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“What, is, that?” Riure gasped.

“It works, it works!” someone – male, sounded kind of like Dancrow – shouted at the top of his lungs. “Ecray Was!! YES!” Slowly the music faded.

Ehud took a few steps away, then his hand found Riure’s and he pulled her up the last few steps. She exhaled, forcing her tension out. At least that was over. No more imagined spikes awaiting her? The smile, the smile, the smile.

Riure wondered where Master Ziess was, and if he was still keeping an eye on her. Sometimes it was nice, knowing someone was protecting you. Other times you wanted to try stuff on your own without having someone cautioning you or holding you back. Right now, with all the craziness she couldn’t see and the gazillion things she knew she was missing due to her blindness, she was infinitely glad for the care of Ehud, Rosario, Prince Gavril, Master Ziess, Konyar, and pretty much everyone else.

“Hey it’s a radio!” Ehud exclaimed. In that instant, Riure’s stomach did a sudden flip as the last pair of footfalls entered the room. Something was wrong, was about to happen, it was a trap- “Maybe I can rewire it to call Eno–”

SLAM

With a shriek Riure pressed herself against the wall her hand had found. Her ears rang. Sadiq trembled against her knees. What in VaSerBo…

“Abandon all hope, ye who enter here,” a voice intoned, sounding so unreal Riure decided then and there that her imagination had finally conquered her sanity. It echoed in the room, seeming to vibrate from the walls. Her hand tickled as she felt it. Dropping to the floor, she put her head on her knees and held her hands over her sensitive ears. The voice continued, “and those who have intruded upon mine final days of rest shall feel the crushing of my wrath until they are reduced to mere piles of bleached bones, like all who have–”

“You know, that’s really dramatic and all, but we don’t have all day. Summarize the death threats and get to the point.” Princess Liorah, definitely. She was the only one snarky enough to say something like that.

“Rosy! RosyRosyRosy!” Ehud yelped, right beside Riure. Sadiq barked once, loudly.

“I’m her-” Rosario began, but was cut off by the odd voice, which had completely changed its tone.

“Kay, here’s the thing: Only half of y’all are getting out of this room alive. I’ll leave it up to y’all to figure out who dies.”

Riure shuddered. Just like that? Five of them? Poof, gone? It’s a nightmare, she told herself. Sweat began to soak her clothing as she began to tremble. It was too much for her… she just wanted life to make sense again! It’s just a nightmare, Ry. Get out! “Just hurry,” the voice continued. “You have one hour before the staircase loosens and y’all plummet into the chasm. Ya won’t survive the drop, so I’d pick out half as quick as you can. As soon as you give me a list of names of them who die, the others can leave. Have fun!”

Fun? Fun?! 

“He can’t just–!” Ehud choked out, but was cut off. Multiple gasps stole the air.

“Oh, and if there’s an uneven number of y’all, half plus one die. Life ain’t fair.”

I know it isn’t, Riure thought, and as her fingers found their way around Sadiq’s quivering leg, then up onto her soft chest, a strange calm settled over her. Sadiq sat down with a small whine as Riure began to massage her dog’s fur.

Something thunked, but Riure just bowed her head and tried to think.

That didn’t go well. There was a loud bang which startled her so bad she whacked her elbow on the wall behind her as she jumped.

“Get down!” someone yelled, and thuds echoed as people fell to the floor. Riure slithered onto her belly, pulling Sadiq down with her.

“Down, girl!” she shouted. “Play dead!” Sadiq went limp.

There was a moment of cracklingly tense silence as everyone waited for the loud zinging noises to cease. When they did, Riure breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully that hadn’t been one of Lord Castle’s tricks. If so, she’d have a heart-attack and die before one of its traps got to her.

If she didn’t die right now.

“That was actually a pretty good idea,” Princess Liorah said. Shoes scraped on stone as people stood. “I was about to try with my sling. I’m not going to be bossed around by a big block of bricks!”

There was another pause as people sank into their own thoughts. Riure wearily pushed herself to her feet. Sadiq stood with her.

It was Prince Gavril who spoke first. “I’ll do it.”

A female groaned, and someone kicked the wall. Then Gwendolyn spoke, her voice hard and determined. “I’ll do it too.”

No!! Riure mentally screamed. Are you prepared yet? Do you face death with courage or with expectation? The prince said that he prayed. That’s a good start. What of you?

Someone was banging on the walls or something, trying to get out. Riure felt as if the rock were smothering her. How big was this place, anyway? Was it going to shrink and leave them in a space no bigger than a coffin, left alone to die, never to feel the wind or hear the sweet birdsong again?

Don’t panic.

“I’ll go. It’ll take more than a drop to kill me.” The new man, the one that had scared her with his noise. Was he Redeemed? Riure couldn’t let anyone, no matter what they said or how powerful they were, stay behind if they weren’t ready for death.

But I don’t want to die. 

 

Daddy.

 

I’m scared.

 

Riure breathed deeply. Child, a voice whispered, and she laughed. Who cared how she died?  “The smile,” she whispered. “I will do this,” she said, her voice stronger than it had been since this whole thing began. She got to her feet and laughed her defiance. “I fear no death.”

—————-

Sorry that Riure took a spot, y’all. I tried to convince her that she was the most likely option to stay alive, but she stubbornly refused to not say anything. You know how it goes. *cries for sweet Riure*