Lady Tina rolled her eyes as she backed away.
I looked up through the trees to see the outline of the City of Lockes in the dark, torches flickering along the wall surrounding the City. In the distance, I could see the flags atop Castle Lockes waving in the cool breeze. This was as close as I’d been to my city since the night I’d headed into the forest to face the Great White. I was surprised at the lump in my throat at the sight of it, that I could miss a place almost as much as I’d missed the people.
But there wasn’t time for that now.
We had a king to save.
I pushed out the barest amounts of green and gold, and the grate crumbled into dust that sloughed to the ground.
“Gods,” Justin said quietly. “That’s… could you have done that before?”
I shrugged. “Maybe. It’s… easier to manage now. I could probably always do these things, but it could have easily grown beyond my control. People could have gotten hurt who didn’t deserve it.”
“Ungh,” Ryan said, watching me with heated eyes.
“Does that happen every time?” Lady Tina asked Justin.
“Yes. And even when we have time for it, it’s still awful.”
“Then you wouldn’t mind going first,” I said cheerfully. “Especially since you’re all gung ho about going into the Shit Tunnels.”
“You capitalized that, didn’t you,” Justin said, peering into the sewer.
“Sure did. That’s how you know it’s gonna suck.”
“Fine,” Justin said, squaring his shoulders. “I am the Grand Prince of Verania. We are going to save my father, our King. I will lead the way.”
“Into the Shit Tunnels. Just say it. Say into the Shit Tunnels.”
“Into the Shit Tunnels,” he snapped at me and then disappeared into the sewer. Lady Tina huffed out an annoyed breath, hitched up her robes, and followed the Prince.
I whirled on Ryan while we had a moment alone, grabbed him by the back of the neck, and kissed him fiercely. He grunted in surprise, but his mouth opened immediately, his tongue in my mouth, hot and slick. I ground my hips against him as his hands found their way to my ass and pulled. I gasped into his mouth as I tightened my grip in his hair.
“What was that for?” he asked as I pulled away, his eyes hooded and dark.
“That was for saying no to sex and making sure we got a good night’s sleep last night like an asshole. Don’t you know anything about dangerous missions? You’re supposed to have life-affirming sex before you go.”
He rolled his eyes, but if the bulge in his trousers meant anything, he was not unaffected. “We’re going to be okay,” he said. “As long as we stick together. You don’t go doing anything stupid or half-cocked. Understand?”
I scoffed. “When have I ever done anything stupid or—”
“All the time. Like, everything you do. It’s literally who you are.”
“I’m not—”
“Promise me, Sam.” He’d lost the shine of lust in his eyes. Dammit. He was being serious, and I couldn’t blow him or blow him off. “You promise me that you’re gonna stay by my side.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Sure.”
He jostled me a little. “Sam.”
“I promise.”
He searched my face, trying to decide if I was being truthful. I gave him the ol’ Look-How-Precious-Sam-Is eyes, and he nodded slowly. “We’ll have time. After.” And he kissed me, swift and sweet, and disappeared into the sewer.
Before I followed, I looked up at the night sky above, the stars twinkling brightly. “You better take care of them,” I said quietly. “No matter what. Justin and Ryan. Lady Tina, if you have time. Nothing can happen to them, or you won’t like what I’ll do.”
I thought maybe David’s Dragon flashed a little brighter, but it could have just been what I wanted to see.
I turned and went into the sewers.
AND IMMEDIATELY gagged because dear gods.
“What do the Darks eat?” I moaned, covering my nose and mouth. “Their feelings? Sweet molasses, this is terrible.”
It was like getting hit with a wave of spoiled meat and evil. The air was thick and heavy, and I was pretty sure vomiting was an acceptable reaction to our current predicament. The others were similarly affected, breathing shallowly through their mouths. They stood upon a wooden walkway that had been constructed atop a noxious stream of water and many other things I didn’t want to think of. The sewer was dark, but we couldn’t risk lighting a match or a torch, given the gases rising from below us. I snapped my fingers, and a little burst of light exploded above my hand and began to flit around like a fairy.
The brick walls and ceiling were wet and dripping, covered in a blackish moss that seemed to grow all around us. I waved my hand toward the darkness ahead and the light shot forward, leaving a thin trail behind it.
“The quicker we move, the faster we’ll be out of here,” Lady Tina said.
I hated it when she was right. So I ignored her in favor of Ryan. “You’re sure this is the right sewer? Those schematics were dense. I couldn’t make heads or tails of them.”
“It’s a good thing I could, then, huh?” Ryan said. “Part of my training, making sure I knew every way in and out of the castle.”
“So glamorous. I can see why you’d want to be a knight.”
He laughed quietly as he bumped his shoulder against mine. “It has its perks. You noticed me, after all.”
“Gods,” Lady Tina said. “I liked it better when Sam wasn’t here. At least Ryan acted like a knight and not some lovesick teenager.”
“You get used to it,” Justin said. “Mostly. Ryan will lead. Then me. Sam will be next, and Lady Tina will bring up the rear.”
Lady Tina looked startled at that. “Your Majesty, I think I should be the one who’s behind you. We don’t know what troubles lie ahead.”
Before I could retort (how dare she question me), Justin said, “Sam will have my back, just like I know you’ll have his. He’s my wizard. He’ll—Sam, get that look off your face. We are not hugging right now, so don’t even think about it.”
“I’m only agreeing to the no-hugging thing because I’m pretty sure I just saw something that used to be alive floating underneath us, so. Yeah. I’m good with that. But don’t think I won’t get you later. You called me your wizard again. You adore me.”
He muttered something I couldn’t quite make out but I assumed was complimentary. Then, “Any more questions? Good. Let’s move.”
WHEN ONE is traipsing through a Shit Tunnel in the dark trying to infiltrate a castle to rescue a king from a group of villains, one has time to reflect upon all that has led them to this moment. I thought maybe this was divine retribution for all the things I’d done wrong. But then I remembered that some of this shit could belong to the King, having had to poop into a bucket, and it solidified my resolve, though I would never tell anyone that I’d had such a thought. Well, maybe years and years from now when we could look back on this whole thing and laugh.
The light swooped back and forth in the tunnel as we followed Ryan, first turning left, then right, then straight, then left and left and right. I trusted him to know where he was leading us, because I’d already gotten mixed up three or four turns back.
And somehow I’d gotten used to the smell. At the very least, the bile in my throat was gone, and I could breathe a little deeper. Every now and then we passed an opening above us, moonlight drifting down and illuminating the path ahead.
There was a moment, perhaps an hour later, when I felt something wash over me. Not physically, because there would have been a lot of screaming that followed, but mentally, like a blast of cool air in my mind that burst through the fog. It took me a minute to realize what it was. And what it meant. Who it meant.
“We just crossed into the City,” I said quietly.