Instantly Nikolas scooped her into his arms and rose to his feet. Striding to one side of the cell, he ordered, “You heard her. Get the trapdoor open.”
Once he stepped off the wooden section, he set her on her feet. Gawain and Rowan threw themselves at the task, while Rhys slid into the cell to help. The others crowded around outside, looking in. Not one of them, Sophie noted, left to go to the courtyard.
The hinges had rusted, and it took the combined strength of all three men to pry the floor up. As it creaked open, it revealed a lightless black of unknown depth. The monkey leaped into the oubliette.
“Robin!” Sophie flung herself forward, hand outstretched, but she was too late to stop the puck.
Rowan rubbed his face and swore. Nikolas said, “Get one of the lanterns down there.”
The group had two lanterns with them. Cael lit one of them, tore the edge of his T-shirt into a strip to tie around the handle, and passed it forward. Accepting it, Nikolas lowered it into the blackness.
The light touched rough-hewn rock along the sides and what looked like it might be the bottom. Sophie leaned farther to get a better look. At the very edge of the light, she caught sight of the puck. While she couldn’t tell for sure, he appeared to be digging.
“Massive shift, you say.” Nikolas rubbed his chin.
She repeated, “Massive.”
He looked around at his men. “We’re going to go down. If the shift is that big, there’s no telling how long it will take. If any of you want to go to the courtyard, go ahead and do it.”
“Sod off,” Cael said, mildly enough. “The sooner you get down there, the sooner we can follow.”
Sophie held out her hands. “Lower me down.”
She half expected Nikolas to start an argument about who got to go first, but instead, he took hold of her hands. They locked their fingers around each other’s wrists, and when she nodded that she was ready, he swung her down into the darkness. When he had lowered her as far as he could, he released her wrists and she dropped, landing in a crouch to save her ankles.
As soon as she hit bottom, she scrambled to the side, and Nikolas leaped in after her. They took hold of the lantern and moved deeper into the pit, as one by one, the men jumped down to join them. Cael and Gareth lit the second lantern.
The pit was larger than Sophie had expected. Followed by Nikolas, she scrambled over the uneven, rocky terrain to reach Robin.
As she reached the monkey’s side, he looked at her, eyes huge and frantic. He said out loud, “Home.”
It was as if Robin had doused the men with gasoline and lit a match. They blazed with so much hope it was almost unbearable to look at them.
“He’s a nature sprite,” Nikolas said. “He knows home when he senses it.” He twisted. “Get anything you can dig with!”
“Out of the way, lass.” Without asking, Gawain picked her up and passed her back to the men behind him.
Braden took hold of her and passed her back to Rowan. She didn’t protest being manhandled. In this case, it was clear she was outclassed, and there wasn’t enough room to take up space just because she was curious.
They attacked the earth with hand axes and crowbars. Watching from the rear, she caught only glimpses now and then of Nikolas. When the men at the forefront paused, at first she didn’t see what was going on, but then she felt a ripple up ahead, and she knew Nikolas was working with the land magic.
Gawain said, “That got us a good six meters. Do it again.”
There was a pause, and another wave rippled out. The men moved forward and started digging again.
Left to her own devices for the moment, Sophie found an outcrop of rock and went to sit down. Something crunched under her feet. Looking down, she realized she had stepped on a long bone, perhaps a femur. A bare skull lay nearby.
She picked it up to study it. Someone had died down here, alone in the blackness. Maybe they had been a criminal, but maybe they had just been an enemy. It was even possible the victim had been one of Nikolas’s people.
Kathryn Shaw might be wonderful, and her father sounded like he’d been a miracle to many, but those earlier Shaws…
They didn’t like to read, she thought. They didn’t like to write. They threw people into black pits. They sided with the Light Court. Those earlier Shaws had been terrible people.
Sighing, she sat, set the skull in her lap, and wrapped her arms around it while she waited.
Another wave rippled through the land magic, and a sharp, cold wind blew into the pit. A thin, pale illumination followed. Someone roared—she thought it was Braden—and then others joined in. They hacked and slashed at the ground in a frenzy until suddenly they surged forward.
Still holding the skull, Sophie stood and picked her way forward through the short tunnel they had created. Details came clearer, as one by one, they climbed out of the hole. Outside, despite the biting chill of a winter wind, they hugged one another while someone laughed. Another one sobbed.
Sophie was the last one out, staring at the heavy snowfall that weighted the limbs of nearby pine trees. Pine trees that grew in Lyonesse. It was twilight, and the thin illumination came from a moon wreathed in storm clouds.
As she climbed awkwardly up, Nikolas’s head and shoulders suddenly filled the opening. He offered a hand, and she took it. When he helped her out of the hole, the fierce exhilaration in his expression hitched as he caught sight of the skull she had tucked under one arm.
“What on earth are you doing now, my Sophie?” he asked.
Once he stepped off the wooden section, he set her on her feet. Gawain and Rowan threw themselves at the task, while Rhys slid into the cell to help. The others crowded around outside, looking in. Not one of them, Sophie noted, left to go to the courtyard.
The hinges had rusted, and it took the combined strength of all three men to pry the floor up. As it creaked open, it revealed a lightless black of unknown depth. The monkey leaped into the oubliette.
“Robin!” Sophie flung herself forward, hand outstretched, but she was too late to stop the puck.
Rowan rubbed his face and swore. Nikolas said, “Get one of the lanterns down there.”
The group had two lanterns with them. Cael lit one of them, tore the edge of his T-shirt into a strip to tie around the handle, and passed it forward. Accepting it, Nikolas lowered it into the blackness.
The light touched rough-hewn rock along the sides and what looked like it might be the bottom. Sophie leaned farther to get a better look. At the very edge of the light, she caught sight of the puck. While she couldn’t tell for sure, he appeared to be digging.
“Massive shift, you say.” Nikolas rubbed his chin.
She repeated, “Massive.”
He looked around at his men. “We’re going to go down. If the shift is that big, there’s no telling how long it will take. If any of you want to go to the courtyard, go ahead and do it.”
“Sod off,” Cael said, mildly enough. “The sooner you get down there, the sooner we can follow.”
Sophie held out her hands. “Lower me down.”
She half expected Nikolas to start an argument about who got to go first, but instead, he took hold of her hands. They locked their fingers around each other’s wrists, and when she nodded that she was ready, he swung her down into the darkness. When he had lowered her as far as he could, he released her wrists and she dropped, landing in a crouch to save her ankles.
As soon as she hit bottom, she scrambled to the side, and Nikolas leaped in after her. They took hold of the lantern and moved deeper into the pit, as one by one, the men jumped down to join them. Cael and Gareth lit the second lantern.
The pit was larger than Sophie had expected. Followed by Nikolas, she scrambled over the uneven, rocky terrain to reach Robin.
As she reached the monkey’s side, he looked at her, eyes huge and frantic. He said out loud, “Home.”
It was as if Robin had doused the men with gasoline and lit a match. They blazed with so much hope it was almost unbearable to look at them.
“He’s a nature sprite,” Nikolas said. “He knows home when he senses it.” He twisted. “Get anything you can dig with!”
“Out of the way, lass.” Without asking, Gawain picked her up and passed her back to the men behind him.
Braden took hold of her and passed her back to Rowan. She didn’t protest being manhandled. In this case, it was clear she was outclassed, and there wasn’t enough room to take up space just because she was curious.
They attacked the earth with hand axes and crowbars. Watching from the rear, she caught only glimpses now and then of Nikolas. When the men at the forefront paused, at first she didn’t see what was going on, but then she felt a ripple up ahead, and she knew Nikolas was working with the land magic.
Gawain said, “That got us a good six meters. Do it again.”
There was a pause, and another wave rippled out. The men moved forward and started digging again.
Left to her own devices for the moment, Sophie found an outcrop of rock and went to sit down. Something crunched under her feet. Looking down, she realized she had stepped on a long bone, perhaps a femur. A bare skull lay nearby.
She picked it up to study it. Someone had died down here, alone in the blackness. Maybe they had been a criminal, but maybe they had just been an enemy. It was even possible the victim had been one of Nikolas’s people.
Kathryn Shaw might be wonderful, and her father sounded like he’d been a miracle to many, but those earlier Shaws…
They didn’t like to read, she thought. They didn’t like to write. They threw people into black pits. They sided with the Light Court. Those earlier Shaws had been terrible people.
Sighing, she sat, set the skull in her lap, and wrapped her arms around it while she waited.
Another wave rippled through the land magic, and a sharp, cold wind blew into the pit. A thin, pale illumination followed. Someone roared—she thought it was Braden—and then others joined in. They hacked and slashed at the ground in a frenzy until suddenly they surged forward.
Still holding the skull, Sophie stood and picked her way forward through the short tunnel they had created. Details came clearer, as one by one, they climbed out of the hole. Outside, despite the biting chill of a winter wind, they hugged one another while someone laughed. Another one sobbed.
Sophie was the last one out, staring at the heavy snowfall that weighted the limbs of nearby pine trees. Pine trees that grew in Lyonesse. It was twilight, and the thin illumination came from a moon wreathed in storm clouds.
As she climbed awkwardly up, Nikolas’s head and shoulders suddenly filled the opening. He offered a hand, and she took it. When he helped her out of the hole, the fierce exhilaration in his expression hitched as he caught sight of the skull she had tucked under one arm.
“What on earth are you doing now, my Sophie?” he asked.
