The Underground Witch (Incenaga Trilogy) (28 page)

The tunnel gradually
expanded until Emmeline could stand on her feet with her back crouched. They continued this way for several more minutes until it opened onto a rock strewn foothill just outside the city gates. The opening overlooked a wide field that stretched toward two smaller hills. Little houses were tucked into one of the hills with winding paths leading up from the main road.

Emmeline took
a deep breath. The air smelled so fresh, so clean. She stretched her arms above her and sighed. If she hadn’t had a reason to return to the pit, she would have tried for an escape right then. She licked her lips. As soon as she took care of Demyan, she’d run. At least now she knew the best way out of the city gates.

“We need to make it to the hill on the left,”
O’fin whispered.

Emmeline squinted. There were no houses on the left hill. “The left?” she asked.

O’fin nodded. “We’ll have to run. Fast. The guard on the East Tower might see us if he turns around, but I’ve been watching him. He usually keeps his attention on the courtyard this time of night.”

“Why?”

O’fin paused and then shrugged. “More going on over there, I guess.”

Emmeline searched his face. There was something he wasn’t telling her.

“Every once in awhile he’ll glance behind him into the field, so we’ll need to be quick,” O’fin said.

“Are you sure about this?”

“There isn’t another way to her…to where she lives.”

“Well then,” she
jerked her chin toward the field and lifted her eyebrows in expectation.

O’fin grinne
d and disappeared down the hill, leaving Emmeline to chase after him. She glanced behind her shoulders to the East Tower guard, hoping he’d find enough excitement in the courtyard to hold his attention. She wondered for a brief second what he found so interesting, and then she lifted her filthy skit up to her knees and ran.

O’fin proved to be the quicker of the two, d
espite his shorter legs. Emmeline’s skirt tore on nearly every dry bush they passed no matter how high she bunched it into her arms, and it had been too long since she’d done any running. She wondered what she would look like at the end of the field and a bubble of laughter escaped her throat. She had come from Cantil’s Pit; how much worse could she look?

They had
just passed midpoint when O’fin dropped to the ground. “Down!” he shouted in a whisper.

Midstride
, Emmeline tucked her legs underneath her and let her body fall. She pressed herself to the dirt behind a bare shrub and looked back toward the East Tower. The guard had leaned over the stone wall with his neck craned forward. With his eyes narrowed, he stared into the field toward them.

“
Can he see us?” Emmeline whispered.

“I’m not sure.”

Emmeline held her heavy breathing, forcing it to lessen as she stilled her body. Her muscles needed more air after such a hard run, but she wouldn’t take the chance of the guard seeing the exaggerated movement. Her vision dimmed. Several minutes passed before the guard turned around and leaned over the opposite wall.

“That was close,”
O’fin said.

“Let’s wait a few more minutes before we
keep going,” Emmeline said, still out of breath. She relaxed her chest and let herself breathe more freely.

“Sounds good.”

The guard turned around again three minutes later but, appearing only halfway interested in what he might see, he continued turning until he faced the courtyard once again.

Emmeline twisted he
r neck and looked at the sky. Dark clouds moved over the high moon and cast a nighttime shadow over the field.

“Let’s go
,” she whispered.

O’fin nodded and bounded to his feet
, slowing once they crossed the field and rounded the bend of the hill.

“We
are safe now,” he said with his hands on his knees.

Emmeline nodded and leaned over her knees as well. Once they caught their breath, O’fin led her away from the field.

“What do you think was happening in the courtyard to hold the guard’s attention?” Emmeline asked as they walked down a path winding behind the hill. “What could be so captivating at this hour? It must be close to two or three in the morning.”

O’fin
frowned. “I’m not sure you want to know.”

“Tell me.”

After a long silence, O’fin spoke with a subdued voice. “The new slaves are paraded through the courtyard every night at two. They are tested to see what they can do and where they will best serve Griet. Tiergan doesn’t do this during the day because he doesn’t want to offend the ladies of the court. The testing can be brutal.”

“Do the people know what is happening?”

“They do, but most don’t care. Tiergan brings slaves from the countries he has conquered and gives them to his people. They know the slaves are beaten, but they look the other way. They’d rather receive a broken slave than none at all. And they prefer slaves who won’t give them any trouble.”

“Does everyone in Griet feel this way?”

“Not everyone,” he said. “But most do.”

The clouds shifted overhead and exposed the moon.
Its blue light cast an eerie glow over the hill and path and Emmeline got a good look at O’fin for the first time since they’d arrived in Griet. His legs were like sticks and his cheeks hollowed in against the bone. Rather than growing taller or filling out like any other boy his age would, O’fin appeared thinner and frailer. His hair even seemed to have less life. She frowned. The sailors should have been watching out for him. He was still too young to be left on his own.

“
Where are the other sailors?” Emmeline asked.

O’fin
turned his face away. “The sailors are...”

“
Are what?”

“
Slaves,” he said with a sniffle.

“Oh,
O’fin.” Emmeline stopped walking and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Her touch seemed to break down a wall and he turned toward her, burying his face into her chest as he let loose a wave of sobs. She stroked his hair and patted his back, wishing she’d tried harder to find him. She should have pushed Tiergan harder to release him. She could have come up with some sort of agreement. She shouldn’t have given up!

O’fin
pulled back and stood straight, his arm coming across his wet nose. “When we were forced to join Tiergan on the ship, he promised us we could join him in his country if we served him well. But he never meant we would join him as citizens. After we arrived in Griet, Demyan had us chained. I was able to slip through the shackles because I’m so skinny.” He held his arm up to Emmeline’s face and grinned.

Emmeline forced a smile. Sure, he had been skinny
enough when they had arrived, but he had wasted away into even less since then.

“I
hid until dark and then went into the city to find you. I heard sounds coming from the courtyard so I climbed one of the walls and hid where I could watch without being seen. That’s when I saw them. The sailors were tied up and whipped over and over. I got so scared that I ran off. I’m sorry I didn’t try harder to find you.” He hung his head.

Emmeline grimaced. She should have been
the one apologizing. “No, you have nothing to be sorry about. I’m the one who should have found you.”

O’fin took hold of her hand and squeezed twice. “I heard rumors that Tiergan beat you.”

Emmeline said nothing. He didn’t need to know what she had endured. “Where did you go? Where have you been all this time?”

“In the hills
. Don’t be mad at me, but I had to steal food.”

“I’m not mad.” Emmeline said. She squeezed his hand back
. She couldn’t believe all he had been through.

“People
figured it out pretty quick and started hiding their food, so it got harder and harder to find anything to eat. Some days I went without eating at all. I found a stream that runs between these two hills and that’s where I slept most of the time. It wasn’t until about four or five days ago that Flora found me. She took me in and I told her all about how Tiergan brought you here from across the sea.”

“
Is Flora the name of the woman you are taking me to?

O’fin nodded and smiled wide.

“I’m glad she found you,” Emmeline said poking his ribs with a playful jab. “You are nothing but skin and bones.”

O’fin beamed up at her a
nd then his expression seemed to age all at once. His smile turned down and his brows creased together. “Then we heard that a girl had been thrown in Cantil’s Pit and Flora was sure it was you. She told me I had to come help you right away. She showed me the cave that led to Cantil’s Pit. I don’t know how she knew about it, but I didn’t ask. I just came for you. I felt so guilty about leaving you that I wasn’t even scared of the snakes.”

“Is that the trick?” Emmeline said with a smile.

O’fin laughed and pointed ahead. “She lives at the bottom of that knoll.”

Emmeline looked ahead but saw nothing but stone and dirt. And then a light flickered on and she
could make out the outline of a small door built into the hill.

O’fin
quickened his pace. “We are almost there.”

“I only see a door. Where is the rest of the house?”

“Underground.”

Emmeline raised an eyebrow.

“Clever, huh?” He grinned from ear to ear. “She’s been hiding for the last fifteen or twenty years.”

“In the ground?”

O’fin shrugged. “No one looks under their feet, I guess. It has worked so far.” He skipped ahead.

As they neared
the door, the smell of jasmine and honeysuckle wafted through the air. A warm glow illuminated behind the door and soon more lights exposed small holes scattered across the knoll.

Emmeline followed O’fin, curious about the house in the ground and the old woman who lived in it. She
closed her eyes as the smell of fresh baked bread and rosemary floated up to her. It felt like an eternity since she had smelt such wonderful aromas. The door opened and a woman with long white hair stepped through. She stood with a commanding presence, yet with gentility and warmth.

Emmeline
slowed her steps. Being near a woman who held herself with such grace made her wish she could do something about her own pitiful condition. The smell radiating from her clothing could choke anyone.

“Emmeline,”
the woman said with a voice that sounded almost like music.

Emmeline raised her chin
to look into her eyes and her breath caught in her throat.

Flora’s
eyes shone silver. She was an Incenaga.

“Come in, dear,” Flora said. “It’s getting cold. I’ve drawn you a bath and have made you something to eat. We’ll talk after you are refreshed.”

Emmeline duck
ed through the door and descended several steps into a humble living area. With stone walls and a round ceiling, it looked more like a cave than a home, but Flora had warmed up her space with soft rugs and rich wall hangings. O’fin curled up on a stuffed chair near the fire and closed his eyes. His whole body relaxed immediately, his face turning peaceful as he slipped into sleep.

Flora gestured toward the fire. “I’m assuming you know how to heal yourself.”

Emmeline nodded, but was still unsure of herself around another Incenaga. The last experience hadn’t been very encouraging, especially when Orinda threw her across the room and told her to get a master. Was it possible for an Incenaga to control another? She couldn’t know. Until she could be sure, she wouldn’t let her guard down. She’d have to let her body heal itself naturally.

Flora’s face fell. “You have seen much pain, haven’t you
, child?”

Emmeline nodded again.

“I won’t harm you.”

Emmeline said nothing.

“If you’d prefer to take a bath first, it is right this way.” She pointed toward a hallway.

Emmeline nodded
, eager to remove the filth.

Flora directed
her around the corner and into a small room where a deep metal tub steamed with hot water. The room also appeared cave-like with walls cut from yellow stone and a round ceiling. Scents of lavender and vanilla smoked from smelling sticks and a small candle glowed in the corner.

“Would you like me
to extinguish the flame?” Flora asked.

“No, thank you.”

The corner of Flora’s mouth lifted and then she turned and left. Emmeline peeled her dress off and submerged into the cleansing water, letting it soothe her wounds. She closed her eyes and relaxed into the warmth, but her mind darted from place to place. She thought she was the last Incenaga, and now there were three? Were there more?

And n
ow that she knew a way out of Cantil’s Pit, could she find Demyan sooner? She might even be able to catch him off guard if he believed her to still be in the pit. She could use any advantage she could get, especially one that would give him little time to react and even less time to call for Orinda.