Page 53 of Darro

Chapter Fifteen

Esme heard the sound of heavy boots on the stairs, and hurried over to where Darro and Rory were distributing the last of the arrows they had modified with the stone arrowheads. “They’re coming for us.”

“We shall draw them into the tower storage and barricade them inside, Chieftain,” Rory whispered. “You and your lady take the hidden passage down to the forge. I shall meet you there once I secure the rooftop to safeguard our brothers.”

“Keep watch for more spiders, too, Brother,” the chieftain said, and then took hold of her hand and led her into the stairs on the other side of the solar.

Stopping halfway down, Darro pushed in a stone, and a narrow opening appeared in the rounded wall. They stepped inside and he pushed the stone again from the other side, closing the panel. Esme went still as the rooftop outside the passage shook, making bits of dust rain down on her and her lover.

He pulled on a heavy glove and used a fire steel to light a torch, handing it to her as the flames set his glove on fire.

“What are you doing?” she whispered as she jerked the torch out of his reach.

“You cannae see as well as me in the dark.” He pulled off the burning glove, stomping on it a few times before he leaned down to kiss the top of her head. “Come, my lady.”

They got as far as two levels down when they ran into a wall that blocked the passage. It looked as if it had been built that day, with the mortar between the stones still damp to the touch.

“Did Torra MacBren do this?” she murmured. “Or is it another alteration?”

“’Tis likely another change in the enchantment.” Darro glanced all around them. “We must get out of this passage before we’re walled in.” He backtracked a short distance before opening another panel. This one led out into a hall Esme had never before seen, one that glittered with strands of golden spider webs. They seemed to get thicker at the far end of the hall, except where they crisscrossed in a heavy layer over one of the doors. The latter were as wide as her wrist, as if spun by a much larger spider.

“Let’s go back,” Esme whispered to him.

He shook his head. “We cannae run from this, my lady.”

Her fear of arachnids rose up inside her as if it were a huge fist around her throat, choking her. Suddenly the voice in her dream came back to her.

Remember, to save all, you must slay the first.

“The first spider that came in, it would be the biggest, right? Maybe it hatched all the small spiders?” she asked Darro, who nodded his agreement. “Torra said in my dream that to save everyone, we have to kill the first. I think she meant the mama spider.” She looked all around them. “It has to be here somewhere.”

On the other end of the passage she noticed for the first time a half-wall, also hastily built, with a row of torches at the top. She could see a figure in a strange suit made of dripping burlap with a sack over his head with only eye holes behind the wall. The disguised person beckoned to them.

“’Tis Ben,” Darro said, and nodded in that direction. “Go to him and he’ll keep you safe.”

“Giant spiders can crawl over walls, Chief,” she told him, placing the torch in a sconce before hurrying down to the healer, who lifted the bag to grin at her.

“I’m glad you’re not a zombie, Ms. Martinez,” Ben said. “I’ve got Ulf and one of the maids holed up in here with me. I think there’s something in the library. It shot that thick webbing out from under the door.”

“It may be the mama spider.” The smell of him hit her, and made her cough. “Whew. Why did you take a bath in vinegar, Dr. Miller?”

“It’s homemade spider repellent. Vinegar contains about five percent acetic acid, which burns the insects on contact. They also seem to hate the smell,” he told her. “We’ve got enough to soak you and the chieftain, if you want a bottle.”

That reminded her of her grandmother’s homemade insect spray, which had worked better than anything store-bought. “Can you add some of that lye soap they use here to it?”

Ben went into his work room and returned with a corked whiskey jug. “There’s enough here to cover both of you.”

“I don’t want it for that.” She took the jug and glanced at where Darro had been standing, but the chieftain had vanished. “Oh, this man and his heroics. Stay safe, Doctor.”

Esme hurried down to the other end of the passage in time to see Darro slicing through the golden webbing over the door. “I’ve got liquid spider killer in here.”

He tapped the gap between the door and the jamb. “’Tis a web inside as large as the room. Go back to Benedict.”

“No, Chief,” Esme said when he tried to take the jug from her. “I don’t run. I stand with you. I fight with you.”

Darro looked at her as if he wanted to shake her. Instead he pulled her close and held her for a long moment.

“Make ready to fight, then,” he said as he released her. When she uncorked the jug, he yanked on the latch.