Page 52 of Crown of Ashes and Awe

There were two welcomed faces at the table. Sweetie and Minkin had just joined them. We must have cleaned her wounds well because she claimed she was already feeling much better. She was also dressed in a clean green gown that had a ragged hem due to someone removing the extra fabric to suit her height.

“Caught them trying to drug her,” Sweetie said. “I told them she’d recover better among friends. Insisted they bring us to you, though they said they couldn’t do it without Lord Ciro’s permission. Then they made us wait all day. I had to threaten to tear the place apart unless they produced him.”

Tearloch explained why it was a lucky thing that he hadn’t, and what our penalty will be if we break any rules. “Tearing the place apart would easily qualify. I’m surprised they didn’t push you to do it.”

“Odd, nervous folks out there, by their giant amphitheater. They called it the Recovery. The place is well stocked for an infirmary. Though the workers were supposedly healers, they acted like they didn’t know what they were doing. I think—as odd as it sounds—I think they were only pretending. If Minkin had fevered, they might have fallen to pieces. I’m sure they were relieved when Ciro allowed us to quit the place.”

“Did you learn anything about the dome?”

“Only that we need to get through it and soon.”

“We’ve learned the same. But why do you say so?”

“To this nose, the whole place reeks.”

“Of what?”

“Unmistakable. It’s blood.”

Those senses, those horns, combined with his powerful body—the curse from the sorcerer might have been a blessing in disguise if the man was forced to fight. As for Minkin, we knew what her talent was. If she had others, she didn’t disclose them before Sweetie sent her off to bed. Then Tearloch left it to the rest of us to share the plan with his big friend so he could get some sleep himself. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

I had fallenasleep in a chair when Tearloch shook me awake. "It's time."

Everyone gathered in the main space. Minkin looked terrified until Sweetie took her hand and squeezed it. "Together. At least we'll be together."

Due to his keen sight and hearing, he went first. We had decided not to use our glow stones if possible, but my eyes adjusted quickly, and I was able to make out the big man’s figure ahead, watching his horns move back and forth as he scanned the hall. But it would be much better after we reached the center of the castle and split into three groups. We would make less noise that way. No matter how hard we tried, it was impossible for a party of eleven to creep down a large echoing hallway in complete silence.

Though the men had their blades ready to dispatch any guards we came across, we encountered no one. We braced ourselves at each opening, sure that someone would be posted to guarantee we stayed in our rooms, but we reached the center of the castle without seeing a soul.

My chest tightened as Tearloch, Morrow, and Nogel separated from us and headed to the center staircase. If one staircase led to the upper floor of the north wing, and the other to the south, where they were going to house Griffon and Lennon, then it was logical to believe the middle staircase would lead the men to the center tower where the horns were kept.

If they were able to remove those instruments, they would meet us outside in the courtyard. If they could not remove them, two of them would stay behind and wait to sound the horns, and the third would come let the rest of us know they wouldn't be joining us.

I prayed the things weren't permanently attached to the tower. The thought of Tearloch staying behind hurt my heart. But if Morrow stayed, the plan to see Moire was destroyed. He was the only one who could get me an audience with her.

Across from the staircases, an elaborately decorated foyer lay between us and an exterior door—the exit Lennon, Griffon, and Dower would use to locate Kivi. Full-sized statues of beheaded figures could have been the shadows of guards lying in wait to catch us. But they weren't.

All the rest of us had to do was make it to the courtyard and wait for everyone to reassemble in the northeast corner of the wall.

Lennon assured us that Kivi had carried as many passengers before. If we clung tightly to each other and if Tearloch and Morrow could hit the right notes with the horns, our hope was that the dome would open long enough for our escape.

Even while planning, though, our enthusiasm was artificial. It sounded too easy. Too simple. But we had to try. If any of us were locked up for breaking rules, we could never escape together, and the longer we stayed, the more those chances increased.

We had entertained the idea of staying and playing along with Ciro's delusions, and wait for opportunities to sneak away in pairs. But none of us liked the idea of leaving others behind, subject to the whim of a madman.

And there was no mistake. Ciro was mad.

Demius had told me of such people before. Men and women who had lived too long and had found twisted ways to entertain themselves. Cruel creatures who created their own factions and ruled by fear. Or those who had created industries where they would relieve others of their pain or suffering or ennui by chopping patron’s heads off or placing them ingevri.

Some monsters would supply a cell and happily store you away with the promise of waking you at an agreed upon day. Then you'd be forgotten, stored until someone stumbled upon you, hundreds or thousands of years later.

When this practice got out of hand, the King announced that a royal commission would be the only ones allowed to put someone into hibernation. And from that point on, one had to travel to the capital city to apply for relief. Few could afford the trip.

The idea of hibernation never appealed to me, but I was young and living the first years of my life. If I had to choose between hibernation and The Soundless, however, sleeping the years away without aging and hoping to wake in a better world didn't sound so bad.

We started down the north corridor, retracing our original steps. At the sound of a distant door closing, we all froze. As close as we still were to the barrel-shaped foyer, it was impossible to tell from which direction the noise had come. Though we waited a few minutes, no other noises followed. No footsteps. No hue and cry. It was as if the entire castle had been abandoned.

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