Page 77 of The Jester

“There’s no time for squeamishness. We have to move him. Now,” Roan barks.

Visibly trying not to faint, Pen takes hold of Rawk’s arms and helps Roan drag him out of the way. Beneath him lies a thick piece of cloth, which Roan moves to one side to reveal a trapdoor. Just like the one in the kitchen.

Roan pulls it open. “This is it,” he says. Then he looks at Briony. “Finn is certain tonight is the night?”

“You saw what she did.” Briony nods in my direction. “We won’t have a better chance to be free, Roan.”

With a firm nod, Roan stands back. “Then, let’s go,” he says.

Pen goes first, then Raine. He helps her down onto the ladder and I hear him keeping check on her the entire way down. When they reach the bottom, Roan throws a box of matches down and tells them to find the lanterns. “Get them lit,” he calls.

Standing aside with Maura, Briony, and me, he allows all the other Leafborne to climb down into the hatch before asking which one of us wants to go first.

“Maura . . .” I take her arm.

She flinches involuntarily, then meets my eyes and sighs. “This is you?” she says. “You did this. You’re getting us out?”

“Not just me. There’s more...” I stop because Roan is shaking his head at me.

“Not now,” he says. “There really isn’t time, Alana.”

I squeeze Maura’s forearm. “Later, we’ll talk later. But for now... we have to go.”

I help her down onto the ladder, then wait for Briony. Roan stands back and gestures for me to go ahead of him. I hesitate, then say, “Thank you,” and clamber down.

When I reach the bottom, Roan isn’t far behind. The lamps are lit, and we are gathered in the damp silence of the tunnels. Explaining quickly, I tell the others that the Shadowkind are helping us escape and that Briony and Roan will be leading the way out of the citadel.

“We’re really getting out?” whispers one of the young fae.

“We’re really getting out,” I tell her. Then I turn to Briony. She rubs her hands together and nods at me. A shudder runs through her entire body.

“Do you need me to take away your fears, too?” I ask her quietly. “This is a big moment. I can make it easier for you.”

But Briony simply smiles at me. “I have waited too long for this,” she says. “I want to feel every last bit of it. Good and bad.”

I take her hands and grasp them tightly. “All right, then just know this... I am grateful for you, Briony. It has been a long time since I’ve had a true friend. And I know I wouldn’t have survived the last few weeks without you.”

For a moment, I think Briony’s going to say something. Her mouth opens, then closes. She inhales deeply. But then she steels herself and says, “All right. No more talk. It’s time. This way.”

As we start to move through the tunnels, the weight of what we’re doing settles in the crevices between my muscles and makes my body ache. The air is heavy with the scent of damp earth, and the sound of our footsteps echoes off the walls. The Leafborne huddle close together, their faces a mix of fear and hope.

Roan and Briony lead the way, their steps sure and steady. They’ve been planning this for so long. Two hundred years. I cannot even imagine the weight of what this means to them.

We walk for what feels like hours, the tunnels twisting and turning, taking us deeper and deeper beneath the citadel. With each step, I anticipate hearing the thunder of guards behind us. But there is nothing. Just silence.

As we round another corner, however, Pen holds up a hand, signalling for us to stop. He tilts his head, listening intently. “Do you hear that?” he whispers.

I strain my ears, trying to pick out any sound over the pounding of my own heart. At first, there’s nothing. But then, faint and distant, I hear it. The sound I dreaded...

“Alana Leafborne...” My name drifts on a breeze that whips through the tunnels. “You cannot escape me.”

“He’s coming,” Roan says, his voice tight with tension. “Eldrion knows we’re gone.”

A ripple of fear passes through the group, and I feel it like a physical thing, pressing down on my chest. I want to reach out, to take it away from them again, but I’m so tired. I don’t know if I have the strength.

“What do we do?” Raine asks, moving closer to Pen.

Roan and Briony exchange a glance. “We keep moving,” Briony says finally. “We’re close to the exit. If we can just make it a little farther...”

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