Adila narrowed her eyes. “What’s so funny?”
“I could not help but overhear.” I did my best to modulate my voice and bowed as best I could with the heavy basket in hand. The act felt all wrong. I was no longer scared of these two, and I desperately wanted to show them who I was and how strong I’d become. But now was not the time. “Apologies, my ladies.”
“You shouldn’t be listening in on your betters’ conversations.”
Did they not expect others to hear them when they spoke so plainly in the open? Of course I didn’t say that, just ducked my head and shifted the weight of the laundry basket.
“Away with you,” Hadia commanded.
I scurried by and, as soon as they could no longer see me, released an incredulous snort. Yrsa led us down another long corridor, this one narrow and with no other high fae in the area.
She stopped and waited for us to catch up. The moment we did, she nodded down the hall. “There are steps twenty paces further on the right. They lead to the dungeons, so this is where we stash the props and prepare.”
“Will the other team use this entry?” Vale asked, and I was certain his mind was whirring with strategy. Possibilities. Issues that may arise.
“No. The dungeons are vast. There are two other entrances known to most castle workers and one that is a secret.”
“How do you know about it then?”
“The same boyfriend. The one the public doesn’t know about travels below the castle by waterway. It’s closest to the section of the dungeon where they’ll keep the queen, and guaranteed to be clear of guards, but I’d rather avoid it if we can. Dangerous creatures live in there.”
“You know all this from courting someone in the castle?” I asked.
“I can beverypersuasive,” Yrsa grinned, and in that moment, she looked so like Thantrel that I did not doubt her powers of persuasion for a second.
We stashed our props into two nearby rooms that were mercifully empty. At the door leading to the stairwell, Yrsa performed her magic with her lock picks, and the door squealed open.
Down the pitch-black stone stairwell we went. The faelights in my pocket called to me, but I refrained from pulling one out. Darkness was our ally, and it took only about ten seconds for my vision to adjust enough that the darkness did not feel quite so oppressive.
A full minute passed before I caught new sounds. Snores first. Then soft moans. I swallowed. How many prisoners were awake? And if they saw us, would they say anything?
“I will silence any threat,” Astril said, as if she’d been reading my mind.
“If the queen is where I think she is, we won’t have to pass by too many inhabited cells,” Yrsa said. “But guards are down here too, and it only takes one to sound an alarm.”
We descended further, and I was about to ask when the steps would end and how far below the main levels of the castle we were, when a light from below caught my eye. A damp, disgusting scent followed. That of waste and mold.
“Closing in,” Vale whispered. “Prepare your weapons.”
Daggers appeared from boots. As we took the last few steps downward, I held my breath. Waiting. Listening.
The bottommost portion of the first two cells materialized, as did a rotund guard. He lumbered our way, muttering to himself, not having heard or seen us yet. He seemed to be returning to his post, a rickety stool propped by the steps, after disciplining a prisoner. Or that was what I gathered by the blood dripping off the bludgeon he carried.
“I have this,” Qildor and Vale whispered in unison, but not before Astril shot forward, so fast the guard didn’t see her coming until she was right in front of him.
A strike to the head, and he slumped. Astril caught him and thank the stars the prisoners in the first two cells were asleep. The cover of darkness was one reason we’d delayed our mission for hours, but another reason was that fewer prisoners would be awake to witness us extracting the queen.
Astril dragged him back to the stool and positioned the guard so that he was leaning against the wall, appearing to have fallen asleep on the job.
“Potion?” Qildor asked. We possessed many more vials of the brew than we’d used outside. The concoction would keep someone asleep for hours.
“Yes,” Vale said, and Qildor pulled a vial from his pocket to administer the potion. “As much as I’d like to think we’ll be in and out quickly, I’m not counting on it.”
“What about keys?” I asked.
“Here.” Yrsa held up a keyring. I hadn’t even seen her lift it from the guard.
“Lead the way.” My husband flourished a hand in the direction of the darkness.
