Chapter 11 – A Possible Redemption

I lay on my bed, my eyes tear-stained. I was only half-conscious. I woke up when I heard an unfamiliar voice whisper my name.

"Abriella!" It said. "Wake up!"

I sat up and rubbed my eyes as someone shook me awake. I blinked in the light of an oil lamp. The face I looked into surprised me so much that I rubbed my eyes again in disbelief. It was the Adderhead's china doll wife. What had her name been? Ariana? Yes, that was her name. What was she doing there?

"What is it?" I asked, yawning and throwing back my covers. I was still fully dressed, wearing the same dress I had worn when I had left the Castle of Night several weeks before.

Ariana backed up and stood tall. She was my height, and she stood before me with a kind of pride that I hadn't known she possessed.

"I know how you feel," she said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I once loved a man," she said, a dreamy look taking over her eyes. "He was the most wonderful man in the world." Her expression grew cloudy. "But the Adderhead had him killed and took me for his own." She looked down at me. "I don't want you to go through the same thing I went through. So come," she beckoned to me from the doorway, "I will take you to your Prince."

"Why?" I whispered, grabbing a robe – because it was cold in the Castle of Night when the sun wasn't shining – and following behind her as she strode down the castle halls, as though she traversed them all the time. "Shouldn't you be with your husband?" I asked in a whisper.

"He is sleeping – for once," she said. "I gave him something in his tea to help him sleep. He will be asleep for a good three hours. But believe you me – I doubt it will last that long on someone as stubborn as he is."

I nodded. I didn't have much time.

She led me down and down until we reached the door that led down into the prison below the Castle of Night. I had never been there before, and I now knew why – it smelled of rotting flesh, human excrement, and bile. The guards standing at the gate crossed their spears and wouldn't let us pass until they had proof that the Adderhead had allowed us to pass. Ariana produced a piece of paper signed by the Adderhead, and sealed in black wax with his signet ring. I didn't ask how she had gotten him to sign the papers, allowing us to pass.

The guards, who were mostly illiterate, wouldn't let us pass until Ariana demanded, in a voice that demanded respect, "Would you like to join the Bluejay and his minions at the gallows when it comes time? Or will you let us through? My husband, the Adderhead, will be very angry if he finds out that you disobeyed his direct orders." She stood proud, her belly sticking out, and that was when I realized that she was pregnant again. Poor woman. The Adderhead would probably get rid of the child now that he already had an heir.

The guards finally let us pass, and Ariana led me down the steps as the stench wafting up them grew stronger and stronger, until I thought I would choke on the fumes. We reached the bottom of the steep steps after about five minutes. I had never encountered a set of stairs that led so far underground.

Ariana led me past several closed, barred, doors. I didn't want to look and see what was inside. I was afraid of seeing a dead body covered in rats.

We reached the cell where the Motley Folk were after another five minutes. Judging by what Ariana had said earlier, I had even less time than before to talk to Corwin.

"Prince?" I whispered, kneeling down on the filthy straw that smelled of urine. "It's me, Abriella."

Corwin came forward, his face difficult to distinguish from the stone walls. "Your master let you come and interrogate us, did he?" He asked, the scorn obvious in his voice.

I took his insults very well, surprising myself. "No," I said. "I want to apologize again, and I want to help."

"You've done enough," he said, and began to turn away.

I reached through the bars and grabbed his tunic in my pale white hand, so different from his own. "Corwin," I whispered in a hushed voice, so gently that no one else heard me but him. He stopped. "Please," I said. "Let me help. I'm the only one who can."

He turned back to me. "Kill the Adderhead," he said in a whisper.

"How?" I asked. "He's surrounded by guards."

Just then, Silvertongue's daughter came up to me. I hadn't realized she was with the strolling players. "You have to find the book," she hissed. She had overheard us. "Find the book my father bound for the Adderhead; the one that makes him immortal. Only that can kill him."

"I don't understand," I whispered back.

"Destroy the book," she whispered. "And he will no longer be immortal. Then he can be killed."

"We have to go now," Ariana whispered. "The guards are going to change in a minute, and the Adderhead won't stay asleep forever."

I grasped Corwin's hand for a brief moment, and whispered in his ear, "He's as good as dead." Then I stood and left, letting Ariana take me back to my room.

Once there, I turned to her. "Ariana," I said. "I need your help."

"Just tell me what you need," she said.

I explained to her what I needed her to do, and she agreed. But we couldn't do it that night; we needed at least a day to prepare.

I returned to my bed, and she returned to hers. I didn't know about her, but I dreamt I was in Corwin's arms, while the Adderhead held a sword pointed at my throat. I woke up again an hour before dawn and couldn't get back to sleep, the image of the Adderhead's snarling butcher's face looming over me too frightening.

AN: Another super short chapter, but less of a filler. I wanted to write something quick so I could allow the story to progress sooner. – And so I wouldn't get trampled by angry reviewers demanding and update. :) JK. Review, please, and let me know what you think. No flames, please.