Daughter of Rebels

Chapter 7 - The Tunnel

Let the story unfold. You'll be happy again before it ends.

The words played, over and over, in Mara's mind, like distant thunder.

Let the story unfold. You'll be happy again before it ends.

Let the story unfold. You'll be happy again...

You'll be happy again...

You'll be happy...

They rumbled in the background while she sat on the bed in her tiny room, the warmth of Eli's healing magic suffusing her blood and taking the pain from her shoulder, and when she surrendered Nick to Eli's care with the remembered promise of Beth's assertion that she could trust him. They nagged when she whispered her shameful confession, that she hadn't told her son that his father was dead and to please, please not shatter the illusion. They followed her afterward into a deep and otherwise dreamless sleep. They mocked her when she woke alone, nothing but flickering lamplight to keep her company. They loomed over her when Eli and Nick came to fetch her for dinner. They drowned out the hum of the massive dining hall where they ate, squirreled away on a bench in the corner. They distracted her as an unsmiling old woman in a crisp white robe led them through the impressive main hall and down a smaller offshoot into a storeroom, where she moved aside several crates and shelves to reveal a small doorway that opened onto a steep descending staircase that yawned pitch black beneath them.

It was Nick's plaintive voice, his hand tugging at her shirt as they stood at the top of the stairs, that finally drew her fully back to reality. "Mama?"

She shook herself and smiled down at him. "What an adventure!" she said brightly, crouching and squeezing his shoulders. "Aren't you excited, Nick?"

"No," he whimpered, stepping into her and burying his face in her chest.

"I'll be right here with you, my love," she crooned, rubbing her hand up and down his back. "It'll be fun, you'll see."

"No!" he said more emphatically, clinging to her tighter.

Mara looked up at Eli, who watched the exchange with solemn neutrality.

"Only this once," she said quietly. "And no sleep this time, just calm."

He nodded once and crouched at her side.

"Hey, Nicky."

Nick sniffed and turned his face against Mara's chest so he could see Eli without leaving the safety of her hold. Bitter guilt coated the back of her tongue. But what was the alternative? That they descend the staircase wrestling with a writhing, terrified child?

Eli lifted a hand and swiped a tear from Nick's cheek with his thumb. "We're going to go on an adventure," he said, voice a low, hypnotic hum. The magic wasn't directed at her, but she could feel it nonetheless, a boozy buzz in her veins. "Your mama and I are gonna take good care of you, I promise. You just need to stay calm for us, okay?"

Mara felt the tension leave Nick's body, and he nodded, relaxing his grip on her clothing.

"I'm going to carry you for this first bit," Eli said. "Once we get to the bottom of the stairs, you can walk, okay?"

Another listless nod. Mara felt sick. Her hands twitched, and visions of shoving Eli backwards down the stairs taunted her. She'd watch him fall into the darkness and then slam the door on all of him. His news about Davy, his terrifying plan, his insidious magic, Beth's assertive promise of his loyalty. She clenched her fists as Nick stepped away from her. Eli tugged him close and rose from his crouch, hiking her son onto his hip.

"Thank you, Sister Eve," he said to the woman in white, and she nodded without expression.

"You can't get lost," she said. "The tunnels only have one exit. But it's narrow in the middle. You'll have to crawl for a time. And the journey isn't short. It took Sister Plya twelve hours, and she is very quick on her feet."