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“It’s all right.” He poured more of his magic into her. “That was an excellent spell. Take a moment to catch your breath.”
When her dizziness faded, the world looked…disappointing. She’d had a hawk’s vision for mere moments, but her human eyes already felt limited by comparison. She sagged against Lio, trying to push away her sadness. There was no time for that now.
“This passage seems to go a long way,” Kalos said from a few paces ahead, where he and Knight stood looking into the gloom. “Let’s see where it leads.”
Lio sent his spell light forward, and they walked on.
Cassia found it too easy to lose track of time down here. She wasn’t sure how long they followed the tunnel, pausing to explore each and every fork they found. Lio marked their way in spell light, but Kalos also drew trail signs on the wall at every turn, in his own blood, as if making a libation.
At last they came to a stairway hewn from the rock and worn with time. It stopped at a solid ceiling, but Cassia succeeded in changing her eyes once more. She led them up through another silver-drawn portal.
Cold air hit them as they emerged from the ground. The sky was gray with predawn. She could see Castra Patria behind them, and ahead, the wooded hills of the east.
“We were right,” Lio said. “There are tunnels leading a great distance under the keep. We could find one that goes all the way to the letting site.”
Kalos gave Knight one more pat. “It’s almost light. We need to take shelter for the Slumber, then keep searching.”
“Don’t you want to stay in the passageways with us?” Lio asked.
Kalos shook his head. “We should split up to cover more ground, then meet again at Mederi tomorrow night. Come nightfall, I’ll scout for Paradum again. You two keep exploring the tunnels. Cassia knows what she needs to do now.”
“Thank you for helping me understand,” she said.
“Thank you for letting me walk here.” Kalos bowed to her before slipping away into the night.
Cassia turned back to Lio, realizing too late that turning was not a good idea. He scooped her up in his arms before she fell.
“I’ve got you,” he said, “and I’ve got as much magic as you need to open every portal in Tenebra. We won’t give up.”
She wrapped her arm around his neck, her other hand clutching her pendant. As he carried her down the stairs, back into the earth, she could only hope her own strength would last.
22
Days After
AUTUMN EQUINOX
23 Kyria’s Bounty, 1597 OT
HIGHER LOYALTIES
The hours melted together in the passageways, with only Lio’s Slumber to prove that time had passed at all. When Cassia thought of what might be happening outside, anxiety gripped her. Had the vote begun? Was Solia already queen—or defeated? Without Cassia at her side.
But there was little room for her to dwell on her sister’s rejection. Changing her eyes to find the portals demanded all her focus.
Cassia would have forgotten to eat or drink anything besides Lio’s magic if he hadn’t pushed water and provisions into her hands. But after a time, she felt too weary to eat. And finally, too tired to walk, even leaning on Knight for support. Lio carried her onward in his arms while she found the next portal, and the next.
“Turn left here,” she said at the next fork.
“Do you sense something that way?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“You don’t sound hopeful.”
She cuddled closer to him, a sense of unease skittering over her. “I have a clear sense of direction that we should go that way. But also the feeling that nothing good awaits us.”
He hesitated at the juncture, and his spell light floated in that direction, but it revealed only more stone and ivy. “Why would the Lustra want us to go that way if something dangerous lies there?”
