The Annex

Chapter 35

Isla had left to attend a meeting earlier on and I had spent the afternoon laboring away. I had spent my dinner with Tomas in the meeting hall, secretly hoping to catch a glimpse of the Commander and also grateful I didn't catch him. Atlas, Ella, Humphrey and I were now pressed against the wall, making our way towards the kitchen as quietly as we could. We were on our way to the wine cellar to steal whiskey, Killian's drink of choice.

"Okay, you two make a commotion over there and Ella and I will sneak in and grab the booze," I said, pointing farther down the hall.

"Yes, ma'am," Atlas saluted me sarcastically. I rolled my eyes as the two sauntered off.

"You stole my girl, man," Humphrey dramatically shoved Atlas into the wall.

"I stole Ella? Ella wanted me. Look at me compared to you. Look at this muscle," Atlas flexed his bicep.

"Yeah, all brawn no brain."

The two tackled one another to the ground and began wrestling as the kitchen staff all gathered around to look at the commotion.

"That's our cue," I whispered to Ella as we snuck behind the backs of the occupied kitchen staff. Ella's hand found mine as she led us towards our target. Nestled in the back of the kitchen was the wine cellar. A deep musty smell infiltrated my nose as I stared at the bottles and bottles of alcohol. We each took a side as we looked for whiskey, finally finding it towards the back. We selected an expensive looking bottle of whiskey and tiptoed back out the direction we came. Once Atlas saw that we had cleared the kitchen, he and Humphrey stopped and clapped each other on the back.

"Hey man, I'm sorry. I know Ella's only got eyes for me," Humphrey said before they rejoined us. I tucked the bottle in front of me and hidden from the view of the kitchen staff.

"Nice," Ella rolled her eyes.

"Hey, it's the truth," he gave Ella a kiss on the cheek. Killian's sudden departure must have woken Humphrey. Life was short and anyone could tell that they were in love, Humphrey just needed the impetus to settle down. And Ella had realized that she only loved Humphrey.

"I know I only came here with you guys once, but it just doesn't feel right without Killian," I said softly as we climbed the tree. The bottle had been passed between us as we climbed.

"It isn't right," Atlas said. He opened the bottle and took a swig before handing it to me. Warmth flooded me as the whiskey burned a path down my esophagus. The warmth took the place of the ice cold pain that had been settling within me.

"Killian had a great laugh," Ella raised the bottle as she made a toast to our friend and drank.

"The girls all chased after him," Humphrey took the bottle from Ella.

"He made everyone laugh too," I said softly.

"He would have made a good king," Atlas said. I laid down with my head resting on Ella's lap.

"He saved my life when we were young," Ella said. "When we were ten, we went swimming in the sea with some friends of ours. I wasn't a very good swimmer and there was a riptide. I got caught in it and was swept away from shore. Humphrey and Atlas and some of the others were farther away. And of the people nearest to me, Killian was the only one that jumped in. He swam out to me and taught me to swim parallel to the shore. He calmed me down and stayed with me the whole way back. I wouldn't have made it if he hadn't come out. And everyone told him not to. They said that people that were drowning are dangerous. And it's true. Rescuers have drowned trying to save people. He risked his life to save mine."

Ella's voice broke and the break in cadence made me cry. Tears slipped down my cheek and I sat up and let Ella lean against me as we both cried together. Atlas sat stoic, shielding his emotions from us.