They walk in silence, not thinking about their little chat and all they find is one dead end after another. The place seems like an ancient maze and them, destined to roam the hallways forever. It is hard to keep the spirits up in such situation. Wil would have had an encouraging word or two. But Wil is not with them.
"This is pointless." every step is pulling them away from him. Amberle hits the wall with her whole body. She feels the sting, the reminder of the cut. Half of her arm is bloody and she hasn't even noticed.
"You're hurt."
"It's nothing."
"It's not nothing." Eritrea huffs, exasperated. She takes a jacket and wraps her around Amberle, "I need to look at that."
From the tone, Amberle realizes she shouldn't put up a fight. She smiles – actions over words. "So you do care?"
"That I might have to carry you as literal dead weight until the Elf hunters catch us? Kind of."
She's ignoring the Rover's muttering under her breath… something about being reckless. Like Amberle could ever be the reckless one. In the pitch dark, something on the ground catches her eye. She picks up three dice from the dust. Three blue dice like the elfstones, the color of Wil's eyes. She squeezes them, they give her strength; they keep her calm.
Eretria has needles stashed in her belt. "How do you not hurt yourself with so many… pointy things on you?" she asks, half joking.
"You either learn o the job or die. I'll teach you someday. Now stop squirming."
Someday. Feels like a promising future, the two of them and Wil. "Do you think he made it?"
"Of course he did." comes an instant reply, "He's impossible to get rid of."
"He'll probably swoop in and save the day."
"Exactly. And your talking tree told you that you have long way ahead."
She remembers the vision, the pain, the blood. Eritrea's touch becomes gentler, her gaze softens. "Hey." she dips her head trying to catch Amberle's eye, "What did you see in there?"
And that breaks her. It's like everything that she's been bottling up bursts out. She tells her about the visions, about the stained glass window, death, Wil's blood…
"I'm sorry you had to go through all that." her voice takes an unfamiliar tone.
Amberle moves away, Eretria's fingertips, both callous and tender, glaze over her skin. She is tired and angry, she wants to go back home and crawl into her bed. "Look at this, what we've done. Maybe we should all perish. Start over."
"Because that worked out so well the last time."
"Maybe this time it will. We are probably meant to fail anyway." a desperate cry catches in her throat, "Three orphans, trying to save the world."
"Look on the bright side. At least you were not sold for pocket change."
Amberle manages a small, sad smile. "You shouldn't-"
"I'm not. Look, I got rid of daddy dearest and after we get this stupid mission over with we're free."
She searches for the change in Rover's eyes. She seems sincere. She seemed sincere before. "Eretria, I swear if this is another one of your-"
"Stop." she takes Amberle's hands. It is perhaps the first time that they are not pulling each other away from danger, "I meant that I get you that you have to do this prophesized mission but don't let some magic thing make you believe you feel something you wouldn't have."
Amberle tilts her head, trying to find the meaning behind the unsaid. Is she talking about the mark of a soul mate? How much does she know? Her gaze moves to her wrist than back at Eretria. It's clear she knows enough.
Like spooked by the weight of her own words, Eretria steps back.
She is not all sure what Eretria means exactly, she never is. Closing the gap between them, she pulls Eretria by that stupid belt of hers and takes a leap of faith. "It's not…"
At the sound of the Elf hunters, she feels somewhat relieved, she's not sure how the situation would have panned out.
Hiding is not a good long term plan, so they decide to take out the hunters, one by one. It is hard and terrifying and apart from landing a solid punch or two, Eretria does all the work. As one persistent hunter is lunging at them, Eretria pulls the trigger and the body falls on her. There is a look of horror on Eretria's face, her hands are shaking as she is struggling to get away. Amberle remembers her words 'I'm no killer' and regrets not believing them. She pulls Eretria up, they need to run.
In the end, it is her who stops because she sees it. It is a map, the map to Safehold, another push of destiny. They were meant to fall, to find it. Now, all they have to do is survive. Ultimately, the map is exactly how they find themselves in front of a pointing crossbow. Or, to be more precise, in front of Eretria's ex. Between thinking of a way out and not allowing Eretria to shield her completely, Amberle is trying to process this newfound information on Rover's life. Something she cannot decipher is bubbling inside her.
"I'm impressed. Not bad for a pampered princess and her… what are you - her pet?" the huntress, Zora, asks with a sneer.
Amberle can feel the fury rising inside Eretria, threatening to surface so she puts a hand on the small of her back. She remains relatively calm.
Of course, Zora as well does not care about the fact that the world is about to end. "Enough princess!" she turns to Eretria, "I hope you didn't sell yourself cheap because this one is a real pain."
"Well, it's less humiliating than scavenging for ears."
Zora laughs heartily at that. "You'd know all about humiliation, wouldn't you?"
Eretria grows more tense, if possible. She doesn't deliver a snarky comeback which terrifies Amberle more than Zora's arrow.
"Enough." she steps forward. "We need to go and you need to let us."
"Oh, we're going." her eyes dart to her once lover, "Eretria… tie her up."
Zora is smirking as Eretria is tying Amberle up. Amberle hopes Eretria will look at her, she hopes she can tell her she understands. But she doesn't – not when she's yanking the rope around her wrists, not when Zora presses the blade against her throat and whisper's 'I'll take good care of your princess' into her ear.
Zora pushes Eretria and points the arrow at her. "Shame it had to end this way."
Amberle shuts her eyes, waiting for the sound. Instead, she hears a strange roar from above. Wil appears, kicking the huntress unconscious. In one swift motion, her hands are free and around his neck. "You came." she manages in a broken tone. Eretria runs into his arms. There's no time for long reunion. They grab on the rope and are off the ground.
Amberle is about to let out a sigh of relief when she feels the warmth on her right side disappear. She watches helplessly as Eretria is falling, arrow sticking from her hip. She screams her name and Wil wraps a hand around her waist.
"We have go back!"
"No!" Wil squeezes harder, shielding her from the upcoming arrows. Once again, she she wants to scream for being so helpless.