*Eliza*
This was getting ridiculous.
I rolled over in bed, staring up at the darkened ceiling. This was the second ti I’d slept through the day. My sleep schedule was all over the place. I was sure I’d missed out on sothing during the evening I spent glued to the mattress, especially since I woke to the sound of aggravated male voices whispering just outside my door.
I stepped out of bed, the muted green dress I was wearing now creased and wrinkled from sleep. I padded slowly to the door, leaning my ear against it.
“He’d be at one of the brothels in the city. Aeris wouldn’t be a man that... stay here–” Jared’s voice broke through the stillness of my room, his words slightly distorted by the door.
I threw open the door, much to the surprise of my murderous comrades, who snapped their necks to look at .
“What’re you talking about?” I asked, stifling a yawn. “What did I miss? You really shouldn’t let sleep like that. I know for a fact that none of you have qualms about just strolling into my room–” I tapered off, noticing the sharp expressions etched into each of the n’s faces. “What happened?”
I locked eyes with Jared. He looked... terrifying. My chest squeezed as I held his gaze, willing him to explain what the hell the matter was. But sothing behind his eyes told I was better off not knowing. I fought the urge to go back into my room.
Jared broke from my gaze and motioned to Brandt.
“We’re going into town. Archer, stay with her. Keep the door locked.”
“What? ?”
Jared shot Archer a dirty look, then walked away without glancing back in my direction even once.
“What the hell is going on?” I bristled as Archer took gently by the elbow and led back into my room.
He closed the door, locking it in place before crossing the room and picking up the heavy armchair near the fireplace. I gaped at him as he carried it over to the door as if it weighed nothing, then dropped it soundly against the threshold, sitting down with his long legs outstretched.
“Archer....”
“Aeris is going to force our hands, Liz. He wants to keep you here, use you as his breeder. Jared and Brandt are trying to find a way to get you out of here without causing a war between our people and his pack.”
My mouth went dry as I backed away from him and sat on the corner of the bed, my hands folded in my lap. There was no teasing note in Archer’s voice, not a single shred of his usual mirth. He was serious. It sent a shiver down my spine as I slowly t his eyes.
“Were you really taken by force from a trading vessel?” he asked softly.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I whispered.
I really didn’t. A lot had happened to over the past few weeks, but nothing compared to that night. I could barely think about it without my body freezing up in fear.
“That’s alright, we don’t have to.” Archer shifted his weight, noticing how I was picking at my fingernails. A heavy silence settled over the room. Even the hearth, normally crackling with a warming fire, was silent.
“Tomorrow you... you will be taken to Aeris’s vault, like planned. I’ll be guarding you, but I can’t promise Aeris will let into his vault, so you’ll be on your own for a little while.” Archer gripped his knees, fighting a smile. “You’ll need to be up to your usual gas. Pull out all the stops, okay?”
I felt my own mouth twitching into a smile. “I appreciate your confidence in my ability to play the ga, Arch, whatever that ga is.”
“Survival. No one does it better than you. You were ant to be one of us, I think. We’re gonna make sure you’re okay, okay? I promise.”
Don’t promise that, I thought, my heart squeezing around Archer’s words. I was one of them. I was... theirs. And they were mine. They wouldn’t let Aeris have , and in return, I was going to do everything I could to help Jared, even if it ant letting Aeris believe I was in his clutches.
“I fought in Breles,” Archer said softly after several long minutes of silence. He seed to be radiating pent-up energy, and I could tell he was disappointed Jared had made him stay behind with while they were off doing whatever the hell they were doing. “I was on the front lines with the allied armies. I fought under Alpha Troy of Poldesse.”
I bit down on the hosickness threatening to spread across my face at the ntion of my uncle Troy.
“That’s all I saw of your realm... the war camps, a destroyed city....” He tapered off, sighing deeply. “Did you fight?”
“No,” I breathed. “My parents said... my dad and brother fought. I stayed ho with my mom, and my little sister.”
“I didn’t know you had siblings,” he said, a hint of sorrow in his voice.
“My brother is older than . Mated, and has a son, my nephew,” I smiled tearfully. “My sister just turned eighteen. She wants to be–to be a teacher–” Tears began to roll down my cheeks as I told him about Beatrix. I still couldn’t bring myself to tell him their nas. Hosickness hadn’t hit yet, but now I was drowning in it.
***
Archer and I walked in step together through the castle, following close behind Aeris as he rambled about nothing in particular. He was giving a tour, apparently, no doubt trying to sweeten whatever plot to keep here that he had roiling through his sick mind. My pale pink dress trailed behind , long sleeves and high neckline making feel overwhelmingly claustrophobic as we walked, and walked, and walked.
Play the ga, I’d told myself as I let the maid dress and style my hair this morning. Play the ga.
Playing the ga also ant pretending I wasn’t nearly as intelligent as I was, according to Archer. Sure, I could know a thing or two about history and all of that, but the credit should go to my pretend late father who apparently had a soft spot for his dimwitted daughter.
We descended a wide stairwell into the depths of the castle, the air turning frigid the further we went. I tightened my grip on the crook of Archer’s arm as we walked into crippling darkness for a few minutes. The only sound was that of our footsteps echoing off the stone walls.
The warrior walking ahead of Aeris produced a torch, and suddenly the area was bathed in amber light. I stifled a gasp as a huge door made of bronze rose up before us.
Aeris stepped forward with a key, chucking under his breath as he struggled with the lock.
“I haven’t been down here in a very long ti,” he said through gritted teeth as he tried to turn the handle.
I could tell the door was incredibly heavy. I also realized he’d just given away the fact that the scroll was, in fact, a fake. If it was as valuable and old as he said it was, well, it would have been kept in here.
The warrior helped pull the door open and Aeris took a step to the side, allowing Archer and to step through the threshold, but Aeris rested his hand on Archer’s arm, halting his progress.
“Just your... expert,” Aeris said in a sickly sweet voice that sent a shiver of unease licking down my back. “You and I are ant to et up with Jared today, rember?”
Archer nodded but said nothing in return. He gave a quick look that told everything I needed to know. Be on your guard. Go straight back to your room. Lock the door behind you.
“My warrior will stay with her and answer any question she has,” Aeris continued as he turned Archer back toward the stairs.
I glanced up at the warrior, whose eyes were bloodshot and shadowed by dark circles. He slled heavily of alcohol, too... hungover, most likely, maybe even still drunk.
“Thank you for allowing access–” I tried to say, but Aeris was already walking back up the stairs with Archer.
Odd, I thought. I glanced at the warrior again, who swayed a bit as he motioned into the vault. I wondered if he was going to try to lock in here like so prized possession of Aeris, but he followed inside, lighting torches as he went.
The room exploded in shimrs of gold. The walls were lined with shelves piled high with treasures and the floor was a ss of books, scrolls, and bags toppling over with jewels.
It was a ss in here, which caught by surprise. There was no organization at all. Riches beyond belief were just... scattered around. I stepped over a broken vase as I walked further into the long, narrow room.
I heard sothing hit the ground and turned around to investigate, finding the warrior slumped against one of the columns, his chin tucked into chest as he slept.
“Good Goddess,” I breathed, slightly annoyed and entirely suspicious of the situation.
Aeris obviously thought I was bluffing. He thought I’d be more taken by the jewels and gold to pay any mind to the artifacts scattered and broken around the room.
“What a waste,” I breathed, nudging a broken icon of so kind that was laying in the middle of the floor, split in two like soone had just chucked it in here before walking away.
I spent at least an hour scanning the shelves. I wasn’t entirely sure what I was looking for. I hadn’t expected this place to be so chaotic. Finding anything related to the scroll, which I’d tucked into the waistband of my dress, seed impossible.
But then by happenstance, I saw sothing peeking out of a pile of dust-covered books in the far corner of the room.
I crouched, careful not to get dust on my dress as I slowly pulled a map from the pile.
“Holy shit,” I breathed, balancing the incredibly fragile length of fabric over my hands.
It was nearly brown with age. The map was hand-painted and so faded it was hard to make out what was on it, but I knew the symbols that bordered the map. I’d seen those sa symbols on the stones in the circle. I’d seen them on the Cryptex. I’d seen them roped around Jared’s arms.
I sucked in my breath, my hands trembling. “No way–”
A faint ringing filled the room. I turned around, looking down the length of the space, but saw nothing but the warrior still asleep by the open door leading out of the vault. I gently let the map drape over one hand and rubbed my ear with the other as the ringing got louder and louder until it was impossible to ignore.
“What the hell,” I growled, closing my eyes.
A chilled draft settled over , like soone had co up behind and cast in their shadow. I opened my eyes in panic, but found myself alone.
A ticking sound filled my ears through the incessant ringing. I turned toward the sound, which was coming from another pile of dust and discarded treasures. I gingerly walked toward it, my breath catching in my throat as I crouched and used my free hand to blindly reach into the pile, pushing against books and artifacts and tangled jewelry.
My fingertips grazed against sothing solid, its surface colder than the room. A feeling of dread crept up my arm and made go rigid with a crushing familiarity that had at a loss for breath.
I curled my fingers around the third piece of Jared’s Cryptex and pulled it from the pile.
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