Page 38 of The Omega Slave

He knew what he’d be going back to.

“I just need to work out a plan to get out of here.” There was a passage in the bathroom, and somehow that must eventually connect with the kitchen. Flynn and Candy had said so, and Jael had bragged about it later, but they’d gotten turned around with the smell of Kamir’s food.

He walked over to the bathroom and looked around. The bath dominated the space and was set into the floor. It wouldn’t be moveable, so he looked at the walls. The two that shared the day room and the spare suite he ignored. Which left two. One had shelving for bowls of water and one had the closet with the mechanical pot in it for waste. Tsaria wrinkled his nose.

“What are you doing?” Alain whispered, like someone might hear them. Tsaria looked around in frustration and ran his hands over the bare wall.

“There’s a hidden passage. I know it comes out here, but I just don’t know where.” Alain stepped forward eagerly.

“Lainy,” Tsaria whispered. “You’ll get in trouble,” but Alain shook his head and moved the sacks of winter vegetables.

“Look, here.” He bent and pried a wooden board away from the wall, revealing a small crawl space. “Anytime you need to hide, just sneak in here.” Alain showed him the rough rope handle he’d tacked to the inside of the panel and made sure Tsaria could get in and out and stay hidden. He crouched down. “When Father drinks ale and you have to hide.” Alain didn’t look at Tsaria, but Tsaria still carried the bruises from the last time Father had gotten drunk. “When he falls asleep, I’ll always come and get you.”

Tsaria hugged his brother. “Does Tomas know?”

Alain shook his head. “Let’s keep it our secret.”

Alain ran his hands over the shelves and then bent to a small cupboard used for keeping bathing cloths and lotions. Tsaria heard a snick, and Alain straightened with what looked like a wooden panel in his hand. “False back. A little obvious, though,” he said rather disapprovingly. Tsaria took a step forward, but Alain put a hand out to stop him. “I don’t want to put you in danger.”

Tsaria agreed. The very last thing he wanted was for Kamir’s uncle to get his hands on him, and he would have stayed and gone over the plan some more if he hadn’t known Kamir and Ash had no intention of letting him go. He brushed a kiss on his brother’s cheek and scrambled in, realizing that Alain was toobig to fit through. Kamir would and he even imagined Mansala would fit, but his brother had too generous a middle.

“Go back with the servant. Let her take you to the carriage. Dawdle if you have to. They won’t risk detaining you because they’ll be in a hurry for you to leave. I’ll get in the carriage and hide.”

Alain watched as Tsaria turned and crawled away, then replaced the wooden panel. The passage was plunged into darkness and Tsaria froze, but then when his eyes grew accustomed he could see cracks of light in between the wooden panels at various intervals and knew he was passing similar entrances into other rooms. He stopped suddenly to wipe his eyes, and then he heard it. A slight scuffle that stopped almost immediately, and Tsaria shuddered. Mice? He hurried on until he could hear muted voices and then he smelled it. Baked bread. No one could ever mistake the smell of loaves just out of the oven and if he hadn’t had been keeping quiet, he would have laughed.

But then he froze as he heard the scuffling again. Seven hells, were there rats in here? That had sounded loud. He held his breath for a long moment but didn’t hear anything else, so he carried on.

He got to where he knew from the light spilling in, he’d reached the kitchen and had to wait many agonizing minutes for the voices to fade before he risked getting out. Finally, he knew he couldn’t wait any longer and opened the panel into a storeroom. He quietly climbed out and jumped down. Then he took a breath and listened hard. Still no noise, so he opened the storeroom door and stepped into the kitchen, coming face-to-face with the cook.

Cookie.The one who had worked for Kamir when he was a child. To say she was startled was a little bit of an understatement and Tsaria bowed his head. “My apologies forstartling you. I wondered if I could send my brother away with some bread perhaps? It is a long journey.”

Her face softened. “But, your Highness, you could have just summoned what you required.”

He dipped his head. “I’m not comfortable…”With anything.And he wasn’t “his highness.”

“Don’t you worry,” she chuckled and grabbed a basket from a shelf, filling it with so many goodies Tsaria’s mouth watered. Then guilt stabbed at him. She was being so nice, and he was deceiving her.

“I would never want to get you into trouble.”

She shook her head and tucked two bottles of beer into the basket. She headed for another storeroom and Tsaria trailed after her. “His highness is one of the kindest people I have ever met. He won’t be angry.” She lifted the basket and handed it to Tsaria, who could barely carry it. “But I understand you don’t know him. Don’t worry, it will be our secret.” She patted his hand. “I love company. Anytime you’re peckish, you know where I am.”

Tsaria struggled to swallow the lump in his throat and honest-to-goddess wondered if he was doing the right thing, but then he thought about those two little girls and he knew he didn’t have any choice.

He took the basket and kissed Cookie on her floury cheek, which made her blush, then headed for the door. The carriage was obvious, as there would be no other reason for it to be outside the kitchen and he climbed in and hid. After a moment he heard voices, which thankfully included Alain’s, but also included Ash’s. Tsaria held his breath, even buried under the pile of blankets and the low seat.

“Look,” Ash sighed. “Kamir’s a good guy, and from what I can see, so is Tsaria. We can work this out. None of us want tosee your children in danger.” He sounded so sincere and for a moment it gave Tsaria pause.

“I thank you,” Alain said gravely. “But we both know far more people will die if they don’t find a way to defeat his highness’s enemies.”

Which sounded all wrong. Surely anyone that had children would put them first? Not accept their fate for the good of the nation? But the carriage moved and once Tsaria heard the horns he knew they were clear of the gates. He scrambled out. Alain blew out a long, relieved breath.

“Wasn’t sure you made it.”

He sat himself on the seat and watched as Alain investigated the basket. “Wow,” Alain said. “Good stuff.” He offered a chicken leg to Tsaria, whose stomach curdled at the thought of food, and he shook his head. Not that he blamed Alain. Even though he’d just eaten, food was never a guarantee for the poor.

They travelled in relative silence for a good five bells until they reached the border with Rajpur, because while Alain rattled on occasionally, Tsaria struggled to combat the guilt he felt every time he thought of Kamir and Jael. They would cross the passage through the Dijon Mountains soon, but it would take at least another seven bells to reach the city of Rajpur, and the farm was farther to the west.

“Tell me about my nieces,” Tsaria said, desperate for a distraction.

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