“What about you?” she asked.
“I have no idea. My magic is as strong as ever, maybe stronger. I can’t explain.”
“We depart in the morning,” she said. “Be ready.”
I wanted to be away from Malawi almost as badly as I had wanted to visit it. It had the feel of a full pot ready to boil over. As if to emphasize that idea, a fist pounding came from the door of the safe room.
We rushed to it, to the small viewport, and outside were soldiers, blades drawn. One charged the door and struck it with his shoulder. If they were sent by the king, they would have identified themselves. Despite the iron bar in place, now that they had discovered the door to the hidden room behind the tapestry, they’d either break through or set it on fire and then enter.
The king might send men to rescue us before that happened. Or he might not.
“We have to go,” I whispered.
She looked at me in surprise. Her eyes flittered around the room in confusion.
“There is a tunnel,” I said softly as I ran for the ladder on her bed. From the sounds of the pounding at the door, and the heavier thumps, some sort of battering ram was in use. The door wouldn’t hold much longer. If I was a better mage, I would cast a magic spell of some kind. I handed Elizabeth a tall metal candlestick. She took it but was confused as I carried the railing to the wall below the trapdoor and set it in place. As she swept past me, up the ladder, I said, “There’s a thumbhole up there.”
I grabbed two candles already lighted, and my sword. The candles stood on small brass holders and we’d need them for light in the tunnel. She already had the trapdoor open and used the long candlestick to sweep ahead and clear away some of the cobwebs. I followed, placed the lighted candles on the floor of the tunnel, and reached back to get rid of the ladder so they wouldn’t find the tunnel.
A sharp lift cleared it off the hooks, and a shove sent it bouncing across the floor where it came to rest, one end leaning on the bed. I couldn’t have planned it better. The thumping on the door increased to heavy booming. The doorframe shook with each new blow.
I lowered the trapdoor carefully and silently crawled to attempt catching up with Elizabeth. She ignored the lack of light ahead as she swung the candlestick from side to side as she moved, collecting an impressive number of cobwebs wrapped on it. I hurried behind, losing ground the entire time. We crawled until my palms were sore, my knees tender, and never slowed.
Elizabeth turned a corner and disappeared. I hurried to catch up. She turned another corner and we crawled down a slight decline and came to a halt. Ahead was a heavy wooden door, a metal bar the diameter of my thumb set into the wall. She lifted one end and let it drop. A handle let her pull the door to us.
Light streamed inside.
She pulled it open more and we found a jumble of vines, shrubs, trees, and other dense growth. Elizabeth poked her head outside, and after a quick glance around, crawled out. I followed. We stood on the side of a steep hill, almost a cliff, the outer wall of the castle behind us fifty steps. Vines and brambles grew all around, interweaving and growing over the wood door that could barely be seen.
I pulled it closed after me and moved the undergrowth back in place to hide it. Elizabeth had spiderwebs in her hair, on her shoulders, and most everywhere else. I couldn’t see myself but could feel them. I’d feel them for days to come, even if I managed to find a bath.
“Where are we?” she asked.
Down the slope, were the buildings of the city. Beyond was the bay, narrower than the mouth. The sun was above. I said, “I think that is south.”
“So, we go to our right,” she interrupted instantly.
I went back to the door and listened. Nothing. After pulling it closed again, we found a small animal track and followed it. We kept the wall of the castle on our right as we moved. Before too long, we came to a road.
“Hold on,” she ordered as she began brushing my hair with her fingers, then my face and she worked down to my waist. I did the same for her.
I cannot say she looked that much better when I finished, but at least she wouldn’t scare anyone. We walked out on the road and pretended we were a couple out for a stroll—if anyone noticing us also ignored the sword I carried in my hand, the torn knees in my pants, and the spiderwebs clinging to odd places.
“Now what?” she asked me.
“We sneak into the Black Swan where our clothes and things are.”
“And then?” She asked as if I should have the answers to all her questions.
“We contact the king and hitch a ride on a ship sailing to the Brownlands.”
To my surprise, those answers seemed to satisfy her. We walked behind a slow wagon pulled by a lazy mule because it hid us from people walking towards us, and those coming from behind were so anxious to pass they never looked in our direction.
Two soldiers rushed past, talking about the battle waging in the castle. I decided not to ask them any questions since they sounded as confused as us. We entered the main part of the upper city and spotted the inn from a distance.
We trudged nearer and a familiar carriage pulled from the stables and raced our way. As it neared us, Honest Bran leaped from the seat and said, “I’ve been worried. Where have you been? Never mind, there is a war that started last night. I thought you might be caught up in it.”
I considered telling him we had started it.
He rumbled on, “I heard all about the princess who wore a crown of light. She was dressed exactly like you were.” His eyes were on Elizabeth, now crowned with a few strands of straw and more than a few remnants of cobwebs.
Bran helped us into the carriage, telling us about the army getting ready to sail, the recovery of the king’s health, and the rumors that four mages were dead, but two others had hidden away. We arrived at the front door and the coachman rushed to our aid, then as he got a good look at us, he halted.
“Yes, yes, I know we’re a mess,” Elizabeth snarled. “We need baths and we need them now.” She climbed down without his help and strode inside, past the matron at the tall desk, and turned to take the small stairway at the end of the counter without another word.
I meekly followed.
She stormed into our room and ordered me to my alcove, as she let the leather hat spin from her fingertips and fly across the room Her boots were kicked off before I could get around her, and she was untucking her shirt as I pulled the curtain.
I slowly pulled my boots off, and knowing she was going to take a while, I stuck my head into the hallway and called for food. I settled on my sofa and fell asleep to the sound of water pouring and splashing.
She woke me and I got into the tub with the water she’d allowed to cool. The harsh soap woke my skin up and I tingled all over, but the feel of cobwebs wouldn’t go away. My fancy clothing from the ball was tattered, the knees were torn, no amount of cleaning was going to help them.
I put on another set of new things and joined Elizabeth. She wore a simple dress that managed to look impressive. We walked down the stairs together and entered the dining room where we were greeted by an excited buzz of conversation.
The topic was the same at every table in the room. A battle had broken out, mages were being hunted, the army was marching, and the king was well. His illness had been overcome. Cured. However, there were few facts and a lot of guesses. Nobody paid us any attention. I whispered, “We know more than them.”
Elizabeth said, “Bran knows more than these people.”