“What is your plan, exactly?”
Lux dropped her hand with a huff. “I need to draw the Shield away from the mansion. I need to meet the mayor—alone. I have leverage that I feel can barter Shaw’s release.”
Aline’s gaze was unusually penetrating for a child. “And if you fail?”
She wanted to say she wouldn’t. But she decided on the truth, instead. “Then I will die, my lifeblood drained and drank by the mayor or one of his glowing family members. And you will use every explosive device in this disastrous room, bringing down the entire mansion and most of the surrounding buildings to set your brother free.”
Aline’s mouth twitched. “Good. I like that plan better anyway.” She pushed the device into Lux’s hands. “But, in case you don’t fail and wind up dead…Thanks.”
Lux bit her lip against a smile. “You’re welcome.”
Chapter forty-one
The slew of cursesover the soreness attacking every muscle of her body never left her mind, but Lux thought them furiously regardless. She’d never run so fast or far in her entire life as she had the night prior, and now here she sat, squatting amongst the blooming black roses, nursing yet another pricked finger as her thighs shrieked.
The Festival of Light took place in the Light Market square not far from the mayor’s mansion. It would begin the following day with vendors of food, trinkets and drink, a parade of the mayor, his family, and his Shield, and continuing with dancing, more drink, and some show of a sort. The final event changed every year, and Lux would be hard-pressed to remember what any of them entailed. Only that it was meant to invoke envy in those who were not blessed with riches and favor while solidifying the privilege of those well-aware of their elevated status.
It didn’t sound like an enjoyable way to spend her evening.
Though her current state wasn’t much better. She pressed against a few of the loudest-protesting bones in her neck, sighing at the relieving crack of each as they slid into place. She sniffed.Ugh. She needed a bath, and the roses agreed as they clutched their sweet petals close, arcing away from her. She stuck out her tongue at them.
She wanted to plant Aline’s device somewhere in the square. She figured it would cause the least damage while also providing the biggest space for the Shield to congregate once they were drawn from the mansion’s walls. Lux contemplated the spindles protruding at odd angles from the metal cylinder in her hands.
She’d asked for a distraction. She counted on Aline to at least give her that.
Twilight descended, but she ignored the tug against her body. The forest would be left waiting today. A few stray members of the Shield meandered here and there, not nearly alert enough to be truly looking for her. Lux hoped that meant they were tired of the search for the evening. She observed the last few vendors pack their wares.
The fountain at the square’s center always mesmerized her as a child. With a total of three towering tiers, the spindle atop the final one wound upwards and upwards, ending with a flourishing letter G. It was gaudy and expensive; a perfect fit for the mayor who’d commissioned it.
And the water to it was cut off every night.
Given the cover of darkness, Lux felt sure she could climb her way to the top tier and wedge the cylinder within. Hidden from view, she hoped it would confuse the townsfolk for a time. Enough for her to slip into the mayor’s domain unwitnessed and unchecked. From there, she counted on her leverage being deemed worthy enough to free Shaw.
With her plan as solid as she could make it, and some time to waste until night fully cloaked the town, her thoughts turned to Riselda.
Riselda standing hunched, an unnatural gleam in her eye, with enough howler canines to last through months of revivals. And all following demands for Lux to abandon Ghadra to its fate. To flee as she’d always wanted. To save herself.
In the prison, strapped to a chair, Lux had plans to do just that. But, like the heaviest pendulum, she’d returned to her senses.
There were families just like hers here, and they had faces now. Aged and worried and kind—and young and vibrant and fierce. If she were to walk away now, she’d never overcome it. Her intuition had been right in preventing her from confiding in her aunt. Riselda would never understand and would probably never forgive her after tonight.
Lux forced her clenched fingers to relax against her new weapon. It would be just her luck to detonate the thing amongst the rose bushes, announcing her presence to the world. With a cleansing breath, and another readjustment that would have made Shaw groan, she continued to wait.
The final white uniformvanished into the din of a boisterous tavern, and Lux was already several paces into the point of no return.
She couldn’t back away from this tossed-together plan because if she imagined the man tied to the table, his insides opened to the room, Shaw’s face was in his place. She’d seen him dead once. She never wanted to again.
The first tier was easy to swing into.
The second required more effort, and her arms and legs shook from the strain. They held her though, and she climbed into the remaining pool of water before tipping her head back.
A shout cracked through the air.
Lux dropped like a stone to her knees, soaking through her skirts and splashing water across her chest. She shivered, goosebumps erupting over her skin, though it was from much more than the cool water. When several seconds ticked by, she peered over the fountain’s edge.
A drunk and stumbling figure entered the square, leaving the tavern door wide and allowing light and an obscene amount of noise to tumble forth. He shouted again over his shoulder, whether in irritation or delight it was impossible to know. Either way, Lux breathed a sigh of relief she wasn’t found out. An intoxicated man meant nothing to her so long as he wasn’t the Shield.
When he disappeared down the street, likely in search of another establishment to grace with his coin, she reached for the final tier.
