Fire

She's Burning Up

Nine o’clock rolled around, and the elite guard still wasn’t back. I tried not to imagine Asher out there in the woods, chasing the enemy in the darkness. To my relief Cordy and Lettisha offered to walk me back to my bedroom when I admitted I still wasn’t sure how to get there.

“You’ll figure out the place soon,” Cordy said. We were all a little winded as we climbed the stone stairs. “It took me like a week to stop getting lost on my way to the bedrooms.”

“It’s kinda maze-like,” Lettisha agreed. “When I was little we used to play hide and seek in the corridors. Those were like, the longest games ever. It was impossible to find everyone.”

“Sounds freaky.” I pushed open one of the double doors to my room, and the two girls followed me inside. I couldn’t help it, my eyes immediately went to the little alarm clock on the night table beside the bed. “Nine,” I muttered.

Lettisha went over and sat down on the bed, bouncing on the mattress. “It’s okay, Jess. He’ll be fine. The elite guard is usually out for a long time when they patrol.”

“They’re probably trying to track them.” Cordy flopped down beside her. “They’ll be back soon, it’s too dark to do much more.”

“Would they try to catch them?” I was pacing back and forth now, trying to get rid of some of the nervous energy. “I mean, will they be back with prisoners?”

What if they caught Trent? My throat was suddenly tight. I didn’t want to see him right now. Actually, I didn’t want to see him ever again. I had nothing to say to him.

“What would they do with rebels if they caught them?”

Cordy and Lettisha exchanged a look. Cordy said, “they do have a few actually. Rebels they’ve caught trying to cross the pass. They keep them downstairs.”

My mouth dropped open. “Like…in the dungeon?” Now I was picturing dirty cells filled with rats and starving prisoners sleeping on piles of hay in the corners.

Cordy laughed. “No. The servants quarters are downstairs. They keep them as servants for a period of time.”

“They get a sentence,” explained Lettisha. “for whatever crime they committed, they get a period of years serving. Then they go free.”

“There aren’t many right now.” Cordy shrugged. “Not many of them were dumb enough to try to sneak in. We caught one trying to assassinate the Queen.”

My mouth dropped open. “What? And now they’re wandering around as a servant? Isn’t that dangerous?”

Lettisha laughed. “No, because he’s different now. Instead of chucking him in the dungeons the Queen insisted he have dinner with her and Loki. They talked to him about all his concerns. He’s docile as a puppy these days.” She grinned. “I think he might have a bit of a crush on Megan actually.”

We jumped at a sharp rap on the bedroom door, and I looked up, heart beating hard. It was Asher standing in the doorway. Curls of his dark hair were clinging to his neck, and his jacket was soaked and dirty. “Is this a sleepover? Are you going to have pillow fights?” He looked hopeful.

I felt like sagging with relief, but gave him a cheerful grin instead. “Sorry, you just missed the underwear pillow fights. Just a moment too late.”

“Shoot.” He edged into the room. “I’ve always had bad timing.”

Cordy looked him over. “You seem wet and bedraggled. No luck?”

“Nope.” Asher shrugged. “We found a few tracks in the woods near the pass, but nothing else. The scout who spotted them lost them before we got there. Chances are the rebels knew they were spotted and doubled back.”