As soon as Selvina had slipped out of the lounging room she walked away as quickly as she could down the hall. She had no idea where she would go. Her room would be the first place Rhiannon would look. She thought of heading into the city but there would be too many witnesses there. With the arrival of the Swordenish queen, the castle was astir with activity but, fortunately, all personnel were preoccupied.
She thought of running but that would attract attention. Glancing at every door she passed by, Selvina wondered if she'd be safe anywhere. Her elf-arrow had potentially saved Rhiannon from Queen Svala's outburst but it had also affected the empress as well. She might be running away for no reason but the risk of her elf-arrow being discovered had been too great.
"Are you sure she would have taken it?" Tinkerbelle asked her, perched on Selvina's shoulder.
"I don't know," Selvina replied, glancing about for a new direction to take. "Rhiannon might not care about it, since it was made by the elves and she seems to like elves, but I don't trust Svala. She'd have wanted it for herself."
"I agree. Hey, what about there?"
Selvina stopped walking and eyed a hall to her right. At the end of it was a stone stairway that led down into darkness. It wasn't even guarded.
"I think that's the dungeons," Selvina noted. "Rhiannon said not to go there because it needed cleaning."
"I doubt that's the only reason," voiced Tinkerbelle flatly.
Selvina nodded. "It's as good a place as any." With a glance back, seeing no one looking at her, she raced down the hall. She came to the landing and looked down. The impenetrable darkness reminded her of the dark stairway to Our Lady's dungeons and how filth-ridden they had been. She didn't enjoy the thought of hiding out there but until the mood in the castle calmed down somewhat, it would be the safest place. Hopefully once she came up again the Swordenish queen would be gone and she could explain herself to Rhiannon. With some luck, she'd be understanding of the whole situation...
I probably should have just stayed in the room and played dumb, she thought, glancing down the hall. Maybe I can try to say I had to go to the bathroom or something... Why do I always keep screwing up?
"Selvina!" Tinkerbelle shouted. "What are you doing?"
"I'll just go back, Tink. If I run I look guilty of something and that'll make matters worse. She doesn't know I have an elf-arrow. Maybe she won't figure it out."
"And as soon as you get close to her again she'll find out she can't use her magic. She's Rhiannon, Selvina. She's hundreds of years old! Don't you think that maybe she came across something like an elf-arrow before? She'll know exactly what is going on."
"She's been nice to me, Tink. Me having an elf-arrow as protection shouldn't change things."
"It's not her I'm worried about, Selvina."
Selvina frowned at the fairy. "Queen Svala needs magic to use her powers too. What good is an elf-arrow to her?"
"She's an ambitious queen with too much pride, Selvina. If you give her the one tool that can strip the empress of her power, she'll find a way to use it to her advantage. You said so yourself that you needed Rhiannon to help you in stopping the Writer. If Svala gets her killed, what happens then?"
"They're allies. She wouldn't do something like that. Accolon would send Noyr's armies against Sworden if she betrayed the empress."
"You saw her in that lounging room! She threw a fit and threatened the empress in her own castle! She's high on victory, Selvina, and she thinks no one can stop her. Do you think she really wouldn't try something if she had the elf-arrow?"
Selvina remembered how angry that young queen had been when Rhiannon had called her childish. It had indeed been an immature reaction. Svala wasn't anything like Rhiannon. She acted on impulse. If she had a tool that could weaken Rhiannon, she'd use it the first chance she could. She wouldn't think of Accolon or Noyr's armies. She'd think only of being the one person who defeated Faeryum's most powerful ruler. It would be another victory to claim for herself; another achievement to boast about.
Selvina looked down the hall once more and, eventually, walked down the stairs into the darkness.
****
Rhiannon glided down the halls of her castle, searching. At her side was Queen Svala, frowning, furious, and incessantly declaring how she'd freeze Selvina into a block of ice and have her men chip away at it until she was nothing but chunks.
"You need to pick your handmaidens better, Rhiannon," she said with a smirk. "There's no doubt that she was up to something." She raised her right hand and made it glow blue and white before conjuring wisps of snow that swirled around it. "As soon as she was gone we could use magic again." She then closed her hand into a fist, dispelling the glow and the snow. "We'll have to be careful when we find her. She might have more tricks up her sleeve."
"Which is why we brought guards along," Rhiannon said, eyes ahead.
"How could you be so foolish?" Svala asked with a shake of her head. "You, Rhiannon, of all people, getting outwitted by a simple peasant girl."
"She is not a simple peasant girl."
"Clearly so if she can manage to suppress magic. I'd like to know how she does that."
Rhiannon narrowed her eyes ever so slightly. "I'm sure you would."
After some questioning of passing servants and guards, the empress discovered the general direction Selvina had taken. Many minutes passed before she came down a hall that brought a small chill up her spine. Of all the halls in her castle, she'd have hoped Selvina would never come down this one.
They were soon looking down a darkened hallway with a stairway that descended into shadow. Rhiannon's body tensed.
"Creepy," said Svala with a shudder. "It's fitting, though, for the little vermin that she is. She has nowhere to go now. We have her!"
Rhiannon reached out to stop the queen but Svala was too quick. She ran down the hall, her dress sliding on the ground behind her, and made her hands glow brightly as to light her way down the stairs. Rhiannon could have called out a warning, but decided not to.
Svala was laughing with maniacal glee until, just before stepping into the stairway, she slammed into an unseen wall and was thrown to the ground with a hard thud. Svala, shocked, hurt, and humiliated, cried out in rage as tears ran down her face.
Rhiannon, smiling with delight, approached the fallen queen and put a hand against the opening to the stairway. A ripple of distorted light expanded from her hand and lapped against the edges of the opening. "There is a barrier blocking this stairway, Svala."
The queen rose to her feet and, red-faced and furious, screamed, "Why didn't you tell me?!"
"I tried, but you were far too fast. Such a mighty warrior queen you are, Svala."
The queen growled. "You just wanted to watch me hit the wall!"
Rhiannon shrugged one shoulder. "I part of me wished to know if it was still active. Thank you for showing me that is indeed still functioning properly."
"Next time you run into the wall to test it out!" Svala then placed her own hand on the invisible barrier and watched the air ripple and distort. She pushed against it but her hand was stopped in midair, unable to move any further. "So she didn't come down this way then."
"Actually, I am certain she did. If she can suppress magic somehow then this wall was no barrier to her. She could have simply walked through it unhindered." Rhiannon looked down into the darkness. "I am certain we will find her down there."
Suddenly, a voice was heard calling down the halls.
"Empress Rhiannon! Empress Rhiannon!"
Rhiannon turned around to see a lithe elf rushing down the hall beyond the one she stood in. He skidded to a stop after spotting her and then ran to her, breathing heavily. In his hand was a rolled piece of parchment and he handed it to her as he caught his breath.
He wore the garb of a corvugriff scout and Rhiannon asked him, "What did you find?"
"The Avalonian fleet, your highness," he managed to say between breaths. "It is massive. More ships than I've ever seen. It's staying together as an unstoppable force and heading to Larbin."
"Larbin?" Rhiannon asked. It was one of Frenis's largest port cities and was a direct link to its capital, New Alsar. If the blockade there was broken, Frenis would gain supplies, men, and eventually freedom. Sworden's siege would fall apart and Frenis would pose a serious threat from the north.
"The blockades cannot fall, Rhiannon!" Svala said, wide-eyed. "My siege depends on it!"
Rhiannon unrolled the parchment and read the scout's notes. It detailed the number of enemy vessels and they were far more numerous than Rhiannon had expected. King Arthur had been busy, she discovered. Her own fleet was outnumbered and outgunned, even paired with Sworden's.
"This will be the greatest naval battle of our time, your excellency," said the scout. "What are your orders?"
"All blockades are to be broken and all ships are to be sailed toward this fleet," she replied. "We will fight this battle and we will succeed."
"How?" Svala asked as she examined the parchment. "We can't win against such numbers!"
"Hurry, scout," Rhiannon said, her tone hard. "Send more scouts along with you to spread the word more quickly. A fleet this size will move slowly. If you hurry, we may yet meet it face to face with our full numbers."
"Rhiannon!" barked the queen, annoyed at being ignored. "Our navies make about half of this one. We can't win against this. We should regroup and attack when it eventually breaks up. No port can manage this many ships. It will have to split up at one point."
"By then Frenis will be marching toward your capital, Svala. Your duty in this war is to hold the north. If we don't stop this fleet now you will fail."
Svala frowned. "I will not fail, Rhiannon, but we can't stop a fleet this size with the amount of ships we have."
Rhiannon stood straighter and looked down at the shorter sovereign. With a grin, she said, "Which is why I will joining the battle."
Svala smiled wickedly. "It's about time you do something since Arababyl."
"I suggest you return to your kingdom, Svala. Your people will need you. This Avalonian fleet may yet break up and blockade your own ports before I reach it."
For once, the Swordenish queen nodded in agreement. "Burn them all, empress."
Rhiannon smirked. "That is my intent."
****
Selvina could hear voices coming up from the stairway as she followed Tinkerbelle deeper into the dungeon. It stank of mold and mildew and the stone walls were damp and slimy. She half expected to see a basilisk spring out of the darkness at any moment.
"How far do we go?" Tinkerbelle asked, her glowing body the only light source in the darkened halls.
"I don't know... If I have to wait here until Svala leaves I'd like to do it somewhere dry."
"Well, the air feels drier down this hall. Let's try this way."
Selvina nodded and followed the fluttering fairy down a different passage. They descended more stairs and felt the air warming and drying. After descending deeper and walking down more halls, they were nearly comfortable.
Selvina sat on the ground and leaned against the dry wall. "This will do for now, I guess. You remember the way back, right?"
Tinkerbelle sat on Selvina's shoulder and leaned against her neck. "Yes, I do."
Selvina closed her eyes and did her best to relax with limited success. Though the dungeon was of a comfortable temperature it was still a dark and forbidding place that hid unknown horrors.
She sat there for several minutes, surrounded by deafening silence, the only sounds that of her own breathing and her beating heart. Selvina didn't know how long she'd have to wait. She still wondered if what she was doing was the right idea. Empress Rhiannon had been kind and respectful to her. She could be reasoned with, Selvina thought. She wanted the Writer defeated as much as anyone else. She wouldn't let Svala do anything to her. Rhiannon needed her, just like all of Faeryum did. She should just go back and talk to her instead of hiding like a criminal, her only crime that of wearing a necklace.
Selvina opened her eyes but could see nothing. Tinkerbelle, at rest, glowed dully and not enough for Selvina to see her own feet. "I should just—"
A voice.
Selvina's body shivered at the break in the silence. Her skin pulsated with adrenaline and she held her breath as she listened more intently. Tinkerbelle flew off of her and glanced about.
"What was that?" she whispered, barely loud enough for Selvina to hear.
"I don't know," Selvina whispered back, her eyes bulging, straining to see through the impenetrable blackness.
"There it is again!" Tinkerbelle exclaimed.
Selvina gazed in the direction of the sound. It was a soft, non-threatening sound, but a sound nonetheless, that appeared to be someone's voice. Who else was down there? Who else was with them, skulking in the shadows?
"Let's go back," Selvina whispered, fear clutching her like icy claws. "I don't want to be here anymore."
"—lvina..."
Selvina's heart battered against her ribs and her eyes threatening to fall from their sockets. The voice. It spoke her name. It knew her. It called to her. It wanted her.
Tinkerbelle brightened so suddenly that Selvina winced. "We aren't going back, Selvina," said the fairy. "We can't. Someone is calling you. We should find out who it is."
"Are you insane? What if it's one of Rhiannon's soldiers or something? They might want to kill me!"
"Did you not hear the voice? It's a woman's voice. She sounds in pain. It's like it hurts her to say every word."
Selvina gulped. She did hear those things but her imagination convinced her that it was all a ploy to drop her guard. Whoever was calling her meant her harm. There could be no other reason.
"Well, good luck going back without any light," Tinkerbelle said before flying away, leaving Selvina in blackness.
Moments later, Selvina caught up to the fairy, angry at her for abandoning her but secretly glad that she had forced her to follow. Deep down, Selvina was curious to know who could be calling her.
They came to a large wooden door.
"The voice came from behind there," said Tinkerbelle.
Selvina grabbed the handle and pulled but the door didn't budge. "It's locked."
"Not for long," Tinkerbelle said as she flew into the keyhole.
Selvina waited in the darkness, her eyes in the glowing keyhole, and wondered why someone behind a locked door would be calling her. How did they know she was here? Also, why was the door locked?
"Tink, wait!" Selvina cried, realizing that a locked door could only mean one thing.
But she was too late. There was a slide and a click and the door was unlocked. Selvina backed away from it, expecting the speaker of the voice to barge out at any moment, grateful to be freed by the foolish girl and her fairy.
Nothing happened.
"Selvina?"
The voice again. It was so close. It did indeed sound pained. Was the speaker injured? Was it all a trick? She should just go back.
With a sigh, Tinkerbelle flew into the keyhole and disappeared, leaving Selvina alone once more.
"Damn you, Tinkerbelle," Selvina cursed as she blindly reached for the door handle. Once she had it she slowly opened the door and looked beyond. Tinkerbelle hovered in midair, glowing brightly, and revealed a type of small prison. Caged doors lined all the walls and behind them were tiny cells.
"I am here," said the voice, clearer than ever and coming from the last cell on the left.
Selvina glanced about and hesitated for a moment. She was no longer afraid that she was being tricked into danger. It wasn't that which held her back. It was the voice itself.
It sounded familiar.
"Come on, Selvina," Tinkerbelle urged, gesturing at her to follow.
With a gulp, Selvina did just that. It seemed that all other cells were empty. It was only her, Tinkerbelle, and whoever was in the last cell on the left. Once she reached it, she looked inside and gasped, her heart twisting in pain.
Within the cell was a pale woman dressed in the ragged remains of what had once appeared to have been a beautiful magenta gown. Her wrists were shackled to the wall behind her, the bony arms connected to them appearing ready to break apart. Her white hair trailed down to her waist and her sunken down-turned eyes looked at her unwaveringly. The eyes themselves were never a single colour. One moment they were blue and the next green and then yellow, forever shifting through all the colours of the rainbow. The skeletal woman managed to force her cracked, dry lips into a smile.
"Finally," she said, her voice weak. "We properly meet."
"Who are you?" Selvina asked, tears coming to her eyes. She looked so frail!
"I am the one who brought you here, Selvina. I am the reason you are in Faeryum. I am Amalthea."