Page 152 of The Queens and the Kings
Another pause. Britt tried her third key.
Click.
“We don’t know!” another Keeper shouted. “We’ve been feeding wyverns.”
“The lazy mongrel should have been working,” the Keeper snapped to himself. “Probably hit himself to get out of work. That’s what he did.” He began to walk again. “Lazy bastid.”
Britt cranked the key to the side. The lock gave way with an audible screech. The wyvern’s wing remained in place, but the body shifted as it swung its powerful neck around to regard her. She slipped the lock off the leg, tossed the key aside, and raced to the next wyvern.
Denerfen returned for five keys before Britt had opened three locks. As she flipped open the fourth lock, shoved the remaining keys into her pocket, and pressed to her feet, Denerfen returned for a sixth.
A tepid chill flowed through her, but she willed the venom to greater longevity.You must work,she chanted.Don’t release yet.
Whether time felt eternal because she feared being caught, or if the venom worked longer than usual, she wasn’t sure. The agony of withdrawal built all the same.
A key lay near the next wyvern’s lock. She grabbed it, shoved it, twisted, and set it free. Five down. Thirteen to go. The wyverns kept wary eyes on the Keepers, who congregated over the injured one. As before, they gesticulated and shouted, but didn’t do much. She’d inadvertently helped herself.
Her teeth chattered as she hurried to the next. Another withdrawal sign. Denerfen hadn’t placed this key, so sheremoved the bundle of remaining keys from her pocket. The first attempt slid in with a sweetclick.
“Blessed mermaids,” she muttered. “A stroke of luck.”
The wyvern shifted its back leg, shoving her to the ground. She dropped onto her spine with a painful lurch, not expecting the powerful violence. Before she could protest, two dusty pairs of boots marched past. Not Keepers.
Soldiers.
“Idiot Keepers,” one of them declared.
“They reported an injury,” said the other, “we have to see about it. It’s better than scrubbing decks, anyway, and duty out here is so dull.”
The first sighed.
Britt’s heart raced. Soldiers! This topped the list oflubbers-she’d-rather-not, thank you. Once they passed out of sight, the wyvern removed its leg. Wryly, she said, “Thanks. Could have been softer, but thanks.”
The next handful of locks went quickly, thanks to Denerfen matching them ahead. As the painful, prickling fever swept through her, her fingers fumbled. Her entire body shook, and she struggled to keep her eyes focused. When her head swam as if she’d dropped into a fishbowl upside down, Britt put a hand against a wyvern’s flank to stabilize.
“Oh, no,” she whispered.
The wyvern jerked out of her touch. Britt stumbled. Blinking through the growing, dark tunnel, she drew several breaths, twisted the key, and heard thepopof it releasing.
“Five left,” she breathed.
The wyvern regarded her with something like curiosity as she crawled to the next one. An argument broke out between the Keepers and the soldiers. Bless Denerfen, he’d already matched this key, too. As she shoved the key into the lock, a wave of exhaustion ballooned over her.
So.
Tired.
The dark depths of venom withdrawal swept her with a rush of bitter cold. She weakly twisted the next key. It wouldn’t budge, and she couldn’t summon the strength to twist.
“Den. I-I can’t . . .”
Denerfen jumped onto her hand. The shock of his body, the jab of her palm into the key, startled her. With a surge of surprise, she twisted it. It gave way, popping open.
Through her feverish haze, she registered three wyverns that had cluttered close. Why? They hadn’t been that way before. But, they weren’tthatclose. They were . . . far? Denerfen flapped in front of her, butting his head against the bridge of her nose. It sent a painful shock all the way to her toes, drawing her from the sticky haze. She winced.
“Keys,” she mumbled.
Prickles consumed her limbs. She’d forgotten how much the withdrawal hurt. Everything ached. Her body. Her skin. Her muscles. She wanted to sleep. She wanted more venom, or to escape. This wasn’t?—
