Page 126 of Queen of War and Ruin

“Hell of a party, huh?” she asks as the four of us stumble toward her, gasping for breath.

“Horses,” Zarek says. “Now.”

Alia nods. “They’re ready. They’re not the fastest, but they’ll blend in anywhere.”

She looks at us, then frowns at Petrys.

“I was expecting three of you,” she whispers.

“This asshole isn’t one of—” Petrys begins, but Gerard cuts him off.

“I’ve got a horse,” Gerard says, stepping forward to meet Alia. “Mare named Sunshine. She’s boarded at the Two Dogs.”

He pulls something from his pocket that looks like a room key from a cheap inn. Alia frowns at it.

“Are you going with them?” she asks Gerard.

“No,” Petrys says.

“Yes,” Gerard says, at the same time.

Alia crosses her arms over her chest and raises an eyebrow. “If you’re going with them, you don’t have time to go to the Two Dogs.”

Gerard grins and hands her the key. “Then it looks like you have a mare named Sunshine waiting for you at the Two Dogs. I’ll take whatever you can give me in exchange.”

Alia mutters a string of curses under her breath, then turns and vanishes into the darkness.

“Lilias,” she calls. “Get in here.”

I follow her into the comforting darkness of the stables. Three horses wait just inside the doorway, saddled and ready, and my eyes sting with a sudden, fierce swell of gratitude.

“Alia,” I whisper. “Thank you.”

She turns back to me and shakes her head. “Don’t thank me until you’re out of here,” she mutters. “And, hells, take off that damn dress. You shine like a beacon. There’s some clothes in the tack room. Then you can help me saddle Ebony.”

I do as she says, although she has to help me unlace the dress’s complicated bodice, and it takes so long to peel it off that I want to scream. Finally, I step out of the dress and pull on the dark shirt and loose, soft pants Alia hands me. If Alia notices the dagger strapped to my thigh, she doesn’t say anything.

“Better take that with you,” she tells me, staring at the pile of sparkling fabric on the floor of the tack room. “If someone finds that dress here, I have no fucking idea how I’ll explain it.”

I bundle up the dress as best I can, then wrap it in an old blanket and tie it behind Ebony’s saddle. We lead the horses out of the stable and into the cool night air. Gerard and Petrys are still staring at each other like they’re wondering who’s going to throw the second punch. Zarek has one hand on the wall, like he’s bracing himself.

And he’s still shaking.

I touch his arm as I bring him his horse. “You okay?” I whisper.

“Of course,” he replies, with the least convincing smile I’ve ever seen.

I frown, but he turns away from me and pulls himself into the saddle.

“Go out through the mountains,” Alia says, once we’re all mounted. “Stay the hells away from the main roads. And do not, under any circumstances, run. Anyone running a horse at this hour’s going to draw the guards like flies on shit.”

“I know,” Petrys says.

I nod and try to swallow, but my throat has gone dry.

“Thank you, Alia,” Zarek says, his voice oddly low and formal. “I owe you more than I can ever repay.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Alia replies, with a grin. “I’ll add it to your tab. Now get the fuck out of here, you idiot.”