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A huff of air, then complete silence. Sadiq leaned against Riure’s leg.

“I can’t stop you,” Prince Gavril finally said. His voice was hoarse and pained. “You’re right.” He cleared his throat.

A moment later fabric folded and words were whispered in another language. Riure clenched Sadiq’s ruff.

Sadiq.

The only person the dog had remotely been unhostile towards was the prince, and he was staying behind, noble soul that he was. Sadiq clearly disliked Ehud and Master Ziess, wherever he was, and she tended to be aggressive. Perhaps…

“Rosario?” Riure asked. “Will you take Sadiq for me? She doesn’t deserve this.”

Someone stepped closer, but Riure couldn’t tell if it was Rosario or not. “Go, Sadiq,” she murmured, kneeling by her dog and stroking her fondly. “Go with Rosario.”

Sadiq’s tongue slobbered on her hand, and Riure forced sudden tears away. Would they meet again?

Please, Adanyi, say it is so!

“Go,” Riure repeated, even as Prince Gavril raised his voice and began to call out names.

“Gavril, Klein, Gwendolyn, Dancrow, and…” He paused, then his voice broke as he said, “Riure.”

The ground trembled, and as Sadiq left Riure’s sides at her mistress’ insistent bidding and shoves, even a harsh word, Riure regretted it. She felt… unstable, vulnerable, without her faithful guide.

Footsteps led towards the door, Sadiq’s hesitantly clicking toenails going with them. Suddenly they paused, and she growled loudly, erupting in a bark. She knew what was happeing.

“Sadiq!” Riure scolded, though it rent her heart as if with a sharp sword. “Go!”

“Go on, I’ll be waiting for you,” the prince was saying. His voice was taunt with fear. “Wait, you forgot your boots.”

So he was speaking to Liorah. Was she truly leaving?

Judging from the limping footsteps, yes.

KABOOM

This time when the door slammed Riure didn’t start nearly as violently, but it sounded so final she couldn’t help the fear that suddenly flooded her body. Where peace and laughter had pushed it away, it now streamed in with ten times the force. She shuddered involuntarily. Cold sweat chilled her bare arms.

A hand wrapped around hers, warm and clammy with nervousness. Riure squeezed it, clenching her other in her skirt. So this was the first taste of death. So be it.

Sadiq was whining, then barking, then throwing herself against what must be the door at the other end of the room. Riure’s heart broke. I’m sorry. I wish I could explain.

Despite her attempts at brave thoughts, Riure had to labor to keep from vomiting her terror all over the floor and whatever feet were there. Kening keep me, she prayed frantically, her thoughts turning into a panicked cycle. Give me peace. I don’t want to die. I’m so scared. What will it feel like? Help me, Adanyi. Oh no, Riure, don’t cry! Not now!

Too late. Tears streamed down her cheeks and wet the front of her dress. She barely stifled a hiccup, sure her uncontrollably shaking hand was enough of a clue to the prince that she was absolutely terror-stricken.

The words of a song Lytt had taught her floated through her memory, and somehow repeating the words to herself, sad as they were, comforted her.

To these memories I will hold

With your blessing I will go

To turn at last to paths that lead home

And though where the road then takes me

I cannot tell

We came all this way

But now comes the day

To bid you farewell

I bid you all a very fond farewell*

Something thudded on the other side of the room, followed by a yelp and lighter thud. Riure jumped and loosed a scared noise, wondering if someone had already died. Who? Was she next? Oh, Adanyi!!

Words were spewing out of her mouth, and she hardly heard herself speak. “What’s going on? What was that?”

“A wall fell down. Everyone’s alright.” Prince Gavril’s words were off-handed, but his grip on her hand revealed his true fear.

Something grated on stone, and the prince pulled Riure back. “Can I tell you a secret?” he whispered. “I’m scared of the dark. Silly, I know.”

Riure tried to speak, but her vocal chords had gone on strike. When she tried a second time, her voice sounded much too young and much too frightened for her liking. “Darkness hides many dangers. I should know.” She forced a laugh, but it fell dead to the floor.

Scrape, scrape, scrape.

What was approaching them? Riure had thought Lord Castle had said they were going to fall to their death. If this was a fall it sure didn’t feel powerful enough to kill them.

Riure closed her eyes, as if the action were enough to save her. It didn’t matter; she couldn’t see anyway, but it allowed her to turn her thoughts inward.

Step back, step back, step back.

Scrape, scrape, scraaaaape.

Would this torture never end?

Suddenly the prince halted, and Riure with him. Her breath raked her throat as her heart burned with its adrenaline-fueled pounding. Hands guided her backward, and Riure felt maybe three inches of stone on either side of her, with a solid wall behind. The prince had pushed her into a niche. The fact that he had thought of her even in this situation made her smile. Perhaps selflessness was existent even in the face of death.

Death.

Riure hadn’t understood it until now. She felt hunted. Death had been a vague term that she’d understood, even feared once upon a time. But this, with its cold jaws only minutes, nay, seconds away, Riure felt the terror afresh.

What was she, anyway? What had she done to make her memory fond? She was going to die. Her death was here. Goodbye world, goodbye Sadiq, Lytt, Maer, Daer she’d searched for and never found.

Would he ever see the light as I have?

With her fingers pressing the stone behind her as if she could simply shove it away, Riure realized something for the first time, and that thing was so delightful, so perfect, so exciting she cried and laughed at the same time.

After more then nine years of utter darkness, the first thing that she would see would be her Redeemer’s face, and his smile.

Yes, Riure thought, and her smile would not be beaten back by her fear. It is worth it.

I bit you all a very fond farewell.

The stone finally reached us and I felt the rough red rock. I gave the door a desperate shove, but it didn’t move.

Suddenly she was falling, and the thought flashed through her mind even as her back collided with solid stone that Lord Castle was going to kill them by falling after all. But then something forced her to the ground, and the sweet smell of Sadiq’s fur enveloped Riure’s face just before a wet nose covered it in slime.

“Sadiq!” Riure squealed, and threw her arms around her dog, laughing for all she was worth. She was alive!

“It’s alright, I’m okay, we’re all okay, it’s fine,” Prince Gavril was saying.

“What was that all about!?” Riure laughed harder. Liorah. “You idiotic pile of bricks, what made you think that was a good idea?! I swear I’ll strangle you with your own intestines!!”

Now Prince Gavril was laughing, hearty and true. Riure thought her sides would burst. Water poured from her eyes.

“Li’ah, it’s a castle. It doesn’t have intestines,” Prince Gavril finally managed.

Riure didn’t care if it had intestines or not. She was alive.