The barrack doors closed. Counting the steps in her mind, she followed. She padded on cat’s feet, anxious not to be heard but hurrying to catch up to the watch. They kept an even pace and joked amongst themselves. She was relieved that Sturnin was all by himself. Maybe Allavin and Flent were huddling outside the walls with Justin and Quickfellow. Maybe they would try and enter Landmoor in the morning. When the guards turned abruptly, she kept pace. They were off the main road now, heading down a twisting alley. She kept her distance. They walked for several miles before reaching a walled garden. This was unusual. The city jail would be near the center of town at the bottom of the town’s keep. The guards had taken Sturnin to the western quarter. She swallowed worriedly. She was near where the guard had tried to take her. At the end of the alley, they passed beneath a wrought-iron arch. A lock and chains secured the gate, which they re-fastened behind them after passing. After waiting a few moments, she scrabbled up the corner of the gate and jumped down onto the soft grass. Shadowy trees appeared through the fog on each side, and the soaked grass cushioned her boots. Silently, she wove between the trees inside a walled park.
The mist fell away around a stone well in the center of the park. There was a large pillared gazebo nearby with stone benches and small footpaths spreading away from it like wagon spokes. The cool sigh of trickling water came from the deep stone throat of the well. A rusted steel rail encircled it. At two ends, tall stone blocks rose about eye-level, fixed across with a metal rod and a crank. A heavy chain sank into the well’s mouth.
The guards approached the well and one looked down inside it. “Someone’s been down and forgot to let it up,” he mumbled. He grabbed the crank and gave it a hard jerk. The groan of metal scraping against stone sounded and something deep within the well shuddered.
Ticastasy heard the groans of chains quicken and then slow, ending with a click. Six of the twelve men stepped over the metal rail. Her eyes widened further when they didn’t fall. She watched as Sturnin was hefted over the stone rim. One of them jerked on the crank again and the six began to sink into the well shaft.
As they disappeared below, the six remaining guards waited until they were down before abandoning the park. They passed by her in the shadows and fog. She waited until she could no longer hear the sound of their boots. The creaking gate closed, and she heard chains drag and a lock clamp and click. Where had they taken Sturnin Goff in the middle of the garden? There was something below the city – tunnels or passageways. Ticastasy emerged from the trees and hurried to the edge of the well. The warm orange glow from a lantern slowly disappeared down a tunnel at the bottom of the shaft. She looked deep into the park. Where did the tunnel lead? She was pretty good at tripping a lock. If she could free the knight, they would be able to get out together.
She clenched her teeth, trying not to be afraid. Climbing over the rail, she grabbed the cold chain and climbed hand over hand down the well shaft. She dropped down to the floor of the well and waited, listening.
Voices.
Ticastasy looked around, hearing men approaching from a tunnel coming the other way. Fear danced in her blood and she tried to swallow. There was nowhere to hide, and these men were carrying torches. This is foolish, she decided. She gripped the chain and started climbing back up, listening to them approach. Torchlight flickered down the bend. Hand over hand she climbed the chain.
“Who are you?” a man demanded, grabbing her by the fringe of her cloak as she reached the top of the well. She saw his tunic and recognized the man as a Kiran Thall. Hauling her out of the well, he shoved her to the ground. “Speak up, boy!” Jerking the cowl away, he looked down at her face.
“You’re a bloody girl!” he swore with surprise.
Ticastasy kicked his legs up from underneath him. Grabbing her small knife, she backed away as he scrambled for his feet. She kicked him in the mouth, knocking him over with a flop. Four more men emerged through the mist ahead of her.
“Hate,” she swore, her stomach clenching with fear.
“Who’s that over…?” The voice changed with alarm. “By the well!”
She ran.
The Kiran Thall shouted and went after her. She ran through the gazebo, bounding over the rail and ducked from a low-hanging tree branch. She cut north immediately, not wanting to lose her direction. The gate was locked. She needed time to climb it. The Kiran Thall sprinted hard after her. The fastest came like a barking dog. She turned left, cutting so hard she brushed against another tree. The soldier grunted as he smacked into it, but he recovered and quickly cut her off.
“This way!” he called over his shoulder to the others.
She twisted around another tree to try and lose him again in the slick grass. But the Kiran Thall grabbed a fistful of her cloak and jerked her towards him. Colliding against her body, he pulled her in with his other arm and tried to hold her as she flailed.
“Hold tight there,” he said and then yelped with pain as she stabbed him in the hollow of his thigh. Ticastasy broke free and ran, but he caught her boot and tripped her. She struck the ground hard enough to see spots explode in her eyes. With a grunt of pain, she scrambled to her feet.