The city was quiet and still, far more so than it’d been on previous visits.
“Where is everyone?” I asked in an undertone.
Ahnum replied, “The city is frightened, with all the elite warriors and neczar moving about. People are out—especially the amant—but they’re more cautious.”
“Are we going to stand out?” I asked.
“If we walk fast and keep our heads down, we’ll be fine.” Despite his words, I felt a sense of caution coming from him.
What were we going up against? I should have asked more questions going into this. The second time I found myself in the city as a fake amant. I should have felt more comfortable since I had practice, but everything was awkward.
The sounds of the city slowly came to me, but they were more subdued than I was accustomed to. A few whispers brushed around, words indiscernible. Footsteps hurried down the street in small groups. Even the air felt different. A tenseness permeated it. Something felt so unsettling about it all.
I wasn’t convinced that we wouldn’t stand out, but I did what Nikon asked—kept my head down and my steps hurried. His arm gave nothing of his feelings away, as I held on to it. It would have been nice to get something. I wished I could read him. To know how dire things actually were.
“Almost there,” he whispered, “but there are warriors up ahead.”
Trouble was headed our way.
We didn’t change our pace, but Nikon’s arm tensed and Husani’s footsteps became heavier. My cane held by Nikon buzzed, making me yearn for it. I needed it to deal with the problems to come, but I couldn’t take my weapon yet. That would be too suspicious, and the longer we went without raising any alarms, the more likely we were to succeed.
I sucked in a breath. My parents. For the first time in eleven years, I would be with them. Hear their voices. The thought took me back to a time when things were simpler, but I couldn’t get caught up in it now. There was too much that needed my focus.
As a woman said, “Halt,” I was grateful we left Tewy behind. I missed him, but he would have been trouble in moments like this.
We came to a stop several steps away from where the order came from. I expected Nikon to say something, but he remained silent. Not knowing what else to do, I kept my head down and tried not to act out of place.
“What are you doing out?” the woman asked in a harsh voice.
“We’re going to visit the dungeons. We have family there, sentenced to death,” Nikon said, but it didn’t sound anything like him. His voice was mellower and pitched higher. The meekness that clung to his words definitely wasn’t him. And his words were perfectly true—hopefully minus the death—if not the whole story.
“Your family amant or odiosom?” Harsh Woman asked.
My stomach knotted. What was the correct answer? Thankfully, I didn’t have to respond.
“Amant,” Nikon said.
“What is an amant doing in the dungeon?”
“Didn’t pay taxes.”
She grunted. “And who is this with you?”
I clutched on to Nikon, trying to act like we were in love. The fear clung to me, though.
“We’re to make sure they don’t cause any problems,” Ahnum said.
“I see. If you don’t mind, we’ll accompany you to the dungeons.” Harsh Woman’s words sent a chill through me.
We had more warriors to deal with. More problems to solve. What would they do when we got to the dungeons and they realized we weren’t there to visit? We didn’t have an excuse to go along with our reason for being here.
“That’d be welcome in this part of the city,” Nikon said in his humble voice. “There’s lots of trouble around these parts, which is why we brought our servant.”
“Hmm.” The woman didn’t sound convinced.
That would change once we got there. We started again, the warriors’ footsteps leading the way. I tried to tell how many of them there were, but couldn’t discern exactly. Perhaps half a dozen.
My thoughts raced. How would we deal with them? Nikon was good, and I could hold my own. Husani had some skills, too, but would we be able to fight and win against a group of warriors? I wasn’t as confident as I wanted to be.
Husani moved closer to my right, where Nikon wasn’t, as the warriors’ footsteps fell in line surrounding us.
If I wasn’t already nervous, this would have done it.
The cobblestone turned to hard-packed dirt. The smell of the city grew cleaner, like we were getting to the area that was better kept up. We continued walking, Nikon’s arm growing tenser with each step we took. What was causing him to worry? Warriors or something more? But if he was stressed, I should be too.
The entrance was by the pyramid we had fled from not long ago. I needed to be away from this place as soon as possible, but forced myself forward. I would do this. I would save my mother and father. I wouldn’t let my parents rot in jail, where they would have no hope for a future. We might not be the same family we’d once been, but neither would we be separated any longer.
“The dungeon is through here,” Harsh Woman said. “I trust you’ve been here before.”
“We’ve visited many times.”
“I see.” And from the tone of her voice, it sounded like she saw more than any of us wanted her to.
Nikon stopped walking and said, “We’re here to see Takamun Hunstodi.”
That wasn’t my father. Who was it? It had to be a real person, or else why use their name? We’d be caught in no time. But how did Nikon know they were here? And were they an amant, like our cover story said they should be? Ahnum must have helped.
A new woman’s voice said, “Let’s get on with it, then. I’ve got them from here.”
Who was this? Our contact or someone else? Someone dangerous?
“I don’t think so,” Harsh Woman said. “I’ll be waiting for them to finish, to escort them home.”
“We appreciate your concern for us, though we don’t feel deserving of it,” Nikon said. “Your presence on our return trip will help us avoid undesirables.”
Too bad the undesirables were the ones planning on coming with us. We’d never escape with my parents, despite changing their clothes. The warriors waiting for us would figure out if we came out with prisoners because the extra two people would give that away.
I forced my shoulders not to sag. This might not be what we wanted, but I couldn’t let that show.
“I’ll take you to the prisoner,” the nicer woman said. “You warriors should wait here, though—there’s not a lot of room in the dungeon.”
“Don’t worry,” Harsh Woman said. “We’re not going anywhere. We’ll be right here, waiting.”
I held back a shudder as Nikon led me forward. The ground dropped rapidly beneath us, slanting toward what must be the dungeons. The stench of unwashed bodies and worse clogged my nose. I wished I had a cloth of herbs to guard against the smell. It was a small concern, compared to what was coming, though.
The floor eventually leveled out. A couple of turns later, the sound of mournful groans of pain echoed in the air.
“Almost to the dungeons themselves,” Nice Woman said.
“These are the people I told you about.” Ahnum’s voice was pitched low from in front of us.
Who was he talking about?
“Good,” a woman said.
So we’d found the help Ahnum had talked about, but it wouldn’t be enough to get us past all the warriors waiting up top.
“There’s been a complication.” Nikon’s voice returned to normal, although he whispered. It was a startling difference from the tone he’d used previously.
“Tell me,” the Nice Woman said.
Nikon quickly explained the situation, making her curse and ask, “How many warriors out there?”
“We ran into eight warriors—one of them elite—and they followed us here. They’ve insisted on escorting us home afterward. Though they might pull in more. They seemed highly suspicious of us.”
“Why?” I asked.
“That’s a good question. It’s almost like they knew we’d be coming.” Husani said.
“Ahnum isn’t the leak.” Nikon’s words were certain.
As comforting as that was— “There’s still a leak, though.”
“Yes.” Nikon handed me my cane.
“It wasn’t me either,” Nice Woman said. “I promise.”
“I believe you,” I said. Her words had been so sincere, I had to. But that left a problem. “Do we go forward with this? I don’t want to leave them down here, when we’re so close.”
“We’ll think of something, but we have to hurry,” Nikon said. “The longer we’re down here, the more suspicious the warriors will become—if they haven’t already figured out what’s going on.”
Footsteps moved ahead of me, and then Nikon was on the move. We went at a faster pace than we’d been going before, urgency underlying everything. There were so many twists and turns in our path, I couldn’t have gotten us out of here again if there were intersections like I supposed.
The prisoners’ groans were forlorn, making my heart ache for them.
I whispered, “What are all these people jailed for?”
“Different things,” Nikon whispered back. “Most have threatened the Reding and Vading’s rule in one way or another.”
“Is there anything we can do for them?” I had a sudden urge to break them all out.
“They might fight beside us, but might not.” But his words were tentative, like he was thinking over the idea.
Did I push the issue? My gut said yes but my mind said no. “We should do this. They could help us.”
“Let’s rescue the prisoners we came for first, and decide from there.” Nikon’s words hit me hard. The prisoners. My mom. My dad. I was so close now. I’d do whatever it took. It might mean leaving the others behind, but I hoped it didn’t come to that.
“We’re almost there.” Nice Woman’s words sent my scurrying emotions away, trying to jump from my chest.
“I’ll check the entrance,” Ahnum said. “Make certain no one is coming after us.”
The dungeon went eerily silent, except for the faint moans from behind us. Hearing the pain of the prisoners had been bad, but something about the lack of sounds was worse.
We came to a stop, and Nice Woman said, “Dorian Palmira.”
No response.
“Mom? Daddy?” My voice came out small.
“Cassandra, is that you?” My dad’s voice was so familiar, yet ragged and weak.
I held in a cry. He hadn’t forgotten me. “It is.”
He sighed. “You shouldn’t have come.”