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Leap and Mavlyn exchanged uneasy glances. “Maybe this is a good time for us to head home,” she suggested.
“Probably,” he agreed, glancing toward the counter. “But not without some sandwiches.”
The three of them took their to-go orders, then hurried out of the campus and back to Emelie’s house. They were just removing their cloaks when a loud knock sounded at the door, and Mavlyn and Leap froze, their hearts hammering.
“Good afternoon—” the housemaid began as she answered the door, then gasped. “Giant’s teeth, what is all this? I wasn’t told we were expecting company!”
“We’re dropping in a little last minute,” Roylan said, his voice pitched so that Emelie could hear him from down the hall. “My apologies. But my friends are eager to meet Emelie’s new friend, and they wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
The disgruntled servant reluctantly let the group in--ten more university students Mavlyn hadn’t met yet, including Roylan’s sister, Rina. “I can'tbelievethe campus guards had my paper confiscated,” she said in what would have been an indignant voice if her eyes hadn’t been sparkling with so much excitement. “I’ve been the Tribune’s editor for three years, and they’veneverdone that, not even when I reported on that scandalous affair between Professor Thornbloom and Professor Barkley!”
“Are you really Adara’s best friend?” one of the other students gushed, looking a little star-struck as she pumped Mavlyn’s hand. “I heard you were there with her when she fought King Aolis. What wasthatlike?”
“I was there, yes,” Mavlyn said, though she felt a little uncomfortable admitting that. She spent a few minutes answering questions about Adara and Aolis, then tried to turn the conversation back to the anti-war campaign. “Do you all have any ideas about what else we can do to spread the message? Not just here, but in the other fae realms as well?”
“I could always publish another article,” Rina suggested. “Perhaps one spotlighting the truth about King Aolis. And perhaps I can talk to some of the other paper editors I know. I’ve developed some good media connections in the last year.”
Roylan shook his head. “That will bring the authorities straight to your door,” he said. “We need to find safer alternatives, one that doesn’t point directly to us.”
“What if we printed pamphlets and distributed them door to door?” another student suggested. “Perhaps under the cover of night? That way, no one will know it was us.”
“Or perhaps we could stage a protest?” someone offered. “It’s unlikely they will arrest us, especially if we get large enough numbers.”
The group was still debating when the servant rushed into the room. “Miss Emelie,” she said, a harried look on her face, “I don’t mean to interrupt, but I spotted a troop of soldiers coming down our street while I was cleaning the windows. I believe they are from Lady Mossi’s personal guard.”
“Squalls!” Leap cursed, jumping to his feet. He grabbed Mavlyn’s hand and yanked her from the couch. “We need to get out of here,now.”
The two of them raced up the stairs just as someone started banging on the door. Heart hammering in her chest, Mavlyn followed Leap into one of the bedrooms. Leap yanked open the window, then put two fingers in his mouth and let out a piercing whistle. A moment later, Cirra pulled up right outside, and Leap hopped onto her back, then helped Mavlyn out.
“Wait!” someone shouted. Mavlyn turned back to see two students enter the room, their panicked faces glistening with sweat. They were the two from earlier who’d asked about her friendship with Adara. “Take us with you!”
They dove through the window before Leap could say anything, forcing Cirra to expand so the four of them could fit on her back. Leap swore under his breath, and Cirra took off like a rocket, propelling them well out of eye and earshot. They hovered over the house, peering anxiously over the cloud familiar as they watched the guards march the remaining students out of the house, all in handcuffs.
“No,” Mavlyn groaned, her heart sinking when she saw that Emelie, Roylan, and Rina were among them. She felt a sickening lurch in her gut when one of the guards shoved Emelie into the armored carriage outside, fitted with iron bars on the windows. “Leap, we have to help them!”
“What do you want me to do?” Leap demanded. “Kill the guards? We’ll be wanted for murder if we do that!”
“That’s a bad idea,” Lyra said, shaking her head. “The citizens won’t listen to you if you’ve been accused of murder. It’s better if we just let them go, at least for now. My father is a barrister—he can help get them released. It’s not like they actually did anything wrong, after all.”
“How likely is it he’ll be able to do that?” Mavlyn asked, fighting against the urge to use her magic to stop the guards. Even from this distance, she could toss some of her nightshade tangle seeds to the ground and use them to tangle up the guards’ legs so the others could get away.
“Pretty likely,” Tora said confidently. “If they detain them for too long, their parents will cause an uproar, and that will only lend credibility to your claims.”
“Exactly.” Lyra’s eyes gleamed as she nodded to the neighbors, who were all filing out onto the street to watch the commotion. “In fact, this display is proof that Lady Mossi is taking your claims seriously. She wouldn’t do this if you weren’t a threat, and these people know that.”
“That’s all well and good,” Leap said as they watched the guards load the last of the students into the carriage. Mavlyn wondered what Emelie’s parents would say once they returned home and realized their daughter had been carted off to jail. Shame filled her—they’d taken her in, and this was how she’d repaid them. “But what are we going to do? We can’t go back to Emelie’s house.”
“You can stay at my aunt’s house,” Tora declared. “She’s out of town right now, so there’s nobody living there. It’s perfect timing.”
“Can we at least leave a note before we go?” Mavlyn asked, a pleading note in her voice. “Emelie’s parents deserve to know what happened.”
“It’s too risky,” Lyra said. She gave Mavlyn’s shoulder a sympathetic squeeze. “But don’t worry. I’ll send a servant to the trading post to let Emelie’s father know after we get you two to safety.”
“All right,” Mavlyn relented.
Tora gave Leap directions to her grandmother’s house, which was a small cottage by the river. Vines and flowering plants climbed its rough-hewn stone walls, its roof thatched with sedge leaves. Tora didn’t have a key, but Leap was able to get in through the garden window and let the others in through the front door.
“Phew, this place is dusty,” Lyra said, wrinkling her nose as they walked in. The windows were shuttered, the meager light coming through the front door and the one window Leap had opened revealing a living room full of furniture that had been draped in white sheets. “How long has your aunt been away for?”
