Rescuing the Captive: The Ingenairii Series (13 page)

Alec placed an arm beneath the unconscious Nichols and dragged him over to the side of the grate, then put his companion down and looked at the heavy metal cover. Warm air was rising from the darkness below. With another sigh of discontent, Alec engaged his powers, and used the strength of his warrior abilities to lift the edge of one side of the metal grate. With a heave he lifted it and let it fall backwards away from the heating vent, letting it land with a very loud clanging thud.

Alec dropped one of his few remaining knives into the darkness, and heard it land after only a fraction of a second, comforting him with the knowledge that the drop down wasn’t far. The women were beside him now, bent over with him to look into the darkness below.

“
How could you do that?” the thin woman asked. “We’ve seen three workmen call in extra help to raise that grating.”

A new crashing sound at the door told Alec that the besieging crowd outside had started using axes. “I’m going to drop down, and then I’d like for you to lower my friend to me. Will you do that please, so that I can catch him?” Alec asked the thin woman.

“
And then you’ll catch us?” she asked.

“
I don’t think this is going to end well. You shouldn’t plan to go with us,” Alec answered.

“
Her Highness does not wish to remain in captivity. We will go with you,” the shorter of the two women responded.

“
You get down there. We don’t have time to argue,” the tall woman urged.

Knowing that the woman was right about the lack of time, as a raucous splintering noise came from the door, Alec hopped into the dark pit. He landed on his toes, and flexed upward as his body rebounded quickly. “Drop Nichols down here,” Alec spoke to the two figures just above his head. There was a scraping sound as they moved the body, then his feet came sliding down to Alec, preparing him for the arrival of the rest of the inert body. Alec sat Nichol on the floor of the narrow brick chute.

“
Do you have candles?” he asked the women overhead. The tall girl ran to get something, while the heavier girl sat on the floor and hung her feet over the edge. “Will you help me?” she asked.

“
Come on down. I’ll help you,” Alec calmly reassured her, and he braced himself to withstand the arrival of her bulk. She slid more than jumped, and came down against Alec, whose hands found her hips and brought her to a soft landing on her feet. She was much lighter than he had expected her to be, and he felt for a brief moment as though he had compressed many layers of cloth, rather than flesh, as he held her.

“
Can you start crawling into that shaft?” Alec suggested to her as he held her loosely for a moment more, then released her.

“
Thank you! Yes, I’ll go,” she maneuvered around Nichols and began to crawl away from Alec.

He watched her for a second until a loud landing beside him startled him. The princess had landed gracelessly next to him without help or injury. “Go ahead and close the grate. I’ll follow the maid,” she told Alec.

Alec hadn’t thought about closing the grate, but realized it made sense. He re-engaged his warrior powers, and felt them flicker before he grasped them firmly; he was close to total exhaustion of his ability to use his powers. He leveraged himself upward, and grunted as he grabbed hold of the grate and pulled it up and over. The metal was incredibly heavy, and as he positioned it for its return to its functional role, his powers flickered again and he lost control of the weight.

The grate fell straight down, crushing the tips of the fingers on his right hand and banging against the top of his skull. Alec fell to the floor of the heating shaft, and heard the armoire in front of the door topple as the guards finally broke into the room. Alec held his right hand against his chest, grabbed the front of Nichols’ shirt with his left, and began to crawl into the warm dark void that was his only hope for escape.

Chapter 7 – Flight Underground

Alec heard thumping and exclamations behind him as he moved into the deep black darkness of the heating shaft. The women were somewhere ahead of him, although he could not hear or see anything. The floor of the shaft was a shallow bed of sand, making his progress less uncomfortable than it would have otherwise felt. A slight breeze, albeit a warm one, provided a barely detectable headwind.

There was a slight flash ahead of him, then a warm, flickering glow illuminated the cramped profiles of the two women squatting ahead of him.

“
Oh gracious! Are you alright?” the princess asked Alec as he struggled up to them with Nichols.

“
As alright as the conditions can allow,” Alec responded.

“
Your head – it’s bleeding,” the girl told him.

Releasing his grip on Nichols, Alec placed his left hand on top of his head. It was sticky, and he found that blood was running down his temple from where the grate had hit him. He lifted his right hand into the light and saw that the throbbing fingers were badly mangled.

“
Oh, your poor hand too!” the broad-hipped maid sympathized.

“
I’ll be okay,” Alec assured them. He knew that in just a matter of hours he would hopefully have enough rest to restore his healing powers and then treat his injuries. “Let’s keep moving forward. Those guards are going to be chasing us soon.”

One of the women grunted agreement, and they started forward again, the shorter of the two taking the lead and holding the candle ahead of her as they crawled. There were small vents occasionally branching off to the sides, one time bringing the sounds of people talking in a room overhead, and then after perhaps half an hour the ventilation shaft began to tilt noticeably downward. Alec’s awkward rhythm of pulling Nichols had just swung his face backwards when there was a mild shriek and the candle light ahead abruptly went out.

“
Are you okay? Is everything alright?” he called loudly.

“
Yes,” a voice replied firmly. “There’s a short drop down into a bigger passage, and I dropped the candle.”

Alec resumed pulling Nichols, wishing he had enough energy to heal the unconscious man and himself. The candle was successfully relit, and Alec saw the junction of the two air ventilation openings. The two women were standing up in a passage that looked like the district heating system Alec had been in with Kage and Elena, complete with the large pipes running near the ceiling, and the more concentrated, damp heat he remembered. Alec deposited Nichols on the floor of the new passage, and pushed an eyelid back to examine him, then checked his pulse. Satisfied that his companion was in no danger, the ingenaire slumped back against the wall, exhausted by the pain of his injuries and the effort to carry Nichols.

“
You are a good friend,” the maid said as she came to sit down near Alec. Her limp was noticeable, and Alec worried at how comfortable she would be if the escapees had to try to hurry. She leaned over Alec’s head and motioned for the princess to bring the candle over. Using the light, she examined the top of his head. “That is a painful looking gash. You’ll have a scar up there when it heals, although with that thick head of hair of yours no one will know.”

She looked at Nichols, examining the place where he had been speared. “What did you do here?” she asked in a frank tone that indicated she expected complete honesty.

“
I have a unique power. I can heal people miraculously,” Alec told her. “If I wasn’t so worn out I’d heal that cut on my head and my fingertips,” he gingerly waggled the damaged digits. “My name is Alec,” he told her. “I’m sorry we haven’t been introduced.”

“
Under the circumstances, I think the informality is allowable,” the girl answered with the ghost of a grin. “My name is Caitlen, a lady-in-waiting, and this is the princess Esmere. We thank you for setting us free.”

Alec raised his hand and motioned around the confined space. “Freedom is a loosely defined word!”

“
What are your plans now?” the maid asked.

“
When this all started, we hoped to spring the princess free and take her to Black Crag,” Alec answered.

“
That is a very good idea! Black Crag would make an excellent base of support to use to win back the throne! The cities and nobles will rally around anyone who has Black Crag ready to fight for them. Is that where you’re from?” the girl asked. “I’ve never been there. I didn’t realize people there had such strong accents!

“
I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply that you had a bad accent,” she added. The princess was standing at a little distance, probably maintaining her status above and separate from the others, Alec suspected, as she would be used to doing, being a princess, and a pretty one at that.

“
I’m not from Black Crag,” Alec said without feeling any insult. She seemed to have understood everything he had said so far, making him believe that despite being so noticeable, his accent was growing less pronounced. “My sister wants to become a guard, so we intended to go there for her. She and some others should be on their way there now, and if we are lucky, we’ll catch up with them on the road there.” He paused to look at the maid in the soft candle light, and their eyes locked on one another as they each closely examined their new travel partners.

“
I’m surprised you have a sister interested in fighting for Black Crag,” the girl responded. This girl was someone he should trust, Alec could tell as they stared at one another. Her wideset eyes betrayed a lonely soul who would be a loyal friend and an intelligent companion.

“
The journey won’t be an easy one. I’m told the trip to Black Crag is uncomfortable and perilous in the winter, and the guards confiscated all my money when they caught me,” he told her, and motioned to the princess. “I know that royalty may not find the life of a common traveler to her liking,” he added in a confidential voice.

“
This princess will surprise you, I am sure,” the girl said with a gentle smile, and placed a friendly hand on Alec’s shoulder. “Are you rested? Should we start going again?”

Alec rose to a crouching position. “Yes, we do need to get moving.” The two girls helped hoist Nichols across Alec’s shoulders, and the three of them began walking in single file down the underground corridor, away from their former captors and towards an uncertain freedom.

Three long hours later, they had reached the end of the tunnel. The hot water pipes had shrunk in size in stages, and now suddenly dove into a brick wall to continue to carry their heat to the buildings at the extreme ends of their lines. The profusely sweating group halted. “There was a staircase in the left wall about five minutes ago,” Princess Esmere reminded them.

“
I’d say we ought to go back to the staircase,” Caitlen brightly responded, and they soon were back in front of a low arched stairwell. Esmere held a new candle as she led the way, with Alec bringing up the rear, until they reached a solidly closed wooden door.

“
Now what do we do?” Caitlen asked with a note of desperation in her voice.

“
If we rest for a while, I should have my energy back and be able to open it,” Alec counseled, which led to them all resting in the cramped confines of the small landing at the doorway. Having neither seen nor heard any sign of pursuit, Alec didn’t suggest posting a watch, and they all settled down within the circle of the candle light.

Alec awoke to the flickering light of a candle that had burned nearly the entire length of its stick. The others were all soundly asleep. Experimentally he placed his left hand over his right, and easily healed the crushed fingertips, then healed the gash on the top of his head, and followed by sinking more energy into Nichols to provide a complete healing. The man sighed in his sleep, but did not awaken.

Moving cautiously, Alec placed his hand lightly on the thigh of Caitlen, preparing to examine the girl’s limp. If he could easily heal the leg, their group would be able to move at a better speed.

Caitlen’s hand came down with a resounding slap on his, creating an echo that sounded like a cracked whip. The other two members woke with a start.

“
Take your hand off me!” Caitlen snarled, sitting straight up. “You impudent foreigner.”

“
I just wanted to heal your limp!” Alec protested as his right hand tried to rub the sting out of his left.

“
Is that what you call it?” she asked. “Just keep your hands to yourself. Even the Conglomerate guards had the courtesy to respect us,” she paused as if she were reconsidering something she was about to say.

“
Now, are you going to open this door? Have you had enough rest?” she asked with asperity.

Alec was growing increasingly defensive with each accusatory word out of Caitlen’s mouth. “Yes, I have rested enough,” he replied tersely, then turned his back to the suddenly haughty girl.

“
How do you feel?” he asked Nichols, who was awake for the first time since they had left the palace.

“
I feel a little woozy,” the blue-skinned man replied. “Where are we?”

“
Your friend brought you along to rescue the princess and me,” Caitlen abruptly said, pointing to the silent Esmere; she gave a significant look at Nichols, who remained silent. “We left our waiting room through a ventilation shaft, and for the past few hours we’ve been escaping through tunnels under the city; this foreigner has carried you the entire way. Now we’re ready to return to the surface.”