"We've got to help them!" Kestra cried.
"If we get the rope back up to you, where can you tie it off?" Tenger called.
A woman's panicked voice came from higher up. "Nowhere. We're trapped!"
I looked at the rope in my hands, dreading the decision that had to be made. Someone on top of the wall would have to hold the rope for the other prisoners. Nothing else would work.
"There's a pounding sound!" Rosalie cried. "The guards are breaking down their cell door!"
When I had been eleven and slipped into the pit, my first instinct had been to get back up on top, to return to the main part of the cell. Thin outcroppings of rock dotted the wall, muddy and slippery, but with workable holds if you could find them. I had tried making the climb until my injured foot failed.
But I wouldn't fail now.
I threw the rope over my shoulder, then put my hands on the first hold. "I can climb this and lower everyone down."
"Then you'll be stuck up there!" Kestra said.
"I'll slide down on my back, like I did before."
She shook her head. "Luck saved you that day, nothing more. And you still got hurt in the fall." She turned to Tenger. "Let me climb out. I can't stand being in this pit anyway, and I'm strong enough to lower the others down."
Trina shouted, "She knows where the dagger really is! She wants to take it and escape on her own!"
"I can escape--that's my point. Simon won't! The guards never saw me here. I can play innocent. With my family name, they'll have to believe me."
"No." I respected Kestra's courage, but not her impulsivity. "Even if you convince them, returning to Woodcourt is not an option."
"Help us!" a woman above us called. "The guards have nearly broken down their door."
Tenger pointed to the remaining prisoners. "Everyone, get into that tunnel!"
"I'll stay with Lady Kestra," Gerald offered.
But Kestra shook her head. "I want you to go."
"My lady--"
She leaned closer to him, her voice rising in intensity as she said, "Gerald, you have to go. You know what you have to do." He clearly wasn't happy about the order, but bowed his head and obeyed.
Next, Tenger said to Trina, "You and Kestra will stay down here until we find the Blade."
"No!" Kestra shouted. "You need Simon more than you need me. I'm going on top!"
Tenger rubbed his chin, considering her, then me. When his attention fixed on Kestra again, his expression softened. He was going to choose her. That was unacceptable.
Despite the fierce pounding of my heart, it was time to do the right thing. I hoped this was right. "We have to keep Kestra with us. If she escapes up there, everything she knows about the Olden Blade goes with her."
"How dare you--" Kestra started.
"She'll stay in this pit until she finds it." There was ice in Trina's voice. "Or stay in this pit forever."
"You will not keep me here!" Kestra backed away from us, targeting her anger at me. "This is what I get for trusting you?"
I wouldn't let her go on top, but I wouldn't give Trina a reason to threaten her either. Barely looking at Kestra, I whispered, "Give it to them."
"I don't know what you--"
"We both know. It's over."