“I should have sent riders with them to report back. I don’t like this waiting. Waiting to hear from them, waiting to hear the trumpet blare of invasion.” She looked out at the dying light. “When they seal the northern pass and destroy the bridges in Colnora, the only way in or out of this city will be by sea or the southern gate. Do you think I should put more ships out to guard against a water invasion? We are vulnerable to that.”
“It’s possible, yet unlikely. I’ve never heard of elves being ones for sea going. I don’t believe they brought ships with them across Dunmore. Breckton destroyed the Melengar fleet and—”
“What about Trent? They might have gone there for the ships.”
The slender man nodded his powdered-wig-covered head. “Except that there was no need at that time. There will be no need until your men close the roads. Usually one doesn’t go to great lengths unless one has to, and so far—”
“They have had an easy time of killing us. Will it be any harder for them here?”
“I think so,” Nimbus said. “Unlike the others, we have had time to prepare.”
“But will it be enough?”
“Against any human army we would be impregnable, but…”
Modina sat on the edge of her desk, her gown puffing out as she did. “The reports said swarms of Gilarabrywn. You’ve never seen one, Nimbus, but I have. They’re giant, brutal, terrifying flying monsters. Just one of them destroyed my home—burned it to ash. They are unstoppable.”
“And yet you stopped it.”
“I killed one—the man said swarms! They will burn the city from the sky.”
“The shelters are almost complete. The buildings will be lost, but the populace will be safe. They will not be able to take the city by Gilarabrywn. You have seen to that.”
“What about food?”
“We’ve been lucky there. It was a good year. We have more in store than is usual for late winter. Fishermen are working around the clock harvesting, salting, and smoking. All meats and grain are rationed and underground. Even here at the castle the bulk of the stores are already in the old dungeon.”
“It should slow them down, shouldn’t it?”
“I think so,” he said.
She looked back out the window at the snow-covered roofs. “What if Arista and the others had trouble? What if they were attacked by thieves? They might have died even before reaching the city.”
“Thieves?” Nimbus asked, stifling a laugh. “I daresay I should pity any band of thieves that had the misfortune of assaulting that party. I am certain they have entered Amberton Lee safely.”
She turned to face him. His tone was so confident, so certain that it set her at ease. “Yes, I suppose you’re right. We just have to hope they are successful. What obstacles they will face beneath the Lee will certainly be more formidable than a band of thieves.”
CHAPTER 10
BENEATH THE LEE
Arista had no idea what time it was or how long they had walked since reaching the bottom of the shaft. Her feet, sore and heavy, slipped and stumbled over rocks. She yawned incessantly and her stomach growled, but there was no stopping—not yet.
They followed a series of narrow crevices so small and tight it often required crawling and, in the case of Elden, a sucked-in stomach and the occasional tug-of-war. It was frighteningly claustrophobic at times. She moved sideways through narrow slits where her nose passed within inches of the opposite side. During this period, Arista’s robe was the only source of light. At times, she noticed it dim or flicker briefly, which gave her concern. She would stiffen and instantly the light grew steady, often brighter, but as the night dragged on, the light drifted steadily from white to darker shades of blue.
The passage widened and constricted, but Royce usually found a way to move ahead. On a few occasions, he was wrong and they needed to backtrack and find another way. At such times, Arista heard Magnus mumble. Royce must have heard him too, but the thief never spoke or looked in his direction. The dwarf, who moved through the tunnels like a fish in water, did not elaborate on his grumblings. He remained generally quiet and traveled in the rear or middle of the group, yet occasionally when Royce entered a crevice, Magnus might cough with a disapproving tone. Royce ignored him and invariably returned with a scowl. After a few missteps, Royce started turning away from an appealing path the moment Magnus made a sound, as if a new thought had just occurred to him. Silently worked out and agreed upon, the system functioned well enough for both of them.
The rest of the party followed mindlessly, focused only on their own feet. After the first hour, Alric, who had begun the march giving the occasional obvious direction or asking questions, then nodding his head as if approving some sort of action, gave up the pretense altogether. Soon he dragged himself along like the rest, blindly following wherever Magnus and Royce led.
“Mmm,” Arista heard Magnus intoning somewhere ahead, as if he had just tasted something wonderful.
The princess was fumbling forward, ducking and twisting to get by as they struggled through another long narrow fissure. The blue light of her robe made the rock appear to glow.
“Wonderful,” the dwarf muttered.
“What is?”
“You’ll see.”
They inched onward through the crevice, which became tighter. She felt forward with her feet, kicking away loose stones to find footing.
“Whoa.” She heard Royce’s voice from somewhere up ahead, speaking the word slowly with uncharacteristic awe. She attempted to look forward, but Mauvin and Alric, standing ahead of her in the narrow pass, blocked her view.
Alric soon exclaimed, “By Mar! How is that possible?”
“What’s happening?” Degan said behind her.
“No clue—not there yet,” she replied. “Mauvin’s big head is blocking me.”
“Hey!” he retorted. “It’s not my fault. It gets really narrow in—Oh my god!”
Arista pushed forward.
Mauvin was right—the path did grow very tight—and she had to bend, squeeze, and step through. Her shoulders brushed the stone, her hair caught on jagged rocks, and her foot was almost stuck as she shifted her weight. She held her breath and pulled her body through the narrowest gap.
Once on the far side, the first thing she noticed was that she was standing in a large cavern, which, after the hours of crawling like a worm, was wonderful. The action of some forgotten river had cut the walls out in scoops and brushed them to a smooth wavy finish. Elongated pools of water that littered the floor shone as mirrors divided from each other by smooth ridges of rock.
The second thing she noticed was the stars.
“Oh my,” she found herself saying as she looked up. The roof of the cavern appeared just like the night sky. Thousands of tiny points of light glowed bright. Captured in the enclosed space, they illuminated the entire chamber. “Stars.”
“Glowworms,” Magnus corrected as he walked out ahead of her. “They leech on to the ceiling stone.”