The Underground Witch (Incenaga Trilogy) (25 page)

Emmeline shuddered
.

Tayve
spat once more before he turned his back. His boot made a scuffling sound as he dragged himself across the debris and then the wooden chair squeaked. A few minutes later a snore crawled up the walls and across the ceiling.

“
O’fin?” Emmeline whispered. “What are you doing here? Are you alright?”

The straw rustled as
O’fin pushed his way to the surface. He stood and brushed his clothes with his hands and then looked at her with a boyish grin, clearly proud of himself. Emmeline rushed to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

“
Oh, O’fin, I didn’t know if I would ever see you again. I’m so happy to see you and even more thrilled you were the one to come out of that hole! You wouldn’t believe the things I imagined when I saw the stone moving. I never thought it would be you! How on earth did you get in here?”

“An old woman told me how to find it.
She was the one who told me you were in Cantil’s Pit.” He leaned in. “People are brought here to die. What did you do?”

Emmelin
e shrugged. “Not enough. But it’s only for a little while. Tiergan said I’d be here two weeks for every one week he let me live in the castle. But, I have a plan, I think. So, I only have to make it six weeks, I guess. Although, I’m not sure why he isn’t letting me eat. No one can survive six weeks without food.”

“
You haven’t eaten?”

“
Not since the day before yesterday.”

“Here.”
O’fin thrust a roll into her hands. “I’m glad I saved it. You’ll need to be strong if we are going to get you out of here.”

Emmeline took a bite.
Her teeth crunched down on the stale bread and her jaw had to work hard to break it apart. But it tasted wonderful, delicious even. She inhaled the roll in three bites and it wasn’t until the last crumb disappeared that she realized what O’fin had said.

“I can’t leave,
O’fin. Tiergan said if I tried to escape he would send Demyan to kill Erick.”

“I don’t want your Erick to be
harmed, but you can’t stay here. You look horrible.”

“
Thanks.”

“I mean it. You won’t survive
the pit. No one does.”

“
I don’t have a choice. We both know what Demyan is capable of. He is like a fatal shadow in the night. Dolmerti won’t see him coming until it is too late.”

She grimaced. She’d had her chance to kill Demyan and she’d let it slip through her fingers. If only she hadn’t hesitated. Why
did
she hesitate? Because she wasn’t a murderer. But she couldn’t sit on her high horse anymore and refuse to do anything unpleasant. Tiergan had backed her into a corner, or rather a hole, and the only way to get out would be with her arms swinging. Killing Demyan was her best chance to keep Erick alive. And then she could disappear. But she’d have to be absolutely sure of herself before she faced Demyan again.

“Use your gift
against him” O’fin said. “I’ve seen what you can do – the way you held all those pirates up in the air. No one can stop you, not even Demyan.”

Emmeline rubbed her forehead in frustration
, her eyes shut tight. “I already tried to fight Demyan. Someone stopped me.”

“Who?
”

Orinda
. But Emmeline didn’t want to tell him about her. It was terrifying enough to know a corrupt Incenaga existed, but to know she worked with Demyan would make anyone lose hope. Although, she didn’t think Demyan controlled Orinda’s power, at least not in the way Mahlon had controlled her. In fact, Orinda ordered Demyan around like a servant and he seemed pleased enough to obey.

“I don’t really know
,” she said finally. “But, I can’t leave. Not yet. I’m working on something, I promise.”

O’fin looked down and gasped. “Look at your arms! They are covered in bruises.”

Emmeline squirmed. Her fight with Demyan and Orinda did nothing compared to how she looked before his fire healed her. She was so used to hurting she didn’t even notice she hadn’t had a chance to heal again.

O’fin’s
lips trembled as he brought his gaze back up. “You’re going to die in here.” He paused. “Your eyes are silver now,” he added.

Emmeline
nodded. “I suppose they would be.”

O
’fin squared his shoulders. “I have to go, but I’ll come back soon. I don’t know when, but I won’t let you die in here.”

Emmeline
reached for his hand. “Don’t go yet. Stay awhile longer.”

O’fin shook his head and slipped through the hole in the wall. His little hands reach
ed out and tugged on the stone. Emmeline rushed to the wall and dropped to her knees as the stone scratched across the pit floor. Her fingers gripped the edge of the stone and held it back. O’fin’s eye shone through a small crack.

“Don’t come back,
O’fin,” Emmeline whispered. “It’s not safe. You could be caught and hanged.” She found it difficult to keep her voice steady. When would she ever see him again? Never. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me. I’ll figure this out. It’ll be fine.”

She held her breath, wai
ting for a response. After a moment of silence the stone slid the last inch into place and Emmeline pushed on it, making sure it fit tight. She hoped he would listen to her and stay away. Nothing good could come from knowing an Incenaga.

The
light above the pit changed from blue to pink, and Emmeline knew the sun had awakened for another day. Despite the still early hour, she didn’t bother trying to go back to sleep. Her heart flew too fast for closed eyes. She couldn’t believe O’fin had dug his way to Cantil’s Pit. How had he managed it? It seemed an impossible task for anyone, let alone a nine year old boy.

Tayve’s snores
swelled to a finale. If Emmeline didn’t know better, she’d think a goose was giving birth to a donkey above her. She pressed her hands to her ears. Tayve had slept for most of his shift, grunting and snoring the entire twelve hours. But it seemed he saved his best snoring for last. Surprising even herself, she realized she looked forward to Burungi’s shift. Even if he irritated her, she appreciated his laughter and wit. And his lack of snoring.

She smiled, wondering if he’d be the one to bring her a flame.

Around midday, Burungi popped his smiling face over the pit’s edge.

“Hello there, Emmeline!”
he called.

Emmeline
flinched. “Burungi! Must you sneak up on me? It wouldn’t hurt for you to announce yourself or give some sort of warning.”

“
I would miss seeing that ridiculous face you pull when you are startled. I stole some food and water for you.”

Emmeline
’s entire body seemed to lighten. “Really?”

“Don’t get too excite
d.” He lowered a leather pouch on hook that had been tied at the end of a rope. “And don’t go telling Tayve either. He doesn’t care if you starve.”

Thanking him, s
he reached for the bundle of food and tore it open without a second thought. Flatbread, dates, and a slice of cheese tumbled out. She ate every crumb and then smiled at Burungi.

“That
was unexpected,” she said. “And very kind. Thank you.”

“It was selfish, I assure you.”
He grinned. “I need you at your best so I don’t feel guilty when I outwit you in today’s game. I’m assuming you have another game in store for us today. With your own set of rules, of course.”

“Actually,
I want you tell me how you manage to move around without making a single sound.”

“I told you, I’m quiet.”

“There is more to it. You move like a whisper.”

Burungi bobbed his head and smiled. “I like that.
I move like a whisper.”

“So?”

“So, what?”

“How do you do it?”

Burungi seemed to consider his answer. He looked over his right shoulder and then his left. He leaned in. “Where I am from, it is the noisy ones who are eaten first.”

“Eaten?
”

“Yes, by the Mawabo beast.
”

“Ha
h! You are pulling my leg again. I don’t believe you for one second.”

Burungi looked at her with a face of stone.
“It feeds off small children first, they are the noisiest. Then it goes for the elderly, because they aren’t as quick. Next are the expectant mothers. They are just as slow as the elderly but a little tougher to chew. Next are the-“

“Stop!”
Emmeline cried. She held a hand to her neck. “You are serious?”

Burungi bowed his head. “They are taking over my home country. Rumor has it a herd is traveling
toward Dolmerti.”

Emmeline jumped to her feet.
“Dolmerti?”

“Do you know the place?”

“My family is there. We have to do something! We have to warn them!”

Burungi released his signature laugh, filling the air with a happy roar.
“I think you would believe any tale I tell!” He rolled onto his back and laughed so hard she thought he might strain a muscle.

Emmeline
dropped her hand to her waist. She wanted shake her fist and be mad at him, but whether from relief, or from Burungi’s infectious laugh, she couldn’t help but smile. A glimmer of happiness had penetrated the pit of despair.

Burungi quieted and sat up. “In truth I
seem to have acquired a gift for stealth.” He shrugged.

“Just how much stealth do you pos
sess?” Emmeline asked, her back straightening.

Burungi puffed his chest out in pride.
“I’ve never met my match.”

Emmeline
’s smile widened and a plan formulated in her mind. If Burungi taught her how to move like a whisper, she could sneak up on Demyan before he even thought about calling for Orinda. As long as she had a flame, she stood a chance against him.

“Whoa.
” Burungi said with an uncomfortable laugh. “I can see the wheels turning in your head, but I can’t help you out of here, Emmeline. You are about as stealthy as a dying horse. I can hear you breathing and pining away for that lost love of yours before I get anywhere near this stink hole.”

“Y
ou could teach me how to move quietly. I have something I need to take care of.” Or rather, someone.

“It can’t be taught.”

“Are you sure? I’m a fast learner.”

Burungi shook his head.

Emmeline sat back down, chin in hand. “That’s fine. I’ll just sit here and let Tiergan ruin all our lives.” She eyed Burungi. “It won’t be a problem when he takes over every other kingdom. No problem at all.”

Burungi sighed and sat down, his legs dangling into
the pit just as they had the day before. “If I helped you out of here, they would blame me when you turned up missing. I’d have nowhere to go and that is only if they let me survive. I can’t go back to my home country. Tiergan would find me and punish my family.”

“You have a family?”

“Two boys. I haven’t seen them for eight years now. When I was taken away, they were just little ones with pattering feet and innocent laughter.” He looked away.

“
Burungi, if you helped me sneak out, you could go get your family and take them to Dolmerti. They will protect you there. I will make sure nothing happened to you or your boys.”

Her promise came as a surprise, but it felt no less true. She barely knew Burungi,
and yet she knew enough to know he did not belong in Griet. No one did for that matter, but Burungi still had hope and goodness within him. And fight. Given time, Tiergan would crush it out of him.

“What makes you think Dolmer
ti would welcome me with open arms,” he questioned. “Why would they protect my family?”

“
I will tell them to.”

“And who
are you to request such things?”

Emmeline paused. Would Burungi be in any danger if he knew who she was? Tayve had proba
bly already told him she claimed to be a witch, along with everyone else. Come to think of it, that could have been how the old woman O’fin spoke of knew she was in Cantil’s Pit. But that was neither here nor there.

“I
was to marry Dolmerti’s Crown Prince,” she said, finally.

Burungi’s eyes
flashed white and then narrowed. He stood, and for the first time since Emmeline had met him, he scowled so deep a wrinkle formed between his brows.

“What?” Emmeline asked.

“If Dolmerti is so strong, why couldn’t they keep their own princess out of Tiergan’s grasp? I have come to terms with never seeing my family again. Perhaps you should as well.”

He slipped away.
An uncomfortable silence passed before he popped his head over the rim of the pit. “I can’t leave you in such anger. Forgive me?”