Page 71 of Virelai's Hoard
Was this what the afterlife looked like? Climbing down interminable stairs and walking along infinite corridors until your legs gave out from under you? Doomed to chasing distant squeaks from rodents who snubbed her in favor of far more interesting people. Like selkies, and pirates touched by the sea. How wonderful.
“You know I had to do it, right?” Riley asked. “We weren’t supposed to getattached, Patch. It’s always been just the two of us. I don’t see why that had to change.”
She’d lost count of the torches. She kept walking. She kept talking, like the words were a weight she needed to get off her chest. It didn’t make anything feel better, but it kept the silence at bay.
“I don’t see whyyouhad to change. Yeah, they were kind to us, but did you forget how I warned you about that? They just use it to reel you in, trick you into letting your guard down. Make what comes after hurt worse. No one’s everjustkind. It’s a front. You can’ttrustit,” Riley scoffed. “Your precious Callawould’ve allowed me to get whipped. She was going tokillEryx. But sure,I’mthe bad one here.” She sighed, rubbing a hand over her face. No matter that she might’ve deserved the whipping. Or that Calla thought sacrificing one of the crew might save the rest of them. That was not thepoint. “We were doing just fine by ourselves, bud.”
Thatwas the point.
By the time she noticed an ajar door in the distance, Riley was positively sulking.
“Patch?” she called out softly as she stepped past the threshold.
The word echoed around the room, along with the scuff of her boots on the floor. Everything was so quiet.
Her steps faltered as she reached a mirror, smack dab in the middle of the room. It stood twice as tall as her and wider than her spread arms. Hung lanterns flickered off the walls at all sides, giving it an ominous glow.
Riley pricked her ears at a sound coming from behind the mirror, a tap-tapping of small claws on wood she’d recognize anywhere.
Frowning at her own reflection, Riley circled the mirror, then circled the room.
Empty.
This was a dead end.
“Great, now I’m hearing things too.”
No windows, no other doors besides the one she’d just walked through. Maybe she’d missed a turn, or a secret passage, while talking to herself like a madwoman. Clearly, she was losing it.
Riley came to face the mirror again and sat cross-legged in front of it. Just for a moment, to gather her strength and her wits. Her limbs sunk to the floor like leaden weight. She looked at her own reflection, at the red tint on her cheek that would bloom into a bruise soon, at the cut on her lip, at the scrapesalong her forearms where she’d fallen against the deck, at the dark curls plastered to her neck and forehead. The sheer size of the mirror made her look… small. The light flickered off the sheen of sweat on her skin, making her look tired. And the empty room made her feel alone. A fist came up to rub against her chest, as if that alone could chase the unpleasant sensation away.
“Look, I’m sorry, ok?” she said to her own reflection.
She didn’t mean it, of course. Not in the way that she’d make different decisions, given the chance. What she’d done had been entirely self-serving. It was the same cutthroat instinct that had kept her alive this far. She couldn’t just ignore it now. This was how she survived. How she stayed on top.
Sable had been the safer bet. Someone she could understand the inner workings of. Someone she could rely on. Someone whoshowedwould protect her if things took a turn for the worse. A smaller voice at the back of her mind added another reason. One that shouldn’t have factored in at all.Someone she liked.More than was wise. Since when was that relevant to anything at all?
With a start, Riley realized a bigger issue. She liked Calla, too. Even though she could not understand her, or what she wanted, or whether it was safe to trust her at all.
But she’d had to pick.
Hadn’t she?
And since when didtrustfactor into any of Riley’s decisions? She only had to coast by until they got to the treasure, until she madethemtrust her enough so they wouldn’t realize what she was up to until it was too late. That had been the plan from the start. It hadn’t changed. Nothing had changed.
Patch would come around. If they ever found a way out of this nightmare.
“Just…” Riley hung her head, rubbing at her eyes. “Come back. Please.”
A movement in her periphery made her head snap up. But the room was all the same as before. No Patch to be seen. Or Eryx. She hoped they were okay.
Another movement, and Riley’s head tilted at the mirror. It was the reflection. It had changed.
Riley looked with growing confusion at the girl–thekidon the other side.
Young and slight, brown curls bouncing to just past her shoulders as she crouched by a half-opened door, head tilted quizzically in a listening gesture. It must’ve been an office of some sorts. Maybe she was a servant, or the daughter of one. Suddenly, the kid scrambled away from the door and the mirror followed her as she hid behind a corner. Riley watched with interest as the girl peeked past, and the mirror showed what she saw. The feet of two men walking out of the office, one’s hands gesticulating wildly, the other’s set and resolute.
Riley startled. She knew those boots. The pleading man’s boots. She knew what he was saying, though the mirror didn’t relay any sounds.
