Cha was in the midst of calculating an interim solution—what if she laid down while still singing, trailed off, and let the cart kind of roll up against her?Then she could rest and be a doorstop—when a yellow glow began to illuminate the tunnel ahead.Yellow meant Citrine fae of some sort, but she hardly had anywhere to hide.At least they could spring Azul and she could stop with the infernal singing.
If she got lucky, maybe they’d just kill her.
~28~
A Way Out
“What is thathorrible noise?”Dy asked, gliding into view.“Are hyenas mating down here?”
Cha had kind of forgotten their fancy get-ups and, for a delirious moment that lasted longer than it should have, she thought Dy was a fairy princess or descending angel.Haloed in gold and wearing that insanely splendid gown, not a hair out of place, Dy looked like a vision.Sputtering out of breath, Cha decided to lie down.
It might have been more of a full crumple than a graceful lowering to the floor, but she did manage to position herself so the cart only rolled a forearm’s length or so before hitting her.And she did function pretty well as a speedbump.Yay for her.
Dy’s lovely face hove into view above her, golden ringlets dangling and springing with enviable perkiness.“What are you doing?”she inquired, almost politely.
“Nap,” Cha croaked, and closed her eyes.
“Inadvisable,” came Dy’s regretful voice.“Did you roll all the way to the bottom?”
“Dead end,” Cha answered.“Fucked,” she added helpfully.
“What about that exit to the cargo bay about fifty paces back?”
Cha cracked an eye open.“Really?”she asked hopefully.She didn’t even care that she’d missed it; she was just glad it existed.And not too far away.
“Really,” Dy answered firmly.“You wave the wand and I’ll sing.”
Cha tried to offer Dy the wand, but she shook her head.“I can sing to it, but it’s your wand.You have to wield it.”
Cha feebly waved the wand so that pink glitter showered from its apparently limitless supply—including into her eyes, ow—and Dy took up the working song, lyrics and all.Unlike Cha, Dy possessed a lovely singing voice and the cart seemed very happy with the change.It started rolling uphill at a good pace.
Dy held down a hand and pulled Cha to her feet again, Cha’s bones and joints creaking like she was a hundred years old instead of thirty.She straggled along behind Dy, placing one foot in front of the other with deliberation.Had she ever been this tired in her entire life?
Katu came to walk beside her and she gratefully trailed her fingers through his plush fur, appreciating his moral support.
Soon, Dy turned and went through a wall-sized doorway into the quiet cargo bay.Several enchanted big rigs sat quietly in the dimness and farther down, pens held animals bedded down for the night.Either Gnome-Clerk hadn’t guessed their direction or was too preoccupied with his missing hands to deal.Probably the latter.
The cargo bay was open to the night-drenched garden which still managed to have a twilight yellow glow.Cha inhaled a deep breath, ferociously glad to be out of the palace.The cart trailed Dy like a puppy—apparently she’d decided to continue with magical propulsion instead of them having to push—and Cha and Katu followed.Cha was happy enough to keep waving the Moonruby wand like a crazed conductor determined to coat the world in pink glitter.In this way, they made a little, absurd parade over to Big Betty, who trumpeted quietly in greeting.Warg plastered himself against the windshield in slobbery delight and Katu bounded ahead to greet them both.
It was quiet and peaceful and all of that made Cha’s neck prickle with wariness.You never knew when a giant preying mantis or scythe-bearing guard might jump out at you.Out of an abundance of caution, she transferred the wand to her left hand and drew the Cinnabar sword, too.But they reached Big Betty without incident.
Cha mentally vowed to never take boring for granted again.
Big Betty already idled on the slow yellow, so they were able to clamber aboard and lower the ramp.Dy sang the cart up into the cavernous cargo space, and they joined it, pulling the ramp up behind them, just in case.Katu prowled about, sniffing everything for any minute changes, and seemed to be restless to get back on the leys and burning speed.
Cha knew the feeling.
Before she did anything else and while Dy undid the locking enchantment on the crate, Cha ripped off the chain mail, pressing her palms to her agitated nipples in sheer relief.It didn’t help much, but it helped some and that was huge at the moment.Dy raised a brow at her.“That bad?”
“They don’t make those outfits for hiking,” Cha replied.“My nipples may never be the same.”
“Try breastfeeding,” Dy suggested.“That’ll make your nipples bleed.”
“I know you haven’t done that as Phinny does all the childbearing and nursing.”
“Yes, but I’ve had to hear about it.In detail.With every baby.The tales I could tell you…”
“Please don’t,” Cha begged.Her nipples throbbed in sympathy as it was.