Heirs to a Nothing Throne

Chapter 17

We froze. Theta's eyes widened. Without missing a beat, she ushered us into the hallway, going to close the door. "Wait," I mouthed, and passed one of my handguns to her. She smiled and nodded.

We heard her walk up the steps to the outside, followed by a short silence. "Yes?" she said in an exasperated tone.

"Theta," came the voice of a Chevalier. Just one word held so much spite. "We have reason to believe that you are harboring three teenaged fugitives in your home. We demand that you hand them over to us."

"I told you already, there's no one here except me. I wish I had someone here to keep me company.

"Theta. They will not be harmed if you cooperate. If you resist, we will kill you and them."

She paused. "You... you can't kill me. You aren't allowed to."

"We have permission to kill you if you defy us. I told you last time, there are certain exceptions to the usual rules in certain situations. Timore would barely notice if his other daughter died too. We could remove your head right now and then storm the building."

There was no response. Angelique, Eva, and I were looking at one another, bewildered. Angelique looked furious.

"Get out. The people you are looking for aren't here," Theta said.

"Theta, I am going to give you six seconds. If you don't move, I'll split you in half before you have time to run. Six."

"This is ridiculous, I've never seen them."

"Five."

"You guys really are stupid."

"Four."

"Why would I help people knowing you'd kill me for it?"

"Three."

"Maybe my father will be mad, maybe he has plans that you'd ruin."

"Theta. Two."

"I'd really rather you didn't kill me. I don't want to die for no reason."

"One. Last chance."

"No one here."

"Fine."

There was a gunshot, not a moment after the last word was uttered. We heard someone barreling down the stairs and charging this way. Several more followed, the cacophony of Chevaliers' armor filling our ears.

"Get ready!" Angelique ordered, attempting to push the bed in front of the door. She moved quickly, but the person outside was faster. The door opened, Theta jumped in, and Angelique finished blocking the entrance.

"That won't hold them too long," Theta said, facing us. "Get in there." She pointed to a hole in the ground covered by planks, which had been previously covered by the bed.

There was no time for any of our questions. Eva crawled in, eager to escape, and I followed. Theta and Angelique shoved the couch right behind the bed before hopping in. We had entered a low cave, which only had room for us to squat. There was no light, save what came in from the bedroom. Something smelled awful.

"Go, go, go!" Theta said, pushing us forward. We moved as fast as we could, scraping out palms against the rock to keep ourselves stable. We heard wood splintering from behind us as Chevaliers pounded on the door. Eva turned on a flashlight, illuminating the cave up to a certain point. My mind flashed back to my experience in the mine.

Theta began talking, her voice coming out in gasps. "This, uh... this tunnel should come out of a hill closer to the mountains. Always need to have a back door, r-right?" She made a sound with her throat, and I realized she was strangling the urge to tear up. "Did you hear the conversation?"