The Fairest (Book #1)

5: The Rescue

"Yes." She didn't know why he'd mention this right now.

An unusual awkwardness arose between them as he continued to stare at her. Heat rose in her cheeks. and her bottom lip slipped between her teeth. She swayed on her heels and folded her arms, which somewhat calmed her own anger, frustration, and awkwardness. She loved Dean a lot and hated whenever they'd argue, but they both were strangely stubborn in their own ways.

"And I'd do anything fer yuh," he continued, still rubbing his neck, now just as red as his face.

"Yes, I know you would, Dean, and same here," she said.

She waited patiently for Dean to ponder the rescue and the new risks, since there were now twelve children instead of six. His green eyes finally dropped from her face, followed by a few tongue clicks and sighs.

"Alright," he resigned, voice low and fragile. He sharply inhaled. "We're going to do this rescue. And when we've succeeded, we're leaving this forsaken kingdom once and fer all."

Mageia beamed and nodded. "That sounds good to me."

"May the Diviines bless us and be on our side fer once," he said and gave a mischievous smirk.

~*~*~

Their rescue group of seven scurried through the tunnels, listening to the rise of celebration above in Strana. Nightfall arrived an hour ago, and they knew time would speed up in their dire need to be ahead of it.

"Okay. Let us pray that Junet did what Trek instructed. We will work swift and silent," Mageia instructed. "Dean, Gavin, and Esan, you're with me."

They ascended to the ground on the westside of Strana, within a dark alley perched behind a line of stores and the high scale of the Mideri Wall in the distance. To their relief, no one was around, and by the sound of voices and music, the celebration lay further down the street, promising to extend within the hour. With stealth, they passed three stores to Junet's carpentry shop. The smell of wood hung strong in the air and no lights were on upstairs. Piled neatly around the back of the store's cutter stations were scraps of wood and barrels of wood shavings.

They scanned the area for the two planks supposedly placed for Trekon to pick up, but they were nowhere to be found.

"Crap," Dean whispered on the other side.

"Can we still do it without the planks?" Esan asked, readjusting his eyepatch.

"No. We have to go with plan B," Mageia said, already hating the thought of it.

The back door popped open with the sound of scraping wood on wood. Interior light flooded parts of the alley. Immediately, they all scattered for the shade of darkness, feet light on the ground and hearts racing wildly. Mageia and Esan ran to the side of the shop and slammed against the wall while Dean and Gavin dropped behind a cutter machine, slowly easing backwards to the other side of the shop.

Junet, the carpenter, mumbled annoyingly to himself as he carried two long planks from his shop. Mageia glanced around the corner and quickly snapped back after seeing him approach. She felt the hilt of her dagger and prayed she didn't need to use it. The man continued muttering his disapproval of his present task and propped the planks against the wall. A part of the planks edged outward into the intersection, threatening to expose their hideout, but Junet gave up on making things look tidy. He grunted and stomped back inside.

"That was close," Esan whispered.

Mageia couldn't respond due to the knot in her throat. She gestured for him to follow. With swiftness, in case Junet returned, they hauled the planks back to the grate down the alley and lowered them to Faebrin, Jaice, and Esa waiting below.