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I stilled. “What?”
“I’ve heard there’s a tunnel that leads underneath the perimeter wall.”
“Why haven’t you used it to escape?” I whispered.
“The matron keeps our quarters heavily guarded all the time.”
“Come with me,” I said, my pulse quickening. “You and your brother. We’ll find it together.”
She shook her head, her eyes becoming glassy. “I can’t. The matron, she—she locked up my brother yesterday because I …” Her words trailed off. It was then I noticed that her eyes were red-rimmed and swollen like she’d been crying.
“Locked him up where?” Was this the matron’s punishment for Sable drugging the guards yesterday? No, I had a feeling if the matron knew what Sable had done, the consequences would have been worse.
The commander appeared from the bathing area fully dressed and began buckling on his weapons belt on the far side of the room.
Sable kept her voice low. “Look for the bent pine tree near the old groundskeeper’s cottage, northwest of the tower.”
“But—”
“If you have the chance to escape, don’t hesitate, and don’t look back, Raven. You’re on your own.”
When Bloodbain turned around, Sable was already bustling about the room, cleaning up the mess I’d made and building up the fire. Moments later, she was gone.
“Raven?” The commander was giving me a curious look. “Are you all right?”
“I—” Realizing I probably looked flustered, I tried to tame my expression. “I’m fine.”
He sat back down on the edge of the bed. “Did any of your memories come back just now?”
“No,” I said, not meeting his eye. I took a sip of the tea, so I had something else to focus on.
I felt him staring at me like I was a messy knot he couldn’t quite unravel. “I’m sorry.” His tone was solemn. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something else but then closed it.
I hated all the Rathalans—of this I was certain—but I was suddenly having trouble hating him.
“All right, well, rest today. I’ll make sure none of the guards bother you,” he said.
When he left, the room was silent again except for the crackle of the fire. A small seed of hope sprouted inside me as Sable’s words echoed in my head.
There’s a way out.
14
Jeddak
By the time I reached the black gates of Malengard, it was past midday. Despite the minutes of the spell ticking away, I’d had no choice but to catch a few hours of sleep at an inn before leaving the marketplace.
One day. That’s how long we had until this spell wore off. And when it did, Kah and I were as good as dead if we were still inside Malengard. That meant, one day to find the girl, convince her to give me the map, and get the blazenhell out of here.
Assuming Bloodbain hadn’t killed her already. My chest tightened at the thought. If the girl was dead, I’d failed. The mission was over.
I left my horse outside the stables and headed toward the entrance to the Obsidian Tower. “We need to find the girl,” I said to Kah under my breath. “We know that Bloodbain took her when he left the throne room. We just need to find out where he’s keeping her.”
Like before, the other guards took no notice of me as I strolled into the tower.
“So, we follow him. I have a feeling he’ll lead us straight to her,” Kah said.
“That’ll take too long. I’ll use my magic to track?—”
