Rusk couldn’t tell if he approved or disapproved of Mayor Rose having a literal dungeon, but he was certainly happy for Loretta’s map. It made sneaking around in the middle of the day when there were plenty of eyes to betray him obnoxiously easy. Then again, maybe the servants knew and were rooting for Rusk instead of their boss. That wouldn’t be all that surprising.

The dungeon was full of chains and torture devices but barely any blood, damp, and Felix coughed from the far wall. That’s how Rusk found him in the dark. Never one to dally, Rusk crossed the room with quick but careful strides and despite a few close calls with protrusions on the floor managed not to trip.

“It’s Rusk,” said Rusk when Felix shuddered under his touch.

“Where’s Loretta?” There was an uncharacteristic wheeze to Felix’s voice.

“Safe. Not here.” Rusk groped around and listened to the clank of something hard against the wall. Metal on stonework. Shackles. He had no means of picking the lock and cursed in the older language under his breath. “I promised I’d get you out but now I don’t know if I can.”

“You didn’t have the foresight to steal a key?”

“I could just leave you here.”

“Apologies. I’m a tad uncomfortable at the moment.”

Rusk didn’t doubt that. He wondered if, just this once and because it was for a worthy cause, he could pull a skeleton key out of the Elva. When he tried, he got another arrow instead. He would’ve paused to gripe at his luck except in the faint glow of the Elva he saw the state of Felix. Poor guy was nearly entirely a bruise.

He had to find another way to get him out of here.

“I’m open for ideas,” said Rusk. He fiddled with Felix’s shackles.

“Could wait. They do feed me so I won’t die when I’m down here. Person who comes usually has a ring of keys. I can always hear them jangling.”

Rusk hated the idea of waiting, but he didn’t have any better options unless some miraculous solution presented itself. He found a corner to tuck himself in and heaved a sigh.

“Why help Loretta?” asked Felix. “For that matter, why help me? You could’ve ignored our plight. What are you getting out of your involvement?”

“A healthy conscious,” said Rusk flippantly. Then his tone softened. “I’d make a pretty terrible Hero if I left you two like this.”

Contemplative noise from Felix. Rusk imagined he heard approval.

“How come your boss has got you in here anyway?”

“For pleasure.”

Rusk couldn’t fathom. Felix had to explain it to him like a child, but luckily Felix was patient about it. That or he was too spent for the know-it-all attitude.

“Sometimes he’ll pick a misdemeanor and send me down here, but most often I’ve done nothing against the rules. Perhaps he’s jealous. He sees me and Loretta together and makes assumptions. To Mayor Rose, Loretta is his. She’s his daughter, but also something more. It’s disgusting, so I’ve taken the fall for her whenever I’m able. Turns out Mayor Rose doesn’t mind who pleasures him as long as he’s pleasured.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“What the fuck!” Rusk wanted to kill something. It was a distinctly primal urge. All ire, all fire and fury. “His own daughter? That’s it. I’m dragging you both out of here. Soon as I figure out how.”

“You would do that for us?”

“Hero,” said Rusk by way of explanation.

Felix made a thankful grunt. “Mayor Rose isn’t going to stop. He’ll find other victims once we’re out of range.”

“Obviously.”

“You’re prepared?”

The question hung.

But yes. Rusk was prepared.

“Mayor Rose has connections,” said Felix. “It could put you at an advantage, depending on your goals.”

“I’ll keep that in mind when I’m trying to finagle passage to Sanctuary.”

The conversation came to an abrupt halt when footsteps clopped from the entranceway and keys rattled together in a way that reminded Rusk of Mandy from long ago. He shrank further back into his shadowed corner and made his breathing shallow. The Elva aided him of its own accord. He could feel it like rippling water against his limbs, and he knew viscerally the magic would conceal him. He had no fear of being discovered.

It was the little mousy servant girl. She moved with frantic efficiency, practically leaping through the room to reach Felix. Rusk got the sense she’d done this before. Unlike him she didn’t trip once. Rusk felt the air escape Felix in a long, relieved sigh.

In the dark the keys clambered into the shackle locks very loudly. So loudly Rusk thought someone outside the dungeon might hear. Now that there were three of them present, a paranoia for their safety engulfed him. He couldn’t take it anymore. He sprung out of his corner of shadow.

The little servant girl screamed.

“Shush, Etoile,” said Felix. “He’s on our side. Thought not very bright. Unlike you he forgot to steal the keys.”

“Beg pardon,” said Etoile. “Sir Rusk, you startled me. But we best be going. Guards do their rounds soon.”

“Then we’ll get the drop on them,” said Rusk. “Element of surprise.”

“Are you touched in the head,” hissed Etoile. “What if he comes to later and remembers us? What if he runs? I was going to sneak out, not fight. I know the routes better than anyone else. Mayor Rose thinks I’m a dull thing. Easy for me to make an excuse for my absences. I need you two gone by the time I reach the top of the stairs.”

As much as Rusk wanted to shoot something, he couldn’t argue with that logic. He lowered his chin, remembered the pitch darkness, and spoke aloud. “I’m getting rid of Mayor Rose once Felix is out of here. If I were you, I’d secure other employment.”

Etoile hissed and clucked her tongue but she didn’t argue.

Rusk caught Felix as he fell out of the shackles. He was lighter than Rusk expected, and breathing shallower. Etoile helped Rusk hoist.

But they all came to a halt when they saw the splotch of light spreading further into the dungeon from the stairwell. It flickered about, must have been cast by a torch, and Rusk felt something else from its presence. Something the Elva was reaching out to warn him.

He shifted more of Felix’s weight onto Etoile.

“I can’t be caught down here,” she hissed.

Rusk pulled the Elva Bow out of its shadowed space and knocked one of the Elva Arrows. He squinted at the torchlight and debated whether to take aim.

The cry of a monster made the decision for him. It came from beyond the stairwell, long and wailing but also full of wrath, and the rattle of thick chains preceded its descent.

“What the hell was that?” demanded Etoile in a terrified whisper.

“A monster,” replied Rusk. He took aim. The Elva Bow’s string stretched easily, readily. It wanted to fire. It wanted to display its power. Rusk didn’t loose the arrow just yet. He wanted to see who or what he was dealing with.

Loretta was shoved into the dungeon. In the splotch of torchlight she tripped and yelped and landed sprawled while a figure loomed over her from behind.

“You said she was safe,” said Felix angrily.

“Who’s there?”

“I thought she was,” said Rusk.

Clopping footsteps encroached on Loretta. The chain and the monster echoed behind them. Rusk got a good long look at the person who’d shoved her, thanks to the Elva parting the shadows in his field of vision.

It was Mayor Rose, and behind him there was the monster, gnashing its teeth and tugging at its chains, which Mayor Rose yanked along by the wrist.

The monster was the woman who ran the shop full of seamstress supplies in town. Etoile’s relative.

“Momma,” said Etoile.