In the Ruins (Crown of Stars 6)

“Look,” said Blessing, pointing to the cliff face opposite them. “There’s a ledge there, and a passageway.”

“No way to reach it, Your Highness,” said Anna, barely able to speak. She couldn’t catch her breath. “We’ll have to go back and find another route.”

“Is, too!” Blessing ran to the edge where the walls of the passageway met the sheer curve of that huge shaft. She reached, she gripped, and between one breath and the next had clambered out along the wall toward the far side.

Fear strangled Anna’s voice. She was helpless, terrified, still woozy. She still could not believe that she was awake and in this terrible predicament. Ai, God. If only she could wake up and find herself back in Gent! The earth shook, and although Anna shrieked out loud, Blessing did not fall; she had too good a grip; she was fearless, that girl. Impossible. Already halfway across, clinging like a lizard to the rock face.

“Anna? Anna! Ai, God!” Heribert came up behind her, not far ahead of the rest.

“I’ll have to follow her.” Without waiting for his reply, because if she waited she would lose her courage, she ran to the edge and brushed a hand over the rock wall, finding handholds and narrow brims easily. Someone had carved these here. They couldn’t be natural, placed so cunningly and conveniently. She crept along the wall, knowing better than to look down. As long as she didn’t look down, she could believe that the ground lay one step below. It was easier that way to move across the rock face. It was easier that way not to panic.

“Princess Blessing, come back!” cried Heribert.

“Won’t!” Blessing leaped to the far ledge just as another tremor shook them. A rock fell from above, and Anna shut her eyes and held on, listening, but she never heard it strike bottom. She was by now breathing so hard that she was dizzy, and when she opened her eyes she saw that Blessing had disappeared into the far passageway.

“Go on, Anna!” shouted Heribert. “You’ve got to get her back! We can’t carry the rest across this!”

She heard the others arrive, heard their shocked exclamations and the buzz of discussion, but she could not concentrate on them to pick out words. She had to pick a path across the face, one handhold and toehold at a time, and at last she swung onto the far ledge which by now resembled a grand broad field, it looked so inviting and safe although it wasn’t more than an arm’s span in width. She landed there, panting, sweating, mouth dry, just as a horrible grinding roar shuddered up from the depths. In the passageway behind Heribert and the others, dust roiled, punched outward by a tremendous rockfall back the way they had come.

“Go, Anna! Go!” shouted Heribert before the dust engulfed him.

Despite the brilliant web of sorcery, she could not see Thiemo and Matto through the haze. She saw the blur of movement, glimpsed a Quman bow case and a Kerayit headdress, heard voices yell and shriek, but nothing more. Nothing more.

Far away, down that dark passageway lying behind her, Blessing called out impatiently. “Come! Come! Hurry!”

She ducked down, banging her head once on stone before getting the hang of the low ceiling. It was dark as the grave. No net of sorcery wove light to guide her footsteps. Twice she stumbled and bruised herself, and the third time she tumbled to hands and knees and yelped in pain.

A warm hand fastened on her shoulder. “Hurry! Where are the others?”

“They can’t cross, Your Highness.” She coughed. Dust had scoured her lungs. Grit abraded her palms. “They can’t carry Lord Thiemo and Matto across that wall. We’ve got to go back.”

“I can’t leave them behind!” cried Blessing, with a fury that caused her hand to tighten on Anna’s shoulder until it hurt. She should have been weak after her illness, but she wasn’t. “Papa says you never leave your companions behind. We have to rescue them.”

“I think there was a rockfall.” She coughed again. It hurt to cough. “We can’t go back the way we came. Ai, God. What if they’re all dead?”

The earth groaned and rumbled beneath them, around them, everywhere. They were trapped in a tomb and it was too late to save themselves. They would die here—

A body slammed into Anna, tripped over her, and went sprawling, knocking Blessing down.

“Highness!” Anna smelled the Kerayit healer, whose peculiar scent of sour milk and an unidentifiable musk always tickled her nose.

She sneezed. The others piled up behind them, trapped in the low tunnel. A cloud of dust blasted past them, choking the passage.

“Move! Move!” said Lord Berthold from out of the dust. “The whole place is collapsing.”

Anna scrambled forward, grabbing Blessing’s arm and pulling her along with her. They raced blind, tripping, stumbling, staggering, but the passage ran true, without turns or branches, until at length they stumbled onto stone steps, and climbed up them. Just as Anna realized that she could see through her stinging eyes, they emerged into a shallow cave carved out of a hillside by a massive collapse of dirt, as if half the side of the hill had fallen away. Dust puffed and billowed around them. Beyond, a sickly gray light bled color out of the air.

o;Is, too!” Blessing ran to the edge where the walls of the passageway met the sheer curve of that huge shaft. She reached, she gripped, and between one breath and the next had clambered out along the wall toward the far side.

Fear strangled Anna’s voice. She was helpless, terrified, still woozy. She still could not believe that she was awake and in this terrible predicament. Ai, God. If only she could wake up and find herself back in Gent! The earth shook, and although Anna shrieked out loud, Blessing did not fall; she had too good a grip; she was fearless, that girl. Impossible. Already halfway across, clinging like a lizard to the rock face.

“Anna? Anna! Ai, God!” Heribert came up behind her, not far ahead of the rest.

“I’ll have to follow her.” Without waiting for his reply, because if she waited she would lose her courage, she ran to the edge and brushed a hand over the rock wall, finding handholds and narrow brims easily. Someone had carved these here. They couldn’t be natural, placed so cunningly and conveniently. She crept along the wall, knowing better than to look down. As long as she didn’t look down, she could believe that the ground lay one step below. It was easier that way to move across the rock face. It was easier that way not to panic.

“Princess Blessing, come back!” cried Heribert.

“Won’t!” Blessing leaped to the far ledge just as another tremor shook them. A rock fell from above, and Anna shut her eyes and held on, listening, but she never heard it strike bottom. She was by now breathing so hard that she was dizzy, and when she opened her eyes she saw that Blessing had disappeared into the far passageway.