Croxley saw that she had been beaten, blood dripping
down the side of her head and staining the front of her
dress.

“
Lydia!”
Croxley
gasped as the guards tugged his arms behind his
back.

Mathelda
snarled,
“You
’
ve done more than enough, Lydia. Get out of
here.
”

“
No! I
’
m not going to let you rule over
my life anymore! I
’
ve been your puppet for too long, Mathelda.
I
’
m not going
to play your game!
”

“
Then you will
lose!
”
She threw the woman in her arms
down to the ground and rushed towards Lydia, the dagger held high.
Croxley, adrenaline coursing through his veins, wrenched himself
free from the guards. He saw Lydia and Mathelda struggling, and
wanted to go and help her, but first he had to check on the brown
haired woman, who was motionless on the ground. Sprinting ahead of
the guards, he reached the woman and checked her for wounds. She
was unconscious and had a gash down her arm, blood pooling thick
around her. That and the small slit in her neck were changing her
tan shift into a deep crimson. He picked her up, planning to get
her to the exit and come back for Lydia, when he heard a cry of
pain.

He turned around to see Lydia in the
hands of the guards, her head hanging, while Mathelda was doubled
over, her hair lose and draped over her face as she cradled her
side.

“
You
whore!
”
Mathelda cursed, breathing
heavily.
“
You will rot in your
cell!
”

The guards
starting pulling Lydia down the stairs, and Croxley called after
her,
“
Lydia! Let her go!
”
But with the woman in his arms, he could hardly
fight off the guards heading towards him.

“
Go! Croxley, go now!”
Lydia yelled, and though it pained Croxley to leave behind
Lydia and all the other prisoners, he knew that the tables had
turned, and his chances for escape were getting smaller and smaller
the longer he waited. He tore away from Lydia, Mathelda, the
guards, the prisoners, and covered the rest of the distance to the
exit as fast as he could.

After he bolted out the door, he
found himself back in the castle. Some nobles standing nearby were
startled and began chattering anxiously in the hallway, watching
him with wide eyes that only grew wider when they noticed the
bloody woman in his arm. He tore past them, and understood that the
transition from chatter to gasps of surprise meant that the guards
had appeared out of the dungeon.

He pushed himself even harder,
running through the castle at full speed. He took some shortcuts
through different rooms, and by the time he ran through the
kitchen, which was, thankfully, empty this early in the morning, he
had put enough distance between him and the guards to rest for a
few moments. He looked down at the woman in his arms and found her
awake, looking around.

“
How are you
feeling?
”
He asked, setting her down
gently on the kitchen table.

“
A little
dizzy,
”
she said, cradling her arm. He
located a dish rag that didn
’
t look too dirty and used it as
a tourniquet for her arm. He used a little bit of brandy from the
nearby shelf to clean it out, impressed that she gave only the
slightest whimper at the pain, and then bandaged it tightly. He
could hear some commotion outside the kitchen and knew that they
were running out of time.

“
Can you
run?
”
He asked, and the woman nodded. He
went to exit through the opposite kitchen door, but she shook her
head.

“
Not that way.
There
’
s a
servants corridor that connects to the kitchen closet. It will lead
us out of the castle. This way,
”
She
pulled him by the hand through the kitchen and down the corridor.
They emerged in the back of the castle where the garbage was
thrown, and the woman gasped in surprise when a swarm of rats
darted from the trash that she and Croxley had displaced. They
worked their way around to the front of the castle, and Croxley
left the woman hidden in the shadows for a few moments in order to
grab Sir Thunder and Sam, who he had tied out next to the steeds of
visiting nobles in order to not seem suspicious. He had muffled the
horse
’
s shoes
so that they wouldn
’
t clack against the cobblestone and announce their escape.
Lydia and Croxley had already packed all the supplies beforehand,
but now there was more than enough since only two of them had made
it out. After lightening their load a bit, they took off, weaving
silently through the dark, empty streets. They
didn
’
t slow
down until the city
’
s walls were out of sight.

“
Croxley, I need
to slow down,
”
the woman said. He stopped
and got off his horse.
“It
’
s my arm,
”
she explained,
“
I think it needs
to bandaged again.
”

“
Okay, just give
me your hand and I
’
ll help you down,
”
Croxley
offered his hand, but when she leaned forward, she did so too
quickly and fell into Croxley
’
s arms. The weight change threw
him off balance and they went tumbling down. Croxley turned himself
to make sure that he landed underneath her, and in doing so landed
with a loud
“
oomph
”
as the wind was knocked out of him.

She chuckled at
the sound and then apologized.
“I
’
m sorry. To be honest, this was
my first time riding a horse. He
’
s quite large and
intimidating.
”

Croxley found
this hilarious, and when she looked at him perplexedly, he
explained,
“Sam isn
’
t a horse,
he
’
s a mule. Sam-mule”
, he said with emphasis on the
“mule”
. She understood the pun immediately and joined him in his
laughter. Soon they were laughing with near hysteria, still on the
ground. Finally, they calmed down, and the woman said, in a
near-whisper,
“
We made
it.
”

“
Yes, we
did,
”
Croxley said, suddenly aware of her
weight on his chest. He looked into her warm hazel eyes, their
light nearly cutting through the darkness of the forest, and pulled
her in, kissing her soft lips gently. He felt her stiffen slightly,
and saw shock on her face.

“
I
’
m
sorry,”
he apologized.

“
No,
it
’
s okay,”
she
said,
“it
’
s
just, well, after so many forced nights with strange men, I never
thought I would want to, well, kiss back.
”
And she pressed her lips on his, a light, hesitant touch.
She left them hovering over his, as if testing it. Croxley waited a
few moments, tasting the air between them, before bridging the gap
and kissing her for a third time.

She was more
confident this time, pressing back harder, and soon they were
enraptured with each other
’
s presence, gasping for breaths
between each kiss in which they found solace from the harsh reality
around them. It wasn
’
t until the woman yelped when Croxley had moved slightly on
top of her that they stopped and broke apart.

“
Sorry, your
arm,
”
Croxley breathed, picking it up and
kissing it along the bandage until he made his was up to her
forehead.

“
That
’
s okay,”
she whispered, and Croxley could feel the smile on her
lips.
“
By the way, my names
Jean.
”

“
Hello, Jean.
It
’
s very nice
to meet you.
”

Chapter
33

“
I can
’
t help it, I
’
m just so
excited!
”

I was practically skipping through
the forest as Erik and I led our horses through a particularly
thick patch. As we headed south towards Grundale, it grew warmer
and the foliage thickened.

“
I
don’
t think the situation calls for
excitement.
”
Erik said, grumpy because he
had collected multiple itchy bumps from the insects of the forest.
He was a ways in front of me, having to clear a path with his
knife, and I was enjoying the view of his tanned, muscular back,
revealed to me when he first removed his shirt a few hours ago
after the temperature grew too warm for long sleeves. I myself had
a loose shift tucked into a pair of trousers I had borrowed from
Erik. At first, I was appalled to be wearing men
’
s pants, but after snagging my
frock on stray branches and thorns, nearly tripping multiple times,
I eagerly changed into more functional apparel.

“
Okay, I
’
ll admit that asking their
colony to follow us into a potential war isn
’
t the most pleasant of terms,
but still. I
’
ve
never been to another colony! Look at it from my point of
view,
”
I explained, and Erik stopped
plowing ahead to turn around, catching his breath.
“
Before this year, I didn
’
t even know what color the sky
was. I didn
’
t
know that there were so many different types of animals, some that
could fly, some that could swim, and I certainly did not know that
there were other Nethers living the same way I did. I could have
never imagined that I would be living on the surface of Ahrenia,
let alone leading a revolution among all the colonies with the
Prince of Ahrenia at my side. So forgive me for being excited about
spreading this news to other colonies and finally freeing my
people,
”
I huffed.

Erik smiled and pulled me in to him,
kissing the top of my head.

I squirmed out of
his grip and complained,
“
Gross,
you
’
re
sweaty.
”

He laughed and continued chopping
away. I went over in my head what I was going to say upon arriving
to Grundale. My name is Faradene. On the surface, I am known as
Fara. I am from Cethin. Cethin is another colony. Actually, there
are multiple colonies, and for ages we have been suffering under
the harsh sentence of the King. But today, we will change that.
Together, we are going to get our freedom. I giggled, exuding
nervous energy.

“
Going over your
speech again?
”
Erik asked, teasing. I had
already asked him to listen to it four times today, and had been
doing so every day since we left Cethin.

“
Yes I am,”
I
admitted, not even denying it.
“
How much
farther do we have to go?
”

“
If
Croxley
’
s
directions are correct, we should be there soon. I just have to
hope that we haven
’
t lost our mark traveling through this jungle.
”
Erik pulled out the map, consulting
it.

“
At least we
haven
’
t seen
any guards,
”
I offered. In fact, we have
been traveling for nearly a week, and we haven
’
t seen many people at all. The
few towns and villages we had passed we were sure to avoid and
leave a wide distance between them and us. I was still trying to
grasp in my mind just how large the outside world really
was.

Erik nodded in
agreement, studying his map. I distracted myself by looking at the
flowers nearby. Even after being on the surface for half a year at
this point, I still haven
’
t grown used to the beauty of
flowers. They seemed to come in an endless variety of colors,
shapes, and fragrances. And sometimes if you were lucky, a
butterfly or bumblebee or hummingbird would join you in your
appreciation of the flower and bring its own colors to the scene.
The beauty was astounding, and I couldn
’
t help but yearn to share this
world with my people.