Eleanor (88 page)

Anger and indignation flashed across his face. “What matter is that?”
 

“The life and death one, you know, the one where we get out of here in one piece and live to fight another day,” Eleanor said, Conlan’s look telling her he no longer considered himself to be in one piece.

“How are you going to do that?” Will snapped. “None of us has the energy to spare. Those hooded bastards have been back twice since you passed out, just to make sure we’re kept barely conscious. So tell me, little miss genius, what’s your plan?”
 

Eleanor finally forced herself to look at Will’s glaring expression. It made her shake. What Will had done made her fearful and uneasy, but he was right.
 

“I don’t have a plan,” she admitted.

“Then we’re going to die anyway, only you decided to torture Conlan first,” Will sneered. Eleanor felt the tears running faster, but she made no attempt to brush them away, she was too stunned. She had assumed that Will, at least, would understand.

“Leave her alone, Will,” Conlan said, sounding as tired as he looked. “She’s doing the best she can; she got rid of my shield. Besides, she’s not the only one to consider torturing me an acceptable price for a necessary action.”
 

Will ignored the pointed look Conlan gave him.

“Don’t tell me you forgive her!” Will said in angry disbelief. Conlan seemed to consider this for a moment.
 

“I forgave you,” he noted softly, smiling at Will.

Eleanor felt a small seed of hope burst into unexpected life. “I’m so sorry I hurt you, and if we get out of this alive I promise I’ll make it up to you, but please will you help us figure out a way to escape?”

Conlan sighed, the distrust and anger fading from his eyes. “I forgive you, Eleanor.” Her heart stopped. He smiled, her heart jump-started painfully and the world stopped instead. “You did what I asked,” he continued. “I have no right to complain about the methods. I’m just hurt that you found it so easy to do that to me.” He rubbed his red cheek ruefully, but the smile remained. Eleanor winced at his words.

“For the record, that was the hardest thing I have
ever
had to do,” she whispered. An energy string brushed against her. She grasped it but nearly flung it out of her head as she felt Will’s wary presence.

I’m sorry, Eleanor. You were never in any danger from me. I just wanted him to see you in pain. I needed to cut through his hurt, the despair and rage you created in him. I needed to remind him just what you mean to him. I would never have let him anywhere near your mind.

You were faking?
Eleanor asked incredulously.
 

He forgave you, didn’t he? We don’t have time for him to sit around and brood about this. Now stop feeling sorry for yourself!
Will snapped, pulling himself from her head.

“Eleanor? Are you OK?” Conlan asked, and Eleanor realised that she had been staring at the floor for a long time. She was not OK. This was way out of her league and she had no idea how they were going to get out of the cell, let alone the stronghold, and the knowledge of what was coming was paralysing her. Taking her silence as a sign that something was wrong, Conlan moved forward and placed his hand on her face. He lifted her eyes to his.
 

“What Will did to you, does it still hurt?” he asked, giving Will an angry sideways glance.

“No, and Conlan, please don’t look at Will like that. You have no idea how lucky you are to have a friend who cares about you as much as he does. I understand why he did what he did and I forgive him, you have no right to be angry with him,” Eleanor said, her voice cold and calm, her emotions under firm control. Conlan looked back at Will. Eleanor could not read the look that passed between them, but Will smiled.
 

“So what’s wrong?” Conlan asked, turning back to her. Eleanor pulled her head from his hands and pushing back into Freddie’s solid warmth she stared at the floor, very aware of just how hard her body was shaking.

“What’s wrong?” she repeated. “Have you looked around recently? I’m frightened, Conlan. Terrified. We have no idea how we’re going to get out of here, and I really don’t want your father to rip me to pieces. My fear is freezing my brain. You’re my family, my world, everything I love. We have precious few hours of life left and what have I been doing? I’ve destroyed you, made Freddie afraid of me and pushed Will into attacking me. I suppose I should be grateful Amelia is still asleep!” she choked down a sob as she finished her rant. Knowing her despair was slipping from her control, she kept her eyes firmly on the floor.
 

Conlan reached for her face again, forcing her eyes to his and staring at her for a long moment before he spoke. “Eleanor, you’ve figured out the book and how Avatar energy works. You’ve passed a
maldra scelpa
, rescued me on several occasions, removed my shield, helped me find an army and provided me with the most intelligent horse I’ve ever met. You’ve got us further than I ever thought possible, so don’t quit on us now.”

She stared at him. Calm green eyes filled with faith and hope stared back. It hurt.
Go down fighting? It’s not as if we have anything more to lose!
She nodded and took a deep breath, pushing her feelings back down, but her voice still quivered when she spoke.
 

“What have I missed? You said the Enforcers had been back?”

Conlan sat beside her as Will answered, his voice flat. “They come back, pull whatever energy we’ve been able to recoup, and then they leave again.”

“Hurts like hell,” Freddie grumbled.

“I think that’s because they’re pulling our energy through their shields,” Eleanor said slowly. “If you can find their energy strings you can pull the energy back, but possibly not with the low energy levels we have at the moment.”

“Can’t you just hide some energy somewhere?” Conlan asked.

Will smiled. “Sorry, we don’t come with spare batteries.”
 

Conlan looked confused. “What’s a battery?”
 

“Something that stores energy in our world,” Will answered.

Batteries?
 

Eleanor yelped in delight, waking Amelia up with a start. Moving forward as fast as her aching body would allow, she knelt in front of Will and kissed him hard. Rocking back, she smiled, amused by his surprised look. A slow smile met hers.
 

“Will, you’re a total genius!” she enthused.

Will looked doubtful. “I am?”
 

She nodded and sat back down, running through the plan in her head and looking for problems. Will watched her for a moment, then noticed Conlan, Freddie and Amelia all staring at him.
 

“What?” he muttered almost to himself. “
She
kissed
me
!”
 

Feeling happier and lighter, Eleanor allowed her mind to churn through angles and possibilities. “How often do the Enforcers visit?”
 

“Every few hours,” Will informed her.
 

Eleanor nodded, factoring in the time scale. “When are they next due?”

“Now,” Conlan said, glancing at the cell door with apprehension.

“I have a plan,” Eleanor said, unable to take the smile off her face.

“That’s great, but could you calm down a little and explain it?” Conlan asked.

Eleanor nodded. “Right... plan, yes... I do actually have a battery,” she stuttered, the excitement making her a little agitated.

“Still not making sense to the idiots, so maybe Will the genius could explain,” Amelia said with a smirk.
 

Will shrugged. “No clue what she’s on about.”

“Calm down and explain yourself,” Conlan said. She could hear the irritation creeping into his voice.
 

She took a slow, deep breath and tried to keep her voice level as she explained. “That’s what the Talismans are, or at least what the gems in them are – they’re batteries, sort of. They store energy, our energy. I’ve played with it a little, but I didn’t really give it much thought because I never envisaged a situation where I’d need stored energy.”

“So we
do
come with spare batteries,” Will said, smiling at his own joke. “Just a shame we don’t have them on us anymore.”

“Well that’s just it. Obviously the sword, wand and chalice are with Judder.” She then reached inside her shirt for the chain and pulled it out, dangling the diamond in front of them. “I forgot about this, though.”

“How much energy is in there?” Will asked, watching it swing to and fro.

“A lot. I spent a long time filling it, wondering if it would reach a limit, but it didn’t.” Still smiling, Eleanor put the diamond safely back under her shirt.

“So what’s your plan?” Amelia asked, a look of hope in her eyes that Eleanor found she desperately wanted to keep there.

“We let the Enforcers come back and empty our energy down again, then we have two hours. I’ll share the energy out between us, enough so that you can pull your own. We blast our way out of here and make for the main gate. Hopefully Judder will have stood by his word and be there to help us,” she said, a happy smile on her face.

“You don’t need to give me that much energy, Eleanor, this city has extensive aquifers; besides, your energy always makes me feel like I’m being buried alive,” Will said, shuddering slightly.

“Well it’s that or torturous death... your choice,” Eleanor countered.

Will smiled cheerfully. “Buried alive… ”
 

The cell door slammed open.
 

Eleanor jumped and twisted towards the four Enforcers as they entered. Arran stepped forward, his large hazel eyes staring at her malevolently. The energy-draining sensation ripped through her but there was no pain, which meant only Arran was pulling her energy.
 

Conlan lunged forwards, and in one fluid motion Arran pulled his attention from Eleanor and gestured with his hand, slamming Conlan into the cell wall where he struggled briefly like an insect pinned to a card, before going limp and dropping to the floor. Arran whipped back and calmly continued pulling Eleanor’s energy, almost before she had realised he had stopped.
 

“Find their strings and take the energy back!” Freddie ordered. Forcing himself to his feet and giving Conlan a worried frown, he strained against the efforts of the Enforcers.

Stunned by the sudden violence, Freddie’s words jerked Eleanor into action. She tried to pull the energy back, and for a moment she held Arran in check, smiling grimly at the surprise on his face. Arran took a step towards Freddie, and Eleanor knew exactly what he was going to do.

“Why are you doing this?” Eleanor asked through gritted teeth, desperate to distract him. Arran stopped and stared at her silently, looking a little surprised. Despite his lack of response, Eleanor kept talking. “We are trying to free Mydren, we want to free magic. We are trying to change this world for the better so in the future no child born with magic talent will be dragged from its parents and tortured into serving a Lord’s whims. We are trying to help people like you, Arran.”

He narrowed his eyes, focusing further. Another tugging sensation joined Arran’s, and pain filled her world. It felt like the core of her being was being ripped out. An Enforcer with a shield was assisting Arran.
If he moves into my head now, he’ll see our plan
. Fear of discovery stopped her fight and she collapsed, registering Arran’s satisfaction through half-closed eyes. She thrashed weakly against cold stone, dimly aware that Amelia was sobbing.

The pain left. Eleanor lay panting before the Enforcers. Arran glared at her and waved his hand once more. Freddie was buffeted off his feet and flung into the cell wall as Conlan had been, dropping like a sack of wet flour. He tried to rise, but Arran flicked his hand down and Freddie was slammed forcibly into the unyielding stone floor, a whimpering cry escaping him with the sharp exhalation of air from his lungs and the audible crack of ribs.
 

“Resist me again and he will suffer further,” Arran said, pointing a long white finger at Conlan, his merciless expression firmly back in place. Yet Eleanor had seen a flash of something in his eyes. The Enforcers turned and left the cell in a flapping of black robes, like crows over road kill.
 

Silence.
 

Conlan stirred and groaned as he forced himself up. Moving to her side, he made sure she was breathing before moving to Freddie. Eleanor could hear panting and pained breaths from across the cell.

“Freddie?” Conlan whispered.
 

Eleanor tried to move, to get up, to help Freddie… the world retreated into black.

“Eleanor, Eleanor…” The soft growl penetrated the dark. “Will, I think she’s coming round.” A gentle hand brushed her face and then gave it a light slap, the sensation bringing reality into sharp focus.

“Hey!” she muttered, raising her hands in weak defence.

“Eleanor, come on, open your eyes,” Will ordered. “We had a plan, remember? We can’t get the energy out of your diamond – we tried – so you have to do it. Wake up.” The light slap again. “Wake up, Eleanor, you’re being pathetic.”

Irritated, Eleanor opened her eyes. Conlan was cradling her and Will was leaning over her, grinning.

“Freddie?” she asked, trying unsuccessfully to get Will’s features into focus.

“I’ll live, Eleanor,” came the whispered reply. “Assuming we get out of here.”
 

With Conlan and Will’s help, Eleanor sat upright and took a few deep breaths while waiting for everything to stop spinning. Freddie was sat against the wall next to her, one arm wrapped around his ribs. His breath was laboured, his expression glazed and blood flecked his lips. Shocked by the pain she could see in his eyes, Eleanor moved slowly to kneel in front of him. Reaching forward she took his face in her hands.

“Don’t you dare die on me, Freddie,” she said, and leaning forward she kissed his forehead. Freddie smiled at her, slowly shaking his head.