The door slams behind us, and a pair of swords presses into our throats. “You’d best tell us what you know about spices.”
Candles flicker to life in the antechamber, and I look into the face of a man I once knew very well. “Lord Thane?” I tug Eloise’s hand, and she drops the spell disguising us.
“Prince Damien!” The older shade lowers his sword and slides it into its sheath, then motions for a younger man who I don’t know to do the same. Thane’s gaze darts between me, Eloise, and Warbill. “Thank the goddess! Welcome to Aendor.”
19
The Resistance
Eloise
The one called Lord Thane embraces Damien and then Warbill. He approaches me next, stopping a few inches from me with his arms held wide in invitation. I don’t know the man, but I move into the friendly embrace without hesitation. Lady Tempest is a confidante and a good friend to me, and she’s best friends with Damien’s mother. If this is her mate, he must be a worthy shade.
“Allow me to introduce you all to Percival. He’s one of our newest umbrae, a former citizen of Zephrine,” Thane says.
“Call me Percy,” the man says—a boy, really. I get the sense from his demeanor that he’s closer to a teenager than an adult.
Percy secures the door behind us, and Thane gestures for us to follow him deeper into the building.
“We train in secret and move via a network of tunnelsthat connect our buildings. Unfortunately, as a coastal community, we can’t build underground because of the flooding risk, but we’ve made use of interstitial space.”
“Interstitial space?” I’m embarrassed to admit I don’t know what that means, and I wonder if it involves magic.
Lord Thane smiles kindly. “When we designed the capital of our territory, we had streets that ran between the backs of buildings, places for deliveries and refuse removal.”
I immediately picture an alleyway in Richmond.
“We built over those streets.” He opens the door, and I see what he means. We are standing on a stone road, but it’s completely boxed in, like a warehouse, with no windows and no doors. Lamps burn at regular intervals. This isn’t like an alley; it’s like Night Haven, a completely secured world existing in a place between places. “To make sure the silver coats wouldn’t find us, we limited access points. The ones that do exist are well protected, with gateways like this where we can pick off intruders.”
Damien points at a slit in the wall. “Arrows?”
Lord Thane raises his chin proudly. “They’re watching us. Although I presume they’ve recognized you by now and are sending word?—”
“Eloise!” Tempest rushes through a door at the end of the passageway and swings me into a violent hug. “Damien!”
“Aunt Tempest. Thank the goddess.” Damien embraces her with a kiss to her cheek.
“Is that…?” Tempest’s gaze sweeps to our third.
“Warbill, my lady.”
She hugs us each in turn. “Thank the goddess youmade it here safely. Word has reached us that the silver coats have been excessively cruel in their zest to find you.”
“They have been. Thankfully, Eloise kept us disguised the entire time,” Damien says.
“Come, I’ll give you the tour. Lord Undaku and Lord Prandle are leading exercises in the training facility, but I’m sure Lady Odette and Lady Eudora will want to join us for a meal. You must be hungry and exhausted.”
“They’re all here?” I ask, surprised the leaders from the Borderlands and Zephrine would abandon their people in such difficult times.
Tempest pauses her steps, her expression losing some of its characteristic optimism. “If they weren’t here, they’d be dead. Even Thane and I must hide here.” That’s why the Palace of Dawn looks abandoned. The lord and lady of Aendor are as much fugitives as we are.
Our eyes catch and hold, and the pain I see in the older woman’s gaze is heartbreaking. What must she have endured since last we saw her at the Harvest Festival?
“Tempest,” Damien says softly, breaking the unspoken conversation passing between us. “You mentioned a meal. We are famished, but also, our rabble beasts and saddlebags are still tied up in front of the Maiden’s Voyage. They’ll need tending.”
Percy raises a hand. “I’ll do it. We have a secured stable as well. I’ll have the bags brought to your rooms.”
“Thank you, Percy,” Thane says.
