“Always.” He squeezed her hand, releasing her moments before the guards took him by the arms and hauled him back towards the prison.
Mavka and Dhara made their way onto the platform, guiding Inari and Ezra back to the horses. Kaja wrapped her arm around Aloisia’s waist again. They remained there on the platform, watching as Fynn was taken back beyond the prison gates.
Aloisia followed her sisters back to their mares. Her head was swimming, exhaustion weighing heavy on her. But there wasn’t time to process any of what had happened. Not when there were now three lives on the line.
“What now?” Kaja asked.
“I suppose,” Aloisia said, “we had better start hunting Forgotten Gods.”
Inari helped her back onto her mare, swinging up into the saddle behind her. “Indeed. Or else there may be three nooses awaiting us next time we set foot in this square.”
THIRTY SEVEN
BackinMavka’shall,Aloisiatooktopacing.Unabletostillhermind,eventhoughexhaustionstillpulledatherwiththeeffectofInari’spotionandruneswearingdown,shestrodearoundtheedgesoftheroom.
“Is what you have suggested even possible?” Dhara asked, her icy gaze on Ezra.
“I would not have put the idea forth if it were not,” Ezra answered. “If they are becoming more corporeal, then they can be caught.”
Aloisia paused. “How? This was your idea. You must have some clue how it can be done?”
Ezra entwined his fingers in the furs. “I do not see why I should help.”
“What?” She growled. “Why would you not?”
“I am grateful for my release, of course. The sacrifice you made, Huntress, was not small. But I have given you answers. I have even given you a solution to this problem. What more do you want from me?”
“In case you have forgotten in the short time it took us to get here,” Inari said, approaching the scholar, “we are still prisoners. Our freedom depends upon this plan of yours working.”
Ezra held his hands up. “There are no chains on my wrists. I am not bound to this place. What is stopping me from leaving?”
Dhara drew closer, gripping her blade. “If you would like to be bound, that can be arranged.”
“I am sure. Though I doubt your bonds would do much to hold me.”
“Why could you not speak in favour of me or Fynn?” Inari asked. “We both know you have met neither of us before now. Why then were you unable to confirm as much today?”
Ezra smirked. “There are things at play here, things you do not understand. And, unfortunately, due to the spell which still binds my tongue, I can tell you none of it.”
Aloisia sank down onto the bench opposite the scholar. “What is your game here? We rescued you. If not for us, you would still be imprisoned, your powers being leeched upon. Why then will you not help us? This plan was yours!”
“I have a life to get back to in Ephroditia.”
“And if you return before this trial is concluded, that life will be no more. The Modäiti, sister to Queen Odalis herself, has given you to our guild. And the magistrate has decreed your part in this plan is conditional to your freedom. Do you really think they lack the resources to deliver on such a threat?”
Dhara perched beside Ezra, her blade unsheathed and resting on her knees. “And if you still believe running back to Ephroditia is the wisest decision, then I shall remind you our guild also possesses the resources with which to hunt you down and return you to your imprisonment here. My sisters are well trained. After all, I trained them myself.”
“Noted.” Ezra folded his hands in his lap. “However, as we speak, my powers return—”
“Good,” Aloisia said. “They will be needed.”
“You seemed all for this plan,” Kaja said, arms crossed. “Back when you suggested it, even at the trial. Why back out now?”
Ezra sighed. “It isn’t so simple.”
“Why?” Inari asked.
“I cannot say my part in this does not concern me. What if, because my powers were used, these creatures answer to me? Worse, what if they answer to no one? What if my powers are not enough to subdue them?”
