Hard to believe, but the next day was worse than the first. My neck cramped as soon as I tilted my head back. And all my aches and pains flared anew. Keeping still proved almost impossible. A guard stayed by my side the entire day.

When the day’s prayers finished, my legs refused to unbend. Fydelia appeared by my side and helped me to my feet. On our way to the dining room, I not only searched for Melina, but for Odd or the members of his odd squad. I needed a sign that our crazy scheme might work. Otherwise, I’d go insane. Too bad I didn’t recognize any of the guards.

Later Fydelia joined me as I stretched in the tower.

“Hang in there, Irina. A few more days and then it’ll be better,” she said.

A few more? Not a pleasant prospect. “What happens if I refuse? Will the guards just whack me all day?”

“No. They’ll take you down to the crypt, and...” Fydelia wrapped her arms around her chest.

“Kill you?” I asked in a whisper.

“I wish. The crypt is a place of punishment. Refusing to pray will get you two days down there. The bigger the sin, the longer the stay.”

“Do I want to know—”

“No. Trust me.”

I debated pressing her for details. My imagination tended to run rampant. With those dire thoughts swirling around my head, I about jumped out of my skin when a thud sounded from the level above us.

“More exercises?” I asked Fydelia.

She pressed her lips together, considering my question. “When you’re ready, I’ll show you.”

“You mean when you trust me?”

She smiled. “There’s that. And I’d like to know who you’re looking for.”

Busted. No sense waiting any longer, I had planned to ask her soon. “Melina from Mengels in Sectven Realm. Do you know her?”

“Depends.”

“I’m a friend.”

“So? It’s not like you’ll have a chance to chat and catch up.”

True. “I’d like to know she’s okay... Well, as okay as you can be in here. And, I’ve a message from her mother.” Which wasn’t exactly true, but Melina would be glad to know her mother worried about her.

Fydelia stared at me for a moment then she fiddled with the frayed hem on her robe. “She had a rough start and ended up in the crypt. But like most of us, after one trip down there, she learned her lesson and hasn’t given the guards a reason to take her back. Melina’s surviving.”

Better than being insane. Another worry off my shoulders. “Do you know which tower she’s in?”

“No.”

Now it was my turn to study Fydelia. She’d answered too quickly. “Are you trying to protect me? Keep me out of trouble?”