CHAPTER 9

Yannick stood shocked.

“Quickly,” called Audie. “Into the boat!”

She grabbed his arm and pushed him roughly towards the boat. He collapsed into the thing, with Audie atop him, just in time to see the Sphinx leaping and growling at the air - but she would not step off the platform.

“Unfair!” she cried, her monstrous face a mask of fury. “Cheaters!”

Hands trembling, Yannick whispered an incantation. It shone brilliantly against the darkness, revealing all the contours of the sphinx’s snarling face and vanished, leaving them blinded.

There was a moment’s horrible wait before the slow crank and whir of the mechanism began again and the boat slowly moved away from the dark platform.

“Prince Rallo?” called Yannick, looking over the hull and into the inky darkness.

“Just here,” came the voice from the other side of the boat. “I’m quite alright.” His voice was level, stronger now than it had been upon the platform.

“You can get in the boat now,” said Yannick.

“I don’t think so. You heard the Sphinx. The boat is probably cursed if more than one gets in.”

He was right, Yannick knew - but he didn’t like the Prince’s odds in the dark water.

“There’s nothing in the water,” said the Prince, as if reading Yannick’s mind. “I’m quite sure of that.”

He said it with a certainty Yannick didn’t feel, but he didn’t care to question. He was just glad Audie was alive.

“Let me know when you tire of swimming, we can change.”

“See to your comrade, mage.”

Yannick turned his attention to Audie. He couldn’t see her, but he could hear her breathing.

“Are you injured?” he asked.

“No. My body is fine… a little stiff. It’s just…”

“Just what?”

“Why didn’t you come for me?” He heard a sob rack her chest. The words broke his heart. Why had he been so keen to dismiss the prisoner in the second cell? He’d been too quick to assume she was dead. The legacy of too many losses in his life already. He felt the tears form in the corners of his eyes. He said nothing.

“I was in that box for months.”

“Months?”

“With no light, mostly. Only that horrible Sphinx for company… she’d come and tease me, for hours on end. Sometimes she wouldn’t let me sleep for days, just laughing and telling me she was going to kill me and that you had given up and forgotten about me.”

“Audie,” he said quietly. “Time inside the tower… it’s something that the tower can warp. The concept of time… it’s much more fluid in here, just like the rooms inside this place. From the outside, this large lake would be impossible.”

“What are you saying?”

“We never left. I promise you that. I stand before you in the same piss-drenched robes I was in when we entered the tower. What happened to you, it’s…”

“You’re saying it’s not real?”

“No dear. Far from it. What you experienced… the torment you’ve suffered. It’s as real as anything. You’ve been the victim of the most terrible magic. But in the outside world, barely a week has passed since we entered the tower.”

“You can tell that?”

“Yes. The warping of time… it’s noticeable when you’re looking for it. A very subtle magical signature, like looking through warped glass.”

“Mage,” said the Prince from the waters. “What date is it?”

“Mid Eostre. Perhaps as late as the 20th.”

The Prince said nothing more as he swam beside the boat.

“What happens if the Prince drowns?” asked Audie.

Yannick deigned not to answer. He had heard the rumours of the Kestrian royal family. Were they true, the Prince was likely in no danger of fatigue.

It was a relief when the little platform reappeared. From a distance, Yannick could see the priest standing nervously on the edge, peering into the darkness.

“Hail!” he called.

Yannick waved back, too tired to call out.

The boat reached the edge with another grinding, clunking halt. Audie helped him out of the boat and on to the platform. Before they could say anything, Virgil had appeared, hovering nervously in the tiny scout’s presence.

“You’re alive,” she whispered.

Audie responded by hugging her around the middle.

“Audie! Is it really her, Yannick?” asked the priest.

“‘Really her’?” said Audie.

Yannick nodded to Jeran, ignoring the confused glance Audie threw at him.

“Did you find the Prince?”

As if on cue, Prince Rallo hauled himself from the water, shaking himself off as he stood dripping on the platform.

“Oh, your highness!” Jeran said, making his way to the prince. “Do you require healing, sir?”

“I’m fine,” grunted the Prince. “How do we get out of here? I’m keen to see daylight. It’s been a while.”

Yannick didn’t want to imagine the tortures the man had endured in that cell. The horrors Audie had endured in a few short hours were bad enough.

“This way,” said Yannick.

He led them back through the door they had come. As he stepped over the threshold, the darkness lifted away. He was bathed in sunlight so bright he covered his eyes. Around him, grass rolled into gentle hills in every direction.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

The Prince followed next, blinking in the sunlight.

“Oh Father,” he whispered reverentially.

Jeran came next, followed by Audie and Virgil.

“That door… it leads outside now?” Jeran said. He turned back to look at the door and saw nothing but smooth stonework. “It’s gone?”

“The tower recognised that we had got our prize, so to speak, so it let us go.” Yannick stared into the distance. It was a relief to be outside again. He rolled his aching shoulders and sighed. His entire body was stiff and sore and had begun to ache in places he’d long forgotten about.