The Underground Witch (Incenaga Trilogy) (23 page)

Her search came up empty and t
he stench seemed to thicken as if to mock her failed attempts. Emmeline screamed again. What would have been the point of trying to escape? Where would she have gone? Tiergan had made it clear Erick would be the one to pay for her disappearance. Unless she got to Demyan first. Emmeline moaned. How was she going to kill him from the bottom of a pit?

The guard shuffled
toward the pit, his movements slow and labored. He grunted as his step faltered and then, wheezing and coughing, he made his way to the edge of the pit. His dark silhouette hunched over as he called down to her.

“Are you al
l right down there, girl?”

Emmeline cringed at the sound of his raspy voice.
It was just one more rotting thing in a rotting hole of misery.

“Yes, I’m fine
,” she said.

“The fall didn’t hurt you?”

“Not really.”

“
That’s good.”

The moonlight played against his bac
k, keeping his face in shadows. He stood still for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice had softened. “You’re much too pretty to be underground.”

“No one should be subjected to this.”

“You must have done something awful bad to end up here. What did you do?”

His voice held a note of excitement and Emmeline felt pity for him. How would it be to endure the stench and darkness of
the pit every day? She had a feeling she was about to find out.

“I’ve done
nothing wrong,” she said with her chin held high.

“Nonsense!
No one gets thrown into Cantil’s Pit unless they’ve done something awful. I’ve seen men enter and die in this hole. Some of em’ were murderers of the worst kind. Some of em’ were thieves and spies! Never have I seen a woman though. Like I said, it must have been awful bad.”

“And like I said, I’ve done nothing wrong.”

The guard straightened. “Watch out for the snakes. I hear there is a whole nest of em’ surrounding the walls of Cantil’s Pit. That’s how it gets its name, ya know. From the black Cantil Pit Viper. Extremely dangerous, I hear.”

He turned and
shuffled back to his chair, his wheezing laugh sending chills down Emmeline’s spine. Or perhaps the chills came from the thought of snakes. She shuddered, suddenly aware of every sound behind the smooth walls. Her disappointment from the lack of sizeable cracks turned into relief. The snakes couldn’t reach her. The cracks were far too small for any of them to slip through…unless there were gaps near the floor. She swallowed. The thought of anything slithering around her made her skin crawl.

Emmeline
moved her hands over every section of stone until her fingers turned raw. Much to her unease, she found a few gaps near the floor large enough for a snake to slither through. Most were sealed with packed dirt and grime, but for the others she did her best to fill the open spaces with wet straw. Nothing could be done about the expanse of stone above her head. If there were large cracks up there, she would find out soon enough.

Satisfied she had done all she could, she knelt in the center of
the pit and heaved a sigh as weariness settled over her. She eyed the straw. With the scratchy blanket tossed on top, she figured it was meant to act as a bed, but was she desperate enough to lay her head on it?

Not y
et.

She
gazed at the windows and strained to see the stars. Perhaps Erick was looking at them at that very moment as well. Maybe even thinking of her. She hung her head as she recalled how she’d left him, with nothing more than a cold, heartless letter.

“I’m so sorry Erick,” she whispered out loud.
“I wish you knew how much I love you.”

Releasing the tension in her back, she
let her body fall the rest of the way to the ground. The darkness and stench of the pit pressed down on her. It was all too much. Perhaps Tiergan had been right when he claimed he never failed. He would press and try her resolve until he broke her. He would never give up. Would all her efforts be in vain? Would he gain control over her in the end? And what did it mean that Orinda, another Incenaga, wanted him to win?

She pulled her hair over her face as if to shield herself from
everything around her. Hot tears soaked her hair until it matted against her cheek. She wanted to sleep, to slip away from it all. Black despair crept into her mind as she let it take her into the oblivion of sleep.

“Are you alive in there?

Emmeline
leaned up on her elbow and craned her neck to look at the guard. The sun had risen and a fair amount of light shone into the room through the narrow windows, affording her the chance to get a better look at the guard. He had a pleasant smile, and although he appeared as dirty as his surroundings, he seemed comfortable with the filth. The combination of sweat and dirt clinging to his body gave Emmeline the impression he didn’t bathe often.

“
Oh good,” he said. “I didn’t feel like climbing down there to fetch your body.” His smile faded and he pointed at her. “You’ve got a nasty cut on your cheek there. Must of done something terrible to get that.”

Emmeline suppressed a groan. The guard
’s curiosity could not be satisfied. Until she told him an outrageous story, she doubted he would ever leave her alone. He seemed to hunger for the untold tale, the excitement of something new.

Emmeline
eyed his eager grin. Perhaps she could use his curiosity to her advantage. If he thought he’d see something spectacular, he might bring her a flame.

“
It’s not what I did, it’s what I wouldn’t do,” she said.

The guard leaned forward.

Emmeline took a deep breath. “I’m a powerful witch, capable of demolishing this entire stink hole with a flick of my wrist.”

The guard stood up
and bit his thumbnail. After a minute, he spat on the ground and cocked an eyebrow. “If you’re so powerful, why haven’t you escaped?”

“Give me a flame.”

“Humph. Demyan said no flames.”

Emmeline smiled. “Exactly.”

The guard narrowed his eyes and rubbed his jaw line.

“
Get me a flame and I’ll show you what I’m capable of.”

He dropped his hand and shook his head
. “Nah. I’ve seen what Demyan can do and I’d like to stay alive a few more years. Show me somethin’ else.”

Emmeline saw her chance slipping
away. She shook her fist at him. “If you don’t get me a flame, I’ll return someday to destroy this pit. I won’t bat an eye when the walls come crumbling around you, trapping you in this miserable existence for eternity!” Emmeline almost laughed at her theatrics, but she held herself in check and hoped the guard would take the bait.

“You don’t scare me,”
he said after a minute, but the whites of his eyes suggested otherwise. He backed away from the pit. “I’m going to leave you alone for awhile,” he called from a distance.

Emmeline smiled. At least s
he’d scared him a little. Perhaps if she could scare him more than Demyan scared him, than he’d bring her a flame. She’d just have to wait and find out, she supposed. It wasn’t as if she could hurry things along from so far underneath the ground.

Emmeline slumped to
her knees and surveyed her gown. The grime seemed to cover her skirt as if it had developed a life of its own. Her fingernails were ringed in black, her hair matted to her face, and a thin film of some unknown substance covered her skin. It wouldn’t be long before she looked as filthy as the guard.

She
combed her fingers through her hair and leaned against the wall, letting her thoughts wander to Erick. What would he think of her now?
She imagined him with a hand stretched toward her, the spray of their waterfall wetting his hair. He had a smile on his face and adventure on his mind. He always knew how to fill her days with excitement. She never had a dull moment with him, even when they sat under a shade tree with nothing but their own thoughts filling the silence.

Emmeline
opened her eyes to find that the light in the room had changed. The sun marked mid-day and the heat of the day had turned the pit into an oven. It had been frigid the night before, the moist air adding to the bitter cold, but with the sun bearing down, the humidity left her feeling sticky and irritable.

Emmeline looked around
for something to quench her thirst, knowing full well she’d find nothing. She had searched every surface the night before and knew what the pit held. Or rather, what it lacked.

“Guard!” she called.
She needed water.

Silence.

“Guard!” she yelled again. Her head swirled.

Silence.

Her tongue felt swollen, her mouth dry. Pressing the pads of her fingers to the ache above her right eye, she moved her hand in tight circles.

“Please!
I need something to drink!”

Silence.

“You can’t expect me to survive without water. Tiergan will-”

A
dark skinned man peeked over the edge of the pit, interrupting her protests.

“Oh.
” Emmeline said. “I didn’t hear you coming.”

“I’m very quiet,” he said.
He bent to one knee. “I’m on duty now until midnight.”

“Can you bring me some water,
please?”

He clicked his tongue and moved his
puckered lips to one side and then the other. “I’m afraid not. I have strict instructions to give you nothing.”

“
Nothing? But I’ll die down here!”

“That is usually the
objective for the unfortunate souls thrown into Cantil’s Pit.”

“
I doubt that was the objective for me!” Emmeline shouted. What good would her power be to Tiergan if she was dead?

“I don’
t know what Tiergan had in mind for you. I only know that I’m not supposed to bring you anything to eat or drink.”

“Fine then.
Give me a flame so I may at least warm myself.”

The guard
furled his brows. He glanced at the sunlit windows and wiped the moisture from his forehead. And then his face broke into a smile and he laughed.

“Oh, I see. You jest.
Tayve didn’t tell me you were funny.”

Emmeline folded her arms.
Tayve must have been the other guard. “I’m not,” she said.

The guard laughed louder.

Annoyed, Emmeline folded her arms and turned her chin.
“If you have nothing else to say, then please leave.”

The guard
held a hand to his stomach and rolled back in laughter. “You are the one who called for me. But now that I’m here I have no intention of leaving anytime soon. I’m having more fun than I’ve had in years.” He plopped down on the dirt and dangled his legs over the edge of the pit.

“You are irritating me,” Emm
eline said. She knew it was a rude thing to say but she couldn’t help herself. The heat put in her in a foul mood and she hated being laughed at. And watched.

The guard shrugged.
“I have nothing better to do than to irritate you.”

Emmeline turned her gaze from
him and sat on the ground. With an elbow on her knee and her chin in her hand, she ran a finger along the dirt.

“I see
you have nothing better to do either,” the guard said. “How about we spend our time irritating each other? What say you?”

“Aren’t you afraid you’ll
grow to like me and succumb to my pleas for water?”

“I’ll do nothing of the sort.”

“Then I see no point in conversing with you.”

The guard
smiled. “See! You
are
capable of irritating me. This will be fun.”

Emmeline rolled her eyes.
“Go away. I can’t think when my head is swirling. I need water.”

He
threw his hands in the air. “I’ll give you enough water to keep you talking, but no more. And you mustn’t breathe a word of this to anyone.”

Emmeline suppressed a smile. “Who would I tell
?”

“Good point. I’ll be right back
?” He bounced to his feet and disappeared beyond the pit’s edge. The wooden door squeaked, followed by quiet rustling. And then silence.

Emmeline strained to hear movement. Had he abandoned his post? She
waited a few more minutes, listening for his return.

Silence.

“Guard!”

His head p
opped over the edge of the rim and she jumped back.

“How
did I not hear you coming again? I listened for you the whole time.”

“I told you, I’m quiet.
I got you a little water. Stand back and I’ll lower it to you.”