Chapter 231

Kit stood to get a better view of the lights, though it didn’t help much. She sank back down on the hillside, wishing she could safely make it over to Cassius, but the prisoners were still coming out quickly, and an older gentleman was over beside him now, lending a hand. Cassius looked about as well as he had when they’d first found him, which wasn’t good, but at least he wasn’t worse.

Watching the stream of people for familiar faces had Kit feeling anxious. Eventually, she saw Landon and Reeve come out, but it was taking a long while for the other men she was waiting for to emerge, and the thoughts that something might be wrong bubbled to the surface.

As if reading her mind, Eli reached over and took her hand. “They’ll be fine, Kit. Give it a few moments.”

She nodded but didn’t pull her eyes away from the open door. Having just found Terrowin, Dullen, and Hins again, she couldn’t bear the thought of losing them. “Did you know?” Her eyes flickered to Eli for a moment. “Did you know they were in there?”

He handed her back the dagger she’d given him earlier, and she slid it into the sheath at her waist. “No, not for certain. I had my suspicions, though. If there had been a safe way to find out, and then do something about it, I would’ve, Kit.”

“I believe you.” She gave him a half smile before her eyes returned to the door. The prisoners seemed to be trickling out now, and there were several seconds between their appearances, making Kit’s anxiety even worse.

“Will this change anything?”

Eli’s question surprised her, and she had to pull her eyes away to look directly at him. In his emerald green orbs, she saw a concern like she never had before. “What do you mean?”

He gave a nervous chuckle. “I mean, now that you have them back again, will we be sharing you ten ways instead of seven? I was prepared for the latter, and I suppose I can adjust to the former, but it won’t be easy. Getting enough of you is quite difficult, Princess.”

Kit shook her head. “Don’t worry. It doesn’t change anything.” Her mind went back in time to when she had been with each of those men and the others she’d seen tonight from her years of Exploration. “What I had with them was special, Eli, but I knew at the time it was part of my learning process, that none of them were ever meant to be the one I would spend my life with. Now that I have decided I cannot choose only one man to be with, it doesn’t negate the fact that I do not feel the same way about them as I do you and the other Representatives.”

Eli’s shoulders relaxed, and his face softened slightly. “Whatever you want, we’ll oblige you, you know that, don’t you, Kit?”

“I do. I cannot fathom the amount of understanding this has taken on the part of all of you. I’ve decided on seven of you, though, and since there are seven days in a week, it should all work out.” She conjured a mischievous smile, and Eli laughed again.

There would be no more discussion of the matter for the moment. Terrowin, Dullen, and Hins came flying through the door, Jate quick on their heels, and the four of them began to push against the barrier as if whatever was trying to follow meant to end them all. “Guards!” Jate yelled in Kit and Eli’s direction. The pair of them went flying over as Landon and Reeve left the spots they’d been sitting in next to Cassius and rushed over as well.

“Get the rock!” Eli said to Landon who was closer. He and Reeve began to work it back into position. When Eli shoved as well, it started to move, and they were able to prop it against the door. “We need more.”

Kit glanced around and saw several small boulders along the shoreline. Many of the prisoners had taken off running when they heard Jate’s shout or saw the lanterns getting closer on the horizon. Kit had assumed that had to be their friends, but now, she wasn’t so sure. Finding out would have to wait until this first threat was contained. “Over here!” she shouted, and several of the men came running to help move the rocks in front of the tunnel exit.

Jate’s breathing was heavy as he continued to lean against the door. Kit didn’t see that anyone was trying to come through, but she couldn’t tell for sure, and that didn’t mean they weren’t followed. “They burst through the other door, right as we were locking the cell,” Jate explained. “I’m fairly certain they followed.”

“How many?” Eli asked, carrying a large rock on his own.

“Hard to say. At least a dozen.”

“We should be able to handle that.” Landon had his own stone and dropped it next to the growing pile as a few of the other men positioned them as closely together as possible. Jate moved aside, once he was sure the barrier was sufficient.

“They weren’t Prison Guards,” he said, wiping his brow with the back of his hand. “They were Queen’s Guard.”

Kit’s eyes widened, and she looked to Eli who was doing his best not to seem alarmed. “Then let us hope that those horses belong to our friends.”

“We should move away from here,” Kit insisted, once there was little chance of the door opening. “The water isn’t clean, and we are out in the open. We could move into those trees, there.” She pointed to a wooded area closer to where the riders’ were advancing. “At least we will have some shelter.”

“I could run down there and see who it is,” Dullen volunteered. “It would be hard for them to see just one person.”

“With that hair?” Terrowin joked, ruffling his hand through the bright red locks.

“Stick to the far side of the shore and use the trees for shelter,” Eli said. “If they are guards or soldiers, you should see colors. Hurry back.”

Dullen shot off, and Kit watched him go, confused. “How has he the energy to run?”

“We had to exercise while we were in there or else our muscles would’ve gone to nothing,” Terrowin explained.

Looking at his enormous biceps, Kit asked, “Did they feed you well?”

“Not remotely, but I managed. There was a guard who used to serve with us in your detail. Sometimes he would sneak us extra meat. It was difficult because the way our food was distributed, only the strongest at the gate would get anything. Sometimes they’d drop food through holes in the ceiling.”

“How did you get water?” Reeve asked.

“Same way. Dirty water, poured through the ceiling into those troughs,” Hins said.

Kit hadn’t seen any troughs, but she hadn’t had a good look around. “How did they get prisoners in or out?”

“Through that back door. But it came with a great deal of brutality. Any prisoner who moved near one of the guards during the exchange would be run through or worse.” Terrowin’s words conjured up awful images in Kit’s mind.

“What’s worse?” Landon asked.

“You don’t want to know.” Hins folded his arms, clearly unwilling to say more on the topic.

Kit’s eyes flickered to Cassius. He looked as if he’d caught his breath at least. “I’m surprised he wasn’t injured more by the prisoners.”

“We took care of him,” Terrowin said, grinning. “We wouldn’t let anything happen to one of your men, Kit, not on our watch anyway.”

A grateful smile beamed from her face. “You shall be rewarded handsomely for your efforts—as soon as I am queen.”

“Which should be soon because I see a large white horse coming over the ridge.” Eli pointed off in the distance, and Kit saw it, too. Snowduster—and she imagined that meant Avinia had borrowed one of Kit’s tricks and was riding Cassius’s horse to meet him.

“We should head that direction.” She waved her arms, and the remaining prisoners followed her. Ahead of her she saw Dullen greeting the lead horse and knew all was well.

Eli and Landon gave Cassius a hand, and Kit fell into step beside them, wanting to keep her group together as best she could. There was much to be thankful for, now that they had Cassius back and the lower dungeon had been cleared, but the war wasn’t over yet, and if her mother’s guard knew where they were, it would only be a matter of time until the two sides collided in a battle that would decide who walked away with the crown and who lost everything she cared about in the world.