Page 23 of Cheshire's Smile
For Hatter. For Carban and Coby. And, for me.
Chapter 10
It was a long walk down the stairs. Each thump of my heels on the steps felt like a heart beating in my ears. The torches flared to life around us, and the stink of magic filled my nose. My pulse raced as my heart jolted against my ribcage. My fingers curled and uncurled, sweat making them slick.
Cheshire gave the hand he held a comforting squeeze.
That’s right. I wasn’t alone.
I could do this. For Hatter, Carban, and Coby. For me. This was just a normal dungeon. A normal dark and decrepit dungeon with the faint smell of unwashed bodies.
It took longer than I liked to get down the stairs, but that was probably because I was going at a snail’s pace. When we reached the bottom, the rows of prisoner cells stood before us.
I’d never had the honor of staying in one of them. Though, looking at the dirty and baren cells, I couldn’t say that I was too upset about it.
“This is the Hall of Mirrors?” Tick clicked his tongue, his arms crossed as he looked his nose down on the cells. “Not that impressive when you look at them.”
Trekking down the aisle, I shook my head. “No, these are just the regular cells.”
A low moan came from further down the aisle. My brows furrowed as I hurried over to the cell. A lone figure laid curled up in the corner, shivers racked through their body. I released Cheshire’s hand and gripped the bars.
“Hello? Are you alright?”
Another moan was my response.
“Did the queen really leave her prisoners down here while everyone evacuated?” Cheshire mused, horror filling his voice.
I couldn’t say I was surprised. Tatiana only cared about her perfect little minions. Who cared about a few criminals succumbing to the sickness?
“There’s another one over here!” Tick called out from the other side of the prison. “And they look really sick.”
“They must have caught the sickness while down here,” I murmured to myself, wondering how a queen could be so heartless. I was more than certain whatever crimes they committed weren’t worth dying this way.
Footsteps thudded over to me. I turned to Tick. An ashen and distraught expression pulled at the lines of his face. “I counted a total of seven fae including this one still down here. Should we let them out?”
I peered up at Cheshire. “In any other case, I would just let them go. Send them to the Human Realm.”
“Even if you don’t know their crimes?” Cheshire cocked his head to the side. “How noble of you.”
I brushed his comment off with my hand. “Hardly. You and I both know that the queen’s definition of justice is like that of a toddler throwing a tantrum because they received the wrong-colored cup.”
“You’re not wrong.” Cheshire leaned against the bars of the cell. “Then why not let them go?”
Waiting to answer Cheshire, I turned to Tick. “Are all the other prisoners sick like this one?”
Tick scratched the back of his head, thinking. “I mean, not all of them are as bad as this one, but they didn’t look good. And not in the way we fae look when we haven’t fed. More like... I don’t know. Like they’ve caught a human cold?”
A heavy feeling set over me. As much as I wanted to help these prisoners, I couldn’t send those with the sickness over to the Human Realm, even if they could make it there on their own.
No. They’d still be sick and then it would just cause an uproar among the fae who were already over there.
I turned back to the fae in the cell. “We leave them here, for now.”
“But won’t they die?” Tick protested, his mouth gaping open.
“Not necessarily. If you already have the sickness, there is no cure. Not until we find a High King to connect to the Underground or that Tree of Life sapling grows to maturity.” I gestured toward the prisoner. “If they aren’t too far gone, then the effects of the sickness will reverse. Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do for them right now.”
“But leaving them here—”
