UNSHEATHED

Chapter Six

Down they went into the damp darkness of the tunnel. The stairs were evenly cut, but treacherous, since they circled about a central shaft, making the steps triangular in shape, and easy to miss. The air was stale and smelled of minerals, and the torch left an oily smoke hanging in the air as they passed.

Elena was tired of arguing with this haughty Prince. She understood that he was concerned about his son and probably a little bit embarrassed that the attackers were able to overcome his defenses, but he chaffed too much at her leadership of this rescue.

At last they reached the bottom of the stairs and the tunnel leveled out into a winding passage. It was so narrow that they could only go in single file, and the light barely showed behind her, so that the others had to feel along in the dark.

The Prince followed close behind her.

"Where has Rainna been since she left?" Elena wanted a little bit of background.

"She disappeared the night after the twins were born. That was over fifty years ago. I heard nothing from her in all this time."

Elena raised an eyebrow at that. It was difficult to tell how old the hilliri were. They always looked young, no matter what their age. The Prince's story confirmed her belief that marriage was a source of trouble and pain. It certainly had been that way for her.

The tunnel made a sharp turn to the left. She heard several mutters as guards tripped in the sudden dark.

"There are rumours that she is...unstable." It would help to understand the mindset of her adversary.

"Mad, I believe is the word people have used, though Rainna's not mad in the classic sense," he said. "Her view of the world has been warped somehow."

"I've heard of such things, especially in the last year or so," she replied. She'd heard quite a bit about disturbing dreams that left people feeling pressured to do things they wouldn't normally do.

"I used to know more or less what to expect from her, but she's changed beyond anything I remember. I can't be sure of what she''ll do now."

Up ahead the ceiling lowered so that Elena had to hunch over to keep from hitting her head against the low ceiling. She called back to warn the others of this and squeezed herself through the narrow space, scraping her hands and shoulders as she passed. It felt as if the walls were closing in on her. She tried to focus on the task ahead. It must bother the Prince even more, she realized, being over a head taller than her and a good deal broader in the shoulders. Sometimes there were advantages to being a woman, though Elena seldom thought so.

She had spent a lifetime trying to fit in among men in a man's profession, though since coming to Kalad, she had found this to be less of an issue. The only thing that she had to commend herself was her talent for battle, something that hand always come naturally to her. She wondered as they crept along in the dark, what she might have become had she been born without this ability or with a different one instead.

At last after a bend that swung sharply to the right, she could see a dim glow up ahead and the tunnel got a little bit wider. She turned and indicated silence with a finger pressed against her lips. She handed the torch back to the Prince and passed around the final corner. She got a glimpse of the room at the tunnel entrance and counted the number of guards there. She ducked back quickly before she was spotted. She turned to the Prince and pointed to the right and showed him two fingers. Then she pointed left and showed him only one. He nodded.

Three guards, Elena thought, against twenty. Their only disadvantage being that they all had to exit from one small opening first. Elena pointed to the Prince and Silan and pointed right. She pointed to herself and then to the left. They were ready.