AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Gradually, the dwellings shifted from sagging wood and crumbling brick to tidy inns and stores. We kept walking silently, cloaks pulled over our heads as our surroundings transitioned to sprawling homes with sculpted gardens in the neighborhood surrounding the castle. I barely breathed as we turned toward the castle itself. It loomed over the city, the dark stone walls swallowing the light from the many lanterns and light orbs surrounding it. Next to me, Madinia maintained a cold, distant expression. I couldn’t imagine spending most of my life here and then fleeing the way she’d had to.
The guards were stationed in their usual spots at the castle gatehouse.
My heart thundered in my chest. I reached for my power, even knowing I needed to save it for later. But Rythos caught my hand and squeezed. His eyes were calm, reassuring. The next part of the plan depended entirely on him.
“Oi, you!”
Rythos smiled at the guard stalking toward us. And then he seemed to come alive. His skin glowed, his eyes turned lively and warm, and he grinned at the guard.
The guard grinned back. “About time you got here,” he said. “The others won’t believe you’ve stopped in.”
My breath caught in my throat. It was working.
The guard glared at me and Madinia. “Who are they?”
“They’re my friends,” Rythos smiled easily.
“I thought I was your friend.” The guard’s lower lip stuck out. Behind me, Madinia made a choked sound.
“You are. I wanted to introduce you to my other friends too. It’s so nice to have lots of friends, don’t you think?”
“I suppose. But I’m your best friend.” The guard slitted his eyes threateningly at me.
I clamped down on the inappropriate laugh that wanted to escape. Rythos just nodded at the guard. “That’s right. Can you open the gate for us?”
The guard waved his hand. “You’ll have to keep quiet. We’ve had a little trouble recently,” he confided. “The king has us all on lockdown, and Marinith won’t like that I’m letting you in. Paranoid old bastard.”
This was both astonishing and incredibly unsettling. The guard actually believed Rythos was his close friend. And he was complaining about his superiors to him as if he’d done so many times before.
I understood now, why Rythos had been so hurt soon after I’d first met him, when Lorian had succumbed to what I now knew was jealousy—implying that Rythos had used that power on me. Lorian had known he hadn’t, of course—had lashed out in a way that was extremely rare for him.
If Rythos had used his power on me, I would have told him anything he needed to know. He would have instantly been my best friend, my only friend, and if he’d told me to trust Lorian and the others, I would have done it without question.
I shivered.
In the distance, something exploded, the sound ripping through the night even this far from the city gates.
My eyes met Madinia’s. That was our signal. The Cleaver had struck. Now, chaos would reign on the streets of Lesdryn.
“Stay safe,” Rythos told us. He melted away. If everything went according to plan, his new best friends would find Cavis’s body so we could take him home—all while Rythos kept the other guards and servants contained.
Meanwhile, we’d be creating our own chaos right here in the castle. But first, we had to meet with Kaliera.
Lorian hadn’t been happy about this part of our plan. But she was helping us—for her own reasons, yes, but she was still helping us. One quick conversation could save us days of messages back and forth. Besides, I wanted to look into her eyes and judge just how much she could be trusted.
Reaching for my power, I paused time. The hourglass tugged at my magic, urging me to use more and more. Wrestling with it, I clamped down, refusing to allow it to drain me completely. Just the thought of being powerless in this castle made my hands tremble.
We sprinted through the servants’ entrance and up the stairs, making our way to the queen’s chambers. Strolling past the lone guard on the door, we let ourselves in, Madinia closing the door behind us.
I dropped the threads of my power. Watching the queen whirl, her back to the window as fear flickered in her eyes…I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I enjoyed her moment of helplessness.
Still, her face immediately settled into its usual bored arrogance. She cast a dismissive gaze over Madinia, tutting at her faded hair, before turning a considering look on the hourglass around my neck.
“Why aren’t you busy freeing my son?”
“We are. But how do we know we can trust you, Kaliera?”
Her eyes flared at my use of her first name. But I would no longer bow and scrape to this woman. Those gray eyes shuttered, her mouth twisting, and she seemed to steel herself.
