ATLANTION - LAYLA BOOK1

Part 68 Layla

A stream of maids entered her room after Katon dragged along a snowy white dress, and Layla just stood there frozen, contemplating his words. Her mind flooded with thoughts. What should I do? Should I trust this damn cat? Go along with it? The queen will die? What did that mean? Who would take her place? Her? Heer? Her eyes bulged, and her stomach lurched. What would she do? She would be hooked to this place indefinitely? Could she get out of it, or would the place collapse the minute she tried to see the sunlight? Layla wanted answers, but no answers came. The cat just watched for a second and then slid out of the room when the maids started to undress her.

"Wait!" Layla screamed after him and tried to pull free from the multitude of prodding hands. "Would I be a prisoner in this golden cage? I do not want to exchange my freedom for any kingdom!" She screamed internally. "What would I do? Would they kill Farrar if I ran? They probably would. But what would happen to me? Would I become a prisoner in this golden cage? Would Farrar sacrifice his freedom, or would he get tired of this underwater world and ride off on his bike into the sunset? " Everything blurred around her, the room, the maids, her world shuddered, and the floor under her feet trembled.

"Another section collapsed," a small maid screamed and fell on the floor crying and trembling. Layla came to her senses and paused, watching the fountain of bubbles explode at the horizon. "What was that?" She asked, watching the weeping old maid near her.

"Another wretched section collapsed. You are the only hope we have." The woman clutched at her skirts and kneeled in front of her, handing her a small piece of paper.

Layla pushed her away and vomited all over the plush carpet near her bed. Layla opened the letter and felt the faint smell of herbs. It was a letter from Pointy Teeth, and her heart jumped. "I want you all to get out. I need a moment for myself," whispered Layla and sat on her bed. "If you read this, I am probably gone. Run away, they want to kill you! Do not trust anyone. May this rotten place collapse and free us all. There is no point in prolonging our misery at the expense of your life. There is a portal under your room. Use the hidden corridor to get there. It is a stair if you go to the right. You owe them nothing! Be free!"

"I owe them nothing!" Layla repeated to herself. Indeed she owed them nothing. The city existed before her. She did not imprison anyone. Kai was the queen's nephew; he could be king. He was fit to be king. 

"I am not a sacrifice. My life is my own!" She frantically searched for the panel, and when it opened, she threw off her shoes and ran down the corridor, not caring even a single bit that it was pitch dark in front of her. They could open the portals, and let people go. They did not have to keep them imprisoned here to serve the nobles. She would not be pressed by guilt. This thought felt liberating as the cold floor under her dashing bare feet. She felt happy and free running forward. She felt a blast of humid air and stopped, feeling the floor with the toes of her feet for a stair. She touched the railing and cursed herself for not bringing a light. "How am I going to descend in the darkness?" she sighed and spread her palms along the bare stone wall.

At that moment, the entire structure shook. Everything around her screeched and trembled. Heaps of dust poured from the ceiling and filled her eyes and mouth. She screamed when her hand clutched the railing. So much water descended upon her. It crushed her lungs, her bones, and everything around her. There was one moment she looked at the glass dome above her, and in the next moment, glass and metal screamed and screeched, crushing as a titan sat above it. Splashes of pink flesh mixed with debris expanded in the bubbling water. There was a sharp pain, and the light blinked in her eyes, and her mouth filled with a coppery taste. She fell on the cold floor, patting her arms and feet that now trembled with pain. She vomited again and felt the darkness around her. It was just a vision from one of the wretched sections, a vision that the city itself pushed into her mind.

 "Save me," the walls around her whispered. "Do not let us die."

 Warm liquid poured from her eyes, and she sighed, clutching the railing. Layla gritted her teeth and limped back toward her room. She was trapped, mentally and physically, and her voice echoed into the darkness.