Release(18)

“Why would Risciter want to kill me?”

“Risciter’s insane,” said Keirth. “Will you try this?” He was already scooting around on the floor, positioning himself with his back to hers.

She did want to be untied, she supposed. And it had to be Risciter that had tied her up. Keirth wouldn’t have done it and then tied himself up too. Ariana didn’t think people actually could tie themselves up. But she knew Risciter. She and Risciter had been on countless strolls through the gardens of three planets. They’d spoken of politics and society and of their own desires for the future. She knew what kind of duke he wanted to be. She knew what kind of father he wanted to be. He didn’t kill people.

Of course, before today, she would have said that he didn’t sleep with three women at once or drug champagne or tie people up either.

She felt Keirth’s hands on hers.

“I can feel the knot on your wrists,” he said. “Can you find mine?”

She felt blindly a little bit until she did. “Yes, I’ve got it.” Her fingers dug into the rope, trying to untie it. The knot was impossibly tight. “I don’t think I can untie this.”

“Keep trying,” Keirth said.

She could feel Keirth’s hands on the knot at her own wrist, and she did her best to work at the knot on Keirth’s hands.

“I think I’ve got it,” said Keirth, sounding triumphant. “Stop trying to get my knot for a minute.”

She relaxed her hands. In a few seconds, her hands were free.

“Untie your feet,” said Keirth.

Ariana sat up. She felt for the knots at her feet. They were so tight. But if she calmed down, she could...yes! She managed to loosen the knot a little. And then a little more. She was free! She turned back to Keirth. “Let me try to get at your knot again.”

But Keirth was shaking his head. “No, don’t worry about me. He’s going to kill me quickly. What he’s going to do to you...” Keirth rolled over so that he could see the door to the bay they were in. “Get out of here.”

What was Risciter going to do to her? Ariana didn’t understand. She was so confused. She looked at Keirth, still tied up, and then at the door.

“Go!” he said.

She got to her feet and went to the door. She hit the button to open it. It blinked red at her. “It’s locked.”

“I know a universal override code,” said Keirth. “Pull the control panel protector down. There should be a key pad there.”

“There are universal override codes?”

“How do you think repairmen fix stuck doors?” Keirth asked.

She’d never thought about it before. She felt a little uncomfortable, though, knowing that locks didn’t really mean much of anything to anyone who had an override code. She removed the control panel protector. Sure enough, there was a key pad underneath. Number keys stacked in rows. “Okay, I see the key pad.”

Keirth told her the sequence of numbers.

She tried to keep up, but he was going too fast. She turned away from the door. “Let me try to untie you.”

“What? You can’t type in numbers?” Keirth sounded disgusted.

She hurried back over to Keirth and started on his knot. “I’d rather you do it. Once I get out there, I don’t know how to get out of the ship. What if I run into Risciter?”

“Haven’t you been on his ship before? How do you not know the way out?”

“I’ve never seen this part!” She wasn’t having any luck with the ropes at his wrist. The knot was too tight. She couldn’t get her fingers into it to loosen it.

“Try untying my feet,” said Keirth. “If I can walk, we can get out, and we’ll find something to cut the rope with.”

“Okay.” She nodded. She’d never been so confused and so frightened before. Her heart was pounding. She turned her attention to the knot at Keirth’s feet. It was much less tight. It took her a few tries, but, like the knot on her own ankles, she was able to untie it.

Ariana helped him to his feet. His hands were still tied behind his back. The two of them went back over to the door. Keirth told her the override code, more slowly this time. She punched it in, and the two halves of the door slid open diagonally.

“Okay,” Keirth whispered. “Now, be quiet.”

They crept through the door into a dark passageway. Keirth nudged her forward. She really had no idea where they were. She’d never spent time on the lower level of the ship. As they kept walking, though, she recognized the engine room on her left. It was silent. The ship wasn’t moving.

From above them, there was a noise. Footfalls above their head on the upper level of the ship. And whistling. Risciter was whistling.