Chapter Five - The Key

ARIA

Darius walked closely behind me and I could swear every step echoed in my head.

We stopped at a door. It looked like every other door we'd passed but somehow it felt different. Heavier. Like it knew what waited on the other side.

Darius shoved a rusty key into the lock and twisted it open.

"Your room," he said.

I stepped through and the air left my lungs.

The space was barely bigger than a closet. Stone walls pressing in from every side and not a single thing to soften them. No tapestries. No rugs. Nothing. Just this sad excuse for a bed shoved against the wall with blankets that looked like they'd fall apart if you breathed on them too hard.

A chair in the corner that was missing a leg. Basin on a table that wobbled. And one thin and barred window.

This wasn't just a room. It was a place where hope came to die.

"Someone will come get you in the morning." Darius's voice came from somewhere behind me. "Don't try anything stupid."

The door shut.

I waited for the locks to slide. The bolts to slam. Or at least that final click that meant I was sealed in here until someone decided I could leave.

But it didn't come.

Just silence.

My heart skipped. I stared at the door as if it could bite.

They wouldn't just leave it unlocked. Especially not after what happened down at the Kennels. Not after I'd proven I was the kind of stupid that talked back to she-wolves who could snap my neck without breaking a sweat.

I crept forward. I put my ear on the wooden door and listened for any sounds.

There was nothing at all.

My hand shook as I reached for the handle. The iron burned cold against my skin. The handle turned.

The door opened.

For a split second I couldn't move. I couldn't think past the roar in my ears. This was a test…it had to be. Caelan must have been playing games.

But what if it wasn't? What if Darius really did forget to lock the door and this was the only shot I'd ever get?

I slipped through.

The hallway stretched both ways. Torches burned low and barely pushed back the darkness. My feet were bare and the stone froze them numb but I didn't care. I was too busy trying not to breathe too loud to avoid getting caught.

I found a narrow servant's passage. The walls were so close that my shoulders almost touched them. It was way darker, but I still took it.

I heard footsteps coming.

Immediately I pressed into a shallow alcove and held my breath until my lungs screamed. A woman came around the corner. She was a human maid.

The moment she saw me and her whole face drained white.

"What are you—" She dropped her voice to a harsh whisper. "You're supposed to be locked up."

I tried to go around her but she grabbed my wrist. Not hard but firm enough so I couldn't pull free.

"Stop. Just stop. You'll get yourself killed,” she warned.

"Let go,” I said, trying as hard as possible to keep my voice lower than a whisper. “I don't have time.”

“I should let go?" Her fingers tightened. "So you can walk straight into a patrol? So they can drag you back and use you as an example for others?"

"Why do you even care what happens to me?" I asked.

She looked over her shoulder. I could see the fear and urgency in her eyes. When she turned back to me her eyes were wet. "Twenty years I've been here."

My stomach dropped.

"Tried escaping my first night too." Her voice got quieter. "I failed. They punished everyone I'd talked to that day. Beat them in the courtyard while I watched."

I swallowed hard. My mind swarming with thousands of thoughts of what could happen to me if I got caught.

She let go of me, then took a step back. "If they catch you, tell them you never saw me. Please."

She walked away quickly. Disappeared like she was never there.

I stood there shaking not from the cold, but from the weight of what she'd said.

Twenty years. Would that be me? Still here in twenty years with that same dead look in my eyes?

No. I couldn't. I wouldn't.

I kept moving. The passage twisted and I followed it without knowing where I was going. I just needed to find a way out.

The passage widened.

I could smell it before I even saw it. Fresh air. It was coming from somewhere ahead.

Almost there. Almost out.

That was when I heard it.

Footsteps coming from behind me. They were slow and deliberate.

My breath quickened. What if I had been caught? What if it was a guard sent to get me?

I spun.

A figure stood behind me. Tall, wearing a hooded cloak that hid everything. Just standing there. Watching me.

"Uhh…I was just…looking for some…water,” I lied, my voice shaky.

The figure began moving towards me. Not rushing but not stopping either. I backed up until my back hit the wall and there was nowhere left to go.

"Stay away from me.”

They kept coming. Now they were close enough and I could see their hands.

It was hard to tell if it was a wolf or a human or a wolf pretending to be human.

They stopped. One hand went into the cloak and came back out holding something.

A key.

“Take it.” The voice came low, muffled beneath the hood, each word slicing the air.

I stared at their open palm. "What…? What is that for?"

"East gate," the person answered. The words came out quiet. "The path is clear. No guards at the borders for now.”

“Why?” My voice trembled. “Why help me?”

"You don't belong to him." They pressed the key into my hand before I could pull away. Their fingers were ice cold.

The cloaked figure turned and started walking away.

"Wait!" I called, trying to be quiet but it came out too loud. "Who are you?"

Silence. Just footsteps fading. Then nothing.

I stood there with the key burning cold in my palm. Staring at the empty corridor where they'd been.

The key felt heavy. It was proof that someone wanted me free.

But who?