The bridge offered cover from above and from the sides, it did not offer solace from the ears of those that might be walking above. It took a lot longer than he wanted moving from one pillar to the next silently but eventually, they made it to the old sewer.
While the sun had come more into view and was bathing the world in its bright light, it had not done much for warming up the water. His pruning hands had started shaking and his teeth could not have been too far gone from beginning to clack.
Much to his surprise, the Princess had not started to shiver yet and the pruning had not affected her quite as much. This woman was made of tougher stuff than most, he had never met another person that was as tough or as durable as he was. He had always attributed that to his curse, now he questioned if he was just a bit more full of himself than he had ever realized.
He had not opened this grate since the last time he had had to sneak from the Palace through the sewage reservoir. It did not look like it had changed since his last visit. He even saw his footprints still pressed in the mud moving up the bank to the grate.
Glancing at Theodora to be sure that she was still following Arrin found footing in the shallow and walked onto the bank following exactly in his old footsteps to the grate.
The Princess followed closely, when she walked out of the water there was a small bit of splashing her ungainly nightshirt grazing the surface.
Aaron turned to her, his eyes bulging slightly, and pressed his finger to his lips to reiterate the need for silence. To be sure she understood he pointed above them and mouthed the word guards. Her only response was a glare but she did walk slower when moving up the bank toward him.
Carefully he reached out and grab the gate pulling gently but with strength. It did not budge. Doubling his efforts he pulled again straining enough to allow a small sound to escape the back of his throat. The great held firm. He released it and shook his hands. They hurt a bit having gone from being cold and pruny to being worked against a rusty iron grate, his hands had felt better.
The sound of wet footsteps moving over his shoulder drew his attention. The Princess approached him with their finger mockingly press hard into her lips. Wordlessly she stepped up beside him grabbed two fistfuls of rusted metal and looked at him with her eyes opened wide and nodded at the grate.
As he placed his hands one above and one below both of hers and readied himself she began the count unprompted with a breathy and quiet, "One, two, three."
On three they both pulled. The final remaining obstacle to their escape from the Palace grounds held firm. Aaron did not even want to think about what they would end up doing should this grate not open. She counted out again and on three they pulled in unison.
The rust on the hinges gave way and the door to their escape squeaked open. It was not a mild squeak. It was more of a loud and metallic creak, metal being forced to turn in a way that it no longer wanted. The underside of the bridge was constructed in such a way that the loud metallic creak was captured by the hollow space and it echoed, sounding a second time but just a bit muted. The noise rang in the air for a few terrifying seconds.
Theodora and the thief-taker froze, holding the door open. She turned her head sideways tilting one ear up toward the bridge.
They did not have to wait for long, "What in the hell was that? Is the bridge giving out? Is it collapsing?" the voice was dulled by the distance and the object between them, a bridge.
"The bridge is made of stone you idiot, that was metal. Something under the bridge. Go get Avril and his crew." Another responded. The sound of running feet on the bridge echoed down below.
Immediately with the sound footfalls making their way towards the Palace Theodora climbed into her second repository of human waste that day. Arrin was close behind, the ungainly sword grabbed the lip of the opening and twisted on his waist as he hopped through. Before his feet met the ground the stolen weapon exacted some revenge for its former owner, stopping him short of the ground causing him to sputter out, "oooof." It held onto the lip for just a second before slipping its purchase and allowing Arrin to land.
Angrily he shifted the belt back to it's rightful place, the sword on his hip. Another bruise thanks to a pair of stupid loopless pajama pants and a vengeful sword. Regaining his composure he let the grate down gently.
The sewer system in the more affluent part of the city was large enough for a grown man to walk down. The old stones in the floor in the walls held strong, there were old torches still on the wall held in place with strong iron clasps.
Human excrement needed to be carried out and away from people of that, there was no debate. It was just that more than half the people in the city had to carry their waste in buckets and toss it in the river or in designated highly taxed sewage dumps. Those that were too weak, poor, or otherwise unable to do so were forced to live in their filth. Only the monied people were able to enjoy such luxuries like a sewer that would carry away their waste for them built into their residence.
The catches that allowed the rain to drain into the sewers to wash the waste away were on routes patrolled by the city, any dumping a commoner made into one of these drains without paying the taxes would result in harsh punishment and likely imprisonment.
If only the rich would put this kind of effort into helping the common folk. Arrin reminded himself that that kind of thinking was far above his station and he let the thought pass.
Now standing in the sewer on the other side of the grate he looked out at the bank to their footprints, they would be found for sure. He considered trying to hide their tracks but he did not think that it would make any difference. He turned into the old de-commission sewer and tried to get his bearing.
The princess was wringing the cold water from her nightshirt. Though the day was heating up and looked like it would be a warm one, it would be hours before the sewers warmed up enough that their breath didn't from mist when they exhaled. They would soon be pursued, and his shivering was becoming a problem, moving would help them escape pursuit and generate some enough warmth for him to be rid of his shivering. The princess seemed fine, she didn't shiver or shake and the color was already returning to her skin.
Arrin knew where they would be heading, he could lead them there through the dark. He held his hand out for her to take and started walking before she had taken hold. He kept his eyes up, peering into the darkness.
She made it three more feet before he realized that she had not clasped his open hand and that she was not following him at all. He turned around and she was standing at one of the old torches.
"We have no way to light it, it would only serve as a beacon for those looking to find us," Arrin whispered at her.
"Princess?" He said trying to snap her out of it. She had held on so well this far, it would make sense now if she started to come apart.
Arrin stepped towards her, "Princess, I know the way to a bathhouse my brother owns, and I can get us there without need of a torch, come along. We have no way to light it." He said gently.
The princess was whispering something unintelligible. Poor thing, when Arrin was within an arm's length of her he reached out to touch her shoulder. Before his hand met her shoulder there was a small popping sound.
The torch in front of her burst into flames. The dim interior of the sewer entrance was as brilliant as the daylight outside. Arrin blinked rapidly and looked away. He cursed at the sudden brightness while watching her grab the torch from its mount.
"You, can't light it thief-taker, don't lump us together when listing your shortcomings." She smirked at him, "We will be going to my brother's estate, he will help us sort all of this out." Theodora said as she held the crackling torch out to him.
"We can't go to Prince Kavish just yet. We will be going first to my brother while I work to establish contact with somebody we can trust." Arrin took the torch from her hand and started into the depths of the sewer.
"What did I say about lumping us together thief-taker? We will be going to my brother's home and we will wait for him there." She sounded as if there was no other possibility.
"Princess, we can trust my brother, we cannot trust yours. We don't know the facts of what is going on." He said over his shoulder, resisting the urge to stop and talk. There would be guards in the tunnel soon, they needed to make haste and stop talking.
"We can't trust my brother, crown Prince Kavish but we can trust a commoner that runs a brothel? Did you hit your head thief-taker? Get us north of the city. Once there I will be heading to his manor and you can join me there if you wish. I will not forget your help today."
There was no time to stop and argue, she could be mad when they made it safely to his brother's business. They walked in silence for a few minutes, eventually reaching a door to the main sewer. It took a bit of work but the door opened with great reluctance. Arrin stepped through and after she followed he pulled it closed.
It stank. If standing in human waste that flowed over his legs had stunk, this was somehow worse. The smell was pungent, settling in his nostrils, barging it's way down into his stomach. Had he not been raised in filth he would have vomited then and there.
The princess stood in front of him. Her once white nightshirt still damp but not soaked, stained deeply at the hem and on the arms. The bottom half an entirely different color than the top half. Her face screwed up at the smell, when she noticed that he had noticed her face assumed a blank expression. She wasn't fooling Arrin but she was giving a good attempt.
Looking left and right, Arrin walked down the right. These sewers were sturdy but did not have the craftsmanship or flourishes that the tunnels choking down the waste of the rich had. The stones here were different colors and textures, there were no torches on any of the walls. The tunnel did not maintain an even height or shape. Without support, it was a matter of when not if that these tunnels would collapse.
There were narrow walkways on either side of a central channel. Down the center channel, there was a shallow stream of waste. On the walkways were small puddles, splashed out of the channel during the last rain when the river of human excess overflowed. He warned Theodora to stay clear of the puddles, she responded with a simple, "Of course."
They continued in silence. In less than twenty minutes they could be safely inside of the bathhouse. Mary would be pleased that he wasn't covered in blood, but he doubted that substituting shit for blood would do much for her humor.
Arrin looked over his shoulder to check on Theodora. Her face was serious, an anger lurked at the edges of her expression.
"How long until we are out of the city?" The questions felt almost an accusation.
He met the implication he felt head-on, "We are going to my brother's bathhouse. I am not sure Prince Kavish and Pallum aren't working together. Once at the bathhouse, I will make contact with another agent of your fathers, the only other person that I know that may have an idea of what is going on."
"Absolutely not. This is absurd. We will be going to my brother's estate and wait for him there." She turned and began walking back the way they came.
"Stop!" He had shouted. Damn. If there were people close they would hear it. Thankfully to the uninitiated, the sewers were a maze. He jogged to catch up to the Princess.
"Your majesty, stop. Please."
"Thief-taker, you stop. Stop tr-" Arrin stepped into her, not knocking her out of place but he was so close that their bodies touched in several places.
He whispered to her, "Your father had me killing people that worked for his son. For the last year I have been assassinating agents and supporters of Prince Kavish. I was never told directly but I put it all together. The Prince must have been planning something like this for a long time and your father knew. I have failed your father but I will not fail you. We must go to the bathhouse and find your father's other agent she is a woman of means and magic. We need her."
Arrin stepped back and studied the impact of his words on her. Her dark eyes bore through him, he felt as if she was looking into him. Maybe through him. The gears in her head seemed to be working overtime. Those few seconds felt much longer.
"Do you have any evidence of any conspiracies?" She asked.
"No real evidence, just the knowledge of who I was killing. As I said, I was never told explicitly but nothing else makes sense."
"You would do well to stop assuming thief-taker. At the end of this, I must confront my brother. That is all there is left to do." Her eyes still stared through him. She sniffed the air and furrowed her eyebrows.
"Pallum as well, your grace. There is a lot happening. Please let us not head straight to the lion's den."
Theodora turned her head to the side, listening for something behind her.
"Let's get to the bathhouse first. We need to be cautious." She did not seem to be listening to him. She closed her eyes and sniffed the air again.
"Princess?" He whispered, "We need to go."
"Yes. They're close. Make haste." Was all she said.
"I don't hear anything," he paused to listen, straining to hear what she heard or to somehow smell what she smelled.
"Shh." Short and quietly she shushed him.
He turned to lead them on, that was when he heard it. Voices echoing off the walls and feet splashing in the water.