The Wish Rewrite with the Cat

Chapter 9

Asha

Posters with my face on them were plastered on every building. Wanted for Endangering the Wishes of Rosas, Asha Montez Al-Mufti. Reward.

People glanced at the posters and muttered to each other on the way to the pub.

"I still can't believe someone would betray the king."

"He says she's put all our wishes in danger. What if they never come true?"

I pulled my hood lower.

Charo led us from awning to awning, speeding up when nothing shielded us from the rain. Finally, he skidded to a halt in front of a sewer grate. "Here!" He pointed to it.

"That's the way to the dungeon?"

Valentino looked at Charo like he was stupid. "That's a sewer grate."

Charo returned the look. "This grate connects to a tunnel leading into the dungeon. We won't have to sneak into the castle."

Valentino retreated. "Never mind, then."

"Clever," I grinned at Charo. "How'd you find it?"

"Chasing rats." He stuck his claw into the first screw bolting the grate down. He loosened every screw and stepped back. "Will you do the honors, my lady?"

I heaved up the grate with a creak and faced the short chasm below.

A brown river coursed through it.

The tunnel was the sewer. "You guys had better go first."

"Dive into a river of human manure?" Valentino jumped into the hole. "Geronimo!"

Splash!

"At least I'm already wet." Charo leaped in next.

"Here goes nothing." I slid down and landed ankle-deep in the river.

The grate fell shut with a clang.

A distant man's voice came from above. "What was that?"

Oh no. Guards. I scooted away from the grate opening, trying not to splash.

Valentino and Charo hurried after.

We pressed tightly against a wall as marching feet thumped past the grate.

"It came from around here somewhere," the guard spoke. "Where are you, traitor?"

"No one's in this alleyway. We must've gone in the wrong direction."

The guards marched off.

"Phew," I exhaled.

Charo squeezed past Valentino, stepped over my feet, and crept forward. "Follow me," he hissed.

We crept through the tunnel, clinging to the wall.

I held my skirts high to keep them out of the river.

Finally, the path ended at a grate mounted to a wall.

Another short chasm lay below, this one with a stone floor instead of a river.

I stepped away from the grate to let Charo come forward.

He unscrewed every bolt except the ones on the hinges.

I pulled the grate open. "After you."

This time, Charo leaped in first. "At last, a dry floor."

Valentino hopped in next. "Time to make dirty hoofprints everywhere!"

I stepped onto one of the bricks ringing the grate and jumped.