Chapter Four

"Death?" I nearly screamed. "They can't do that, I don't even live here!"

I got to my feet and ran forwards blindly until I hit what I assumed to be the door, since I felt a cool metal knob that would not turn. Locked.

"Let us out! You can't keep us in here!" I screamed, banging my fists on the door. "I demand a lawyer! You have no right to keep me in here!" Of course no one opened the door to let us out, so I banged and shouted even louder.

"Shelby, stop, it won't do any good!" Aden scolded me, coming up from behind and resting a firm hand on my shoulder.

"Let us out!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, feeling my knuckles crack as they smashed down on the door.

I fought and kicked wildly as Aden pulled me into a full nelson and lifted me up off the ground, forcing me back away from the door. I tried to wrestle out of his grip but he was a lot stronger than me so I didn't stand a chance.

I was so tired of this strange place and all its freaky, bloodthirsty residents. The people here just seem evil and out to kill everyone for power and the creatures are grotesque, talking, mutant animals. I want out, I want to go back home where it's safe and normal. I want to be in summer school right now staring at a bunch of biology terms, getting tripped by Kendall in the halls, at the beach surfing with Dominic and Lucas, or even getting yelled by Mom and Dad about how much I slacked this year. Anything but going mad in a dark cell while waiting for the death penalty.

We both fell to the floor and I cried uncontrollably into Aden's shoulder. He lightly rubbed my hair for comfort and whispered gently in my ear to try and calm me down. I felt like I could never get up again, my legs limp and my arms just as useless.

"I'm gonna die down here," I sobbed. "No one's gonna know what happened to me. I never got to say goodbye to anyone…"

"I didn't mean to upset you," he whispered, "It's not as bad as it sounds."

I scoffed. "The death penalty isn't as bad as it sounds?"

He had sounded so hopeless minutes ago, but now he was telling me it wouldn't be so bad. What was he saying, that we just need to accept our sentence and it's not a big deal?

Aden chuckled ever so slightly. "No, I mean it may not come to that if we can get this to play out in our favor."

I sniffed. "W-what do you mean?"

"We may have a slight chance of being freed. My grandmother is the head of the council and the former Queen of Malu. She always has the last word in these kinds of trials and whatever she declares is how it ends," he said.

This made me perk up a little. If his grandmother was in charge of the trial there's no way she would execute us. Who could do that to their own grandson? Actually, it was hard to decide what she was like considering how aggressive and hostile these underground people seem. If his cousin had willingly thrown us in here to rot, then who's to say his grandmother won't be the one swinging the axe down on us?

"I thought you said your cousin was in charge of the trial," I said.

"She will only serve on the royal jury," he explained. "Adalynn is not in command of the trial, but she will be one of the higher representatives considering she is the princess and next in line for the throne. She will not have the final say, but she will have a voice in manipulating it."

I had a feeling that she was in power somewhere. I had thought she was more like the governor's daughter or something, not a princess. Was she the princess of this whole underground place? She had seemed pretty scary herself, so it's no surprise that this is what her kingdom is like.

"If she had the say, would she have us killed?" I swallowed hard.

"I hate to say it, but I cannot answer that for sure. My cousin and I are close family, our mothers are sisters, but we have never seen eye to eye when it came to the laws of the land and she always wants justice served, no matter how harsh," he sighed.

His voice sounded almost sad and I felt bad for him. I couldn't relate since I have always been so close with my own cousins. I couldn't imagine Lucas sending me to a place like this and putting me on trial with the death penalty hanging over my head. My eyes suddenly filled with tears when I thought of home, so I quickly stopped thinking before my brain exploded.

"What is it? Do you hurt?" he asked, hearing me sniffle.

Do I hurt? Yes, I do in fact…on the inside. Well, on the outside too.

"I just want to go home…" I whimpered. "I want to see my family. If I die down here, they won't ever know what happened to me."

It's hard to believe when I had last seen my family, I'd wanted nothing more than to get away from them. Now I would give anything to curl up in Mom's arms, rock Kyler to sleep, surf with Ava, or even be put in a headlock by Lucas. Do they even miss me, or know that I'm gone? How long have I even been away?

"I'm not giving up. I'm still going to try my hardest to get you home," Aden promised.

"Thanks for helping me," I said. "I think you'd make a much better ruler than Adalynn. You actually have a heart."

* * *

A lot of time has passed since we've been sitting here in the dark. It felt like months, but because of my lack of time judgment and my impatience, I'd say it's been about two days. My eyes craved light, seeing nothing for so long made me feel insane. The only time we were exposed to any source of light was when the guards would slide open the small space at the bottom of the door to bring us food and water. We were served what felt and tasted like raw mushrooms, some crunchy berries that tasted like mint, water in a stone bucket, and some honey flavored leafy stuff. It was enough to satisfy my hunger pangs, but it still didn't taste too great. The berries made me feel sick, but I still devoured them anyways to rid myself of this gnawing hunger.

Just as I was choking down my last minty berry, the door made a loud creak and swung open. Something must finally be happening, this is the first time I've seen the door fully open. The intense brightness from outside made Aden and I both squint. It actually wasn't even that bright, just the light from two torches, but it was enough to hurt our flame deprived eyes.

Now that I could see, I looked around in shock at what we'd been living in for the past few days. It was a small square shape made of thick gray cinderblocks. Against the back wall were two sets of chains with cuffs on the ends and what looked like bloody scratch marks. Past prisoners probably dug at these stone walls to escape until their nails bled and their fingers were raw stumps. Very dungeon-esque.

I wrinkled my nose in disgust at the torn, ragged blanket that we'd been covering ourselves with and at the small dead rodent that was lying in a brown puddle in the corner. That's what that awful smell had been. This place was anything but welcoming.

"You are to come with us," said the first guard, who was very tall and muscular. Beneath his helmet you could see his dark eyes with hints of wavering orange and the light stubble that grew on his chin. The other guard beside him was a little shorter and rounder, but he still looked like he could snap me in two.

"We will have to bind your hands and feet," the round guard added in a gruff voice, holding up two long bits of rope.

I looked over at Aden to see if he'd protest, but he didn't look like he could. His eyes were as dark as the shadows that formed under his eyes and his mouth rested in a straight line. The light golden hair on his head looked disheveled as he ran his hand through it. He looked so worn and tired; I don't think he could have spoken if he wanted to. He held his hands out weakly as they tied the ropes around his wrists. As drawn as he looked, his hands still seemed strong enough to crack walnuts, the tendons standing out prominently against the pearly skin.

I did as he did, silently holding out my wrists to be tied up. The rope was rough and scraggly against my soft skin, and I felt tempted to ask for some lotion for my chapped wrists. I didn't though; I don't think it would have helped my case much and I doubt they had any anyways.

They had us sit against the wall and hold our legs up and together while they wrapped them in more rugged rope. My feet were tied so tightly that my ankle bones were crushed painfully together. How are we supposed to walk like this? My question was answered when one of the guards heaved me up and over his shoulder. We weren't allowed to walk, we might try to run away. We were prisoners at their mercy.

They carried us silently, side by side, down the long underground tunnels of the dungeon. We must have been pretty deep in the Earth; they went up about fifty flights of stairs. Even carrying our extra weight, the guards didn't stop once or even start breathing slightly faster from exertion. Even if we weren't tied, I could tell there was no way we could outrun either of them.

We finally emerged out of the dungeon and I could tell we were back in the palace. Everything looked much nicer and the air wasn't cold and musty anymore. I looked over at Aden, who lie languidly over his guard's shoulder looking down at the floor. I forgot how pearly and light his skin really was. In the light you could see the faintest hints of light blue, pink and even purple reflecting off the shimmery surface. The two guards had that same colorful glow to their skin as well. Maybe this is just what happens to a civilization after hundreds of years without sunlight and exposure to the atmosphere.

They carried us down a long hallway and through two large, jewel encrusted doors. They were beautiful, golden and coated in a neat array of rubies, sapphires and pearls that I'm sure were all real. It took nearly five other guards to open them, so I'm assuming that they're a heavy solid gold. I wonder how much they'd be worth if you sold them to a jeweler or a museum. That could probably pay for my college, a car, three houses, and all the cherry Coke I could drink.

Inside there were high glossy white walls and a large circular table. At the back end of the room sat three high platforms that looked out above the courtroom. People dressed in silken clothing were sitting all around, talking amongst themselves anxiously. Giant birds sat up on high perches near the ceiling, huddling together and cawing to each other like crows.

When everyone saw us enter, the room went into an uproar. People and birds were screaming at us, calling for our deaths and demanding justice. Was it really that bad that Aden didn't kill me? I closed my eyes so I wouldn't have to look at these angry faces anymore and see their hateful eyes.

The guards called down two of the birds to bring us up to the tall platforms. Aden was placed on a flame colored bird with a strange white ring of feathers around its right eye. Its beak was small, but it appeared deadly and sharp, ending at a severe point. My body was thrown carelessly onto the back of a giant yellow dandelion colored bird with a large beak that reminded me of a shovel. I nearly tumbled off and onto the floor, unable to catch myself since my limbs were tied so I just cringed and waited to smash my face on the marble floor.

The bird nearly dropped its feathered belly to the floor to save me from cracking my head open on the hard stone, which surprised me since I didn't expect anyone to help me. It was almost shocking to me to see something here go out of its way to prevent me from suffering.

"Thank you," I whispered in a hoarse voice to the bird for catching me.

It ruffled its golden feathers, its round black eyes not showing much emotion. Man, this bird was huge! Even bigger than the other monstrous winged creatures that were mere sparrows beside him. His wingspan had to be twenty feet at least and he looked like he could have weighed a few hundred pounds easy.

The bird flew me up and lightly tipped to the side, sending me rolling across the platform and into Aden. He looked down at me and smiled weakly, even though he seemed very on edge and fidgety. He kept twisting his hands around in their bindings, trying to pull free. This only made things worse, his wrists were getting little red spots on them where the blood vessels had broken, standing out against his fair skin.

The golden bird disappeared before he flew back up to us, this time carrying much larger cargo. He tipped Aden's bird, Ashlynn, off carefully and he quietly whispered something to her before taking off again.

Aden dragged himself over to her as she lie there looking almost as dead as he did. He spun around and pressed his back to the side of her neck to alert her of his presence. She gave a weak looking smile and then slumped her head back down. She looked even worse off than us. Maybe she had been alone in her dark cell with no company and it had broken her spirit some. Guilt ached in the pit of my stomach when I thought this was my fault.

A big dark brown bird with a long red beak flew up carrying a thin old woman on its back. She had to be the oldest person on the entire planet, above and below, like a hundred and thirty at least. Her white hair was pinned up elegantly on the nape of her creaky neck and her earlobes hung almost to her shoulders. Her skin looked like a pearl that had been put through a crimper, every inch of it covered in wrinkles and lines. There was a strange texture to her skin, almost powdery. Her eyes on the other hand were very surprising; they were fierce like a tiger's, the same dark eggplant color as the flowing silk gown she wore. Behind this fierceness I saw something else, kindness maybe. I realized I had seen that before in Aden's eyes when I first met him in the hospital. This must be his grandmother, the woman who would decide our fate.

She seated herself in the large golden throne that sat on the platform across from ours. The arm rests of the chair were studded in opals and large pale pink starfish decorated the border of the head rest. She smiled pleasantly at us as if we weren't in a trial and that she wasn't deciding if we'd live or die.

That flame colored bird rose up again, this time carrying Adalynn and that boy who had thrown the net over me in the cave. They sat in the thrones on the third platform farthest from us, and Adalynn looked over bitterly at me and only me like this whole thing was my fault. The last thing I needed was for this girl to have beef with me, especially if she had some say in if they let me live.

Her long golden hair was in a braid and then spiraled around the top of her head like a giant conch shell. That thin gold band rested lightly on her head, around her massive, spiraled braid. A long faded blue dress clung to her thin but strong body and she lifted it up to her knees as she sat down. The boy wore dark gray pants and a fitted black shirt that clung to his muscular chest. He wore bronze colored bands on each of his wrists that seemed to symbolize some sort of higher power.

A few minutes later, two more girls were dropped off on that third platform. One girl looked about fifteen with her pale gold hair curled and pinned to the crown of her head. Her face looked bored and her eyes, which were the color of her burnt orange dress, looked hazy. As she looked over at Adalynn and nodded slowly, her pumpkin spice colored eyes morphed into the same powder blue as Adalynn's dress. The other girl I knew right away that I did not like her.

Her long pale hair tumbled across her shoulders and her eyes were the same sage green as her gown. Her face looked almost pinched up and I could tell that she thought very highly of herself. A soft cream colored flower decorated behind her ear and a thin chain hung around her neck. On the chain was a beautiful gold starfish with a small, shimmery emerald in the center. The four sat down stiffly together, Adalynn and the bored looking girl whispering to each other with narrowed eyes.

"What is she doing here?" Aden groaned, slumping his head back in frustration.

"Who?" I asked, looking at the three girls who were sitting stiffly in their thrones. From the unpleased looks on their faces, he could have been talking about any one of them.

"Audrina…" he griped, pronouncing it like he was saying a word like garbage. "She is my…ipo."

"What's an ipo?" I frowned.

"I believe your people of the surface would say she's…my girlfriend?" he said unsurely.

I stared at him with wide eyes. Aden has a girlfriend? From the way he was acting, he didn't seem to love her at all. He didn't even seem to like her. I gazed over at the girl with the starfish necklace and the grouchy stare.

"What's wrong with her?" I questioned, looking at her narrow green eyes and seeing a wall of fire behind them.

"You can't tell from just looking at her?" he smirked; raising an eyebrow and making me giggle quietly as I realized that the contents of this book were just like its cover.

"So she is evil?" I grinned.

He laughed softly. "A soul sucking demon."

We both laughed even more. When some of their eyes flashed to us, we abruptly stopped laughing and more so coughed and then became silent.

"Why is she your girlfriend if you don't love her?" I whispered.

A sad look crossed his face. "Our love is forced by our parents. When we turn eighteen we are meant to be wed."

I felt my jaw drop and I quickly closed my mouth, biting my lip to hold it up. He had to marry this girl when he didn't even like her? And at only eighteen? The people down here just get weirder by the second.

"What?" I hissed in a low voice. "Why?"

"Because, all of us in the royal family do not get to choose our spouses, it is assigned to us by our parents when we are still children. Those who have the most to offer are chosen," he said quietly.

"Why would your parents do this to you?" I asked, "Don't they know you don't like her?"

He just slowly shook his head. "It does not matter what we want, it is what's best for the people," he said solemnly.

"Wait, so are you like a prince or something?" I questioned.

He grinned sheepishly. "I guess you could say that. My mother's sister, and Adalynn's mother, is the Queen of Malu. If something were to happen to her and her husband and their children, then my mother would be next in line for the throne and I would follow, but that's a long stretch for me."

"Would you want to be king?" I asked curiously.

His eyes grew wide and he shook his head quickly. The idea seemed to make him sick. "No! I would never want to rule over this forsaken land!" he shook his head again, shuddering at the idea of it.

"If you have such a long ways away until you would be king, why do you have an arranged marriage?"

"If there is ever a sudden disaster, like the first royal family being wiped out, then it is passed on to the ruler's next eldest sibling and their offspring," he said. "So if that were to happen, I would need to have a wife so I would be ready to take the throne and keep the royal family going."

Before I could say anything again, the old woman stood and everyone fell silent and looked up to her with glowing eyes. She walked to the center of her platform and straightened out her crooked spine, standing tall and powerful as she looked down at her people. The old, decrepit woman I had seen a second ago was replaced by a warrior-like leader who looked suddenly so strong and untouchable.

"Let us allow the trial to begin," she announced and the crowd broke into an uproar until she held her hand up for silence. "I know what some of you may be thinking, but do not think I will take pity upon this case because it is my grandson who sits before me in chains." She paused a moment and met Aden's gaze. "I only want justice in this court room and nothing more, so let us begin."

Everyone took their seats and the fiery chatter seemed to die out into a ghostly wisp of air. Aden's grandmother sat down again for a moment to catch her breath, a light wheeze coming from her very well broken in lungs before she got up and spoke again.

"The story shall be told and then their side will be discussed. My three other grandchildren and Audrina will be on the royal jury to weigh in on the matter as well," she spoke calmly and then looked over at us imploringly.

"Before we begin, Grandmother," Aden said, "would it be too much trouble to have our bindings removed? Clearly we are not going anywhere."

We both looked down at the hundred foot drop as the old women guffawed to herself. She signaled two guards, who came up and cut through the ropes with their swords before flying back down on their birds. I rubbed my chapped wrists with relief as I felt the blood return to my ankles. Much better.

"Now," she said slipping a small pair of reading specs over the bridge of her nose to read the scroll she held close to her face. "It says here that the charges are treason against the City of Malu. Do you find this accurate?" She looked at Aden unsurely like she didn't believe a word of this. I felt a spark of hope, feeling she was maybe on our side.

"I do not," Aden said surely, causing an outbreak of murmurs to spread through the crowd.

A small smile spread across her thin, withered lips.

"How about you, dear?" she looked at me, "Do you find these charges appropriate?"

I looked around nervously and then felt my heart stop when I realized she as well as Aden and everyone else in the court room was looking directly at me. I hadn't planned on speaking, I thought Aden was going to do all the talking. Who would say yes? That would be setting yourself up for a death sentence by saying the charges were accurate.

I took in a shaky breath, feeling all eyes on me. "No ma'am, I do not."

This sent even more chatter throughout the anxious crowd.

"My understanding is that you fell here from the surface, is this true?" she asked me.

I wished she'd stop asking me questions and let Aden do more of the talking. He knows more about the rules down here and how you should talk and when. What if I say something wrong and offend her?

I nodded, "I guess that's how it's been explained to me. I was surfing and the waves got rough and I was sucked in a space through the cliffs that brought me here."

"Yes, you got caught in the suction of our pipelines, they pump ocean water under here to fill our seas," she said. "You said you were surfing now?" She seemed intrigued by this for some reason. I wasn't sure how this was relevant to the case, but I nodded in response to be respectful.

"Yeah, I was out surfing and I fell off of my board when the waves got rough."

The old woman folded her arthritic hands in her lap and then resumed the trial. "So, after you fell from the surface, you were wounded and brought to the hospital where we discovered you were from above," she paused, "and then you were meant to be disposed of, and yet here you are."

The four kids of the royal jury all grumbled in protest and this only provoked the others to go wild with fury too.

So sorry everyone, I thought snidely, I'm still breathing? How dare I?

"That is what puzzles me," she turned her dark but soft eyes onto her grandson again. "What made you spare her life, my dear child?"

Aden bit his bottom lip for a moment, acting the same as he had when I'd asked him this question. Why hadn't he killed me? He thought it was wrong; sure, who would think killing an innocent person was right, but the safety of his home was at stake as well as his own life. He didn't even know me and yet he chose to save my life by risking his own. Everyone waited in suspense to hear what he'd say and how he'd justify his actions.

He chose his words carefully. "I didn't kill her because it was wrong."

This caused at first laughter to break out and then it turned into mob like sounds of rage. We were surrounded by a sea of furious faces and shouting voices.

"You thought it was wrong to protect your home and loved ones?" Adalynn shouted from her platform, her soft blue eyes growing fierce with malice.

"Killing an innocent girl was wrong! Our worlds live apart, it is unjust for her to suffer because of our own circumstances that have no bearing on her!" he retorted angrily. "It was unjust to ask that much of me!"

"Then maybe they shouldn't have asked someone with the courage of an Iki to do the job!" she snapped, making Aden glow with anger.

Whatever an 'Iki' was, I'm guessing it was pretty wimpy because the others all chuckled at her comment. As I narrowed my eyes at her I realized with a shudder to my heart that if Adalynn had been the one asked to kill me, I would be very much dead right now. And I doubt she would have been nice about it either. She probably would have boiled me in oil or something.

"Shut up!" I snapped at her defensively.

It was probably way out of line to tell the princess to "shut up" but I didn't really care, that was the least she was asking for. Adalynn seems like a royal brat who needs someone to tell her off, and I guess I get to be that special someone since no one else has the guts to do it. She isn't my princess, I don't owe her my respect.

"Aden's one of the kindest, bravest people I've ever met, above or below, and he's saved my life more times than I'm worth. He's braver than you could ever hope to be!" I shouted angrily.

The look of rage and shock on her face made me weaken a little, but I wasn't about to apologize and bow down to her. I crossed my arms adamantly to show I was taking nothing back and her eyes turned blood red with fury. That's kind of freaky and unsettling. A ringing sound caught our attention and we all looked at the old woman, who was holding a small bell.

"I would say it is a good time for a short intermission," she declared.

With that, everyone was up and about. People were discussing what just happened, nibbling at the small buffet table and taking quick bathroom breaks. We had to remain up on our platforms though, which I was glad of because I felt if we stepped down we'd be torn to shreds by the mob of spectators glaring from below.

"Thank you for your kind words, Shelby," Aden said with gratitude.

I smiled back, "Anytime. What's her deal with you anyway?"

I looked over and saw the girl with the bored expression and Aden's girlfriend trying to calm her down from her rage fit as they all shot me hostile glares. Adalynn's red eyes had faded some and were now more of a cloudy ruby color, but she still looked pretty steamed. It was probably wrong, but I felt satisfied with myself for knocking her down a few pegs.

Aden shook his head, "We just don't see things the same way. We are very different. Our grandmother always says in war Adalynn would charge onto the battlefield while I stayed behind to write up the peace treaty," he chuckled slightly.

I could tell Aden didn't like to fight unless he needed to survive. He seems too smart and compassionate to be a fighter, but Adalynn on the other hand seems ruthless and willing to claw her way to victory.

I looked down over the edge and got goosebumps. "Why are we up so high?" The ground spiraled in my vision as I tried not to stare at it.

"So we can't run," he said, "Plus, if our case is lost the death penalty will take place immediately after the verdict is given."

I stared at him feeling nauseous as his words sank into my brain. We were up a good few stories and down below our raised platform was the solid, stone floor with what appeared to be rocky spikes beneath us. If we're found guilty, they're going to push us over the edge, so we fall to our deaths.