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Off somewhere secret, Matisse thought. That library Dashe mentioned? She eyed Ashe, who was still hovering beside her. Perhaps if she coaxed him enough, he'd tell her-
At that moment, the screaming began.
The shouts were so sudden, so unexpected, that Matisse jumped. She spun about, trying to determine the location of the sounds. They seemed to be coming from the front of New Elantris.
"Ashe!" she said.
"I'm already going, Lady Matisse," the Seon said, zipping into the air, a glowing speck in the night.
The yells continued. Distant, echoing. Matisse shivered, backing up unconsciously. She heard other things. The ring of metal against metal.
She turned back toward the Roost. Taid, the adult who supervised the Roost, had walked out of the building in his nightgown. Even in the darkness, Matisse could see a look of concern on his face.
"Wait here," he said.
"Don't leave us!" Idotris said, looking around in fright.
"I'll be back," Taid said, rushing away.
Matisse shared a look with Idotris. The other teenagers who had been on duty watching the kids had already gone to their own homes for the night. Only Idotris and she remained.
"I'm going to go with him," Idotris said, stalking after Taid.
"Oh, no you don't," Matisse said, grabbing his arm and pulling him back. In the distance, the yelling continued.
She glanced toward the Roost. "Go wake the kids."
"What?" Idotris said indignantly. "After all the work we did to get them to sleep?"
"Do it," Matisse snapped. "Get them up, and have them put their shoes on."
Idotris resisted for a moment, then grumbled something and stalked inside the room. A moment later, she could hear him doing as she asked, rousing the children. Matisse rushed over to a building across the street-one of the supply buildings. Inside, she found two lanterns with oil in them, and some flint and steel.
She paused. What am I doing?
Just being prepared, she told herself, shivering as the screaming continued. It seemed to be getting closer. She rushed back across the street.
"My lady!" Ashe's voice said. She glanced up to see that the Seon was flying back down toward her. His Aon was so dim that she could barely see him.
"My lady," Ashe said urgently. "Soldiers have attacked New Elantris!"
"What?" she asked, shocked.
"They wear red and have the height and dark hair of Fjordells, my lady," Ashe said. "There are hundreds of them. Some of your soldiers are fighting at the front of the city, but there are far too few of them. New Elantris is already overrun! My lady-the soldiers are coming this way, and they're searching through the buildings!"
Matisse stood, dumbfounded.
No. No, it can't happen. No here. This place is peaceful. Perfect. I escaped the outside world. I found a place where I belonged. It can't come after me.
"My lady!" Ashe said, sounding terrified. "Those screams. . . . I think. . .I think the soldiers are attacking the people they find!"
And they're coming this way.
Matisse stood, lanterns clutched in numb fingers. This was the end, then. After all, what could she do? Nearly a child herself, a beggar, a girl without family or home. What could she do?
I take care of the children. It's my job.
It's the job Lord Spirit gave me.
"We have to get them out," Matisse said, sprinting toward the Roost. "They know where to look because we cleaned this section of Elantris. The city is huge-if we get the children out into the dirty part, we can hide them."
"Yes, my lady," Ashe said.
"You go find my father!" Matisse said. "Tell him what we're doing."
With that, she entered the Roost, Ashe hovering away into the night. Inside, Idotris had done as she asked, and the children were groggily putting on their shoes.
"Quickly, children," Matisse said.
"What's going on?" Tiil demanded.
"We've got to go," Matisse said to the young troublemaker. "Till, Teor, I'm going to need your help-you and all of the older children, all right? You have to try and help the young ones. Keep them moving, and keep them quiet. All right?"
"Why?" Tiil asked, frowning. "What's going on?"
"It's an emergency," Matisse said. "That's all you need to know."
"Why are you in charge?" Teor said, stepping up to his friend, folding his arms.
"You know my father?" Matisse said.
They nodded.
"You know he's a soldier?" Matisse asked.
Again, a nod.
"Well, that makes me a soldier too. It's hereditary. He's a captain, so I'm a captain. And that means I get to tell you what to do. You can be my sub-captains, though, if you promise to do what I say."
The two younger boys paused, then Tiil nodded. "Makes sense," he said.
"Good. Now move!" Matisse said.
The boys moved over, helping the younger children. Matisse began to herd them out the front door, into the darkened streets. Many of them, however, had caught onto the terror of the night, and were too scared to move.
"Matisse!" Idotris hissed, coming closer. "What is going on?"
"Ashe says New Elantris is under attack," Matisse said, kneeling beside her lanterns. "Soldiers are slaughtering everyone."
Idotris grew quiet.
She lit the lanterns, then stood. As she'd expected, the children-even the little ones-gravitated toward the light, and the sense of protection it offered. She handed one lantern to Idotris, and by its light she could see his terrified face.
"What do we do?" he asked with a shaking voice.
"We run," Matisse said, rushing out of the room.
And the children followed. Rather than be left behind in the dark, they ran after the light, Tiil and Teor helping the smaller ones, Idotris trying to hush those who began to cry. Matisse was worried at bringing light, but it seemed the only way. Indeed, they barely kept the children moving as it was, herding them in the fastest way out of New Elantris-which was also the way directly away from the screams, which were now frightfully close.
That also took them away from the populated sections of New Elantris. Matisse had hoped that they'd run into someone who could help as they moved. Unfortunately, those who weren't out practicing Aons were with her father, practicing with weapons. The only occupied buildings would have been the ones Ashe had indicated were being attacked. Their occupants. . . .
Don't think about that, Matisse thought as their ragged band of fifty children reached the edges of New Elantris. They were almost free. They could-
A voice suddenly yelled behind them, speaking in a harsh tongue Matisse didn't understand. Matisse spun, looking over the heads of frightened children. The center of New Elantris was glowing faintly. From firelight.
It was burning.
There, framed by the flames of death was a squad of three men in red uniforms. They carried swords.
Surely they wouldn't kill children, Matisse thought, her hand shaking as it held its lantern.
Then she saw the glint in the soldiers' eyes. A dangerous, grim look. They advanced on her group. Yes, they would kill children. Elantrian children, at least.
"Run," Matisse said, her voice quivering. Yet, she knew the children could never move faster than these men. "Run! Go and-"
Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, a ball of light zipped from the sky. Ashe moved between the men, spinning around their heads, distracting them. The men cursed, waving their swords about in anger, looking up at the Seon.
Which is why they completely missed seeing Dashe charge them.
He took them from the side, coming through a shadowed alleyway in New Elantris. He knocked one down, sword flashing, then spun toward the other two as they cursed, turning away from the Seon.
We need to go! "Move!" she urged again, getting Idotris and the others to keep going. The children backed away from the swordfight, moving out into the night, following Idotris's light. Matisse stayed near the back, turning wit
h concern toward her father.
He wasn't doing well. He was an excellent warrior, but the soldiers had been joined by two other men, and Dashe's body was weakened by being an Elantrian. Matisse stood, holding her lantern in trembling fingers, uncertain what to do. The children were sniffling in the dark behind her, their retreat painfully slow. Dashe fought bravely, his rusty sword replaced by one that Sarene must have sent. He knocked aside blade after blade, but he was getting surrounded.
