Through half-shut eyes, Matti drags herself along the dingy tunnel, with Vlaken trailing close behind. She sniffs, trying to dislodge the smell of stale air mixed with dust that puffs up into the surrounding air with every step. Looking back, she sees only darkness, with darkness ahead, her heart skips a beat. Not they have seen or heard a sound since leaving the section under the throne room of Norridan, but the eeriness clamps fear around her. Her mind not knowing what is worse, hearing and seeing, or the utter silence that surrounds them.

"Matti?" Vlaken's voice echoes through the tunnel, his voice carrying along. It makes her jump at the sudden noise.

"By the Gods! You made me jump out of my skin, Vlaken. What is it?"

"Ah, um, do you know... how long this place is?" His hands bunch up as he asks tentatively.

"No," she says bluntly. "Neymar did not say how long it was or how long it would take to reach the grove, but it is a fair way off from the capital. I would think it wouldn't take us longer than a day."

"But we have no food or water," Vlaken complains.

"Yes, I realise that, but there wasn't really an ideal time to grab anything. Was there? Anyway, my feet hurt too, so we should rest here for a bit and then keep moving. We do not know if the throne will be secure or not. Those things," she spits the word. "Could be behind us."

"By the Gods, I hope not," Vlaken says as he drops to the floor, his body sending up a plume of dust, making them both cough.

"My thanks for that little treat," she chides him. "This tunnel must not have been travelled in an age. I hope the way out is not blocked."

"Why would you say that? " he scoffs. "Now all I am going to think about is a blocked-up doorway at the end of this damn tunnel!"

"Sorry."

"Ah, so am I. I didn't mean to snap at you, it's just..."

"I understand, it has been a trying day for us both." Matti turns to face him. She blinks, then smears dust as she wipes at her face. It gives her the look of a painted doll that you could get from one of the stalls down in the market.

It makes Vlaken laugh aloud, "Ha, that is the first time I have laughed in what feels like an age. You have smeared dirt all across your face, Matti."

"Where?" she asks, rubbing at her face, but just making it worse.

"Ha, ha! You are making it worse." Vlaken moves to get up but falls, landing heavily but still laughing. "Oh, no. It hurts. Please stop, ha, ha."

"Stop it," she chides him, but lets herself have a giggle. "Stop, it," she says, hitting his arm.

"Okay, okay. Just stop hitting me, will you?"

Matti falls back with a grin, momentarily forgetting about their situation. She muses about how her life is playing out. I have gone from a farmer's daughter to the kidnapped. Then from a prisoner to meeting a King and becoming the future queen. Well, nearly a future queen. Now that doesn't look at all promising anymore. What am I to do?

"Do you ever think we will return?" Vlaken asks.

Matti turns to him before getting to her feet. "We will. One day we will return. I do not know when that will be, but I promise that we will return and claim back the capital." She holds out a hand, and he takes it eagerly. "Right, let's get out of this wretched tunnel, shall we?"

"Yes, that sounds good," he smiles. "Lead the way."

"Come on. Let's go."

Matti leads, moving along the tunnel once more. Her feet still sift up puffs of dust with every step, but she no longer cares. Her only mission is to reach the end and leave this musty old place.

⛬

Several turns later and with squinting eyes, Matti sees light ahead of them. She smiles, and her face aches from the lack of it. She lengthens her strides as Vlaken notices the light as well.

"Is that... a light?" he asks.

"You bet it is," Matti replies. She breaks into a run, her tired legs forgotten for the moment. She picks up speed as excitement builds within, not sure if the thought of light is the cause or if she just wanted to get out of the tunnel. "Come on!" she shouts. Her footsteps sending up plumes of little dust tornadoes with every step. But she doesn't care, she just wants to run and be free of this place, so she lets herself go.

"Wait for me!" Vlaken shouts, now more than ten paces behind.

They are both sprinting now, their breathing laboured from the sudden influx of movement after turns of trudging along. Finally reaching the end, they see the light for what it is: a square box that shines brighter than even the light globes that are dotted around the castle. Another one? Matti stares at it unbelieving before looking beyond the halo of light to a solid wooden door blocking their path. The outside is wrought in iron bands with a substantial draw bolt top and bottom. She steps towards it but stops as she sees another inscription elegantly scratched into the panels.

"Matti, what is that light? Have you ever seen anything of the like?"

"Only once," she replies absently, her mind focused on the script in front of her. She reaches forward, running her fingers across the strange writing.

"Where have you seen one? It's like nothing I have seen before."

"A secret passage hidden in one of the walls to my rooms. That is how I survived the fire. But look at this," she points. "More of the ancient language has been scratched into the wood here. It is amazing, the way it curves and intertwines with itself."

"If you say so, will it open? I would really like to see daylight."

"Mmm, I hope so. It looks like any normal door. Maybe if..."

Reaching forward, Matti pulls back the bottom bolt, it screeches in the silence, making her wince, but with enough force, she manages to pull it back. She does the same with the top, pulling harder. She moves it out of the way, it hits the latch with a thud, then she stands back puffing with exertion.

"Well, that's promising," Vlaken says.

She turns to him with a grin, "Let's see, shall we?" Stepping forward she grabs the latch and lifts, it moves easily, clicking up then Matti pushes. It moves an inch, but that's it. "Help me."

Vlaken does as he's asked and pushes with her. Together they struggle with the door. They move it inch by inch, then all of a sudden brilliant beams of light break through the gap, bathing them in its warm glow.

The blue light illuminates the tunnel beyond, ridding it of its shadows. They push harder, opening the door wide enough for them to slip through.

Matti goes first, stepping into the light she is hit with an aroma of smells. She closes her eyes and spins. Her skin sucks in the light, her senses overloading. Her nose twitches as she is infused with the rich, earthy aroma of soil mixed with the sweet-smelling sap among the trees to the soft silkiness of the leaves that blow in the gentle breeze around her.

"By the Gods, that feels good. To feel the breeze again. It feels wonderful." She spins around again, taking it all in as if she'd been locked away for countless years.

"That's strange," Vlaken says. "It is day. Morning by the height of the suns. We must have been in the tunnel all night."

Only now realising, Matti stops and stares up at the green sky above. She covers her eyes, taking in the position of the suns. "I think you are right, Vlaken. No wonder I feel so tired, but all I want to do is bathe in this glorious sunlight."

"It is nice to be out of there, I must say."

Matti turns toward Vlaken with a smile then stops, her jaw goes slack at the sight behind him. Five paces from where he stands is the door they came through, but it is what is beyond that makes her speechless. The door sits at the base of an enormous tree trunk that spans nearly twenty paces to either side. Staring up, Matti takes in the edges of the trunk, which has been moulded into a beautiful sculpture of a woman. Carved somehow maybe by majic she does not know.

"How..." she falters, mesmerised. "It is... beautiful."

"What are you..." Vlaken breaks off as he turns.

"She is amazing," Matti whispers. "But how did they... who could have done a thing like this?"

"She is a goddess. Could it be the Mother?"

"It could be, yes. Maybe it is her, Vlaken. Look at how it has been sculpted. She seems to have been grown from the very trunk itself. I don't know..."

"It is a marvel, that it is, Matti. I am glad to have seen such a thing."

"It is the Mother. I believe it has to be. I just wonder who or what could have made something so beautiful?"

"I am sure we will never know. I do not think we are meant to know. Not something like this."

Matti moves closer, she steps to the side, running a hand along the rough bark as she stares up at the carving. She stands alone, a miniature compared to the woman above. Looking down at herself, Matti stares at the hem of her dress, the white undergarment now a shade of dark grey. The rest of it has turned from vibrant, shimmering green to a dull shade of its former self. With a sudden pang of embarrassment and the enormous sculpture momentarily forgotten, she wipes at herself, trying to rid it of the fine, dusty coat it now wears.

"What are you doing?" Vlaken asks. "You know that won't work?"

"I need to clean it. I just need to get the dirt off, then it will be fine. I can do it, I can," Matti mumbles.

"Matti. It is okay, you don't need—"

"I do," she cries. "I have to... to make it like... like it was. I have to—"

"Matti, look at me. Matti! Look around yourself, look at where we are. Do not let what happened consume you. We escaped, we got away, and now we cannot break." Vlaken steps closer, his arms outstretched. "We are alive."

She looks at him now, tears filling her eyes. She sucks in the sweet fresh air and blinks, sending them rolling down her cheeks. Her lip trembles before she falls to her knees, finally letting herself feel. Her emotions burst from her and she weeps uncontrollably until she has nothing left. She sniffs and rubs at her now dry eyes before looking up at Vlaken standing awkwardly three paces away, his hands thrust into his pockets and his eyes looking everywhere but at her.

"Thank you for trying to help and for letting me cry. I needed it."

"You are... welcome? I didn't know what to do, really. I have not been around many... women. I wasn't sure if I should, oh, I don't know." He shrugs and smiles at her.

"Well, thank you anyway. I think everything just caught up to me. I thought about—"

"No need to explain to me, Matti. I am following you, remember. I'll do what I can, but I'm not sure what exactly."

"Vlaken, you saved me. Back at the castle, I would have died if not for you."

"Well, we both would have died if not for you. I'm just glad I was there. By the Gods, I do not know what would have become of me? I wonder..." He pauses before looking down. "I wonder if anyone is left alive?"

"I hope so, I really do. If we could survive, maybe there is hope, you know?"

"Maybe," he replies softly.

"Don't look so down, eh. You said it: we are alive, and that is the main thing. We survived."

"Maybe."

"What do you mean?" she asks.

Looking at her now, Vlaken steps closer, offering his hand. She takes it, and he helps her to her feet. "We may be alive, but where do we go from here? I am not a skilled hunter and I know nothing of the forest. I was born and raised in Norridan."

"Thank you. Luckily, I know where to go. Neymar said there is a cabin out here with supplies. We should find it."

The news lifts Vlaken, and he grins. "That is the best news I have heard in a long time. But wait, which direction do we go?"

"Neymar said when you leave the tunnel, I was to go straight until I came to a small lake. Go around to the right of it until I reached a copse of silver birch trees, then take a narrow pathway on the right-hand side. He said to just go straight from there and I would eventually get there."

"How do you remember all of this?"

"Mother always said I had a head for remembering things. Aurora not so much, but I always remember."

"Who is Aurora?" he asks.

Matti pauses before answering, "Aurora is my... was, my sister," she corrects herself.

"I am sorry, Matti. I truly am. The only family I have now is the king."

"You have me," she says with a smile, receiving a small one in response. "We should get moving. Maybe I can tell you about her on the way?"

"I would like that."

"Come on then, it's this way."

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