AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The sixth bell chimed,and everyone stood. Elisa finished braiding her hair and slipped the key out. She pushed her arm slowly through a bar, pressed the key in, and turned it. It creaked, and she froze.
“Finish quickly,” I said. “The guards will probably meet us. Remember, no casualties.”
Ishir nodded while Orman rolled his eyes. Elisa turned it, and the lock squealed as the latch came undone. She used her elbow to press against the door, avoiding touching it with her hands. We pushed out of the cell right as a dozen guards approached with swords drawn. Orman scoffed and barreled towards the first two before they had time to consider attacking him. He grabbed their heads and knocked them together. The next three were more wary and lowered into defensive positions. Ishir snatched up a guard’s sword and joined.
Orman kicked, knocking a guard off his feet. The man hit the stone floor with a crack. My zevar hummed against my throat as my magic pulsed, ready to release itself. No. They were doing fine, and we didn’t need to send a beacon that we’d escaped. Ishir clattered his sword with another guard, pushing him farther down the hallway. The second guard swung at Orman, and he grunted before slamming his hand forward, knocking the blade from the man’s hand. He grabbed him around the waist and dropped him to the ground. The man pulled a knife.
“Orman, on your left,” Neia yelled.
Orman shifted but not quickly enough. The blade sliced his forearm.
“Shit,” I gasped.
“Ah, ya shouldn’t have done that, mate,” Orman growled. He took the back of the sword and knocked it hard enough against the guard’s temple that his head bounced against the stone floor right as Ishir disarmed the last guard. My heart stopped—killing someone could mean war. The man’s chest still rose, though. Relief washed through me. The poor bastard would have a hell of a headache when he woke.
“You okay, Orman?”
He ripped a strip off the hem of his shirt and tied it up. “Ain’t more than a scratch, mate, it just pissed me off.”
“All right. The stones. Choose a guard close to your size. We need to swap clothing.”
Elisa looked around and frowned. She was the smallest of the group and none of the guards were her height. “It doesn’t matter, Elisa,” I said. “We’ll have you covered.”
Once the other four of us had tied up the guards, gagged the one who Orman and Ishir hadn’t knocked out, traded clothes, and placed stones on them to steal their looks, we marched up the stairs. Before we reached the door, I put a hand up. “Orman?”
His zevar glowed as his eyes turned gold. “Just Luz in the halls… Well, Luz is the only conscious being in the hall, that is.”
I grinned. Luz didn’t fail.
We opened the door, and Luz stood looking dashing in a charcoal gray suit that made their skin glow and reminded me how we’d once ended up in bed together. I clapped their hand. “Luz.”
“Sai.”
“Everything’s still on track?”
“Yes. I need to appear at the party soon, or my absence will raise concern. I knocked out the guards trailing me, but I had nothing to tie them up with.”
“Ishir,” I spoke over my shoulder, “handle that?”
He bowed and retreated to the jail to gather the needed supplies.
“Lira’s helping too,” Luz said.
I froze and stared at them.
“You hurt her, Sai.”
“We can’t focus on that now.”
They nodded. “I’m heading to the ballroom. This hall is clear. The others have a light guard with heavier forces near the stairs.”
“Got it. Neia, wait for Ishir. Elisa and Orman, let’s go.”
Elisa turned like she might kiss Neia but then stared at the man with a long, crooked nose the magic had turned her into. She giggled. “I can’t do it. I’m sorry, Nei.”
Neia smiled, lifted Elisa’s hand, and pressed a kiss to it. “See you in a few hours.”
Our group broke off, and Luz strode alongside us. “Another thing?”
