REECA and RHYS TORLIN, misfit siblings of the Narfalk royal family, have to escape when Reeca is accused of murdering the Queen. On the run, the siblings dodge soldiers from city to city until one misstep leads them into another trap. Now, they have...
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2403 Qintax 8, Daleth
The fire crackling in the hole dug into the sandy soil made the shadows of their friends dance against the cavern's drab, rocky walls. Rhys tried to ease the tension in his shoulders that had plagued him since forever. He failed. Instead, he blew a breath and leaned against the wall on his side.
Around him, the friends they made along the way from working in the godsforsaken mines sat in a hazy circle, all trying to chase away the cold creeping along their resting place. Korr had made it in secret after they were forced to excavate for a new shaft a few months ago. Now, they retreat here whenever they want to take a break from all the madness that were the mines.
Wynra and Nornel, the twin half-bloods who specialized in locating ore hotspots, have made it inside first. They were already here when Rhys strode in with Reeca in tow. Something about how the twins were able to score loads and loads of ores in every cavern they visited made Rhys curious. When Rhys asked them about how they were able to do that, Wynra answered, "Ya just havta feel it."
Which wasn't much to go on, if Rhys could be honest.
Now, Wynra sat on a makeshift stool made from a chipped chunk of rock from the walls, skinning a blob of fresda he stole from the passing merchant aboveground. When and how he did it was also something Rhys couldn't figure out. His twin, Nornel, fiddled with their similar curly dark hair, trying to dislodge debris from his scalp. Their dark eyes could have been brighter but after being stuck in the mines for most of their life, a lifeless cloud shrouded their pupils every time Rhys met them.
To the twins' left and to Rhys's right sat Korr, the man in charge of quarries. There wasn't any rock he couldn't break with his trusty pickaxe. The other miners called him Stone Master and after seeing him work in excavating this new cavern, Rhys could agree. The man looked like he didn't know rock was actually hard.
Today, however, the old human had plopped down on the ground with a loud grumble, crossing his legs before immediately starting a fire. Like Virion, the man the miners looked up to and considered their leader, Korr was one of the people who were working in the mines the longest. He was also the one who taught Rhys how to use an ax in hacking rock without breaking his wrist.
The certain memory elicited a small smile in Rhys's lips. From his right, Reeca flashed him a concerned look. His smile died just as quickly. When they first came here, the man Reeca had called "Hairy Man" throughout the journey pushed them inside the biggest excavated cavern, passed them pieces of parchment in which to write their names, and grumbled at them to hurry up.
After that brief moment, they were given scratchy tunics and trousers which smelled like someone died in them. Rhys remembered glancing at the endless dark brown ceiling above them, noting the slight rumble every now and then. Someone dying in their own clothes didn't sound like a far-fetched occurrence.
Then, days bled together until weeks, months, and years passed. Rhys's days were filled with looking at rocks, hauling the ones they mauled off the walls back to the main cavern—the one closer to the surface—, and protecting and watching over Reeca. He remembered negotiating with Hairy Man way back when for Reeca to be given a lighter load but all the man said, "I paid a whole lotta versal for that girl. She better work like she's got no future."
