Under the Willow Root

Chapter 47

"Where are we going?" Ismeni wants to know once we're all through. "Is there a second part to this grand escape of yours?"

"It's your escape, not mine," Arismendi points out. "I only promised my brother I'd get you all out--what you decide to do after that is up to you. Throw yourself off a cliff if you like. Let's go. It's not far."

"Why do you hate her so much?" I whisper to Arismendi as we creep through the tunnels. "I thought you said it was the House that killed the Prince?"

"I don't know," Arismendi sighs, laughing a little. "I've never liked her. I get...feelings, sometimes, and they're nearly always right. Which reminds me, I must ask for your forgiveness. I convinced Coran to tell me--and Costi--about you. I knew he was hiding something important. I knew--I know--you are important. We're all wrapped up in it together--it's hard to explain. And now...now I wonder if I had it all wrong. If I hadn't said anything, would Costi..."

"Don't think that," I say, squeezing her arm. "It's the House's fault and no one else's."

But what she says gets me thinking. If she hadn't said anything, Luca might have kept my presence a secret and we wouldn't be in this situation. This is true, though I would never say that to her. But what if I had said something? What if I had trusted Luca enough to tell him everything? He would have understood why I couldn't involve his brother. He would have understood why I had to leave.

What if this is actually all my fault? I try to take my own advice and put the blame where it really belongs, but it's hard, especially since a nasty little voice in my head still insists that it was the Prince himself who ruined everything. I was so close to leaving...

"Coran!" Arismendi calls, and runs forward.

Luca catches her in his arms, dripping water all over her, but she doesn't seem to mind. She clings to him, her slim shoulders shaking. Luca holds her tightly, tears glistening in his eyes. I look away. Their brother is dead because of me. Finally, Arismendi steps away and wipes her eyes.

"Lucoran will guide you from here," she says. "I have to go. Guards are coming, and they can't find me with you. As it is, it will be my word against Cimari's and I honestly don't know whose counts for more."

"Goodbye," I say softly.

"And thank you," Sadra adds, touching Arismendi's arm. "We won't forget."

Arismendi smiles at her. "I know. Goodbye for now. We'll meet again one day."

"Ari, you have to go," Luca tells her. "Be careful."

"You be careful," his sister retorts, but she hikes up her skirts and dashes away into the darkness.

"Let's go," Luca mutters to the rest of us. "We need to hurry."

"Why are you all wet?" Sadra asks suspiciously as we follow Luca further into the tunnel.

"You'll see," he says cryptically. "Be quiet."

"Secret," I murmur. Luca's shoulders stiffen, but he doesn't look back.

Soon I can hear rushing water, though I can't see anything but the damp stone of the tunnel walls. I realize with a stab of fear that I also hear voices echoing faintly in the passage behind us. I exchange a wide-eyed glance with Sadra and walk more quickly.

"Here," Luca says finally. His light falls on the edge of a lake much like the one I still think of as ours. "Get in."

"And go where?" Ismeni demands.

"There," he says. He points to a space between two bulges in the cavern wall. "There's a passage beneath the surface. You need to go through it to the other side."

We all stare at him in horror. He can't mean it.

"It's only a few feet long," he says impatiently. "You'll be fine."

"This is absurd," Ismeni snaps. "There must be another way--"

"There isn't," Luca says. "Now, go!"

"But--"

"Go!" Luca roars, and turns to meet the three guards rushing toward us.

Ismeni's eyes widen and she plunges into the water without further protest. Sadra and I follow, and the three of us grope our way along the cavern wall, trying to find the passage. Luca's light doesn't reach us. It floats above his head as he moves away from the edge of the lake and onto the flatter ground of the tunnel.

I stifle a gasp as a knife flies from Luca's hand and into the throat of one of his rapidly approaching attackers. I didn't even realize he had the knife. Sadra tugs at my arm, hissing at me to keep moving. I follow her blindly, my eyes fixed on Luca as he scoops up a rock and flings it right at the second guard's eye. He ducks under the guard's sword and smashes his head into the man's chin, pushing them both into the path of the third guard.

"Sasha," Sadra says urgently into my ear. "You go next--Ismeni's already gone. Sasha!"

"You go," I tell her, tearing my eyes away from Luca. "Go! I'll be just behind you."

"You'd better be," she warns me. "Or I'm coming back and dragging you by your ears."

Sadra takes a deep breath and disappears beneath the inky surface after one last, stern look. I turn back just in time to see Luca snatch his knife from the body of the first guard and plunge it into the stomach of the third. He crouches over the body, panting. His eyes glow like an animal's in the dim light.

"Go," he says harshly. "Go now."

I go.