Mist Rising by Eve Langlais
Chapter Forty-Nine
Wake.
Regaining consciousness on the cold, hard floor, the crown still in her hand, Agathe couldn’t wait to thrust it from her. Rising to her feet, she took a few stumbling steps before her equilibrium balanced, and she managed to exit the room with much less trouble to the sound of arguing.
“…do you mean she walked through a wall like a ghost?” Venna’s exasperated voice.
“Not a ghost. Resonating frequencies,” Agathe stated, only to frown. She had no idea what that even meant.
Wide eyes stared at Agathe, and Hiix exclaimed, “You just bloody well did it again!”
Venna whirled to gape. “Where did you come from?”
“The King’s treasure room. I think.” She frowned. Things were a little fuzzy.
“Oh.” Venna apparently had no idea what to say other than, “Your eyes are purple.”
“Really?” Her hand went to her face as if she could feel the color.
“Yes, really. What happened in there? You were gone for almost an hour!” Hiix yelled with obvious worry.
“I found what the King took from me.” And she doubted he would be happy about that. “We should leave before he finds out.”
“Good thing I gathered a few extra things.” Venna hoisted two satchels.
“A few? You brought our cloaks as if you expected this. What is happening?” Hiix demanded.
Itchy, Agathe rubbed her forehead. “I’ll explain later. We need to leave. Quickly.”
“Yes, we do. The Goddess told me to be ready,” Venna agreed with a nod. “It’s why I packed us bags.”
“You heard the Goddess?” Hiix complained. “Why you and not me?”
“Argue about it once we get out of here,” Agathe suggested.
“And how are you planning to leave? Just walk out that front gate?” Hiix offered with heavy sarcasm.
“Of course not. There’s another way out. A secret path.” One she’d used before, a recollection more haze than memory.
Glancing up both ends of the hall, she felt more drawn to one direction. “This way.”
“Any reason why this way and not that one?” Hiix asked, jerking a thumb behind them. “I mean we’ve already gone through here, and I didn’t see a door going out.”
“I have a feeling,” was all Agathe could offer.
They didn’t make it far in the secret passages before being stopped by a sullen Belle, who crossed her arms and haughtily asked, “Where are you going?”
Hiix lied. “Just exploring. Better question is, what are you doing here?”
“The King lets me go where I please.”
“I highly doubt that,” Agathe muttered.
“You’re trying to leave,” Belle declared, spotting the satchels.
Rather than lie, Agathe tried one last time to get her to see sense. “We are going away from here. Come with us. We can save you.”
Belle shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere with you! I like it here.”
“You keep saying that because you don’t realize what you’ll lose.”
“My purple eyes? Don’t care,” the girl sassed.
“It’s more than that. Are you willing to lose the magic inside you? Your youth?”
Belle snorted. “Everyone gets old. At least I won’t have to work my fingers to the bone getting there.”
“You stupid, stupid girl. Do you know I once knew a girl who thought the same thing? Funny thing, her name was also Belle. It didn’t end well for her.”
Venna put a hand on her arm. “I know you mean well, but we don’t have time to change her mind.”
A good point. Agathe knew there was no point in fighting further about it. Every moment she wasted could mean the return of the King, his soldiers, and Maric. Once they realized what she’d done, they’d do anything to get her back.
Agathe sighed noisily. “Once I leave, I can’t help you. It will be too late.”
“You’re just jealous.” Belle lifted her chin.
That brought a snort. “You have no idea.” To Belle’s clear surprise, Agathe grabbed her and dragged her close. “I hope you get everything you deserve.” She then grabbed her by the cheeks and placed a long kiss on her forehead.
Long enough that Belle squirmed and exclaimed, “Would you stop it with the pretense of caring already?”
“Have a good life, Belle. I hope it turns out better than the one I knew.”
“It will be amazing once you’re out of it,” Belle yelled.
With that final acrimonious parting, they left, and Agathe didn’t look back. Instead, she led her Soraers via a set of tunnels, running off an old memory and instinct. It didn’t lead her wrong.
Eventually, they found a door with a massive carved symbol that only she could see. It was barricaded from the inside, but the locks felt very real. She twisted them, and once the door opened, her Soraers could see the room beyond.
They emerged into a cellar that had a door to the inside of the house but also opened onto an alley for the service people to deliver.
“We’re on the other side of the moat,” Hiix observed.
“But not out of danger yet. We need to be out of the city.”
“We’ll have to wait until night unless you can do something about your eyes.” Hiix pointed out. “You’re practically glowing.”
“We can’t wait that long.”
“We’ll wear our cloaks,” Venna declared, pulling them out. The massive fabric covered them head to toe. The rainy, gray day meant they mixed right in with those hurrying along about their business or going home.
Despite the lack of urgency or alarm in the air, their ears remained attuned. Eventually, their disappearances would be noted. If someone cared. Maybe her heart raced for nothing.
Their only tense moment came at the second bridge across the chasm of spikes. The soldiers there chose to do their job and shout, “Halt, who are you, and where are you going?”
A question never answered because a runaway goat, bleating while its goatherd cursed, drew all eyes. The Soraers swiftly crossed, marched quickly up the path, and headed inside the woods—not a moment too soon.
A bell clanged in the distance, which set them angling off the path, Agathe’s steps lagging until she stopped. It took a few paces before Venna and Hiix noticed.
“What’s wrong?” Venna asked.
“Did we make the right choice?”
“You can’t help her. Belle asked for whatever happens next,” Hiix said.
“She has no idea what she’s giving up.”
“We have to trust in the Goddess,” were Venna’s sage words.
“I’m tired of placing my trust in a King and the Goddess, though. There has to be a better way,” was Agathe’s bitter reply.
“We’ll succeed by working together,” Venna said, linking her arm through hers.
“She’s right. Together, nothing can stop us,” Hiix added from the other side. “And don’t forget, Agathe is by the Goddess’s right hand, doing her best to help us.”
The reminder of the real Agathe still had the ability to hurt an orphan’s heart.
Was it any wonder the baby once saved by a brave Soraer had taken on that name when she needed to start over? Agathe’s identity hid the orphaned Belle’s existence from those hunting her, while also honoring and reminding her to avenge the foster mother she’d lost so horribly.
At times, she wondered if it was Agathe’s voice whispering advice. She liked to think Agathe sat by the Goddess’s side, watching over her.
Agathe, the imposter, bowed her head. “Maybe now that I have my magic back there is hope.”
And even if there weren’t, she’d take as many monsters with her as she could before she died.
