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It didn’t take us long to set up and cook supper. Sitting around the sputtering flames that hissed from the moisture in the branches, I outlined the plan. “We’ll break into two teams and take turns watching the gate and the road from Owl’s Hill. Valek said he’d check the Cloverleaf Inn before traveling to the Citadel. We need to intercept him and Opal before they arrive at the gate. And the same goes if we spot Zitora.” That road also led to the Featherstone garrison. If Bruns decided to move Fisk, that would be the closest garrison. “Ideally we’ll discover a gap in their security so we can enter the Citadel undetected.”
“What if Valek and Opal are already in the Citadel?” Ari asked.
“Then we’ll rendezvous with them there.”
“Or rescue them, along with Fisk,” Janco muttered.
Ari punched him in the arm.
“Ow! Come on. We were all thinking it.”
“What are the teams?” Onora asked.
“The boys and the girls.”
“I suddenly feel like I’m in elementary school again,” Janco said.
Onora opened her mouth, but I shook my head. “Too easy. We all know Janco didn’t graduate from elementary school.”
Janco hunkered down. “I’m not feeling the love.”
“We’ll take the first shift,” Ari said, bringing us back to business.
I agreed. “We’ll do three shifts a day, alternating teams. Also alternating positions each shift. This way, everyone has a chance to study the gate at different times of the day.”
“Smart. What about at camp?” Ari asked me. “Do you want one person to stand watch?”
“No. Kiki will alert us of any intruders. Even asleep, she’d hear or smell them before they can get close. Plus, the person on the hill should be able to hear if there are any problems below, and vice versa.”
“What about the person watching the road?” Onora asked.
Good question. “He or she can wear the illusion cloak for extra protection.”
“But how do we know if he or she is in trouble?”
“The old-fashioned way,” Janco said.
We all waited.
“You don’t know?” He acted smug.
“Janco,” Ari warned.
“Fine. A high-pitched whistle. Or in the case of the girls, a girly scream will do.”
This time Onora smacked him on the shoulder.
He rubbed the sore spot and glowered at her. “Definitely not feeling the love.”
* * *
Ari woke us at dawn. Or rather, he woke me. Onora was already making breakfast, and she set a pot of water on the fire for tea. Ahh...the small comforts of life.
I stretched like a cat and then sat up. “Any trouble?”
“No. There were only a few people on the road.” Ari rolled his shoulders and neck.
“Janco?”
“They closed the gate for the night. No one in or out.” He plopped onto his bedroll. “I did a little exploring to keep awake.” He shooed away our protests over the added danger. “There’s magic at the gate.”
Not a surprise, but it would have been nice for something to go our way. “We have null shield pendants.”
“Which may or may not work,” Janco said. “If there’s a magician stationed there and he can’t read us because of the shields, we’re caught. And if it’s not a magician but one of those magical alarms, we don’t know if a null shield will trigger it.”
“What about the other gates?” Onora asked. “The Helper’s Guild kid said they were closed, but—”
“They’re barricaded, with no way through,” Janco said. “And they have these nasty-looking spikes.”
We all stared at him.
“What? I saved you some time. Sheesh.”
We ate a quick breakfast before Onora and I set off for our shift. She volunteered to watch the road.
“Zitora’s twenty-eight years old with honey-brown hair and pale yellow eyes. Pretty, with a heart-shaped face,” I said. Although it had been almost four years since I last saw the Master Magician. I hoped she hadn’t changed her looks too drastically.
Ari tried to hand Onora the illusion cloak, but she waved it off. “I blend in, remember? Give it to Yelena.”
But when I donned it, nothing happened.
Janco cocked his head like a puppy. “You look the same. Ari resembled a big fat bush when he wore it.”
“That’s because I was standing near a bush... Oh, never mind. Is it the baby siphoning the magic?”
“Probably.” At least, that was the theory—the baby siphoned magic when it was touching me or directed at me. What I couldn’t determine was what it was doing with the magic. I changed back into my own cloak, which had a number of hidden pockets with nasty surprises, giving me a sense of security. Probably a false sense, but better than being completely vulnerable.
Onora trudged up the hill with me, then headed toward the road. I found a comfortable spot to watch the gate. A few people already waited in a line to enter. The guards allowed only one person through at a time. They alternated sides. One into the Citadel, and then one out. The person stood at the threshold for a few minutes before he or she was allowed to pass. As the day wore on, the line grew longer, but the routine didn’t vary.
Halfway though my shift, there was a commotion at the gate. A few shouts reached me as two guards grabbed the man being inspected. They ripped off his cloak and yanked something from around his neck. Forced to the ground, the man was manacled and escorted away. That answered the question of the null shield pendant. It would be a bad idea.
By the end of my shift, I hadn’t witnessed any gaps in the security or noticed any way that we could sneak inside. Dejected, I returned to the camp by midafternoon. Onora joined us with nothing to report. Ari and Janco left soon after for the evening shift. I tried to sleep, but my mind whirled.
What if we couldn’t get inside? We could rush the entrance, but that would just tip everyone off that we were in the Citadel, and Bruns would probably triple the guards around Fisk. In that case, we’d have to abandon plans to rescue Fisk for now. Instead, we’d endeavor to recruit a Stormdancer and locate Teegan and Valek’s siblings. Then what? I mulled over our lack of resources and personnel.
If our plan to kill off the Theobroma pods worked, the soldiers loyal to the Cartel would no longer be under the influence of the drug. They would need trusted leaders to follow.
The Sitian Council. The Council members had to be rescued from the Greenblade garrison before the soldiers woke so they would be ready and able to lead. A good plan. Except it would be Onora and me storming the castle, so to speak. Unless Valek magically appeared with Opal and Zitora. A girl could hope.
The next two...four...six shifts netted the same results. No ideas on how to sneak through the gate and no familiar faces on the road. Then again, would Valek be in disguise? He, too, was on the Cartel’s most wanted list.
On the morning of our third day of fruitless spying, it was my turn to watch the road. As I hunkered down in the underbrush, I planned our next move. We’d travel to the Cliffs. Hopefully Kade would know where Teegan and the others were hiding. Not the best strategy, but better than wasting more time. In fact, the more I thought about it, the stronger my desire to leave. It was already midafternoon. I stood and froze.
Walking along the road were two people I recognized—Cahil’s scouts, Hanni and Faxon. Which might mean that Cahil and the rest of his men were not far behind.
If that was the case, then we had a possible way into the Citadel. As long as they were still free of the Theobroma. Only one way to find out. Taking a risk, I strode from the woods and hailed them.
* * *
“No,” Ari said when I explained my plan. “It’s insane.”
“I gotta agree with the bi
g guy on this one,” Janco said.
“It’s brilliant,” Onora said. “I’m in.”
Ari fisted his hands but kept them pressed to his sides. “No. Two of you can’t rescue Fisk. You’ll get captured.”
Onora snorted. I put my hand on her shoulder, stopping her retort before this turned ugly. “This would be an information-gathering mission only.”
“Still no.” Now Ari crossed his arms, trying to appear more massive and intimidating.
It worked on Hanni, who glanced at me with worry. “If you’re going to do it, you should leave soon. General Cahil and the rest of the team are departing Owl’s Hill in the morning.”
“Then we’ll all go,” Ari said.
“No. Too many unfamiliar faces will trigger suspicion. You and Janco have to go to The Cliffs and recruit a Stormdancer. You only have thirty days to get to the rendezvous point.” I outlined what I needed them to do as I rolled up my bedding.
“No.”
I sighed. “Ari, I don’t need your permission.”
“If you get into the Citadel, and that’s a huge if, how are you going to leave?” he asked.
“The same way. We’ll get papers from Cahil.”
“And the magician at the gate?” Janco asked.
“If we keep our thoughts on our duties for the General, we shouldn’t raise any alarms.”
“Sounds like your plan might just work,” a welcome voice said from the trees.
Everyone except me yanked weapons as they spun toward the sound. Our argument had put them all on edge.
