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It seemed the tower not only rose high into the sky, but it also dove deep underground. At the ground level of the tower was a stable that morphed into storage as it wound upwards towards the topmost lookout point. The soldiers lived underground, away from the freezing cold and the wind. Maribel was led into the stables while the rest of them went to the far end of the tower where it met the cliff. The soldier that spoke to Tara led them down a spiral stone stairway until they came to a large landing with hallways shooting off in every direction. The passage was carved with the utmost care and the doors lining its sides were made of thick pine smeared with tar. The stone was dry and warmly lit with torches, giving the whole place a welcoming and comfortable atmosphere. The soldier led them to one of the heavy doors, opened it, and bowed himself out without further comment.
The room was warm with a fireplace built into one wall. A small stack of dry logs sat next to it as the fire crackled. There were functional beds with sheets and blankets enough. The mattresses were made of fresh straw stuffed into a large cotton pocket. There were more beds than they would need and Dusk got the sneaking suspicion that this room was meant for the soldiers and not guests. However, he wasn’t one to turn away a warm bed after such a terrible cold night on the mountain. Even for all the comfort the room provided, he couldn’t shake the overwhelming sense of dread knowing that his pursuers were also in the tower, possibly on the other side of the wall. Lex quickly found a mattress and flopped down on it, his arm strapped to his chest. He looked miserable and tired, which as far as Dusk knew, he was.
Tara shut the door firmly and walked back to the pair of them. “Do not leave this room. This place is a labyrinth and you’ll get lost. And if those men guarding the road come back, I don’t want a chance of them seeing you.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Dusk replied, sitting on the edge of his bed. “All I want to do is sleep.”
“Good. Get as much rest as possible. The journey down will be just as perilous.”
“Why are you doing all this for us?” Lex said suddenly, still lying down with his eyes focused on the ceiling.
“I already told you. I hate the nobles.”
“So why not kill them? Raise a rebellion? Why sit in a tavern and get drunk instead of actually doing something?” Dusk could hear the venom in his voice, it was unmistakable.
“Don’t pass judgment so quickly. You know nothing of the world,” Tara replied calmly. “That much is obvious.”
“I know a lot more about the nobles than you do!” Lex’s voice began to grow angry and loud as he turned to face her. “You just want to sit around and feel bad for yourself! The only reason you’re helping us is because you miss having someone to order around! Someone that you can feel superior to because you’re such a fuck up! It doesn’t take a genius to see what makes you tick!”
Tara stood glaring, her arms crossed. “You’re right. I love ordering people around. It’s what I’m good at. In fact, I’ve made an entire life of it.”
“Then why not go back to the army? Or better yet, go join Inahan and fight against the Empire?”
Tara dashed over to his bed and bent down, grabbing him by the front of the shirt and lifting him so he was barely an inch from her face. “Don’t say anything like that within these walls again or you’ll have us all arrested for treason!” She was silent for a moment, her eyes burrowing into his and Lex refused to look away. “You’re pathetic. I can smell it pouring off you, the stench of privilege and a cushy upbringing,” she whispered. “The hardest thing you’ve ever done in your life is pour your own tea.”
Dusk could see Lex’s face grow red as he tried to turn away from her, but she held his collar firmly.
“I bet you know some of the nobles. Maybe even friends with one or two of them. Did you grow up with them? Fuck a few of them?” She stopped again, waiting for his response. He gave her none. “So tell me,” she hissed, “why are you out here? You want answers so badly, but you refuse to talk. Why don’t you tell the both of us why you’re traveling with someone like him,” she gestured to Dusk over her shoulder, “and trying to escape the Empire?”
Lex’s eyes flicked to Dusk and then back to Tara. “I—”
There was a loud knock at the door. Tara looked to the door and back to Lex, scoffed, and threw him on the bed, ignoring his injured arm. “Keep your fucking mouth shut.” She straightened up and turned back to the door. “Enter!”
The soldier that approached them at the gate opened the door and stepped inside. He clicked his heels together as he stood at attention. “Commander Falgorin requests your presence immediately ma’am.”
“I see. Take me to him then.”
Without a backwards glance, Tara marched out of the room and slammed the door behind her leaving Lex and Dusk to themselves. Dusk looked over to Lex who was still red in the face.
“Lex,” he began to say.
“Just leave it.”
“But I—”
“I said leave it!” Lex shouted.
Lex pulled the blanket up and rolled to his side, facing the wall away from him. Dusk wasn’t sure what to think or do. Something was obviously bothering Lex and Tara’s presence was making it worse. He wanted to talk to Lex, to ask him what was going on, to tell him they were all in this together, but he couldn’t. Not after Lex had shouted at him. Something about it had shifted his thought process back to the way it had been before, into a more subservient space. A shouted order was law. If you disobeyed it, bad things would always follow and Dusk was unable to overcome that deeply instilled fear. So instead of doing what he wanted to do most and find out what his companion- his friend- needed, he laid down on his own bed and turned away from him, staring into the flames licking the stone walls of the fireplace.
Dusk spent the evening in silence, laying on his bed. He wasn’t sure if he dozed off, but at some point he was startled to hear the door open. He looked up to see Tara shutting the door behind her. She seemed tired and defeated. When she noticed him watching, her face went back to its usual stony visage. She walked to the edge of the fireplace and threw a couple of logs into the fire.
“Commander Falgorin is more impressive than I thought he’d be,” she said quietly, leaning against the wall. “He’s checking on my orders and wants to meet you both in the morning.”
“What are we going to do?”
“It will take them a week or more to get a message by bird to the Royal Guard. Then we have to wait for the reply. We can’t stay here that long. On top of that I can’t let him see you.” She wore a look of worry as she gazed up at Dusk. “He’ll see right through you. Hell, I’m pretty sure he saw right through me. We really only have one option.”
She walked back over to her bed and sat down on the edge. Dusk stared as she began to take her boots off, waiting for her to finish her thought. He was finding it hard to be patient.
“What’s the option?” he said at last, when he could no longer stand it.
“We have to sneak out.” She gave a heavy sigh. “We’ll have to go before dawn when the guard is low. It’s our only shot. Hopefully he hasn’t told all of them we’re not allowed to leave.”
Dusk didn’t like the sound of that plan, but he didn’t dare argue. Especially when he had none better to offer. Their odds of escaping without notice were low. The chances of them making it all the way off the mountain while injured were also low. If there was a chase, they most certainly wouldn’t stand a chance. Dusk knew it was almost hopeless as he watched Tara pull herself into her bed, wrapping tightly in the wool blankets. But he had to try. He could still feel that spark inside of himself, that fire that kept him going. He wasn’t going to give up. Not yet.
***
Dusk was shaken awake, a cold hand clamped over his mouth. His eyes traveled up the arm to see Tara hovering over him with her finger to her lips.
“It’s now or never,” she whispered.
His brain was still thick with sleep. He’d spent the majority of the night laying awake and worrying about what might happen. Sleep had eluded him and now, just when he’d finally found it, he could have no more. Dusk watched as Tara woke Lex in the same fashion. Together the three of them collected their items, careful to make as little noise as possible. The majority of the pain in Dusk’s head had gone away, but quick movements still caused a loss of balance. He was careful as he put his bow across his back. Tara was almost finished as well, but when he turned to Lex he could see he was struggling with an arm still bound against his chest.
“Let me help,” Dusk said quietly, walking over to Lex.
The man gave a small huff of impatience, but he didn’t try to stop him. Together they managed to get the pack across his shoulders and the sword strapped across his back so that it didn’t clang against anything on the way out. With a final nod to Tara that they were ready, the three of them made for the door. Tara opened it quietly and peered out for a moment before motioning for them to follow.
The passage was dimly lit, some of the torches having burnt out in the night. They moved quickly but silently, making their way to the end of the hall. At the bottom of the stairs they stopped to listen once again, but there was almost no sound coming from above. With a motion from Tara they followed her upwards until they reached the stable area. To their luck and surprise there was no one around. Dusk began to walk towards where Maribel was being kept. Tara grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him close.
“What are you doing?” she whispered ferociously. “Leave the damn horse here! We’ll never get out with her. She’ll make too much noise and she’s huge! How would we even begin to sneak a horse through the front gate?”
“I can’t leave her,” Dusk retorted. “I promised I’d take care of her.”
“If you want to stay alive you’ll leave that animal behind.” There was a finality in her voice that hinted it would be dangerous to argue. She looked into his eyes and for the briefest of moments her face softened. “I know it’s hard, but it’s the only way.”
“Yes sir...” Dusk replied, his head hanging low.
Tara gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Thank you.”
Dusk was surprised by the softness in her voice. It was something he hadn’t experienced from her before, but he didn’t have time to think about it. At that moment one of the soldiers walked into stables and looked directly at them. They hadn’t heard him coming and were caught completely out in the open.
“Hey!” he shouted too loudly in the silence. “What are you doing up here?”
“That’s Captain Tordovic to you, soldier!” Tara called back.
The soldier made his way over. “My apologies Captain, but you and your men are under strict orders not to leave Windshear Tower by Commander Falgorin. I’m afraid I’ll need to escort you back to your rooms.”
“Please, by all means,” Tara sighed, stepping to the side to let him lead. “But you’ll answer to the Commander for this.”
“Yes ma’am,” he replied confidently.
The soldier stepped towards the stairs to lead them back downward. Without a sound Tara pulled a dagger from her belt and stepped forward, wrapping her hand across the man’s nose and mouth so that he couldn’t make a sound.
“This wasn’t the plan,” she said softly and slammed the dagger upwards into the base of his skull.
Only a soft exhale escaped the soldier’s lips as he fell limp in her arms. She hooked her hands under his armpits and pulled him off to the side, stashing his body behind some crates against the wall. Grabbing an armful of straw, she threw some over his body and then on the floor to cover the blood that had spilled from his wound. Dusk stood in shock, thinking there could have been a better way to deal with the man. Maybe they could have tied him up or knocked him out. But Tara didn’t even hesitate, she had murdered him before he even knew what was going on. He and Lex both watched as she wiped her blade off and re-sheathed it.
“Now we really need to go,” there was a sound of urgency in her voice. “Stay close and walk in my tracks. Make no noise.”
Lex glanced at Dusk. It was easy to tell he was worried and still untrusting of their leader, but now it was too late to back out. Dusk gave him a reassuring nod and together they followed Tara to the other end of the tower and out into the snow. It was still well before sunrise, the eastern sky still dark on the horizon to their right as they crept along the wooden wall. Tara led them forward, taking each step slowly to keep the crunching of the snow as quiet as possible. Dusk and Lex were careful to step directly in her footprints, keeping their hands on the wall to steady themselves as they snuck along. As they reached the edge of the gate Dusk could see the pair of soldiers who were always guarding it. They stood just inside the doorway with their backs turned confidently towards the Empire. Tara motioned for the pair of them to move back against the wall behind a small stack of barrels. She shifted her garb and strode out to the guards.
“Commander Falgorin requests your presence,” Dusk heard Tara say with some authority.
“Why would he send you?” one of them replied. Apparently Tara’s rank no longer meant anything to them. “You’re supposed to be down in the barracks.”
“I see,” Tara replied coolly. “Would you like me to tell him the two of you decided his judgment to trust me was unsound and disobey not only me, a superior officer, but also the Commander himself? I wonder what he’d have to say about that.”
“I don’t want to get in trouble Greg, this is my first posting,” Dusk heard another, meeker voice say. “We should listen to her.”
“I don’t trust the Royal Guard. Buncha hired murderers if you ask me.”
“Be that as it may. I’ll inform Commander Falgorin that you are disobeying his direct orders.”
Dusk watched as Tara walked back through the gate and around the corner, heading for the tower.
“Wait!” the insubordinate soldier called, running around the corner to catch up, his boots crunching in the snow. “Wait. We’ll go. Just keep an eye on this gate and don’t let anyone through. You hear me?”
“Those were my orders from the start. And don’t you worry,” Tara unsheathed the great sword from her back and held it aloft with one hand, “Nobody gets through me.”
The soldier gave a stiff nod. “Come on Wilbur, I’m not waiting all night so you don’t get lost.”
“Yes sir! Coming sir!” the other replied back.
The younger sounding soldier came around the corner to catch up and both of them headed across the courtyard and into the tower without a single glance back. After they disappeared inside Tara stood watching for a moment before she motioned to Dusk and Lex still tucked behind the barrels. They followed her around the edge of the gate and then down the other side of the wall to where it met the stones of the cliff side. Keeping close to them in the darkness, they silently crept down the mountainside and away from the gates of Windshear Pass.
They traveled until the sky turned gray behind them, signaling the dawn on the Ditanian side of the mountains. Dusk shivered in the cold as he glanced back to see the first tinges of pink on the horizon, but then turned his eyes forward. Somehow they had made it into Inahan. It was an absolute miracle. Even though they were less than an hour from the gate, he could already feel relief washing over him like a warm summer rain. He felt, for the first time since he’d escaped, that he had a good shot at making it to Greencoast Port. Juniper would have been proud of him and the narrow scrapes he’d gotten out of along the way. He’d become quite the adventurer in such a short time. Not only that, but he’d made a friend along the way, if he ever began to speak again.
Nothing could crush the feeling of elation, not even Lex’s silence or the harsh words the night before. The snow had stopped falling, the air felt warmer. It seemed as if everything was going exactly to plan for the first time since he’d set out.
And then he heard a man’s voice.
“Where do you think you’re going?”