Page 65 of The Searching Songbird

She gasped. “You would dare raise a hand against a woman? Fiend!”

His eyes grew hard as he stared her down. “I would if the woman in question were to use tools such as those,” he nodded to the wall opposite the rooms, where a variety of canes, crops, and whips hung on display, “on innocent, young women in her care.” He raised an eyebrow, watching as the woman's hands began to tremble. “Care to hand over those keys now, or are you going to make me use violence to get what I need?”

“His lordship will not be pleased when he hears about this,” she hissed, removing the keys from the chain and holding them tightly in her grip as she walked toward him. Her bony frame trembled with visible rage as she approached him, and she tilted her pointy chin up at a defiant angle as she stood toe-to-toe before him.

And spat.

Right in his damned eye.

He cursed as the warm saliva slid down his cheek and made to grab the keys from the woman's hand, but she tossed them onto the floor behind her, where they proceeded to slide beneath the chair at the end of the hall.

“Son of a bitch.” He snarled at the woman as he pushed past her to fetch the keys. A startled oomph had him whipping back around just in time to see the woman running past a toppled over Lily and slipping out the door. “Shit!” He started to run over to Lily but she waved him off.

“I'm fine. Mortified, but fine.” She climbed back up to her feet with red-stained cheeks. “I can't believe I was just overpowered by an old woman...” She shook her head as if to wipe the memory away then pointed toward the fallen keys. “Best grab those and get these doors open before she brings the entire place down on us.”

He snatched up the keys and started with the door at the end, trying each key until the lock finally clicked. Lily was all but plastered to his side as they opened the door and peered into the tiny room, which was empty aside from a small cot and a long chain anchored into the wall.

They hurried over to the next room, which turned out to be in use, although not by Fia. A rail-thin girl who looked to be about sixteen or seventeen sat huddled in the corner with her knees pulled up to her chest. She was dressed in a plain, white nightgown and there was a dark green ribbon wrapped around her neck. Stringy blonde hair hung loose around her shoulders, with several locks falling over her face, and she eyed the two of them with wide, frightened eyes.

Draven started to take a step forward, but Lily placed a staying hand on his arm. “Let me.” He nodded and took a step back out of her way.

“I'm going to check the other rooms,” he murmured as she passed by, approaching the girl with slow and careful movements. She gave him a slight nod before focusing her attentions on the girl, speaking to her in soft tones.

Draven slipped back into the hallway, and went to check the third room, which turned out to be empty as well. “Come on, Fia, where are you,” he muttered to himself, sorting through the keys until he found the one for the fourth and final room. Placing the key in the lock, he said a quick prayer before opening it up.

“Damn it!” He slammed the door closed on the empty room, a million different curses running through his mind simultaneously.

“Draven!” He turned to see Lily giving him a scolding look. She nodded her head at the girl hovering just behind her, both hands clasped tight around Lily's. “You're scaring her.”

“Sorry,” he muttered, running a frustrated hand over his face before waving it toward the empty rooms. “She's not here.”

Lily's face paled as she looked from the doors back to Draven. “She's not?”

“Nope.”

“Shoot... well, now what do we do?”

“Damned if I know. We can't stay here, though.”

“Right. Let's go.” She turned to the girl. “We're going to get you out of here, okay? Just stay close and keep as quiet as possible, alright?”

“I... I'd better not... the master will be angry if I try to escape. H-he'll have her punish me again.”

“He'll do no such thing, Dawn. We won't let him hurt you. I promise.” Lily gave the girl's hand a gentle tug, and Draven let out a sigh of relief when she took a reluctant step forward.

“Do you think Suzu can scout for us again?” he asked, heading for the door.

“I'd better not. I'm already starting to feel the effects of it, and this doesn't seem like the best place to pass out...”

“Definitely not.” He lifted his sword. “I'll take the lead then. You two stay behind me.”

He shouldered his way through the door, scanning the room as he entered. The guard lay right where he'd left him, still passed out. He moved to the stairs, and the three of them made their way back up to the ground floor.

“What's the plan?” he whispered once they were all standing in the empty hallway. “Do we take Dawn out and try to get her to safety, or do we keep looking for Fia?”

Lily bit her lip, looking over at the girl. “We'd better just get Dawn out for now.” She looked back at Draven. “We can come back for Fia.”

She put on a brave face, but he could hear a slight tremble in her voice. It was killing her to leave here without Fia. He brushed her cheek with his thumb. “We will free her. Even if we have to tear this entire place down stone-by-stone to do it.”