From Darkness Won - Jill Williamson [186]
You did not refuse, either. Do you have your coin?
I sewed it in a pouch and added it to my necklace.
It’s in a safe place, then.
Yes. Very safe.
The boats moved swiftly down the underground river. The journey was long and cramped. Averella dozed off, and when she woke, her legs had fallen asleep.
How long will it take us to get there, Father?
A day and a half, so Peripaso told me.
So long?
The men sang songs and told jokes to pass the time and fight tricks of Darkness. Averella kept to herself, but joined them for meals of dried meat and bread. Not knowing there was a lady present among them, the men spoke freely about the battles they had fought in the past days, lingering over gruesome details of wounds and deaths, green fire, chams, black knights, and tanniyn. The whole thing made Averella shiver, but the ride was otherwise so boring she could not help but listen in.
Peripaso had no intention of stopping for the night or even to stretch one’s legs. The soldiers relieved themselves over the side of the boat whenever the urge struck them. It seemed a cruel fate to Averella. She felt as if she were back on the road to Mahanaim with Jax and Khai. Thankful she had not drunk much water before leaving Noiz, she was careful to only sip from her water skin.
A day and a half later, they finally stopped along a sandy bank. Her father bid her take a moment to herself while he organized his men. By the time she returned, Inko and Captain Demry’s groups had both left. Achan and Sir Caleb’s squad was crowded in a circle to the left of an opening in the rocky wall.
“We must keep our voices down,” Sir Eagan said. “The dungeons should be empty when we reach them. We must move swiftly, for more guards may have arrived by then. We will exit into the northern arc of the keep, straight across from the eastern gate. Any questions?”
No one spoke, so Sir Eagan raised his torch and said, “Then we go. Follow me.” Sir Eagan led the men through the dark opening in the rock.
Come back to me, Sparrow.
Averella looked over her shoulder and locked eyes with Achan. She lifted her armor-clad hand. You as well.
The distraction had lost Averella her place in line. She waited for the men to pass so she could fall in at the end. But Jax gripped her arm and pulled her in front of him. Their eyes met, and she opened her mind to his knock.
We shall be partners, Vrell. You watch my back, I will watch yours. Agreed?
Yes, thank you, Jax. I am glad you are in this squad.
From that moment on, everything happened in silence. Averella entered the dark tunnel in the rock. It led upward over jagged ground until letting out into a large cell. The iron-barred door hung open. Averella jogged in line through a maze of dirt pathways in the smelly dungeon and up a curling stairwell that emptied into a dark stone corridor inside the mighty Armonguard fortress.
They turned twice in the corridors and spilled out into a dark night. A cool breeze blasted her face. She barely had time to look around as she sprinted to keep up with the men. A screech cut through the darkness. A gowzal.
She shivered and told herself, Do not think on it. Focus on the gate.
Dark shadows circled the ground. She glanced up to see swarms of gowzals gliding past the torches on the sentry walls. Even in darkness, the whitestone walls of Armonguard shone bright against the dark bodies of the creatures.
A battle already raged around them. She passed by a man in a dingy red Kingsguard cape who was screaming, clutching his arm. She slowed her steps and reached for the strap of her satchel, but a firm grip on her shoulder changed her mind.
Jax towed her away from the injured man. First we must achieve our objective, then you may help the injured.
The decorative wrought-iron arch that marked the gate loomed ahead, a lacy tangle of charcoal thread against a black sky. Men in New Kingsguard cloaks shot arrows down from the sentry wall on either side of the gate. Jax pulled Averella behind his shield. She held up her own just as a heavy thud knocked it against her head.