The Underground Witch (Incenaga Trilogy) by Debbie Dee Read Free Book Online Page B

dampen the sounds, every movement echoed down the corridors and back into their faces.
    The door opened and Orrin’s voice rumbled from within the dark room. He opened the door further and the light from the corridor flooded his face. He grinned.
    “Erick? Emmeline? What brings you to my door at such a late hour? Don’t tell me you’ve called off the wedding! This old man needs to see a grandbaby before his time is through.”
    Emmeline glanced at Erick. She didn’t want to be the one to tell her father there wouldn’t be time for a wedding, let alone grandchildren. Orrin looked from Emmeline, to Erick, and then back to Emmeline. His face turned ashen.
    “ Forgive us for the intrusion so late in the evening,” Erick said. “We have important matters to discuss, sir. May we come in?”
    “Of course, of course,” Orrin said as he opened the door wider. “Come in.” He looked at Emmeline, as if waiting for her to explain her expression.
    Emmeline ’s tongue turned to sandpaper. She couldn’t speak. How could she tell her father that the very thing that had destroyed his life seventeen years before was about to happen again. She looked to Erick for help.
    Erick closed the door and the room became quieter than even the night-time corridor. The rise and fall of everyone’s breaths rose to deafening levels until Erick finally spoke.
    “When you were in Volarcus last fall, did you hear anything about an army being raised?”
    Orrin rubbed his chin and scowled. “I don’t believe so. But I didn’t hear much of anything while holed up in that cell. ”
    Emmeline cringed.
    “We received a letter today ,” Erick said. “Someone claims to have amassed an army stronger than Dolmerti’s. They are coming for Emmeline.”
    Orrin sucked in a breath so deep it could have filled his whole body. “For Emmeline?” he nearly shouted, his eyes wide.
    “Yes, he wants her power as an Incenaga.”
    Orrin leaned against the wall, his shoulder pushed up near his ear to support his weight. “Will it never stop?” He stared ahead.
    “I’m so sorry,” Emmeline said with her hand stretched toward her father. But he continued staring forward so she let it fall to her side. “I never wanted this to happen to you again.”
    Orrin straightened and gathered Emmeline in his arms. “Oh my sweet one, don’t apologize. You are not to blame.”
    “I can take her away ,” Erick said. “He’ll never be able to find her.”
    Emmeline broke from her father’s hold. “The letter specifically said not to hide me.”
    “ Who says we have to listen!” Erick shouted. He rubbed the back of his neck and lowered her voice. “I’m sorry. What I meant is that I don’t care what it says. I’m taking you away. I know just the place we can go.” He paced across the room, his head bowed in thought.
    Emmeline shook her head. “He said he would know how to find me.”
    “He’s bluffing.”
    “Unless he has someone who knows Dolmerti. Someone who knows you.”
    Erick stopped pacing and looked at her. “Mahlon?”
    Emmeline nodded. “We never found him.”
    “I can still hide you.”
    “ We can’t run forever. Your people need you. You are the last remaining heir to the crown and your father isn’t well.”
    “But if you aren’t here, you will be safe ,” Erick argued.
    “And then what? Do I never come back? Do I hide forever? Dolmerti is my home now.”
    “No,” Orrin said. “You cannot leave. If Mahlon is behind this then he will be able to find you wherever you go. I have a pile of rubble deep in the forest of Pamizak that will attest to that. I wasn’t able to hide her and neither will you.”
    Erick pounded his fist on a table. “I won’t sit back and wait for an army to come for her. We’ll prepare for an attack. We’ll cut them off at the pass to Thortom. It is the only entrance into Dolmerti from Volarcus.”
    “ You cannot leave Emmeline alone,” Orrin said. His lips quivered. Harskell had come for her mother