Page 77 of A Tempest of Intrigue (Tempest of Shadows #4)
CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN
Ryker
I cast surreptitious glances at Ellery as we traveled up and down, around bends, and deeper into the tunnel. The wounds on her calves must have healed as she’d stopped limping, but it wasn’t easy to tell since she wouldn’t stop to let me look at it.
My lightning had also illuminated the dried blood on the back of her head and her matted hair. She’d told me that the injury had come from the trees.
I could have lost her to those dogs or the trees, and while she was feisty, stubborn, and sometimes reckless, she wasn’t inherently angry, meaning she would have returned as a ghost. If that happened, I would have seen her floating in the woods, but she never would have interacted with me again.
The idea of Ellery drifting by me like I didn’t exist created a sharp pang in my heart. That would have been a worse hell than anything my father or the ophidians did to me.
When I took her hand and squeezed it, she smiled at me over the top of Mouse’s head. “I really am okay.”
“You could have died.”
“We could all die every day; it’s what we choose to do with our days that matters.”
“When did you become so philosophical?”
“When I almost died.”
Despite the gravity of our conversation, I chuckled. Leave it to Ellery to make me laugh while dirt surrounded us and we had no idea where we were.
“We haven’t seen tree roots in a while,” she remarked.
No, we hadn’t… at least not the ones that moved. Some tree roots still poked through the dirt and rocks here and there, but they weren’t the same as the ones that dragged us down here, slid through the walls, and crept over our heads.
“Did you try going the other way in the tunnel?” Ellery asked.
“No. I found your arrow almost immediately and followed it to you.”
She bit her bottom lip as Mouse glanced between us. “Maybe we should have gone that way. I feel like we’ve been walking for hours and not getting anywhere.”
“It’s been a while, but you’re injured and hungry, which makes things worse. It’s probably only been an hour.”
Concern shimmered in her eyes when they met mine, but then she glanced at Mouse. She looked away as she decided against whatever she’d been about to say.
“How did things go at your father’s?” she asked.
I wasn’t in the mood to discuss that, but we had plenty of time to kill, and the boy wouldn’t tell anyone. Even if he could speak, he’d never do anything to betray or upset Ellery.
“Not well,” I said.
“What happened?”
As I told her everything that unfolded, she and Mouse stared at me with growing dismay.
“He burned the orphanage,” she breathed.
“He did.”
“Why does that surprise me when it shouldn’t?”
“Because, though we understand the capacity that some have for evil, it’s still shocking to learn how low they can go.”
“I guess,” she murmured. “Do you think King Leo has more children out there?”
I pondered this as a sense of betrayal twisted like a knife in my belly. I already knew Leo kept secrets from me; I just didn’t realize how deep they’d run.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “My father claimed that Bria is his only living offspring, but I don’t know how he could be positive of that. If Leo does have any other children, and if anyone knows about them, my father will find and kill them. If they were hidden away, we’ll hopefully never know of their existence.”
Ellery glanced at Mouse before looking at me again. “Are you okay?”
“I will be.”
Love shone in her eyes as she squeezed my hand. “Do you think your father wants you to marry Bria?”
“No. He believes I’m stupid enough to lunge at a nonexistent opportunity.”
She bit her lip as she glanced away.
“It’s not going to happen,” I assured her.
There was only one woman I intended to marry, but this wasn’t the place for that discussion.
“He’s very good at getting what he wants,” she whispered.
“He’d kill me before he ever let her marry me. He’d kill her too. It was a ruse, Ellery, and nothing more. He’d never let me have so much power, especially since, even if he did gain control of you, Bria still has a stronger claim to the throne than him or Ivan.”
“He’s going to kill her.”
“Eventually, yes. If he has to use her to gain the throne, he’ll kill her once he has it.”
Mouse’s hand went to his mouth as he stared at me. I rested a reassuring hand on the boy’s shoulder.
“I won’t let that happen,” I told him.
The boy nodded, and we trudged on in silence. When the ground sloped down again and Mouse shivered, Ellery drew him closer and rubbed her hand up and down his arm.
The chill in the air increased until our breaths fogged before us. Used to the hot August air, we weren’t prepared for this abrupt change into a winter atmosphere.
To keep my teeth from chattering, I clamped them together as I focused on our surroundings. I couldn’t let the cold distract me from whatever lay ahead.
There was a reason those trees chose us when they hadn’t taken any others. It was either to eat us, feed us to something, or… I didn’t know what that could be, but we were here for a reason.
Eventually, the tunnel stopped descending and evened out. I kept waiting for it to rise again as it often did, but it remained level for another couple hundred feet before the tunnel widened so much I couldn’t see the walls or ceiling anymore.
What now?
I stepped closer to Mouse and Ellery as a new scent mingled with the rich aroma of the earth. It took me a bit to realize the smell of rocks was stronger through here, and it blended with something muskier, like an animal.
The airflow intensified in this area. It still wasn’t a breeze, but it was clear we’d entered a cavernous space, as nothing restricted the currents.
I increased the sparks on my left hand, the one furthest from Mouse, as Ellery did the same with her right hand. Together, we lifted our arms to illuminate more of the space.
The glow lit up where we stood at the end of the tunnel and part of the cavern beyond. Despite our increased light, it was almost impossible to make out much of what lay beyond.
I glanced at Ellery, who was looking at me with curiosity and apprehension. We might have finally found the way out… or maybe it was the end.