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“Is there a way to break the spell?”
“All you have to do is confront him. Your presence will reveal the illusion.”
“Thanks, Roisin. Let’s go, Maeve.” I reached for the door.
“How do you plan on stopping Badb?” Roisin asked.
I gazed at her grimly before answering. “I don’t know.”
We moved along the gray stone wall, heading for the gate to the palace. I tried not to think about what would happen if I arrived too late, though my heart pounded and I wanted to scream at how long everything was taking. I shut my eyes.Just focus on this step.
Two guards stood outside the gatehouse. They were both brawny and serious. They glared at us as we approached. Maeve nodded to them in acknowledgement, but one guard threw out a muscled arm.
“Halt.”
We froze. Panic fluttered in my chest. Had they found us out?
The guard looked us over. A scruffy beard clung to his face, making him look all the more intimidating. “The queen has ordered that nobody is to enter the castle until after the falling ceremony is completed.”
Maeve’s expression mirrored the surprise I felt.
“Yeah, but that doesn’t apply to servants,” I said.
The guard scowled at me. “Move along.”
“But—”
“Move. Along.”
Maeve glanced at me, clearly uncertain. She turned to leave.
I tugged at my hair, desperation filling me. I stepped up to the guard. “Please. You have to—”
“One more word and you’ll be thrown into the dungeons.”
So be it. I turned, as if I were going to leave, but then spun and sprinted past the guards.
They shouted, and the footsteps of one of them pounded after me. I cleared the gatehouse before the burly, scruffy-bearded guard body checked me against the cobblestone. The ground grated into my palms and knees, causing them to sting. My crossbow jerked about on my back, but I was pretty sure the guard didn’t see that because of my disguise.
My crossbow. But if I pulled it, I’d alert the entire palace and then I’d never make it to the throne room, not without every sentry in the castle coming after me.
The guard gripped my arm and hauled me to my feet. “I guess you wished to see the dungeons after all.” He steered me toward the castle.
We entered through a side door. The same side door, I realized, that Dagda and I had come through when I first arrived at the palace. I tried to struggle out of the burly guard’s grasp, but he held both arms tight. An ache built in my chest. Was this my fate? To spend Dagda’s falling ceremony locked in a prison cell just a few floors below him? So close and yet unable to reach him.
We rounded a corner and almost collided with a small boy. I recognized his light brown hair in an instant. Jaqueth.
The guard steered me around him. “Watch where you are going, boy.”
Do something.This was my last chance. Without thinking, I bowed to Jaqueth. “Your Majesty.”
The boy’s mouth fell open, and he stared at me in bewilderment. My heart sank. He didn’t understand.
Burly guard yanked on my arms. “What are you doing? Come on.”
Jaqueth watched as we disappeared around another corner.
We approached a large, heavyset door. Alarms blared in my mind. If I went through that door, there’d be no getting away. Adrenaline coursed through me, and I did the only thing I could think of. I rammed back into my captor. He grunted, surprised probably, as my crossbow rammed into his gut. His grip loosened, and I twisted out of his grasp. I dashed down the hall, past the door. The guard swore.
