Royals and Deviants

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The next day is more of the same. Again, I am reloaded like a sack of flour into the caravan, and again we spend the entire day trudging along. My blindfold was still on my face. I gave up on trying to understand where we were or where we were going. It's not like I was going to escape and retrace my steps back to Port Landis. If I could manage to escape, that would be the last place I would go. maybe I could hide in the mountains.

Just before nightfall, we come to a halt at the base of one of the mountains. We are at the end of the mountain pass, which means we have traveled so far west we are where the Othessians were pushed after the Campaign ended. There wasn't even a name for where that was.

Correction: where that is. Because here we were. The question was why. Why were we here? There is no way these two lived out here. Even with my blindfold and swollen eye, I could see that this area was just as dead as what we traveled through yesterday.

But the men weren't focused on anything but the mountain before us. Nudging the horses forward, they turned the wagon, so the horses were cantering right toward its base. I couldn't see anything but ragged dirt and rock. Regardless, the horses pushed forward closer to the summit's edge. Right when I was sure we were going to collide and split the wagon apart, an opening appeared. No, not an opening. A door. At least, it sort of resembled one. It was camouflaged under a thin blanket of snow and earth, making it impossible to see unless you knew where to look. Clearly, they had done this many times.

The horses cantered smoothly through the opening, and we were moving down a dark tunnel within the mountain. We were in the mountain. I kept my good eye open and fixated all around me. We kept moving for a few minutes until the wagon finally came to a halt. I couldn't see a thing in the darkness no matter how hard I tried to finagle my blindfold down. Again, I felt rough hands grab me hard and pull me down off the wagon. I heard a quiet snap by my feet, and suddenly my legs were set free from their tight ropes.

"Walk," a voice said gruffly. I recognized Meeko's surly tone and did as he said. My legs moved stiffly as he pushed me forward, my sore feet doing their best not to trip over one another in the blackness. I began to hear sounds on either side of me, echoing. Voices. People milling about, chattering to each other. I could hear...chickens? Picking and scurrying around my feet.

I kept shuffling forward for what seemed like forever until I was grabbed roughly by the neck and told to stop. I shrugged off the hands that were around my neck, which got me a nice violent shove in return. I stumbled and fell to my knees. I did my best not to cry out. I didn't want to give them the satisfaction. "Get up, now." He pulled me up and grabbed hold of my blindfold, ripping it from my face as I wobbled to my tired feet.

I blinked hard for a few moments, my bad eye making me wince as I tried to open it. Dazed, I looked around. I can't even comprehend what I am seeing. It's as if the mountain has been hollowed out, and within it, a small city has been placed inside. Looking up, the top of the peak must be hundreds of feet in the air. There is an endless network of stairs that have been created out of massive, thick wooden beams and attached to either side of the rock walls. The stairs are interconnected everywhere. They go up, down, everywhere. Some are fastened to suspended bridges above us that allow you to move from one side of the enormous cavern to the other.

Within the sides of the mountain, I can see openings everywhere that look like doorways, with people streaming in and out of them. I see children darting every which way, running up and down the stairs, disappearing into the openings. They must be living quarters of some kind.

There is idle chatter happening everywhere, making the walls seemingly hum with the sound. Torches are fastened into the walls and lit everywhere, throwing an orange glare off the massive rock faces. Despite my shock, I can feel the warmth they give off and feel my fingers and toes slowly thawing.