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But they both knew Tes wouldn’t be focusing much on light globes.
At the appointed time, she followed her friend from the workshop and through the common gate. She’d passed through here often while pretending to be a servant, but there was a strangeness to returning this way after so long away. Maybe part of that was observing the same subdued behavior she’d first noted upon her arrival. The tradespeople barely spoke, and eventhe horses pulling the carts seemed to have their heads lower than usual.
She and Cairi entered the castle itself through a secondary door. As Tes turned toward the servants’ area, leaving her friend to start in the main hall, she kept her ears open and her expression bored. There was a forgotten entrance to the secret passageways hidden in the vast wine cellar, but instead of heading straight there, Tes worked her way through the many rooms between. At each light globe, she paused to renew the spell.
No one would have a reason to suspect her of ill intent.
Sweat coated her brow within moments of entering the hot kitchen. But the longer she remained in the ofttimes-boisterous room, the more that cold, clammy dread dampened her arms and back. Where was the usual banter passing between the servants? Where were the harshly barked commands from the cook? Even the pot lids didn’t dare to clatter in the strangely quiet room.
A kettle hissed, and Tes almost dropped the globe she held out of surprise. One of the maids yelped, her subsequent chuckle short and quickly stifled.This is worse than I thought,Tes muttered to herself as she worked her way toward the pantry. She hadn’t seen the kitchen staff so nervous since the previous cook’s dismissal and subsequent execution three centuries or so ago. Then, they’d mostly been shaken by the poisonous herbs found in the man’s possession.
The king must have been more short-tempered and reactive lately.
Finally, Tes was granted entry to the wine cellar, a room so large that the other end connected to a set of stairs near the dining room. So near to her goal, her body vibrated with enough excitement that handling the globes took extra concentration.But she only renewed the spells on a few before abandoning the task and darting over to the secret entrance.
With a room this size, they wouldn’t expect her to return quickly, but she still didn’t have a great deal of time. She had to ensure that the path between the exit point outside the main walls and the royal chambers above was still clear—and that the spell guarding both hadn’t been shielded against her. That was paramount. After Cairi confirmed which room was Ber’s as she completed her renewal spells upstairs, Tes could return at her leisure.
In a few days, most likely. She didn’t want any suspicion to fall upon her friend, which was why she wasn’t remaining behind tonight. The guards would notice if Cairi’s apprentice didn’t leave with her. But tomorrow, Tes was going to be spectacularly dismissed for breaking an entire display of expensive globes. She would owe her friend a hefty sum of gold for the trouble, but it would be worth it.
Then Tes could find a cheap room and pretend to search for another job until the time seemed right to return to the palace.
She pressed her thumb to a ridge on the stone wall and sent out the faintest tendril of her energy. With a soft snick, the door released enough for her to grip the edge with her fingertips and pull it the rest of the way open. She slipped inside and pulled the stone closed behind her, leaving her in the deepest dark.
There was a lighting spell embedded along the wall, but she didn’t activate it. The brief touch of her magic at the door would be too faint to notice—more than that was too risky. Fortunately, she’d spent the last couple of days working in Cairi’s shop, and the only thing Tes had requested as payment was one of the marble-sized light stones she’d created.
Its glow was barely bright enough to see where she was going, but she’d had a great deal of practice navigating darkened passageways in the last year or so. Of course, the last time hadbeen at the Llyalian palace after Ria had tangled her in a dress with magic and locked her in the tunnels before escaping.
This mission had better be more successful than that disaster.
She didn’t want to think about it being any worse.
A tingleof awareness traced down Ber’s spine, but even as elation surged through him, he remained impassive. There was certainly no discernible cause for excitement while dining beside Ryenil, who reluctantly entertained a visiting lord. Any show of pleasure would be suspect, for if private meals with the king were unpleasant, formal dinners were misery. Especially without Tes, who smoothed over any tension with surprising ease.
She’s here.
He hid his mouth behind his wine goblet lest his lips deny his command and mutiny with a smile. He wouldn’t blame them. Though his magic was miniscule, Ber had learned to make the most of what he had. His wife wouldn’t notice the wispy thread of a spell he’d connected into the secret tunnels that would alert him of the barest hint of her energy, but it had worked as intended. He’d had warning of her arrival.
Would she be waiting for him in his room when this infernal dinner was over? It was likely. The question was how he should respond. He could speak to her—plead his case. But what would be the point? Her return to the palace would be seamless if she killed him as a traitor and had Duke Aony arrested for the same. She could claim that amidst the trauma, she’d lost the babe and had needed to regain her strength before she returned.
There was no way to know how long it would take to overcome Ryenil, and Ber would only be a liability to his family in the meantime. But if he was dead, he couldn’t be tortured into revealing the truth about their child. He might not be able to celebrate that new life, but he could save it. Tes, too. He would become the villain she needed to escape the king’s censure.
Regret soured his stomach, and he took a large gulp of wine to try to drown it away. He could think of no better way to salvage the situation. Even if Tes somehow forgave him, they didn’t have enough powerful allies now to guarantee success in quickly deposing the king. Of course, if Aony hadn’t turned against them, things might have been different.
But they weren’t.
Ber downed the rest of the cup. Maybe the gods would take pity on him and prompt Tes to strike from the front. That way, he would at least be able to see her face one last time. That alone would make all the darkness worth it. Of course, the very wish ensured that he would never see her coming, for the last thing he deserved was divine mercy.
It took hours before King Ryenil finally concluded the meal and excused himself to go to bed, leaving Ber to wander where he would. Sometimes, he strolled the darker paths in the gardens, hoping to overhear something useful from the courtiers, but he wouldn’t tonight. Not when he might see Tes again.
Feigning a yawn, Ber turned toward his room. But when he finally entered, it was to disappointment. The place was as empty as he’d left it, the only change a new light globe on the stand beside the door and fresh sheets on his bed. Perhaps she waited in the passages?
He changed out of his clothes and climbed into bed. But not even after his body had gone lax with pretend sleep did his wife appear. Had he been mistaken about his spell?
Though she brought only his death, his heart ached to think that it was so.
Temptation had nearly preventedTes from leaving the secret tunnels, but she’d forced herself to return to Cairi before she’d given in. Now with dinner nearly over, the two of them hurried through the last few rooms. Tes’s glamour worked well, but she didn’t want to risk being spotted by one of the nobles.
As they finally slipped out into the cool night air and started along the path, Cairi handed her a sack of globes in need of repair. “Careful with that, girl.”
