Chapter 39

" B as?" The name comes out as both a question and an answer. It's a flurry of confusion and relief that I can feel in every inch of my body. If I thought that my heart would explode from my chest earlier, then now it might propel me up to the stars.

"My king," says Guylita. She's a little too far away from the invisibles to be seen clearly, but I can still make out the outline of her body through the iron slats as she bends into a kneeling position. When her words sink in, a new question forms in my mind. If thoughts were arrows, then this one would have shot me right through my chest.

"Your king?" I don't understand.

Bas and the invisibles work together to muscle open the iron door to Amin's cell. They drop it as soon as it's wide enough, allowing Bas and Amin to embrace.

"It's good to see you, brother," Bas says to Amin, ignoring my question.

"Are you brothers?" I ask, though I start to wonder if maybe I am invisible, given the fact that nobody is responding to me.

He looks at me after acknowledging Guylita's kneeling. His eyes widen and dart between Amin and me. In a rush of surprise, he asks, "You're here?"

"What do you mean ‘you're here?' – what are you doing here?" The wheels are turning behind his eyes, and I can only assume that my face displays an equal level of shock.

"I told you I was coming," he says in a rush. "Now, why are you here?"

When did he tell me that he was coming? "I walked away from the arrangement – from the marriage, from the palace, from everything. It didn't go over well with King Vani…"

"Yeah, that prick threw her in here," Amin irreverently interjects.

"I don't have time to ask for the full story. But I hope that you'll tell me later," he says, and I feel an intangible tether pulling between us like it's mending broken threads. "We must hurry. Vito, work on Radya's cell."

One of the blue-eyed invisibles approaches the door to my cell with a tiny metal object between his fingers. He bends down and begins fiddling with the lock.

"I'm not going anywhere until you explain what's going on! I've been tricked enough times in my life. I refuse to follow any directions until somebody explains what the hell is happening."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Would you prefer to rot here in the pits of darkness?" Amin quips.

"Now's not the time for answers, Radya, but I promise on my life that I will tell you everything. Very soon. But if that's going to happen, we need to get moving. Now. It's only a matter of seconds before they realize that we're here and the army at the border was just a distraction." He sounds more determined than panicked, and I can't help but admire that about him.

"Just tell me who you are. Who you really are, Bas. No tricks, no lies. Tell me that, and I will go with you." In my bones, I know the answer. Even if I don't understand it, I know who he is. I can feel in every part of my being that he is the piece that has always been missing. The answer to the question that I never knew how to ask. The reason that I never felt at home in Carcera or here. But I need to hear him say it.

He squares his shoulders toward me and looks deep into my eyes, smoldering and mesmerizing. "I am King Caelis Sebastian Fidelia, the one chosen by Manka, the immortal ruler of Umbra."

Tears form behind my eyes. I don't know how any of this is possible. I have so many questions that it feels impossible to sort through them all. And despite that, I am relieved. It's like breathing fresh air for the first time. My heart feels lighter like it's been released from a cage.

Liliana once mentioned that the Umbrians were liars. She told me that, if captured, the Mad King would do anything to manipulate me toward his cause. Was she right? Would I be a fool to trust him?

My heart sings in answer.

I trust him with my life.

I can only savor that moment for a second as the sound of footsteps rushing down the stairs reverberates through the dungeon. If the guards are on their way down those stairs right now, then they'll seize Bas. And then all of us will rot down here in the darkness for eternity.

The knot growing in my stomach twists tighter at the thought. If I follow Bas, then I might have a shot of escaping. I can start a new life. All I have to do is follow Bas and then… well, I'll figure the rest out later.

"Okay, what do we do?" I look to Bas for direction through the iron bars of my cell.

"First, Vito springs you out of your cell." The lock pops open. Adrenaline pulses through my veins as I hear the footsteps growing closer and closer.

"Can we use magic to transport us out of here?" I ask.

"Bastards warded the whole prison. Trust me, I've tried everything." Amin waits impatiently for orders. "We'll have to make our escape the old-fashioned way."

"He's right." Bas is now standing less than a foot away from me, unsheathing the sword from the strap across his back. "Vito tried to snap into the cell during the ball, but their wards are airtight."

"Snap?" I ask, unfamiliar with the term.

"Snapping. Moving from place to place with magic," he explains quickly but without condescension. My mind reels at the word that gives name to the horrible feeling of being tossed and turned through a void.

"They placed a tracking spell on any foreign-born magic. Even once we're above ground, using magic would put us at risk of alerting the praecians to our location."

I have to force my thoughts into words, pushing past every chaotic tremor. "Then, how did you get here? Undetected, and without magic, no-less?"

"We sailed here and hid in the forest, waiting for an opening. Then the ball allowed us to enter the grounds undetected, but we've been without magic ever since. A single mistaken flair of power could lead the praecians right to us. And when I first saw you… I nearly compromised the whole mission." His eyes flicker with tortured restraint like the flames burning in his core could melt him right here and now.

My entire body blushes as I remember that night. Anguish pulsed around him when Eleanor announced the engagement, yet he approached me soon after with such delicacy, grace, and empathy. Little did I know the magnitude of that moment to him.

He allows me a moment to understand, to wrap my head around all of these impossible things, before moving on. Then, with tender respect, he says, "Now, Radya, do you know how to use a sword?"

"No…" Damn Olly. We never came close to using actual swords during our training.

"We can work on that later." Bas nods first to me and then to Amin. "For now, Amin, take this sword. Guard Radya and make sure that nobody comes within ten feet of her. Kill them all if you must. Now, let's go!" His command is guttural and fierce. I understand why the people chose him. And why they feared him.

"Wait! We have to free Guylita!" I scream as I grab Bas' shoulder to hold him back.

"Who?" He asks, and I point toward the cell on the opposite side of Amin's. He pauses for a moment to consider before saying, "Vito, can you do it in under ten seconds?"

Vito nods and rushes over to Guylita's cell. He's twisting and picking with precision until the lock clicks open with four seconds to spare. Guylita cries her thanks repeatedly as she comes over to join us.

"Alright, now that we're all here, there are over ten thousand steps between us and freedom. We stick together. We hold nothing back." The sound of the footsteps grows louder, making it clear that there's a small army descending the steps. "No matter how tired you get, do not stop."

Amin takes a step closer to me - his knuckles growing white over the hilt of his sword.

The three blue-eyed invisibles turn to the stairs first with Vito in the lead. Their glowing skin illuminates the path before us. Each one has a dagger in their hand.

Bas looks at me like he's rapidly studying the details of my face before turning to follow the invisibles.

"Guylita and Radya, follow Bas and I'll protect you from behind," Amin growls. For the first time since I've met him, he seems deadly serious.

For the first several steps, we move in sync, keeping a quick pace and remaining together. The sound of our breathing acts like a drum to guide our steps. The narrow staircase twists around and around, surrounded by cold, damp stones. Bulky wooden doors are spaced out about every twenty steps. They seem to lead to more cells, judging by the sound of groaning and shouting prisoners as we pass.

"Preston?" Amin yells into the slats of every door that we pass without waiting for a response. One after the other, he tests each cell, but the hope fades from his voice a little more each time his calls go unanswered.

The pace gets harder and harder to keep as the burning of fiery lungs and achy muscles intensifies. We slow down but keep moving, even though I could pass out. The training seems to be helping, though. I never would have been able to accomplish this without it.

The light of a torch comes into view, and I fear that the worst is yet to come.

A guard appears with a torch in one hand and a sword in the other. Bas lets out a feral growl and races past the invisibles up to the guard with his sword held high. The guard slashes his sword in a downward sweep, but Bas swiftly evades the strike, and the sword lodges into a crack in the wall. Before he can pull it back, Bas counter-slices across the guard's throat, sending him crumbling to the ground. I have to dodge his falling body to keep from tumbling down with him.

The torch extinguishes when it hits the ground, leaving only the light of the invisibles.

A second knight appears and then a third and a fourth and… oh, no. We are outnumbered. They're readying to strike, coming right for us.

Despite whatever stories Guylita told, I am sure that death is ready to claim me now.

I press my body flat against the wall next to Guylita and pray to the gods for rescue. We huddle together, holding on tightly to each other. There are too many for us to take on, especially with Guylita and I huddled and useless. We are deadweight in this battle.

The invisibles' daggers rip into flesh while they escape the blows aimed at them. The deafening roar of clanking swords and screams swells into an inescapable terror. For a second, I get a clear glimpse of Bas as a sword meets his shoulder, but the wound doesn't slow him down.

"Radya, can you use your powers?" Guylita asks with pleading in her eyes.

"No, you heard them. Nobody can access their powers here!" I remember the magic that surrounded Carcera. It was strong enough to keep me from accessing my powers at all. Though, now that I think about it, I never actually tried. I was told that I couldn't use magic, and I placed myself into the ‘non-magic' box along with the rest of Carcera.

"Help me test a theory. Try to tap into your powers and immobilize the knights," she directs with urgency lacing her words.

"I don't know…"

"You have nothing to lose!" She grabs onto my wrists with impressive strength for such a frail woman.

"Okay, I'll try it!" I emphasize the word "try" while still harboring doubt.

Clearing out my mind space might be impossible amidst the chaos, but I will try. For Guylita and Amin and Bas, I will try. Another guard tumbles past us, rolling like a barrel down a hill.

I take a deep breath, squeeze my eyes shut, and picture myself crawling into the mind space. Everything goes quiet, until only the sound of my breath and my heartbeat remain. It is still, despite the battle surrounding me.

Part of me wishes that I could stay here, hiding away from the madness. And what if I did? What if I abandoned them here?

Would I be able to live with the consequences?

Amin, Guylita, and the invisibles would be killed instantly. Bas, unable to be killed, would be imprisoned and sentenced to eternity in one of these dark, desolate cells. And I… well, it doesn't matter what happens to me. I would lose my mind to the gods before I allowed anyone else to suffer because of me.

I fight back the thought until I'm ready to begin.

I need to harness the darkest depths of my power. It's buried beneath two decades of pain. I summon it by name, calling upon every scar and wound in my heart.

The endless and unwavering grief of losing my father and then my mother. The loneliness that filled every crevice of my cottage. The solitude of being alone in this world, of never fully feeling like I belong. The rage that seethed when I learned of Olly's manipulation…

My mind space turns a violent shade of red as the glowing orb of power swells in the center. I grab onto the light and attempt to force it out of my fingertips, making the knights ahead of us the first targets of my power's wrath.

I feel the deep, rousing flood of power pushing out, out, out…

And then I hear it – the sound of bodies smacking against the stone steps like roaring thunder.

I keep pushing, mentally navigating the staircase, and forcing the power to immobilize any enemy standing in our way. I feel it coursing up the stairs like a flood. The noise continues to grow as bodies topple over, one after the other.

Once my power clears the way, it returns to me, leaving only silence in its wake. My fingers tingle as the heat of power pulsates around me, swaddling me in its warmth until it shrinks back inside. I crawl out of my mind space and then, only then, do I open my eyes.

Everyone is as still as the dead.

Bas and Amin are both staring at me with their mouths hanging open, panting heavily and covered with blood. Even the invisibles wear a look of shock and awe. Guylita is smirking back at me with an all-knowing twinkle in her eyes.

"What just happened?" There's no way I did this. I couldn't have wiped out those guards. I couldn't have… could I?

"I was going to ask you the same thing, love," says Amin with a stupefied grin.

"You're incredible," Bas says with a twinkle in his eyes. "Let's talk about this later, shall we?"

"Or never?" I refuse to believe that I did this. There's just… no way. There were enchantments that not even the invisibles could break.

"Don't be shy, Radya. You're a badass!" Amin shakes my shoulder excitedly.

"Let's go before they wake up!" Bas yells.

We continue up the stairs, climbing over an entire army of incapacitated men. I try to count but lose track at fifty-six once my breathing grows heavy and my thighs begin to burn.

When I stop to catch my breath, I stoop over to see if one of the fallen guards is breathing. And, sure enough, he is, which means that he could wake at any moment. The fear of having to attempt that magic again quiets the burning in my lungs long enough for me to keep moving.

Sir Magis wasn't kidding about how far down these stairs go. It seems endless. And with every step we take without finding the end, I lose another shred of hope.

The fatigue burrows deep until my limbs turn limp, and I collapse onto the steps. No, I can't give up. Not yet, not here. The guards lying unconscious on the steps could wake at any moment and send me right back into that cell. I don't think I'd survive on my own down there. The demons of my mind would eat me alive.

With little strength left in my arms, I pull myself up the steps. Slowly, too slowly.

Guylita drops down beside me, sweat glazing her silver hair and soaking through her tattered dress, and says, "Do you want to know how I know that we'll survive?"

"How?" One more step. I can make it one more step.

"Because the prophecies declared it long ago. You will be the one to unify the continent under a reign of peace." She huffs, crawling along beside me with all of the strength left in her frail body. "Your story doesn't end here."

"She's right." Bas turns to find me lying there, weak and useless, and scoops me into his arms as easily as lifting a book from the shelf. "You have a destiny to live up to."

The nations will bow to you. Gods, it was true. Paul and the lady in the market were speaking of prophecies. Could I be capable of uniting the continent?

Yes , my heart sings. Deep in my bones, I know it to be true. Somehow, it's written in the very fabric of my being. I am capable .

"You can't carry me the whole way," I tell him, having made up my mind. I will conquer these steps on my own.

"I would crawl into hell and fight the demons of the pit ten times over to make sure you're safe. No pain could compare to that of losing you again." He hugs me tighter into his chest, and his words – raw with yearning – clang through me. "If I must carry you all the way to Umbra, then so be it."

My body folds naturally into his, as if we were carved from the same slab. Where his body begins and mine ends becomes a blur, entangled together by an invisible thread. It makes no sense. But now is not the time to understand how it's possible for me to feel such things with a stranger – a "Mad King," no less.

"Take Guylita. I'll walk." I stare into his eyes, mentally pleading with him to understand as he grips me tighter. Guylita has to make it out of here. If it weren't for me, she wouldn't be here at all. The least I can do is make sure that she survives it. "Please."

He lets me down gently and moves to collect Guylita from the steps without saying another word to me. And somehow, I find the strength to keep moving.

* * *

The door at the top of the steps might as well be painted with a halo of golden light for how majestic it seems at this moment. I let out a cry of celebration that's nearly eclipsed by my gasps for air.

Vito immediately begins working on the lock to the iron door.

Bas sets Guylita down and turns to address the rest of us. "Remember, we're not done yet. When this door opens, we must run straight to the alcove by the sea. We have a skiff hidden, which we can take to the ship. Do not use magic, or else they might stop us before we get there." He nods to each of us, affirming that we understand the plan. And despite how badly I need to rest, I nod my agreement. Then he adds, "Run like your lives depend on it."

"They do, brother," Amin adds.