Page 68 of Empress of Fae

“This is the way back. I’m taking us to a different access point,” Lancelet said shortly. “It’s not far, don’t worry. We won’t be near the castle.”

Not very near, she meant.

As we reached the next street corner and the river came into view, it was strange to see the Greenbriar. I remembered the last time I had stood on its banks, watching the straw figure of Marzanna being sacrificed to the waters.

I stumbled and nearly tripped on the foot of a beggar woman who lay up against one of the decrepit buildings. Her threadbare shawl was pulled tightly around her as she slept. Murmuring an apology, I crept around. She didn't wake.

Lancelet tugged at my cloak, pulling me around a corner and into another alley.

A makeshift shelter lay tucked away at one end.

She swore. Then, before I could stop her, she stomped down the alley towards it. Pulling back a flap of tattered blanket, she peered in and then stepped back just as quickly.

She came back towards me, her face very pale.

“What is it?”

“Nothing. It's fine,” she snapped, refusing to meet my eyes. “Come. The door is this way.”

I followed at her heels as she moved to the center of the left alley wall, then watched as she frowned and ran her hand over the wall.

“What now?”

“The passageway. It’s been left open slightly. Just a crack, but still that’s odd. It must have been one of the newest recruits. I’ll speak to Merlin. We can’t tolerate such slips. It’s pure laziness.” Still scowling, she slipped a hand into a crack in the wall and pulled. A patch of stone slid to one side and she stepped in. I hastened after her, then watched as she firmly sealed the opening, making sure all cracks had vanished.

When we were alone in the dark and quiet, I dared to ask again, “What was in the shelter?”

She had started to walk ahead of me. Now I watched her shadowy figure pause.

“Fine. You really want to know? Children.”

“Children? What if they saw us?” I exclaimed.

“They didn’t. They’re dead.” She turned to look at me slowly, tugging the scarf down off her face. Her lips were twisted in pain. “Frozen to death. Two little boys.”

I covered my mouth with my hand.

“It happens all over the city. I shouldn’t have been surprised.” She shook her head angrily. “There’s no food. There’s no firewood. People are afraid to leave the city to hunt or chop wood. They see Camelot’s walls as this impenetrable barrier when, really, they won’t keep our enemies out for long if they want to get in. And maybe what’s inside the walls is worse than what’s outside them anyway.”

“I wonder where their parents went. Perhaps they simply went to find food.” My heart was aching. I imagined their mother returning, her arms finally full of food for her children, and being met instead with the sight of their stiff little bodies. “Perhaps you were wrong. Perhaps we should go back and look again...”

“No.” Lancelet’s voice was flat. “I know what I saw. You’d have been certain, too.”

I stopped questioning her. I knew she must be right.

We walked through the darkness in silence for a long time, not bothering to light a lantern.

In the end, I wonder if that was what saved us.

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