Urgency crawled through me. I needed to move faster.
Tibris had said the entrance to the dungeon was next to the wine cellar. I crept toward it, my heart pounding in my throat. The door looked like it opened to some kind of storage room or closet. It was only the muffled sounds of the guards’ voices that made me pause.
“You hear something?” one of the guards asked, and I scowled down at my traitorous foot. Weeks of traveling with the mercenaries, and I was still no better at sneaking.
“Sure. I heard the sound of me opening another bottle of this wine,” the second guard laughed.
Thank you, Tibris.
Closing my eyes, I reached down, down, down into the place where my power resided. I needed more than a few seconds. I needed enough time to steal the keys and open the door. I needed to get far enough down the stairs that the guards wouldn’t hear me.
I visualized each move I’d make while the guards gossiped about the queen’s ladies. Apparently, one of them was particularly inventive in bed.
Asinia was on the other side of that door. Asinia, who probably assumed she’d been left to die. I didn’t have time for fear. Didn’t have time to second-guess myself.
I opened my eyes.
And time stopped.
I knew before I was moving that this time was different. Usually, the thread of my power immediately began slipping from my grasp. Now, I held it tighter than ever before.
Launching myself into motion, I opened the door. This was an antechamber that allowed for the dungeon itself to be guarded without the guards needing to be posted down with the prisoners. Across the room, the door I needed looked like steel, heavy and secure. The guards were sitting down, leaning against the wall next to the door, a bottle of wine on the floor between them. Three other empty bottles were lying next to them.
My brother had done everything he could to make this easier.
The keys hung from the guard’s belt, and I crouched in front of him. It took me several seconds to unhitch them from his belt, but then I was standing, hands shaking as I shoved one of the keys into the door.
Time had begun to slip once more. As tightly as I grasped the thread, it was sliding from me.
Wrong key.
My hands shook harder. The thread slipped even more. My eyes burned. This was not how it ended.
The next key went all the way in. The lock clicked, the door opening to dark steps. Shoving the keys into the pocket of my cloak, I darted through the door, closing it behind me.
My eyes were still adjusting to the dim light, but I only had moments to get as far as I could from the door. My hand found the smooth wall of the dungeon, and I used it to steady myself, wincing as my palm touched moss and mold. My lungs ached, my mouth was bone-dry, but I picked up my pace, stretching my power until black spots appeared in the edges of my vision.
I dropped the thread and time resumed. A surge of victory flooded through me. I’d made it this far. Ahead, a torch cast an orange glow on the stone wall. I wiggled the torch free and took it with me.
The stairs felt never-ending. The scent of rusty metal and human waste slid up my nostrils before I heard the groans. Dread rose, quickening my pulse and making my head swim. I forced myself to take several deep breaths, but by the time I reached the bottom of the stairs, I was trembling. The stench was sickening, but it was the cold that made me shudder.
I pulled my cloak up over my head, just in case I found Lina here. She would be desperate for the king’s pardon, and there was a good chance she would recognize me.
Tightening my hand around the torch, I stepped forward.
This was an ageless, evil place. Cells stretched out on either side of me for as far as I could see. I splashed through stagnant puddles of water, peering into each cell, my heart breaking.
Would Asinia even still be alive?
All the prisoners were lying on the floor. Many of them seemed half dead. I crouched outside the closest cell and pressed my face next to the bars.
“Hello? Can you hear me?”
The man opened his eyes to slits, but that seemed to take all of his energy. A moment later, those eyes were closed again.
Vicer had warned that the prisoners were kept docile. But this wasn’t just docile. This was much, much worse.
If only I could break them all out. Could lead them straight out the front door of the castle and set them free. Back to their families.
My eyes burning, I stumbled to my feet and kept moving, passing prisoner after prisoner. I kept my voice low, but none of them responded, and I didn’t see Lina.
It felt as if years had passed by the time I found Asinia. She was on my left, curled into a ball on the stone floor, without even a blanket.