Page 8 of Always
“You’ll need it more.” At the echo of a faint scream from somewhere in the stairwell, Lance motioned to me. “Let’s go.”
He didn’t have to say anything else. I already knew what that screech meant. There were more Saracens inside the castle. It wouldn’t take long for the enemy to hear the news of the birth of the twins—if they hadn’t already—and then they’d be desperate to find us and prevent our escape.
The question was how many more Saracens were there? And would we be able to fend them all off?
My skin crawled at the thought of facing such quick warriors. Whom was I fooling? I wouldn’t be able to fend off a single Saracen, much less a whole horde of them.
Urgency prodded me forward, and I ducked through the opening in the stone wall.
“Watch your step,” Lance cautioned.
At the sight of another staircase—this one descending straight down—I pressed against the wall. With a torch in one hand, Lance stepped halfway through then stopped. He cast one more glance at his companion, who stood in the doorway.
“God be with you, Baldric.” He fisted his hand to his heart and thumped it twice.
Baldric repeated the motion. “God go with you too, my friend.”
Another screech, this one nearer, drifted on the dank air. The door scraped as Baldric closed it from the other side.
Lance reached for one of the satchels. I released it to his strong grip. Just as I started to heft the second bag up on my arm again, he snagged it.
“I shall carry it.” I tried tugging it back. He didn’t relinquish his grasp. “You lead the way with the torch. And I’ll carry the princesses.”
I wanted to protest, but his glance at the stone door silenced me. Actually, the sadness in his eyes cut off my words, for I realized then what the two knights had already known. Baldric would hold off the Saracens for as long as possible, but he’d eventually die in his efforts to give us a head start out of the castle.
I let Lance take both bags. Then, with the torch in hand, I started my descent into endless darkness.
“Faster,” Lance said from behind me.
Without a railing, I braced myself against the wall, which was damp and slimy. I tried to pick up my pace, wanting to prove Lance hadn’t made a mistake in helping me with the princesses. But I suspected he could travel at double my speed and I was slowing down his escape. Perhaps I should have allowed him to proceed without me. Had I been foolish to insist on accompanying him, and would I cost the princesses their lives?
By the time we reached the bottom of the stairs, I was breathless again. I thrust the light out so we could see down the tunnel ahead. Supported overhead with wooden beams, the passageway easily allowed me to stand straight, but it wasn’t tall enough for a man of Lance’s build. I hesitated at the sight of the writhing tangles dangling from the ceiling. Roots? Water?
“Are we under the moat?” I asked, creeping tentatively forward.
“Aye.”
I swallowed a breath of panic at the thought of being underneath the body of water that surrounded the castle. My mind conjured pictures of the tunnel walls caving in and water pouring over us. I’d much rather be swimming in the moat than drowning underneath it. But now that I was here, I had no choice but to advance.
I ducked under the first roots even as they slithered and twisted as though alive.
“Down!” Lance shouted.
I dropped at the same moment one of his hands pressed against my head, forcing me to the side. A second later, he slashed his sword into the roots. A hissing mass hit the floor by my feet, where the torchlight illuminated the pile. I found myself staring at over a dozen pairs of beady black eyes and bared fangs.
These were no roots. They were severed snake bodies.
With a scream, I released the torch and scrambled back, desperate to get away from the writhing heap. Their snapping and hissing faded. Even so, I trembled with terror at the realization I’d almost walked into the serpents.
Lance retrieved the torch and held it out to me. “We have to keep going.”
“No. I cannot.” Ahead, more clusters of snakes writhed together in clumps, and some slid out of holes in the ceiling as if they’d heard my screams and had come to join in feasting upon my blood.
Before I could protest again, Lance thrust the satchels into my hands, giving me no choice but to cling to the princesses. He started forward, swinging his sword back and forth like a farmer with his scythe at harvest. Snakes fell to the floor and thrashed for a few seconds before lying still. He shoved the bloody bodies aside and motioned for me to follow him.
I swallowed hard, wanting to retreat but realizing I had no other way out of the castle, that if I’d jumped into the moat as I’d planned, I likely would have been attacked and killed by the serpents that apparently made the land surrounding the castle their home.
Lance moved quickly, chopping a path, killing without hesitation. I scurried after him, dodging the carcasses even as they released their dying hisses and stared at me with their ebony eyes. If he could exude such courage, I had to as well.
