Divided (71 page)

Not wanting this incredibly nice girl to feel outcast, Aela
dropped back to walk beside her.  Leif wasn’t very good at making sure that
people felt—well, welcomed.  “I’m sorry all this has happened,” Aela said
softly.  “I know this has been hard.”  Taeru flashed across Aela’s mind—and she
thought idly that he would be proud of her for this.

The red-haired girl stared at Aela for a moment, and then
she offered what appeared to be a genuine smile.  “Don’t worry about me. 
Just—finding out that Kilik, sweet, little Kilik is a prince of Cathalar has
been a little jarring.  Then, I’m worried that Juliet is going to get herself
killed.  She has been like the mother I never had,” Katt said weakly.  “I know
that Kilik—ah, Taeru is your brother.  I know this is harder for you.”

Aela nodded her head.  There was certainly no denying that
Aela was experiencing no small amount of pain over what had happened.  She knew
that if she let herself dwell on it, she would be thrown into a fit of
grief—and unable to help her brother, or anyone else.  “We’ll help them, I
promise.”

At last, Leif brought them to a very abrupt halt. The wall
looked just the same as it had for the past hundred paces they had been
walking.  “Whenever you maidens want to stop gossiping,” he said spiritedly. 
Katt and Aela both narrowed their eyes, but they approached him nonetheless.  
Gossiping—really. 
Katt glanced up towards the top of the wall, and Aela followed her gaze.

There seemed to be no possible way to climb this section of
the wall though.  Any footholds were too sparse to use appropriately, and Aela
didn’t think she could even get off the ground.  Her hands wouldn’t reach the
nearest indention.  Looking either way, it didn’t appear to get much better. 
“Leif,” she hissed, “are you mad?  I can’t climb this!”

Once again, he just stared at her as though she were a
foolish little girl.  She hated that look—she could think of very little that
she hated more than that look.  “I can’t!” she growled.  “I am not some sort of
master climber that can hang out of windows with only my feet!  I’m sorry—I
realize that I’ve been trying to help you this entire time, but there are
things that I cannot do.  You know it’s hard for me to admit that, but I ca—”

With an amused smirk on his face, Leif turned to the stone
wall, and with one, solid kick, the stone fell away to the other side.  Dust
exploded from the newly formed hole and crumpled rocks spilled towards the
ground.  The hole wasn’t new, she realized—Leif had found, or either formed,
this hole a long time ago.  “I do appreciate your acknowledgement that you
can’t do a few things, though,” Leif said.  “Now, I know the chivalrous thing
to do would be to allow ladies first, but as there could be men on the other
side waiting to plow their swords through the first piece of flesh they see, I
think I will.” 

A spasm ran through Aela’s body at the words.  Leif would be
able to defend himself, though, and he knew that—because he wouldn’t leave Aela
and Katt to fight on their own.  With a flourish of motion, the young Cathalari
disappeared through the hole.  Not until Leif whispered softly from the other
side did Aela release her breath. “Are you coming?”

Exchanging a quick, silent communication with Katt, Aela
decided to go first.  She eased on to the other side.  The dirt and falling
rock had disguised the Shining District, though it was certainly not the
peaceful place that she’d visited before.  There were people in the distance
shouting orders, and they would have been in trouble if the wall hadn’t been
off to the side so entirely. 

Katt appeared last, and a gasp escaped her as her eyes took
in the tall and sparkling buildings of Telandus’s Shining District.  Aela found
herself annoyed with Katt’s ability to be impressed with a land that was so full
of monsters.  Then again, this was a woman who had spent her entire life in
slums, she reminded herself.  “Just remember who lives here,” Leif said, “and
you’ll want to return to Dark District.”  A wince twisted Katt’s features, and
she nodded her brief agreement.

“Stay close to me.  This place is crawling with incompetent
guards, and it would be a minor inconvenience if you were to be seen by them,”
Leif said.  Aela stifled a giggle, and a grin moved onto Katt’s face. 

They proceeded forward, using the buildings for cover just
as Aela and Leif had done before, when they were headed to the castle.  This
time though, they had to be much more careful with where they stepped.  Men
were skulking around, and though they hadn’t the slightest idea that someone
had gotten into their precious Shining District—they were designated to keep
watch.  After all, they had a bit of an uprising on their hands.

As they neared the castle, Aela realized that Juliet and
Alyx may be in the dungeon.  If they were in the dungeon—then that would mean
that they were near Taeru.  Surely, Taeru could be saved if Alyx and Juliet
were.  Once they pulled themselves behind a building that was relatively
deserted, Aela spoke.  “Are they in the dungeon?” she asked inquisitively.

Leif glanced at her, and there was a moment of sympathy in
his eyes.  Well, he wasn’t smirking, which probably meant that they weren’t. 
Aela’s heart sank at once.  “No,” he answered, “in order to maintain civility,
they are keeping them chained in a house prison.  It’s used for nobles that
have committed smaller crimes.”

“All noble crimes are smaller,” Katt sneered irately.  Leif
smiled at her, and Aela found that she preferred when Leif was regarding this
very pretty red-head with scrutiny rather than fondness. 

You’re jealous?  You’re jealous of this woman who helped
make sure that you stayed alive for the past cycle?  This woman who is willing
to help you save your brother?  Don’t be absurd!  It is a shame that she is so
charming, though.

“That they are,” Leif agreed amiably.  Aela pushed aside her
reservations, and they continued forward.  They had turned away from the
castle, and Aela marveled at how well Leif seemed to predict even the slightest
movements of the men on watch.  “We’re nearly there,” he whispered after a few
moments.  Aela could feel her heart pounding faster in reaction to imagining
what they might find.  What if Alyx and Juliet were already dead?  What if they
were too late?  No, she could not think like that.  That was precisely the sort
of thinking that would send her straight to useless.  She swallowed hard, and
her feet struck along the surface with measured silence as they went. 

Leif would know if Alyx and Juliet were dead, Aela told
herself quietly.  He knew so much already, there was no way they would have
come all this way just to find their corpses.  After all, she reminded herself
further, Leif had said that they were using Juliet and Alyx to try and solve
the crisis they had on their hands.  Surely, the guards of Telandus would not
sentence them to death so quickly. 

Moving forward a little more, Aela thought she saw their
destination.  A large black and grey building.  It didn’t possess the same
polish that the other buildings seemed to have, and therefore, it looked a little
ominous standing in the center of a row of a few estates.  It was still tall,
though, at least three Dark District inns stacked on top of one another.  When
Leif caught Aela’s gaze, he nodded.  “That is it,” he affirmed.

Once they reached it, or rather, the wall that surrounded
it—they became aware of said wall.  Guards were sparser here, as this was the
noble prison, and there was far less security.  Still, the fact that Juliet and
her family were inside meant that people were still assigned to stand about. 
Aela narrowed her eyes.  Leif was removing something from his cloak, though, no
longer interested in the wall before him.  “What are you doing?” she asked.

He regarded her irately for a moment, before resuming
precisely what he was doing.  Oh, why couldn’t he be more normal?  Most men,
especially when speaking to women, would have been sure to answer all her
questions.  Leif, though, seemed to feel more inclined to not answer Aela.  And
this was after the two of them had kissed—three times!  Aela flushed at the
memory.  Well, she supposed she could forgive him for his silence.  He removed
a length of rope from his belt and began tying it about his waist.  “They don’t
watch the top of this wall—not well, at any rate.  They assume it will make
everyone come to the gate.  Manali, can you climb?”

Katt blinked for a moment, and then she nodded her head. 
The prison wall was built with blocks of stone that allowed for climbing.  Not
for someone with no experience, but Aela could see how they could be used as foot
and hand rests.  Leif finished tying the rope, and then he handed it to Katt. 
“Hold onto this, and climb,” he instructed.  He just nodded once to Aela before
he placed his hands onto the first blocks and then began easing himself
upwards.  Aela helped Katt tie the rope around her wrist, and they both
followed Leif obediently.

The rope may have been to ensure that Katt would be caught
if she fell from the stone blocks, but the force of it would have to pull Leif
down with her.  Would he be so ready for it that he would be able to handle
nearly double his weight?  Doubtful, Aela thought.  Still, she climbed, trying
to keep an eye on Katt so that she could warn Leif if he was about to be
carrying double.  Leif moved much more quickly than either of them did.  He
really was part gecko, she thought exasperatedly. 

His body moved as though he were crawling over the ground. 
The closer he got to the top, the quicker his body seemed to move.  Trying to
keep pace, Aela hurried herself.  The footholds were easy enough to grasp, but
she had to make sure that she was finding holds that weren’t going to drop
her.  Leif didn’t seem to need that step at all.  Katt, on the other hand, was
slipping and sliding across the surface as often as she was making clean
movements upwards.  Aela tried to hurry after Leif.  If they were at the top
when Katt fell, they would be able to pull her up more easily if Aela was there
to help.

Just as Leif’s hand reached the top of the wall, though,
Katt’s hand slipped entirely, and her body fell downwards.  Leif had managed to
throw both arms over the wall, though, and so he was able to use that to keep
both of them up.  “Aela,” he snarled.  “Aela—hurry.”  His body was being pulled
downwards in a rather unforgiving manner.  The rope was also in danger of
untying itself.  Somehow, though, Katt had kept herself from screaming.

Being the only thing that could save both of them, though
Aela doubted the fall would kill them, she hurried as much as her body would
allow.  She glanced down towards the fall.  No, Katt would be entirely fine if
she fell—unless Leif landed on her.  Leif, on the other hand, would be in
danger of breaking a few bones.  The footholds seemed to take much longer to
assess, though, as she got closer and closer to the top.  Her body trembled,
and she tried desperately to move fast.  Only one more push from the top, her
feet slipped before she reached the next ledge, and her fingers glided
painfully over the stone so the skin of her hand peeled away.  At last, though
they caught another hold.  “Aela!” Leif cried.

One of her fingernails cracked, and she hissed in pain.  Her
other hand reached desperately for something to hold, and at last, she found a
cavity in the stone.  Next, she focused on recovering her feet.  After a few
long moments, she was able to recover her position entirely.  Without pausing
to worry with her bleeding hands, she took another step upwards.  “Are you
okay?” Leif asked, sounding hoarse.

“Be quiet,” she snapped at him.  She wasn’t free falling to
the ground, and he ought to realize that meant she was alright.  With a few
more firm grasps on the jagged edges, she managed to yank herself over the side
of the wall.  The thing was surprisingly thick, and she wondered why they’d
bothered to make it so.  No guards were standing up here, so it made no sense
for them to have wasted the stone. 

Then again, Telandans had never been known for their
minimalistic tendencies.  “Aela!” Leif hissed, and though his voice was
suppressed, the urgency in it made her glance across to him.  One of his hands
had slipped, and with another few moments, he would be free falling to the
ground.  She whimpered in concerned.  With renewed quickness, she began
crawling over to him, ignoring the pain in her hand.  “Stay low,” he managed to
warn.

As if she hadn’t known that—she wasn’t going to let them get
caught while Katt and Leif were hanging off the wall.  Though, she wondered why
Katt hadn’t reclaimed her hold on the wall.  Aela reached with her clean hand
to take Leif by his belt.  She eased him back onto the wall, grinding her teeth
as she fought against his and Katt’s weight.  He began to help once he’d been
pulled enough.  His arm pressed against the stone as they both worked to pull
his weight up.  At last, he was on the right side of the wall, and he jerked so
that he could try and pull Katt up.  Glancing down, Aela could see that Katt
had hit her head.  There was a tiny stream of blood running down the left side
of her temple.  That was why she hadn’t tried to grab on.  She was barely
conscious. 

Aela helped grab the rope, easing Katt’s weight up the wall,
trying to keep her away from the stone.  Despite their best efforts, she
skidded along the stone, and she was forced to push herself away with her
hand.  When she finally reached the top, Leif laid her down, placing a hand on
the gash on her head.  Aela knelt beside him, and she noticed that his arms and
hands had been skinned as well.  “We have to hurry,” he whispered.

Katt blinked her eyes a few times, and then she shook her
head.  She was trying to respond, but she was obviously not used to dealing
with this sort of injury.  At last, she pushed herself upright and offered a
nod.  “The good news is, you two stay up here.  Stay as low to the ground as
you can.”