Page 61 of The Catacomb King
But now I had to get dressed again, and I couldn’t put Hades’s tunic and pants back on. They were too filthy and too shredded by the rocks. And they were the clothes that Mackr had died on.
Unfortunately, the only other clothes I had were the dresses.
Well, fuck it.
I rinsed my face and hands and neck and hair in the bowl of water. Then I fluffed my drying hair in front of the fire while I tried to decide which of the dresses was most practical for managing a dig. Probably the set of threadbare brown rags.
But instead of donning the threadbare dress, I stepped into the violet ballgown. I felt almost defiant, even though no one was around to see.
The silk shimmered like oil in the firelight. It was strapless, the heart-shaped neckline edged by beautiful, intricate handmade lace. I’d thought the lace might be itchy, but far from it. It brushed my collarbone and the upper swell of my breasts softly, like feathers.
The corset laces cinched in front. I tightened and tied them myself. I was happy for the corset; it meant I could actually make the dress fit my underfed torso.
Elke still hadn’t arrived.
I wrapped a new set of black bandages around my feet. I fluffed the skirts of the gown over top.
Still no Elke.
I couldn’t spend any more time getting dressed, though. I had to get back to work. My stomach was tight at the thought of facing the godlings again after I’d killed one of them, but I would only feel worse the longer I sat here. Better to get it over with. And who knew how much work they were undoing with their incompetence while I sat here and rotted?
So I went out myself.
I’d thought I would find someone who could show me to the reservoir. But it wasn’t that hard to find my own way, actually. Down, up, down, left. I was learning that the catacombs, although they moved, moved slowly. And as long as you knew where you were going, it wasn’t really that hard to follow their path. You could sense it, somehow, through the tremors in the earth. Wearing foot-wraps instead of shoes was good for that.
At the entrance to the reservoir-cavern, I took a deep breath and fisted my hands in my skirts.
There was nothing for it. I stepped through.
And gawked.
Because none of the workers were sleeping. No one was arguing fruitlessly. No one was digging southeast instead of northwest. And certainly no one spotted me and started screaming that I had killed Mackr and I ought to be drowned in the Lake.
Instead… they were working.
A cluster of godlings moved in and out of the pipe-shaft, carrying shovels and barrels of soil and excavated rock. Anothercluster carried segments of pipes, one after the other, lying them down head to head to check the sizes.
For a moment, I assumed they were just listening to Hades more obediently than they’d ever listened to me.
But Hades was nowhere to be seen.
At that moment, Elke popped out of the crowd and scuttled over. “I was just coming to get you! Did someone else bring you?”
“No, I came myself. Elke, what’s going on?”
Her eyes widened. “You what?”
“I walked. I have feet. Don’t look so surprised. Answer the question.”
Elke turned, surveyed the workers. “They’re building the pipeline,” she said uncertainly. “Please don’t get mad. I know they’re slow, but they’re really trying.”
“I’m not mad. I’m… I don’t get it. Did Hades threaten them?”
“No. They’re working because you asked them to.”
“They didn’t care when I asked them yesterday!”
“Yesterday,” Elke said gently, “you had not cried for one of our own.”
