Page 74 of His Noble Ruin

I climbed over the battlements, gripping the rope as I moved downward. Once I’d gone several feet, Graham followed.

We continued down carefully, my hands throbbing. I pushed away my desire for speed and focused on staying alive. As I fixated on what would happen at the shore, my confidence faltered, leaving fear and guilt in its place. As soon as we got to the boat and Cael made his appearance, Graham would discover that I’d betrayed him.

And I didn’t know how either of us would survive it.

* * *

When our feethit the ground, I wished I could lie on my back in the grass until the sun came up and forget what had to be done.

“Where do we go now?” Graham asked, still catching his breath and flexing his fingers.

“The shore.” I tilted my head toward the west.

We started through a wheat field, running in the dark. We had to get out before the Enforcers found us. The blades of wheat were still green and soft, not yet ripened into the prickly yellow stalks they’d become.

Next came an orchard with fruit hanging from the tree limbs.Pears.

I made a beeline for the fruit, stuffing as many as I could into my bag and sinking my teeth into another. The Cambrians couldn’t keep me from their delicacies any longer.

“Stealing again?” Graham asked. “You really are a criminal.”

We emerged from the cover of the orchard and continued through farms and pastures. Occasionally, we passed a stable or farmhouse, the few inhabited places outside the wall on this island. Horses and cows woke and lifted their heads as we went by, but the night stayed quiet and still.

Eventually, the black shoreline came into view. I ran on, aiming for a hill that rose up near the water’s edge.

“I don’t see a boat,” said Graham when he caught up to me.

“That’s the idea.” If we left a boat in plain view, Enforcers would either destroy or confiscate it.

I led Graham down to the rocky shore beside the round hill.

“You do know I can’t swim,” he said.

“You won’t need to. Just get ready to wade—that is, if your noble sensibilities can handle a little mud.”

“Be nice,” he said. “It’s my first time out in the big world.”

His words nearly stopped me in my tracks. He didn’t deserve this. Whatever this thing was that had grown between us was about to be dashed like a boat on the rocks.

Taking my bag off and lifting it high, I climbed down the rocky shore and jumped into the water, gasping from the cold. My boots caught between the rocks as I trudged forward through the waves and rounded the seaward side of the hill. The dark eye of a cave greeted me. It was only accessible from the water, leaving it hidden to anyone on land.

I glanced back to see Graham following me through the water and into the cave. I splashed forward into the darkness, stumbling onto the rocky ground, then squinted at the back of the cave, waiting for my eyes to adjust.

The outline of a sailboat revealed itself in the moonlight.

Beside it was a man.

ChapterTwenty-Six

The man stepped toward me.

I froze at the sight of Cael’s shadowy figure. It was time to hand Graham over.

Graham waded out of the shallow water, joining me in the cave.

As my eyes continued to adjust, the white on Cael’s uniform contrasted against the darkness. Something metal glinted in his hand.

I remembered the pistol I’d given him, and panic gripped my heart.

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