Page 81 of The Prince's Fealty

Pel’s stomach sank, and he swallowed.Ah. King Nostex hadn’t left the entrance unprotected after all.

“I’ll go first,” she told them. “When you climb down, go to your left or right immediately. Donotturn around or step straight back.”

Pel could see from Tor’s expression that he didn’t like that, and it made a totally inappropriate smile want to spread over Pel’s face. He really was a hero. Obviously, it made more sense for the person who’d been here before to go first, but Pel could actually see the struggle warring in Tor’s eyes because he didn’t want Pamuna in danger.

He kept his mouth shut, though, and one by one, they followed Pamuna into the darkness. Tor went second—and Pel third—so that he was down there and ready to shield as soon as possible, while King Stronex brought up the rear.

By the time Pel climbed carefully down, preternaturally aware that he needed tonotstep backwards and needed toimmediatelygo to the side, Tor had already cast glowing balls of magic in the air—and there was a shimmering shield over a section of the ground right in front of the ladder.

Pamuna had clearly already pointed out the area with the trap, and Tor had done his best to neutralize it.

It was extremely quiet except for the sounds of their movements as they climbed. The tunnel was stone, but it was smaller and more cramped than the one in Tor’s castle—or maybe that was just because there were so many more of them trying to crowd into it.

Finally, King Stronex descended as well, pulling the trapdoor closed as he went. Pel felt a shiver run through him as they were sealed inside, but he reminded himself thatPamuna knew the way, plus they were with two Extraordinary who could shield them from whatever happened.

Everyone had fanned out carefully around the shielded area, and now Pamuna led them through the tunnel, Tor’s lights bobbing along in their wake. Pel was keeping an eye on them, since Tor had told him this was some of the hardest magic to create, since magic liked to be firmly grounded. There was no evidence of strain on Tor’s face. In fact, it seemed entirely effortless.

Pel reminded himself that while yes, Tor had been in a magical coma that had lasted for nearly two weeks not that long ago, he’d been healed, and then he’d acquired the exiles’ Fealty. Pel had seen how much that had healed him. He was perfectly fine. He was ready for this, and it wouldn’t help him concentrate if Pel questioned his wellness. If he wasn’t ready to manifest lights, then he certainly shouldn’t be sneaking into a castle in order to go after a king with the Fealty of an entire realm and who knew what other allies.

Pel blew out a breath and tried to relax his muscles. Yes, he was preternaturally aware that they were walking through a tunnel designed to cave in under who knew how much earth above them. Yes, the sides of the tunnel only let two of them go abreast, and the top of the tunnel wasn’t more than a few inches over Tor’s head. But Pel had already made it through several secret tunnels in this wild adventure, and at least this one had light and conscious company.

Tor was striding along at his side as though he did this every day. He was totally fine, and he was as ready as he could ever be for what was to come next. It was normal that Pel was twisted up with worry. In fact, he imagined that similar worries were going through Tor’s mind right now. It didn’t mean they thought the other person incapable, just that they were worried about the situation and didn’t want their loved ones to get hurt.

But the rest of Tor’s loved ones weretrapped in this castle, and that’s why they were doing this. Nostex needed to be stopped, and the High King and his family needed to be saved. Tor was worried that some of them were already dead, and Pel privately shared this concern, but he wasn’t going to say so out loud. Tor’s shields really were incredibly powerful, and High King Varex’s should be even more so.

Please, let him have had the chance to use them.

They had no idea what they were going to face when they got inside, but it was possible it was going to be a reality that had the power to crush Tor. Pel just kept sending prayers winging up to the goddess, hoping for the best. Nostex had been taking advantage of all of them for years, and it was time for them to redeem themselves.

The stone beneath their feet began to rise on a gentle incline, which was a nice change. It had been hard to shake the growing feeling that perhaps the tunnel system actually ran the entire length of Filon, and the trap was that it simply never ended, and they would walk and walk and walk until they ran into the mountains or the sea.

But now the path sloped up, and finally, Pamuna raised her hand, and they all came to a halt. She pointed out the stone they needed to avoid, and Tor once again cast a shield over it. Pel appreciated that, as he felt suddenly unnaturally clumsy and uncoordinated, as if he was going to suddenly trip onto the deadly stone when there was no reason he couldn’t just skirt around it.

There was an entirely prosaic door at this end of the tunnel, rather than another trapdoor. The stone with the trap was set back far enough that when you pulled open the door, it was where you would be naturally inclined to step.

Pel wondered again what Pamuna or her parents had done for Nostex. Surely this wasn’t a widely used tunnel. Someone would forget about these traps and bring the whole thing down. Unless they didn’t really cause a cave in, and that was just a story?

Pel huffed to himself. As if anyone would ever be willing to test that.

“When I was last here, there was a tapestry in front of the door,” Pamuna said quietly, voice barely audible. “That is probably still true. It leads to a small room, usually used for storage. I don’t know if it’s guarded now. It wasn’t in the past.”

They’d moved as quietly as they could, no one talking, but that didn’t mean it hadn’t still sounded like roughly a dozen people moving through a stone tunnel.

“I will go first,” Stronex said, quiet but firm. “I will clear the room, and you will wait here.”

Tor looked like he wanted to protest this, but instead, he squared his shoulders and moved to the side. He motioned Pel to stand behind him, even as he kept his gaze glued to the door. Pel readied an arrow, and everyone else clasped their swords.

Stronex gripped the doorknob, but then gestured at Tor’s lights, and a moment later, they winked out, including the shield around the trap.

For a long moment, all Pel could hear was a dozen people trying to breathe steadily and quietly. He strained his eyes, but it didn’t seem to be getting any lighter. He finally started counting in an attempt to control the heart that wanted to beat out of his chest.

He reached thirty before he heard the tell-tale signs of a door being quietly opened, then displaced air indicating that Stronex was moving.

There was no blinding light, just a slight lightening that allowed Pel to make out the faint shapes of the people around him. These were all good signs, of course. No immediate attack, scarcely any light. It suggested the room was still being used for storage, as Pamuna had hoped, but he found his hands clenched white-knuckled on his bow until Stronex returned, bringing his own bobbing magic light with him.

“All clear. The room is secure.”

They tiptoed into the room, going to the side to get past the protective tapestry and emerging to find a storage room just like Pamuna had said. They all fit, but it was snug, especially since the room did have various odds and ends piled in it.