Within the Walls [NEW VERSION]

Chapter 32

"Like what?"

Thankfully, my stash of knives and my sword has been safe in my wardrobe. I shove half a dozen into the belt and pull my sword over my back.

Ajax pauses, shifting his weight. "I don't think about kissing anyone. Not guys or girls. No one. I just don't have the urge."

"Here," I say, striding up to him and handing him a spare knife. "And thank you for telling me. For the record, I think you deserve all the love in the world. I think you are wonderful."

"Trust me, there's still plenty to tell." He turns the hilt over, examining the blade.

"I look forward to hearing all your gory stories over an ale after the king roasts on a pyre." We grin at one another. But my insides twist. Heat rises into my cheeks. "Since we are sharing things, I think I just kissed the prince during the height of a Convex rebellion."

A sparkle in those freezing cobalt eyes dulls. "Love rarely has appropriate timings." He tucks the knife into his belt and grabs my hand. "Now, let's make our way to the forest."

--

As the final breaths of sunlight streak the sky, we enter the northern forest. We snuck through the back gardens of the palace grounds and slipped into the deserted park. Shadows gobble up the last wisps of warmth reaching in through the gaps in the canopy. Birds chirp, darting above our heads. Deep jade moss cushions our footsteps as it sprawls across the forest floor, covering thick roots and rocks. The odd red and orange leaf speckle the vibrant green landscape. Ajax leads me through the stripped bare trees, along a gurgling stream, and into a clearing, where my heart leaps into my throat.

My chest fills with the crackle of nerves as I sweep my gaze around the forest clearing, taking in the dozens of Tranquillities. Armed to the teeth with knives and sheer courage, they all watch me pace before them. I can't believe it. All these Tranqs are ready, waiting, to overthrow King Talin. Another crowd of Convex rebels gathers by the end of the clearing, some of them nursing fresh wounds from today's feat. Tears prickle my eyes and a lump forms in my throat, stopping any words of gratitude from forming on my tongue. Memories of my father's attempts at rebellion flutter across my mind and a phantom fingernail scrapes down my spine. But with the Tranqs standing with us, an ember of my father's bravery and selflessness blooms back to life deep within my soul. If only my father was here to see this.

Aston and Killian also flank the crowd. Ruben slips out from the cluster of Tranqs, standing beside me. Once the rumbling the Tranqs fall silent, Ruben clears his throat.

"It's time we put our heads together and weaken the king," he says, voices low and husky and demanding attention. He paces before the crowd. "But my father cannot know the Tranqs are against him."

I puff out my chest and knit my brows together. "The king is hiding away in his underground bunker. There is a trapdoor just beside the river and I think we can redirect some of the flow down into the tunnels and flush him out."

Ruben snatches a red leaf from the forest floor and twirls the stem between his thumb and forefinger. "We need him to start to feel the rebels gaining on him. It is time –" A shaky breath. "It is time my father knows what it means to feel like prey."

One Tranq in the centre of the group stands forward. "The Tranqs cannot reveal their position to the king yet. We must continue to... pledge our loyalty."

"He knows we're coming for him," a young Convex rebel blurts out from the front of the crowd. He raises his rusty axe, his dark skin catching in the fingers of sunlight cutting through the canopy above. "His Majesty would be fucked if he didn't have the Tranqs protecting him from our blades and our vengeance."

I cannot help but join my people in the murmur of agreement.

Ruben bows his head. "There is a trap door near the river. I'm going to divert some of the flow of the river down into the tunnels. We will flush the king out of his hiding spot."

"Do you think this will work?" Killian says, pushing loose strands of auburn hair from his face. "What if he drowns?"

Ruben scoffs, but his jaw tightens. "Now that would be great. But I think he and his right-hand men will escape with only bruised egos and hopefully, a brush of terror."

Killian glances at the ground, pursing his lips as he digs his heel into the dirt. Ajax steps forward, fiddling with his lip ring. "The only problem with the plan is there are a bunch of miners working in the tunnels," he says.

I nod. "I'll go down and get them out."

Ruben glares at me. "If the king finds you down there, he will kill you."

"I can do this." I curl my fingers around the hilt of my father's knife but find scarce comfort when I look at Ruben and see the little boy who suffered the king's cruel punishments staring back at me. His eyes water. Fire catches in my chest, billowing into a storm. "The king better hope he doesn't run into me."

--

My shoulders tighten as I lower myself into the tunnel, drinking in the darkness, searching for specks of light. But there are not even candles mounted to the walls. Ruben lights a lantern and sticks it through the trapdoor. I grab it and nod at him with grim determination.

"Elle, I –" he cuts himself off, pressing his lips together.

"I'll see you on the other side."

"Just... be safe."

He closes the trapdoor, sealing me within the stone walls and shadows. My breath grazes the walls, ringing back at me. I hold the lantern out in front of me, letting the jumping yellow light of the flame guide me toward the miners in the south of the kingdom. Around corners, down stretches of lonely darkness, deeper and deeper into the kingdom. The ghost of Ruben's kiss brushes across my lips and my insides stir. I swallow, shaking the feeling from my mind. Meanwhile, I can't help but think of Ajax. Of the little boy forced to eat morsels of poison so that his father could use him as a pawn in his little game.

Finally, the ground trembles beneath my feet and the walls and ceiling shake with a groan so intense it rattles my spine. My muscles turn to stone, and I palm the wall, regaining my balance. There's a roaring, thundering whoosh that chills my blood, sending tingles of instinctive terror sliding along my bones.

He's done it.

He's opened the trapdoor by the river and diverted some of the water flow. After drawing in a ragged breath, I keep moving, quickening my pace, knowing I'm close to the miners and I have time to urge them out.

Their voices, threaded with panic, bounce through the tunnels. Close. I'm so close. A strange feeling ripples along my arms and I glance over my shoulder as phantom needles sink deeper into my gut. Water creeps over the floor, gobbling up the soles of my boots and my pulse hammers behind my ears. Then I hear it. A deep, grating belly laugh followed by the distinctive raspy whisper of the vecklings, the obsidian lizard monsters with no eyes.