Royal Guard Book 1: The Servant

Chapter 10 - Espie - The Tunnels

Arce is such a nice school, they said. Go and make some friends, they said. Break out of your shell, they said.

I wrapped my arms around myself as we looked into the inky void in front of us. It was too dark to really see anything. Ivy had gotten the gems off the door and we were using their faint glow as light, but still it wasn't much. I slid my pearl ring back onto my finger. I'd had that ring on me for years, and it could do that ?!

Rayna took the first step and immediately slipped. Ivy and I barely caught her arms before she fell on her butt. Rayna just laughed brightly, "Oh hey, look at that! There are stairs!"

We got her back on her feet and I stuck my hand out into the darkness. The pale light illuminated cold stone steps leading further and further down into more abyss. I swallowed.

"Oooooo, do we have a dungeon?" Rayna grinned and started down the steps.

"For once, you might actually be right," Ivy mused and followed her down. "Why else would they block it off? Oh shit, I hope there are skeletons down here, covered in rotting flesh and spiders ." She tickled Rayna's side and the girl immediately shrieked.

I was still frozen at the top of the steps. The tapestry was pushing at my back, almost forcing me to go and follow them. I really do want to make friends... but...

Come on Espie . I balled up my fists and went down the steps after them.

And down and down we went. I had one hand placed on the wall next to me, trying to keep my bearing as we went. It smelled musty, but the walls were dry. The glow of our gems didn't fade anymore, but I could only make out Ivy and Rayna a few steps ahead of me. I couldn't even see my feet.

Then my hand brushed across something smooth. I squeaked and pulled back from the wall.

"Keep up, Espie!" Ivy called. She was leading the group now, seeming to be perfectly fine in the pitch black while Rayna and I were stumbling every step.

I tentatively brought my ring closer to the wall. It illuminated a gold panel among the rough stones. A handprint etched into its design, just like the door. I sucked in a breath and placed my left hand on the panel. If this explodes, I want to be able to still draw.

The panel seemed to glow for a second, but it could have just been a reflection of my ring. But then a few other little dots of light appeared. More and more burst into life, spreading from where the panel was up onto the ceiling, then down farther into the tunnel. They were little gemstones, embedded into the rocks, glowing just like my ring. In fact, brighter than my ring. They looked like stars. I could see where we were going now, and the pathway which we came. I could see the bottom step.

Ivy and Rayna were looking at me with wide eyes. I just mutely pointed to the golden panel.

"Nice job Espie!" Rayna punched me roughly in my shoulder. I weakly smiled back at her.

"You think they would have put that at the top of the stairs," Ivy grumbled.

The tunnel finally flattened out into a long corridor. Gemstones dotted the barrel vaulted ceiling, casting soft blips of multicolored light on every surface. Empty torches were hung on the walls every couple feet or so. The floor was completely mosaic. Painfully detailed patterns of vines and geometric flowers. Occasionally an animal or a person. There were frozen scenes of hunters chasing deer. Ladies in waiting attending to a queen. Young boys training with swords. The lights above made the mosaic pieces shine and glimmer like precious stones. It was like we were walking through a gem-encrusted reliquary.

"I don't think this is a dungeon," Rayna whispered in awe. "ECHO!" She shouted down the tunnel. It reverberated off the walls, Echo! echo! echo...