Empire of Ashes

Chapter XLVII - A Life Worth Taking

Blizzard week in the UK. No school, two feet of snow and drifts taller than I am. What a time to be alive. It's been five years since we even had a dusting, so it's a little bit overdue. Hope the Europeans among you are enjoying the weather and the rest of you are good and jealous :P

My chains shattered.

It was just one link, but it was enough. I was free of the wall, and my legs were free to run. I wouldn't need to run, though, if everything went to plan. While Ronan sat back and heaved a deep breath, I wrapped the two halves of the chains around my ankles and pulled my breeches over them. The sort of slave I meant to pass for was the only sort who went without any chains. The sort whose legs needed to be open.

"Lyra," Tem said as I climbed onto my knees. There was a soft urgency to his voice which drew my attention like a moth to a flame. "Lyra, wait."

I ignored him. Ronan murmured, "Good luck," and Kiare winked as I passed her. My eyes swept over Tem without pause as I approached him, and I edged over to the far side of the tunnel

Quick as a snake, he caught my wrist and tugged me into his chest. I was pinned into place with one arm around my waist and the other trapping my fingers between his. There was no point wriggling: I would only embarrass myself. I could see Ronan tensing behind us, and I shook my head ever so slightly.

"You do need to hear this, little one, even if you decide not to listen," he murmured.

I regarded him impassively.

"If you are set on going—"

"She's my sister," I reminded him in a tone sharper than any knife. "I'm going."

"I understand that. How could I not?" He sighed, and the sound was chock full of bone-deep weariness, the kind he was usually so good at keeping hidden. "They will realise you are missing tomorrow, so I will use that distraction to kill the guards who come looking. Signal to Anlai. Smoke, flames, noise — anything. He will know what it means."

I dipped my head once, and the grip on my waist loosened. Another heartbeat and it had vanished altogether, my fingers were free, and I could squirm away from that firm, warm body. Down the tunnel on hands and knees I went, leaving behind the last remnants of safety I had.

Getting to the top of the ladder was difficult, but certainly not impossible. With my shoulder still aching, I had to take it slowly. I had been working since dawn, so I was exhausted as well as battered, but the hardest work had yet to come. Every muscle was worn to breaking point, with a single exception — the massive, complex muscle inside my head, which would be earning its keep over the course of the next hour.

Because when I reached the grate — a huge iron contraption weighed down on both sides — I knew I wouldn't be getting out of the shaft without help from the outside. This was not unexpected, but it was a setback.

I could see the soldiers who had the watch, and they were sat around a meagre fire, their faces painted with boredom and misery. One of them had risked going into the mines themselves, so I could assume that their prey walking into their laps would be considered a streak of luck, not cause for suspicion.

Softly, I tapped on the grate until the nearest noticed me and frowned.

"I'll warm your bed," I offered, trying to sound like I had done this a dozen times before. "Hot food and a look at the stars is all I want."

"Who's your usual?" he asked dully.

Oh. It appeared I had stumbled on a local custom.

"No usual," I told him. "I'm new to this hill."