The Husband Poisoning Society, Chapter 35

My fingers bled as we struggled to dig Vincent out of the cave-in with our bare hands. I feared he was already dead, but I wasn’t going to leave him. And neither were the rest of us. We labored, scooping frozen earth with our hands and lifting rocks. I have no idea how long this took. It felt like hours. The only consolation was that the soldiers had also been caught in the cave-in.

“I’ve found his hand.” Amy called. 

We circled around Amy and helped to unearth the rest of Vincent. I prayed to the Twice Dead Gods that he was still alive. I’d have never prayed back on Earth. But I’d seen things in Ossedei. Amy joined me in prayer and the five of us continued digging. 

Vincent’s head came free and he coughed up a bucket load of dirt.

“Let’s not do that again.” Vincent scratched as we worked to free him. 

“We must hurry.” Ada said. “Once they realize that their own men are dead, they will send pursuers from the other entrances. And we will be trapped.”

“I’m not going to be running in this condition.” Vincent said, pulling his left arm free.

“That’s two of us who can’t run.” I noted. 

“Can you fight?” Amy asked.

“I doubt it.” Vincent said. 

We freed his right arm, and Vincent began to help us free him from the earth. But I noticed that his movements were weak and his arms shook. 

“Things keep getting worse.” I said.

“We aren’t dead yet.” Vincent said. “We still have options.”

We freed his legs, and Vincent wobbled to his feet. He didn’t look well. His clothes were black with earth and blood. His face bore a mask of bruises. He needed a healing potion. But we didn’t have any. 

“We must make haste. Run, please.” Ada said.

“Would you settle for a stumble?” Vincent asked.

We made our way through the catacombs. No resistance met us as we slipped through the darkness. 

"What are our options?" Vincent asked, looking at me.

Laila looked at me as well. "Why are we asking her?"

Amy smiled. "Wouldn't you trust the person who can see the future?"

Laila looked at Lynn, "But the baroness is here."

Lynn nodded, "And if we were in my barony, I would take charge. Ren and Amy are Leon's agents. This is their territory."

Laila nodded, "Then Lady Ren, what do we do?"

I grimaced. "We have multiple people who can't run. We have no healing potions. Leon is dying, and we have to get him the antidote. And none of that is going to clear our names. Which is wonderful. Because we're all implicated now. First things first though. We aren't letting Leon die."

I paused and looked at Laila. 

"At least, I'm not letting Leon die. I don't imagine Lynn or Amy will either. Vincent, I assume you're on board."

Vincent nodded.

"Laila. You're implicated in the murder now. But I'm not forcing you to help us save Leon. That will be dangerous."

Laila shook her head. "I don't see any point in trying to play it safe now. I'm in. I'm with you to the end." 

We pushed on and, as if by a miracle, we didn’t encounter any opposition. We weren’t moving fast and any pursuit would have captured us immediately. The monotony of the catacombs wore on my brain. It felt like we would never get out. But maybe the Twice Dead Gods were watching up because as I began to flag, we exited the catacombs. 

“Where are we?” I asked.

Laila looked around, “The Yssian Embassy is not far off. Could we not hide there? They have diplomatic immunity. Actually, I don’t know why you didn’t stay there.”

“It would be seen as impolite not to stay with our hosts.” I said. “No offense meant, but I’d have preferred it. But no, that wasn’t an option. But now, that might work.”

Amy looked around, “Hadn’t we best decide now? Don’t you think we’ll be spotted out in the open like this?”

Lynn nodded. “I have nothing better. Let’s do it.”

*

The Yssian embassy sat within a ring of Hyperborean Soldiers in full armor. I stopped counting at seventy five men, and I wasn’t even half way through the soldiers. We weren’t getting in. 

“That looks like a no to me.” I said out loud.

“Is there no way in?” Amy asked.

“I doubt that the embassy has a secret tunnel under Hyperborean soil like the longhouse did.” I said. 

“Then we should get away from here.” Lynn said. “We are in the open and our only combatant is injured.”

Vincent shook his head, and patted his court sword on his hip. “I can still fight.”

“No, you can’t.” I said.

“Please.” Amy touched his arm. “You wouldn’t put yourself at risk like that, would you?”

Vincent grinned. “For you, I would.”

Amy blushed. “Please don’t. I don’t want to see you dead.”

* 

Laila looked at Vincent and then at Amy and then back to me. “I thought you two ladies were engaged?”

I nodded. “We are.”

“Then what was that?” 

Amy cringed. I reached out and touched first Amy and then Vincent. “Vincent is a cherished friend. And Amy is allowed to flirt with boys. She likes boys too. I don’t.”

Laila blinked several times. “You Yssians are so free with love and courting that I don’t know how to handle it. What if they had an affair?”

I patted Amy’s shoulder again. “Amy would tell Fiona and myself and ask permission. Hell. Amy would invite Fiona along. She and Vincent used to court.”

Laila’s eyes went wide. “Is this normal in Ys?”

Amy shrugged, “Everything but the polyamory. That’s still scandalous.”

Laila cocked her head. “Everything else is normal? But Yssians have a problem with you three all being together? That makes no sense.”

“When do social norms make sense?” I asked.  

“But.” She paused. “Two ladies marrying wouldn’t raise eyebrows?”

“Not in the slightest, why would it?” Amy said. 

Laila scrunched up her face. “Not even if one of the ladies were a foreigner? For example?”

I grinned. “No. Not at all. Why would you ask that?”

Laila squirmed. “No reason. Curiosity.”

Vincent laughed, then coughed. “Of course. Curiosity.”

“Halt!” A voice cried from our right. I turned and saw a group of Hyperborean soldiers marching towards us. 

“They spotted us,” I said.

“Down this alley, run! There’s a church this way. We can claim sanctuary.” Laila said.

“We can’t outrun them.” I said, looking at my cane.

“You can, if I stay behind.” Vincent said. 

“We aren’t doing this again.” I said.

“We have to do this. I can’t run. And neither can you. But you can’t fight.”

“Neither can you.” I objected.

“No, but I can stand here and hold a sword.” Vincent said.

“I can do that too.” I said. 

“But I can be convincing.” Vincent answered. 

"Then they might kill you."

"I only need to delay them and then surrender."

"Fiona didn't delay them very long. Can you do better?" I asked.

"I only need to delay them long enough for you to get out of sight. Now go, before you make this whole sacrifice a waste of time."

"Damn you. Don't die."

“No.” Amy was crying again. “We aren’t leaving anyone else.”

Vincent positioned himself to block the alley we were using.

“Come. Now!” Laila and Ada grabbed Amy and dragged her as I hobbled along beside them. 

Behind me, I could hear Vincent calling out to our pursuers. I didn’t look back. I set my eyes on the ground before me and focused on the steps I had to take.