I didn’t know how I was going to broach the subject with Rose. I wondered if it wouldn’t be better if I held off till we knew more, but it might be too late by then. I would have to tell her, but gently. When the time was right. At the moment, she was still doubtful that the children were alive—I didn’t want to add to that.
“Derek! Ben!”
A shout went up from inside the palace. It sounded like Eli, and I hurried toward the entrance, swiftly followed by the rest of the team. We thundered up the wide staircase, tracking him down. I could tell he’d found someone in the castle. From here I could smell blood and a rapidly beating heart…whatever or whoever it was, they were afraid.
“Through here,” Eli called out, and I followed his voice to a door in one of the towers. On the floor in front of him was a woman—an abnormally large, tall woman dressed in a large headscarf and brightly colored, but torn robes. She was crying softly, her hands tied behind her back.
“I’ve been trying to untie her,” Eli said, “but she doesn’t want me anywhere near her.”
The woman was slowly shifting away from us on the floor, backing up into her prison. Our presence was obviously terrifying her.
“Okay.” I turned to the rest of the GASP members who had followed me in. “Rose, Sofia, Ashley, Grace—please help this woman. The rest of you are going to look around the rest of the castle and the grounds.”
The team moved swiftly, giving us some space.
“Do you want me to leave?” Eli asked, evidently wishing that I would say yes. His eyes were wide beneath his glasses, the woman’s fraught emotion clearly making him uncomfortable.
“You can leave.” I nodded.
Eli heaved a sigh of gratitude and rushed off before I could say another word.
“What happened to you?” my wife murmured softly.
The woman looked at us, her eyes darting across each face as she registered our strange clothes and appearance.
“Who are you?” she asked, her voice trembling. “What are you doing here? Did my master send you?”
Sofia and I glanced at one another. What master?
“We’re from another dimension,” I replied softly, not entirely sure how much I wanted to give away about our origins. The woman didn’t look dangerous, but my several centuries of living had taught me that first appearances could be deceptive. “We’re looking for some young humans who were taken here, two boys, two girls. Do you think you might have seen them?”
Her eyes rested on mine. I could see she was deliberating about whether or not to tell us the truth—her expression was at once wary and hopeful. I supposed she saw us as her ticket out of this place, if she gave us the right answer.
“Human children were taken for the trials, the kingship trials, by the Hellswans. The ones who locked me up here. Maybe your children were among them…but you’re not human.”
“No,” I replied, “not exactly. And neither are you.”
She frowned.
“I’m a sentry. Like all the others of this land. Who exactly are you?”
Clearly the woman wasn’t eager to give much information away until she had a better understanding of what we were. I glanced over at the others again, thinking that perhaps Sofia or Rose should take the lead here. They had more patience than I did.
“We’re members of a supernatural organization, created for the protection of humans and other supernatural creatures. We’re just here to find our children,” Sofia explained gently. “If there’s any information you can give us, any at all, it would be really helpful. Maybe you could explain who these Hellswans are?”
The woman seemed to relax at my wife’s explanation, and she nodded.
“I can help you, yes…. The Hellswan family has terrorized this land for years. Tejus Hellswan is the evil, dark overlord who’s caused so much of the devastation you’ve undoubtedly already seen.” The woman looked at all of us with wide eyes. “Come to think of it—he kidnapped a girl who looked a lot like you.”
Her remark was directed at Rose.
“Is she still alive?” my daughter breathed. “And she has a brother too—a small boy? His name’s Benedict. Hazel and Benedict? Have you seen them?”
The flurry of questions was answered by an enthusiastic nod from the woman.
“Hazel and Benedict, yes, poor creatures. The last time I saw them was at the trials. They were treated so badly by Tejus and the others. I tried to fight for them—to stop the cruelty to your children and all the others, but look where it got me!” She held up her shackle-burnt wrists, shaking her head sadly.