Tainted

Chapter Twenty

I sprint down the hallway. Shocked arguments sound from the healer's room, but I don't dare look back. I just put my head down and run, my heart beating wildly against my chest.

The warden's dead, the warden's dead. It's a mantra that marks every step, and I can't seem to think of anything else.

I slow down at the stairs and throw my hood up around my head, bring the hem low over my eyes. I try to imbue dignity into my walk as I step closer to the dungeon entrance.

The guards posted on either side of the archway look up.

"I am Dynami," I say, grabbing the first name I can think of, "and I have paid good coin to enter this dungeon and examine my contender."

The guards narrow their eyes. They look at one another for the briefest of moments, and I move. I rip the poleaxe from the right guard's hands and smack the wooden shaft against his skull. He drops to the ground, instantly. I turn to the other guard, my muscles screaming. He strikes with his poleaxe, but I parry, my eyes intensely focused on the twists of his wrists. He opens his mouth to shout, but I throw my full weight into the poleaxe and shove its wooden end into the guard's gut, knocking the wind out of him. He falls back against the wall, and his head collides with the stone. He slumps onto his knees.

Silence rings out in the hall, followed by the soft echo of footsteps somewhere far back near the healer's room. I drop the poleaxe. It clatters against the stone and I rush inside the dungeon, skittering to a stop outside my unlocked cell. Binks is gone, and the thought pangs.

Startled voices sound from around the dungeon. I keep the hood low over my face and throw my aching shoulders back. All the patrons who've walked in here have impeccable posture. None of the Ill-Fated are allowed to address patrons other than their own, and if I can look like a noble and potential patron, then hopefully no one will recognize me. Otherwise, what has this all been for?

I slip into my own cell, Binks's absence like a stain I can't wash out, and I hear Camden stir to my right. He doesn't say anything, and it pains me to turn away from him. I want to see how he's doing, but I can't risk him recognizing my face.

I move to stand directly under the skylight. The waning moon is above me, bathing me in a warm, yellow light. I don't know what I'm waiting for. Alani had said a rope, but what if the rope never comes? What if I've just trapped myself back in the same place I've been so desperate to escape?

Voices sound from down the hall and my heartbeat quickens with anxiety. The door of my cell is still open. If the rope doesn't come, I can still slip out of the cell and hide amongst the shadows. I can still escape.

But as the voices grow louder, I have the distinct feeling that I'm running out of time. A cold sweat breaks out against the back of my neck.

A bell shrieks out across the entire prison complex. I jam my hands against my ears, the hood of the robe shifting back against my hairline.

"The warden has been murdered!" The shout echoes through the halls. "The warden has been murdered!"

Alani must have ordered a search party to look for the healer. She's trying to buy me time by stealing his. My eyes snap to the skylight but nothing's come through yet. Unless...unless the healer's already been found.

Please, I silently beg the goddess. Please let him be there.

The sound of boots clatters against the hall outside the dungeon. It seems like hundreds of feet must be running toward the dungeon.

The moonlight disappears from the skylight as dark, rumbling clouds move across the sky. Without the Goddess watching over the prison, I feel lost.