Page 35 of Beholden
12
Vilmar
Upon reaching thesurface, I dragged in a breath of fresh air. My head still throbbed from the wound I’d sustained in yesterday’s cave-in, but I’d labored non-stop all day anyway, especially because Ty had been too weak to meet his quota. I’d hoped by driving myself to exhaustion I could put thoughts of Gabriella out of my mind. But she stayed with me every second, making me ache for her even more than I already did.
I dropped our buckets of rocks to the ground and then straightened and arched my back, longing to hear Gabriella’s sweet voice offering encouragement to someone. But only silence met me, a silence that had haunted me all day, not only down in the mines, but now here at the surface.
From the somberness of those leaving the mine ahead of me, I guessed everyone felt Gabriella’s absence as keenly as I did. She had been a beacon in the darkness, adding joy and beauty to this desolate place. And now without her, we were hopelessly lost.
Next to me, Curly aided Molly to the surface, hoisting her heavy load. I lent them a hand, gathered my bucket along with Ty’s, and stood in line behind them to await food rations.
“Even if she has to miss our wedding, she’s safe now,” Molly said quietly to no one in particular. But from the way she slanted a glance my way, she was probably trying to make me feel better.
Following Ty’s strange comments yesterday after Gabriella’s departure, my misgivings had only grown. And I prayed Molly was right, that Gabriella was safe.
“But what about the ball?” Curly slid the buckets forward as the line inched toward the overseers in charge of the storehouse.
“What ball?” I asked.
“The Choosing Ball on Midsummer’s Eve.”
As I remembered Ernie’s tale from the night of the dance, my pulse began to thud erratically.
“No need to worry,” Molly replied. “With how weak Alice is, they won’t be able to travel fast. Upon reaching Rockland, she’ll have no time to prepare for a ball.”
Not only was my pulse sputtering, but my breath had caught in my lungs. “But what if she goes anyway? Even with the dirt of the mine covering her, she would be the most beautiful woman there.”
Curly clamped my shoulder. “Spoken like a man in love.”
Molly tried to smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
Surely there was little chance of Gabriella going to the ball and even less that she would be chosen.
“I pray for the poor soul who’s picked.” Molly’s smile disappeared, and she shivered though the summer night was warm. “I wouldn’t want to face so fierce an enemy as Grendel. ’Twould be horrifying to stare death in the face with no weapon.”
Enemy.The word rattled through my mind and body, sending a tremor all the way to the marrow in my bones. Gabriella had spoken of killing an enemy. And now her words came back to taunt me.“I must learn how to slay my enemy, or I myself shall most certainly perish.”When I’d questioned her about it further, she’d said she would face the enemy in two months’ time. Had she been referring to Midsummer’s Eve?
I counted back the days to the time we’d started our training. Had it been two months? I couldn’t say for sure, since the monotonous days blended into each other. When she’d spoken of an enemy, I’d assumed she truly had an enemy, someone like the duchess’s steward who’d accused her of stealing. Or perhaps an enemy of her father’s who wanted her dead. But what if all along she’d intended to face Grendel and attempt to slay him?
Curly and Molly shuffled forward in line, but I couldn’t move. Horror coursed through me and froze me in place. Perhaps she’d wanted to learn to wield a knife in order to kill the duchess? What about the queen?
But even as the thoughts sifted through my mind, I shook my head. Gabriella would never kill a living soul, not even her enemy, unless she had some ulterior motive.
“What is it?” Curly watched me, his eyes suddenly alert and his body tense.
I couldn’t speak. Instead, my thoughts returned to everything Gabriella had said during the weeks I’d known her—how she’d asked me to help find a way to save Alice and Benedict with no thought to herself, how she’d so easily put aside Curly’s prompting to wed me, and how she’d claimed she was in no position to make any promises.
Then just yesterday, when the knights had blasted us out of the cave-in, she’d mentioned petitioning the duchess for her discharge. Why would the duchess agree to a release unless Gabriella had struck a deal—a deal to give herself over to Grendel as the chosen one?
“I cannot speak the name,”she’d said. She hadn’t been willing to tell me the name of her enemy because she knew I’d stop her. She knew we would all try to stop her.
From a place deep inside, a groan fought for release. The truth was, Gabriella had left the mine pits with the precise purpose of attending the Choosing Ball and attempting to kill Grendel. She was generous enough in spirit to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to bring an end to the terrifying custom.
“You look as though you’ve seen a wraith.” Curly shifted my buckets and pulled me with them.
I peered through the fading twilight to the hut where Ty had disappeared. Had he guessed Gabriella’s plans already? Was that why he’d acted strangely yesterday upon her leaving? If only he’d told me his suspicions much sooner, I could have done something to prevent her from going.
But would she have stayed? After all she’d revealed to me about the queen’s alchemy and the need for the heart of the fairest maiden as one of the ingredients, I understood the reasoning behind wanting to stop the madness that had gone on for too long.
