Page 27 of Tashama
“She has to be in the gardens! Her door into the palace was guarded!”
She grabbed the handle and twisted, then as the door opened, she hurried into the darkened room. After closing the door behind her, she ran her hands over the knob in an attempt to locate a lock. Not finding any, she hurried into the center of the room. She paused to get her bearings, but couldn’t see anything in the abyss.
Taking another step, she gasped to find the floor had vanished beneath her feet.
8
Tumbling down a great stone staircase with one jarring thump after another, Tashama rolled until she hit the bottom with a thud. She lay still in the dark, then a dim light appeared in the room above.
She held her breath when a man whispered, “I cannot see anything in here. Carissian wouldn’t wish for us to disturb his quarters.”
“What if she’s in here?”
“He’ll find her soon enough.”
The door shut the light out, and Tashama closed her eyes as her whole body ached from the fall.
“Tashama,” a small voice whispered. “Tashama, they’ll soon find you.”
She covered her ears and whispered back, “Go away.”
Dripping laughter followed. A pesky water nymph—if she could hear their voices, water would be nearby. Tashama tried to sit, but her ribs hurt with the effort, and she groaned and lay down.
“Tashama,” the tinny voice said. “He comes for you.”
For some time, Tashama breathed in the wetness of the air. With the methodical drip of water, she drifted off to sleep. A few minutes later, the flutter of wings aerated her breathing space, and she opened her eyes. Darkness was all she saw.
“Tashama, sleep, and they will find you.”
She sat up, and pain filled her chest. She touched her bruised ribs, then wrapped her fingers around the railing beside the stairs. The entrance to the stairwell was dark and foreboding, and she pulled herself off the cold, wet floor. He’d come soon for her, she knew.
Then she turned toward the gloom looming before her. Reaching her hands outward, she took a baby step, searching for a proper footing with her toes as she inched away from the stairs.
The soles of her feet touched wet moss as it carpeted the stone, and she knelt. Reaching forward with her hands, she crawled along. Her ribs ached with every wiggle of her hips, and her hair touched the floor, snagging under her knees. Pain shot through her scalp. Then warm water rippled at her fingertips.
A small voice said, “He’s coming for you now, Tashama.”
Tashama knew. She felt his presence as he moved about his chambers, but without being in the same room with her, he couldn’t know her thoughts, her pain, her whereabouts. He was trying to sense if she’d been there, but he couldn’t know such a thing—not like she could.
She smiled at the notion, and the deep breath she took made her wish she hadn’t, as her ribs ached as though they’d been broken in two. She slipped into the water and relaxed her tense body in the warmth.Perhaps I cannot escape from you yet, but it pleases me just the same that I have upset your plans.
Tashama pulled the water behind her and swam slowly across the underwater lake. Voices from far away made her pause. “No, she’s not here!” The sorcerer slammed the door shut.His soft-shoed footsteps ran down the stairs as she reached the other side of the cave.
Diving beneath the surface of the water, her fingers probed the thick stone walls for a passage. A dim light wavered nearby.
For some distance, she followed the spark of light. When the flicker illuminated a narrow underwater tunnel, she resurfaced to take a breath. A light shimmered off the surface of the dark waters as the sorcerer ran along the edge of the lake. Over the water, he stretched a lantern dangling precariously on his staff. The bobbing light grew closer. She disappeared beneath the water and headed straight for the tunnel.
Her hands touched the rough surface of the stone as she frantically pulled herself along the tunnel wall. With only the tiny light to guide her and her lungs ready to give out, she attempted to shove the panic from her mind. A pocket of air suddenly appeared, and she pushed her face above the water and gasped.
She floated with her nose nearly touching the formation inches above her face as she attempted to steady her breathing. Despite her efforts to calm herself, she couldn’t stop her heart from thumping rapidly in terror because of the closed-in space. She pushed against the rock and propelled herself through the tunnel, floating on her back toward the exit she hoped she’d soon find.
“Does it exit?” Tashama whispered, and her words bounced off the enclosed space.Does it exit...exit?
Her head bumped into the rock formation dipping into the water again, and her eyes filled with tears. She paused as she took a deep breath. Not ready to make the dive, her heart pounded hard against her painful ribs, and she exhaled the stale air.Calm yourself, Tashama.She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and saw the prince’s lips curve up as he touched her hair.You had me drugged you, you deceiver of women.Then she took another deep breath and dove.
Pulling the rock walls past her, she swam until her head fuzzed with the lack of oxygen. Then she burst into another enclave of air where the ceiling lifted higher. She bobbed in the water and gasped at the moist air. “Have you tricked me, water sprite?”Tricked me, water sprite…sprite?
Their tinny laughter followed. She took a deep breath, then dove again.
