Cray trotted out of the darkness and unlocked it with a smile. “Did you have your way with her? She was a pretty one when she came in, not so much now that the tree has taken her for itself. . . .”
Wardley slapped him across the face with an open hand. “A true man never needs to take by force.”
Cray stared at Wardley with awe as he pushed past. “I’ll strap her back up now. C’mon Faina.”
“Can’t you just leave her alone?” snapped Dinah.
“Nope. We are on orders from the King himself to have her strapped in from sunrise to sunset.” He easily propped Faina against the wall and pulled the leather strap across her chest. Roots began to stir and pulse away from the wall.
“Even I think it’s cruel. The most I’ve ever seen a prisoner strapped in to the tower is an hour a day. And that was for the Gray Turncoat.”
The Gray Turncoat was an assassin sent by the Yurkei. He had come very close to killing the King, but his mortal fault was that he underestimated Cheshire. After his failed attempt at poisoning, he spent a month in the towers before he lost his head, which was then sent back to the Yurkei on horseback. Cray pinched Faina’s thin cheek between his grubby fingers. “This one must have done something beyond horrible, but that makes sense from what she was saying when she arrived.”
Dinah took a step closer to Cray. “And what was that?” she asked, her voice low.
“It depends on what you can offer me, Your Highness.”
Dinah recoiled as if she had been punched in the chest.
“I may have been raised in the Towers, but I’m no fool.” He looped an arm around her shoulder. “I heard the Princess was homely, but I have to say, you aren’t homely at all. I find you quite striking. Look at that strong chin, those dangerous eyes.”
Dinah heard the metallic swish of Wardley drawing his sword. Cray smiled and pointed his finger at Wardley over Dinah’s shoulder. “You will never get out of these towers without me,” he giggled. “Time is of the essence. The evening watch is coming in, and those Clubs are two times more brutal and suspicious. They will see through you in seconds.”
Dinah clutched the amethyst ring in her dress pocket. The stone was the size of a quail egg. She withdrew it slowly.
“I will offer you this if you tell me what Faina said when she arrived, AND if you get us out alive. It will also buy your silence. It’s worth about ten years’ wages, or enough to buy a cottage in the village.”
Cray’s eyes lit up, the reflection of the gem flashing over his greedy pupils. “Yes. Yes, I will tell you, and make sure you get out of the towers in one piece. But we must leave now.”
He read Dinah’s thoughts before she could open her mouth.
“We can’t take her with us. There is no hope for her. The roots have poisoned her mind and body, and she is more of the tree than she is of this world. Besides, all prisoners deserve their just punishment.”
Before Dinah could object, Wardley took her by the elbow and dragged her toward the door. Cray slammed the cell door shut after them, locking it. Dinah glanced sadly back as Wardley dragged her down the hall. Faina met her eyes and for a moment she saw a peaceful look of finality pass over her features. Then she gave a whimper of pain and surrendered to the roots twisting their way across her face. A maniacal laugh escaped from her bloody mouth and followed them as they ran. Hot tears splashed down Dinah’s face as she shuffled after Wardley. The chains were still clamped over her wrists, and she struggled to keep her balance while they followed Cray through one dark hall after another.
“What is the quickest way to the Iron Web?”
Cray pointed down two levels. “See that iron poker hanging there? Between those two cells, there is a door to the web.”
Dinah’s feet flew as they sprinted down the platforms, spiraling lower and lower. Prisoners called out from their cells, extending their blackened hands to grab at Dinah. Cray motioned to a tattered rope lying on the ground between two cells. “Follow the rope out to the Iron Web. From there, you’re on your own. I have to return to Faina’s cell before anyone notices I was gone.”
From the corner of her eye, Dinah saw Wardley spin, his black Club cape flashing behind him. In a second, he was behind Cray, his sword pressed across Cray’s pale neck.
“You will tell us what Faina said, or you will die here, and I can assure you, no one will ever investigate how a spineless coward lost all his blood.”
Cray gave a squeak. “She didn’t say much, not much of nothing. It’s mostly madness. When she came in, she was gagged, she was! When we took it out, she would just cry and say, ‘She’ll wear a crown to keep her head! She’ll wear a crown to keep her head!’”