CH 141: His Wife
Jasmine slipped past the panicking traffickers, using the chaos to explore the stronghold. She would slip into alcoves or under furniture in her mission to find Firewater’s wife.
One last room for her to check. Astrid’s personal chambers. Jasmine should have guessed that, but she wanted to be thorough. She hadn’t seen the traffickers’ leader yet and wanted to avoid unnecessary risk
Jasmine emerged from the shadows before Astrid’s door. It was closed, likely locked. She felt a pit form in her stomach, but she pushed the feeling down. She peeked through the keyhole, surveying what she could.
No signs of life or movement.
Jasmine pulled the keys from earlier after surveying her surroundings. One after another, she tried each one. She cursed under her breath as she slipped a small pin from her belt. Lockpicking wasn’t her strongest skill, but she knew enough.
The added pressure made her hands sweat. It did not help as she slowly tested the lock. She flinched at the first sharp click. She steadied her breath, listening to her surroundings.
Still no movement.
She slowly exhaled as she felt for the next pin. Gently, she prodded at the lock, using a small letter opener as a tensioner. She felt the lock give once more, followed by another click.
Still no movement.
She kept going, pushing the third pin in gently while maintaining the tension. Then the fourth. The lock slowly rotated as her heart pounded. She slipped inside.
The room was empty. Astrid wasn’t here. She closed the door behind her, locking it gently. She needed the place to look untouched, else someone could get suspicious.
Next, she dropped beside the bed. She slipped underneath the frame, hiding her entire body as she scanned the room. There was a closet to the right of the door and likely a washroom to the left.
Two doors. One had to hide Firewater’s wife, but Astrid was still unaccounted for.
Jasmine slowly exhaled. She decided to check the closet first. While it is the least likely to have Firewater’s wife, she knew women like Astrid could be incredible cowards. It wouldn’t surprise her to find the woman hiding in the closet.
She sprang out from under the bed and opened the closet. Clothes, swords, and an assortment of shoes, but nothing else. Just as quickly, she closed the door. Her eyes were focused on the bathroom, expecting anything to move.
She held her ear up to the other door, listening. Finally, she heard some signs of life behind the door. Labored breathing. Jasmine slowed her rapidly beating heart as she turned the knob gently.
Without any noise, she cracked the door open to peek within. She silenced her gasp upon seeing the room. It wasn’t a bathroom nor a washroom, it was a torture room.
Whips lined the wall she could see, dried blood stained the floor. A series of restraints, shackles, and cruel devices littered the room. Jasmine gently opened the door wider, observing every inch that was revealed.
She was in there. Olive-green skin and light brown hair with lifeless yellow eyes. Firewater’s wife was shackled to the wall, staring off into nothing. Jasmine slipped in, seeing no trace of Astrid.
She didn’t even react to Jasmine showing herself. Didn’t even look up. Jasmine studied the goblin woman, noting the many scars and open wounds from whips. Her neck had scarring from iron restraints, and some of her wounds looked infected.
Jasmine knelt before the woman, gently caressing her hand. The woman flinched, and her eyes widened with terror. She blinked rapidly at the unknown visitor. Before she could even make a sound, Jasmine covered her mouth.
“Shhh, your husband sent me.” The goblin woman’s eyes widened before tears began to well up. “He’s fighting downstairs. I need to know where Astrid is.”
Firewater’s wife slowly nodded, her tears flowing freely. There was hope in her eyes as Jasmine pulled her hand away.
“She’s downstairs in the dungeon.” The goblin woman struggled to say. Her voice was raspy and labored. “New boys needed her attention…”
Jasmine nodded. That explains it. She must have joined the battle from downstairs. Jasmine surveyed the area, looking for keys to the restraints. “I’ll get you out. To our healer, then I’ll rejoin the fight.”
The woman shook her head. “After… save those boys.”
Jasmine gave her a warm smile, squeezing her hand. “We can do both. Besides, I promised Firewater to rescue you.”
Her eyes lit up upon hearing his name, a smile finally appearing on her face. “That idiot… I’m not worth riski-”
“He knew you’d say that.” Jasmine chuckled, cutting her off. “Now come on, the sooner I get you out of here, the sooner I can join my party.”
She nodded, fighting the smile that threatened to grow wider on her face. “Keys are behind the door.”
Jasmine nodded and swiped them. She unlatched the woman, and she fell limp into Jasmine’s arms. She hoisted the woman over her shoulder, adjusting her balance to compensate.
Jasmine listened to the room outside, hearing nothing. She slowly opened the door to find an untouched room. Slower than before, she crept towards the outer door.
She could hear the panic of battle and scuffling just outside the door. She cracked the door open, surveying the immediate area. She saw a woman dash past, and she quickly shut the door.
Jasmine bit her lip. She could escape by herself easily, but she’d have to leave the wife here. As she was thinking, the goblin woman was concentrating. Jasmine’s concentration was broken by the woman’s faint voice.
A spell circle surrounded her as the woman spoke in her kind’s native tongue. Jasmine almost dropped the woman, fearing this was a trap. But the circle slowly faded as the battle outside got louder.
A powerful warcry, one far deeper than Ursa’s, sounded throughout the hall. The goblin woman struggled to laugh despite the pain as the fighting got louder.
“He’s the best distraction.” She muttered weakly.
Jasmine pressed her ear up against the wall, hearing a flurry of steel hitting steel in the distance. The uninterrupted warcry grew closer and closer as the goblin woman shifted in her grip.
Jasmine exhaled sharply, picking up on the plan. The woman clung tightly, with both her arms and legs, to the assassin as the raging warrior approached them.
With a thundering crash, he passed.
The husband, blinded by rage, kept fighting, missing the door to his wife entirely. With a faint, but painful giggle, the goblin woman spoke. “It should be clear now.”
Jasmine opened the door quickly, ignoring the cleaved bodies and blood littering the hallway. She raced past it down to the first floor, finding signs of both Firewater’s blade and Ursa’s axe littering the stronghold.
“How the hell did Claire beat him?” She muttered, finally past all the devastation.
She’d seen steel bent and bodies crumbled, similar to Ursa’s wake. It made her trained stomach churn to see.
“Didn’t have his wife to push his buttons,” the goblin rasped.
Jasmine shook her head and exhaled. She glanced out to the fight in the courtyard. Claire blocked the hole in the wall, barring escape. Ursa was fighting while weaving between volleys of arrows.
The archer was still up top, judging by the trajectory. If she were smart, she’d target Jasmine if she sprinted across the field. But the archer was also ignoring Claire, who was a far easier target.
Jasmine took a deep breath, thankful not to see any of the boys’ corpses littering the field. She slipped Firewater’s wife through the open window before following her. She picked her back up and focused.
“I’m sorry for the pain, but we need to move fast.”
With a nod, the goblin woman braced herself. She bit into Jasmine’s shirt, doing her best to stifle her cries. With all her might and energy, Jasmine sprinted across the battlefield in a blur.