“Yes, I — promise I will be her perfect bodyguard and partner,” he said.
The Sorceress clapped her hands gleefully. “Wonderful! Come, then, let’s go up, and leave the rest of these wretches to their fates.”
She whirled about and led the both of them back down the hallways, Cerise behind the Sorceress, and Marren behind Cerise. He couldn’t see much more than her yellow tail and brown rear, but somewhere up ahead, there was light, and this had been the first time he’d been allowed out of his cage since he’d been crammed into it.
They reached the long, circular staircase and started up it again, looping around and around as they climbed out of the depths of the earth. He had no idea how long it had been since he first came down these steps. Weeks? Months? It didn’t feel like it had been years. Finally, they reached the main floor, the round room with the drawbridge he’d only seen once before, and they stopped here, the Sorceress leading them out to the center of it.
“Wait here,” said the Sorceress, pointing at him. She turned to Cerise. “And you come with me. We need to talk for a moment.”
Cerise nodded, and followed her to the wall, the boy standing and waiting in the center of the room. “What’s this about?” she said, leaning in to the Sorceress.