Right, I don't Inkheart....I do, however, own this story...and most of the characters. Just not the Adderhead....or any other recognizable characters.

This is my new story (Silver Prison), and I hope it proves a most enjoyable read...I had fun writing...

Chapter 1—Silver's Price

Suzy brought the pickaxe up and over her head. Then, in one quick and decisive blow, brought it down to strike against the tunnel wall in front of her. She let a broad smile play across her face as she finally struck gold—or should she say silver? She worked in the Adderhead's silver mine. The Prince of Silver had to get his silver somehow…even if it did cost innocent children their lives. They lost several children due to cave-ins and starvation. Children Suzy knew.

Just like so many other people, Suzy hated the Adderhead. He didn't care that children lost their lives all because he was greedy. Why should he? The Adderhead was royalty after all. That's what Suzy liked to pretend she was. Royalty. She imagined her skin was no longer covered in soot, but, rather, it was as white as snow. Suzy would often let her imagination wander as she went about the familiar task of striking stone. Sometimes, her imagination took her to the colorful streets of Ombra; other times, she would roam The Wayless Wood with the Motley Folk. Suzy thought the only reason she hadn't died yet, was because of her imagination. It had sprinkled seeds of hope into her heart, and finally, after so many years, those seeds had begun to grow.

"Suzy?"

Startled by the sudden sound, Suzy spun around. She was faced by the boyish face of Tick. Tick wasn't his real name. Like many other miners, he couldn't remember it, but that didn't matter. He quickly adopted Tick as a name. And, like all the other child miners, he was short. He was, however, special; because, just like Suzy, he had arrived in the mines five years ago. Hardly any children made it past a year, but both Tick and Suzy were lucky. They managed to find silver at least once a week, allowing them to be fed. The Adderhead had made explicit orders that only the children who found silver were to be fed.

"Alright, Tick, what do you have for me today? Did we lose anyone?"

Tick smiled from ear to ear. "Nope! Vipe says we're almost through, too."

Suzy sucked in a sharp breath of air. Almost through…they were almost through. Suzy's eyes began to dance with joy. All of the enslaved children had secretly been building a second way out of the mine. They did this at night, when the Adder's guards thought they would all be sleeping. The guards couldn't fit through the mine's narrow entrance to check on them either. The guards were mainly there to keep the children from escaping; they were smart enough to figure out that the children would work without being told. After all, if you didn't work, you didn't get food. Something they all needed.

"Did Vipe tell you how much longer?" Suzy asked, her momentary joy fading.

Tick hesitated. "He, uh, said something 'bout it, but…"

Suzy picked up where Tick left off. "You don't remember,"

"Yeah…sorry, Suzy. I was in such a hurry to get here an' tell you how close—"

Suzy laid a hand on Tick's shoulder. "I understand, Tick. No need to explain." And, with that being said, Suzy walked in the direction where Vipe was sure to be.

:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:

"Jarse, ya moron! Watch where ya swing that thing!" Vipe exclaimed as he dove to the ground, right as a pickaxe sailed over where his head had just been. Vipe rose to his feet, face crimson out of rage. "No wonder so many of us die," Vipe said, anger lying under the surface of his words. "We have people like you working down here."

A few children chuckled, while Jarse bent his head. Vipe's words had buried themselves underneath his skin, and they were eating away at him like acid. It was true, people died down here not just because the Adderhead didn't feed them, but because people like him made mistakes. Jarse felt wetness run down his cheek. He was crying. He was crying just like a little boy. Jarse might have only been ten, but the little boy inside him had died long ago.

Jarse looked up as Vipe started grumbling to himself. "Sorry," Vipe said, a sour expression on his face. Jarse had to smile at that. Getting an apology out of Vipe was like teaching a blind man how to read—impossible.

"Now," Vipe continued, while picking up Jarse's dropped pickaxe. "Get back to work. We're almost through. Almost through…" Vipe whispered the words as if this were all a dream, and saying them any louder would shatter it.

Vipe turned away from Jarse, and came face to face with Suzy. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but although he was older than Suzy, he felt that Suzy had more power in this operation that him. After all, Suzy was the one who had organized it all. She had come to him with the idea, and since the younger children looked up to Vipe, he had enacted it. The children, knowing what the final outcome would be, had readily agreed to help.

"Tick says we're close to finishing…" Suzy started, "How much longer?"

Vipe smiled mockingly. "No time for hello's?"

"You wish we could afford to waste time," Suzy replied in a serious tone.

"Relax, relax, it was a joke. Besides, dreams and wishes are all we are allowed to have down here." Vipe trailed his hand along the stone wall. "I think I'm going to miss this place, too. Don't look at me like that," He snapped, taking in Suzy's expression. She obviously thought him crazy. Well, he had lived in a hole in the ground for so many years, he might as well be. "I've lived down here since I was younger than you; I have become quite attached to this place. All the same, I still could use some fresh air."

"Then how much longer?" Suzy pressed. Vipe always got this way around her, she had a feeling it was because she was a girl. Thus, easier to talk to.

Vipe ran a hand through his hair while he went through the calculations, as if for the hundredth time. "At the rate we are digging now, I say a few weeks at the most; days at the least."

Suzy barely resisted the urge to jump in the air in celebration. With the low ceiling, that probably wouldn't be the best idea.

"Do they know?" She asked, nodding her head towards the other children.

"Our childhood might have been taken from us long ago, but we haven't lost the ability to tell when somethin's up."

Suzy just stared at him. "So, do they know?"

"Yes," Came the quick reply.

"Alright then," Suzy said slowly, lost in thought. "I guess I should--"

"Suzy!"

Suzy turned at the calling of her name. "Tick?" She said, horrified.

It wasn't the fact that Tick had shown up out of nowhere that had shocked her. Rather, it was the fact that Tick had brought the White Women with him.

So....your thoughts on this? Oh, and I might have just snuck this chapter up here without my beta giving it a one over...Shh! Don't tell.