I descended the steps into the lower dungeon with Tilda close beside me. My knees shook with each step; not knowing what we were facing was more terrifying than the darkness that surrounded us. I had only heard about that area of the castle, never seen it. I’d always thought it was just a story people told to scare their children into behaving. I’d never had a reason to find out if it was real. My grown-up mind knew it was probably just a big room with more shackles, but the child inside me was imagining dragons and witches.
“We’re almost there,” Tilda whispered.
“What’s down here?”
She laughed softly. “Nothing but the alchemists. We never had much use for a torture chamber and hard criminals were few and far between. The worst I fear we may find is Andromeda.”
I froze mid-step. “You said she was put to death.”
“She was, but they didn’t give her a celebration ceremony. They. . .put her body on display for the alchemists. To entice them to do what Carmella wanted of them.”
“What was that?” I asked.
“She wanted them to take us to another world. They wouldn’t do it. They said it went against everything they believed in. They told her that if we were supposed to die here, we would.”
The amount of respect I had for the alchemists grew exponentially. “Well, let’s go show them they were right.”
The stairs emptied directly into the second dungeon. It was literally just a large circular room with shackles placed around it at regular intervals. All six of them were occupied. In the center of the room a stinking, rotting corpse lay on a table. The bile rose in my throat at the sight and scent. I turned and threw up by the bottom step. I couldn’t believe anyone would be so cruel as to taunt people with the body of a friend and mentor.
“Who’s there?” A voice called from the far end of the room.
“We’ve come to liberate you. Taeren and his men were successful, they’ve brought Delia back from Earth.”
A collective sigh rippled through the room. I set to work unlocking the chains that held them, then we quickly made our way up the stairs. I promised myself I would return to care for Andromeda’s remains. We may not be able to give her a proper ceremony, but she wouldn’t be left to rot in the lowest point of the castle. We made it to the top of the stairs as quietly as we could, but before we could head up towards the guard house above the prison, the guard called out.
“Hey! Who’s out there? Is that you, girl?”
My blood boiled at the way he referred to me as “girl.” I signaled for the others to stay quiet and still. There was no need to draw more attention to ourselves that we already had.
“You better let me out of her or you’ll regret it, mark my words.”
I rolled my eyes and gestured toward the stairs with the sword I’d stolen from the guard. The alchemists and Tilda were ready to make their exit. They stepped aside so I could lead the way, I was the only one with a weapon and the only one in any condition to put up a fight. I noticed more light was coming from the amulet around my neck; the color and light of the Bloodstone was returning. What had once been a tiny pinprick of light was now nearly half the stone. We were so close.
At the top of the stairs, I collided with a wall of a man. As quickly as I could, I stepped back with my sword held at the ready. I took in his appearance and recognized him to be an Outlier.
“Look, we don’t want any trouble. Just let us go and I won’t have to use this.” I tried to sound tough.
He smiled at me. “You are a spitfire, just like Taeren told us.”
I wasn’t sure how to react. Was he a friend or foe? I refused to lower my sword as my eyes swept over the men behind him. One caught my eye, I recognized him from Central Park. He wouldn’t be with the enemy, would he? He pushed his way forward.
“Delia, we’ve been looking for you. I’m Rafe. This is Jabez. They’re helping us get rid of Carmella.”
“I found the alchemists, and...”
“Chancellor Tilda!” Rafe dropped to one knee as a sign of respect.
“Get up, young man. We haven’t the time for that nonsense. I’m pleased to see at least one of you came back alive.”
“There’s a few more of us, ma’am.”
He acted like he was meeting a celebrity. I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself. So many things were happening at once. We didn’t have time for small talk.
“What now, Jabez?”
“Well, your highness, we need to get the rest of our men. Now that we’ve found you, we’ve got to subdue the rest of the guards and capture Carmella.”
I nodded. “How many are there, and how many have you…subdued?”
“There were about fifty, now I couldn’t say. We’ve taken care of ten, but our group split up, so I’m not sure how many the others have dealt with.”
I hoped his phrasing wasn’t meant the way I was interpreting it. The last thing we needed was to spill the blood of our people on the first night of my return. Even if they followed Carmella, they were still Rionians. We’d lost so many, we didn’t need to lose any more.
The men closed ranks around us and led us to the Great Hall. I couldn’t see over the men in front of me, but footsteps were approaching quickly. It didn’t sound like many, maybe two or three. The sound of a struggle ended quickly and we moved on, leaving three unconscious men behind.
“Jabez, we’ve taken out twenty. Add that to your thirteen and the ten Orin dealt with, and we’re pretty close to being done. Carmella is in the courtyard. The rest of the men are on their way.”
I recognized the voice, but couldn’t place it. Jabez told the man they’d found me and the prisoners. The guards around me parted as Erasmus, the man who’d spoken, broke through. He’d been a good friend of my father, and I remembered him clearly once I saw his face. He bowed to me then pulled me into a quick embrace.
“Welcome back, Princess.”
Footsteps sounded behind us, coming from the throne room. I whirled around in time to see Lonzo, Paula, and Taeren rushing toward me. The tackle hug I found myself in could only have been made better by my parents’ presence. Taeren ducked under Paula’s arm and pulled me away for a quick kiss. This time I was completely aware of the many eyes watching our encounter. I smiled at him, but cleared my throat and focused on the ceiling.
“I’m so glad you’re alright. And I see you’ve been on a rescue mission.” Taeren nodded at the alchemists before his eyes settled on Tilda. “Chancellor, it’s good to see you again.”
“You have no idea, Commander.”
More men crowded around us as a shrill voice erupted in the darkness up ahead. Lady Carmella had no doubt discovered some of her unconscious guards. We moved as one towards the source of the noise.
“Jabez! Erasmus! Have you found the intruders?” She demanded.
“We have.” They answered together.
“And? Where are they?”
This was it, the big moment. The army around me parted, revealing the group that had gone to Earth and returned. They stepped aside to reveal the princess they’d rescued from another world. Lady Carmella’s eyes had never been so big. Her mouth fell open and she sputtered a few times.
“I see. Take them to the dungeon. These are the traitors who went to Earth and left us behind to die.”
None of the men moved at her command. She restated her order, and the few men who remained loyal to her, and were still conscious, came toward us. A few others appeared behind them, nursing head wounds. Our men began to adopt defensive positions when the approaching men froze. Something had terrified them to the point of paralysis. Turning around, I saw the source of their fear and smirked. The Sideon had chosen that moment to make themselves known. I thought they would be back in their world already, but I should have known they were still around when someone mentioned Orin before.
“They wanted to help,” Taeren muttered to me.
I smiled. I was right to trust there was good inside them. I was certain the men on our side could have dealt with Carmella’s guards easily, but it felt good to know we had such powerful allies. Carmella noticed the Sideon and stumbled backwards.
“Your highness, I…I don’t know what to say.”
I stepped forward, delivering a withering stare as I approached the selfish woman. “You could start by telling these people the truth about your plans. Do they know what you did to Andromeda? To the alchemists? Do they know you had no real plan to deliver them from this dying world?”
Murmurs of dissent washed over the crowd around us. She pulled herself up, trying her best to look dignified. She failed miserably.
“Guards, take her to the dungeon, we have better things to do than deal with the likes of her.”
Jabez and Erasmus were happy to oblige. They grabbed hold of Carmella and dragged her toward the Eastern Tower. She squawked and hollered the whole way. As soon as she was out of sight, cheers erupted all around. We’d done it. We’d made it home, defeated our enemies and retaken the castle. The Bloodstone vibrated against my chest. I looked down to discover the color had nearly returned. The dark edges were still encroaching farther than they should have, but the Rionian sky sparkled and moved within the stone.
I looked at Taeren. Sophronia stood next to him, beaming with pride.
“It’s time,” she said, with tears in her eyes.