Page 77 of Kingdom of Rot & Ruin
I paused as Shava’s voice rang out through the cave. I didn’t have the breath in me to whisper, let alone answer her. How the fuck had she gotten over here? Was it divine intervention? Never had I been so thankful to hear another person’s voice.
“Are you in there?”
A pathetic wheeze was the only sound I could make. She’d never hear it.
“If he doesn’t answer, that’s a good thing, right?” Shava asked, quietly enough that it was likely to herself. Unless she had that other woman with her.
“Or it means he’s dead or hurt, you idiot,” Shava continued, answering her own question.
I would have snorted if I could have spared the air.
She went silent, and the momentary relief I’d felt at her presence spiked into panic as I worried she’d left.
Scrabbling sounds filled the cave behind me, and the sound of cloth scraping against stone.
“Son of a bitch, this shit is tight.”
I tried to keep my emotions in check, knowing that Ididn’t have any room to spare for my chest to heave in thanks. Silent tears leaked from the corners of my eyes before I could stop them, the only physical outlet of emotion I could allow. Plus, no one could see them in the dark, so what did it matter?
My situation hadn’t changed at all with Shava’s presence, but the amount of relief coursing through my body was tangible. What was it about having just another person with you that made a terrible situation bearable? I wasn’t used to relying on others in this way. I didn’t like it.
“Tight spaces. Just—oh!”
Shava literally banged into me, reaching for the crevice only to discover me already wedged in between it. Her hands drifted over me, one resting on my leg, and the other sliding down my back, focusing on feeling my heartbeat and my small, panting breaths.
“You are alive. That’s good.”
Other than my mother, she was likely only the second person to feel that way about me.
Fuck. Stop crying like one of the kitchen wenches.
My lack of control was just as terrifying as the situation itself.
I couldn’t see her, but I felt how her body contorted around the rocks and me.
“I’d like to pull you out, if that’s ok.” Her hand still rested gently on my face, so she felt it when I vehemently shook my head.
She drew away, her anger palpable in the air. “What, you want me to push you through to the other side? What if thereisno other side?”
An irritated wheeze escaped my lips.
“Just wait a moment. Don’t go anywhere.”
I would have sworn she’d said the last bit sarcastically, but without seeing her expression, it was impossible to say.Her tentative footsteps echoed around me as she moved, carefully picking her way through the cavern, using a path I hadn’t chosen.
Her grunts of labor filled the air as I waited, attempting to keep my breathing regular and even.
“Really picked a good one, didn’t you? Urgh!”
Her shout mingled with the sound of tumbling rocks and debris. I hated how my heart rate increased, sweat dripping down my back as it went silent in the cave in the wake of tumbling rocks.
Was she injured? Dead? Would I languish here, slowly dying while her corpse decomposed feet away from me?
My ears strained to pick up the slightest sound.
Nothing.
“Fuck!”
