Aldrik looked to her and Vi pressed her eyes closed. Let him think she was a Knight of Jadar. Let her be branded as that—another nameless, faceless, unimportant traitor of the crown.
Let him think whatever he wanted but let them leave, because she’d bleed to death soon.
Her eyes opened as two hands slipped under her arms. Vi groaned as Egmun hoisted her, dragging her through the mud into an open stable.
“You thought you could have the power?” Egmun whispered into her ear. “You willneverknow the power of the Caverns. But I thank you for all you’ve done to help me get to it.”
“And this man?” Aldrik asked, unaware of Egmun’s sinister remarks. He held the bound man by the rope until Egmun returned.
“He is merely a run-of-the-mill criminal.” Having discarded Vi’s body like a piece of refuse, Egmun forced the bound man onto the saddle. “We will need him in the Caverns.”
“For what?” Aldrik asked, following Egmun. He spared one glance back at her, though Vi could hardly make out his expression. Her head was swirling.
“I will tell you on the way.” Egmun crossed over to where she’d dropped the sword. He hoisted it reverently—like it was the final piece of his plan falling into place as he slid it through a rope attached to his belt. “We must ride before dawn.”
Vi closed her eyes, pressing her hands into the wound to try to stave the bleeding. Her whole body screamed in agony. She waited until she heard the rumble of horses departing the stables before she took a quivering breath.
“Ha-hall-halleth…” Her lips fumbled over the words. Yargen above, give her strength. “Halleth,” Vi started again, more determined than ever. She had to mend her torn flesh. She didn’t care how gnarly the scar. If she didn’t get on a horse now, everything would be forfeit. Red lightning cracked behind her eyes as she squeezed them shut, reminding her of what she fought for. Vi worked to dredge up strength as blood flowed freely from her. “Halleth—”
“Halleth ruta sot.” Light flared around Vi’s body, illuminating the grime-coated walls of the horse stall. “Halleth ruta sot,” Deneya repeated.
Vi twisted, confirming that the voice wasn’t a hallucination brought on by pain. The woman moved her hands over Vi’s body. Glyphs soaked into Vi’s torn flesh. She could feel her skin knitting underneath Deneya’s skilled hands. “Halleth ruta toff,” Deneya finished, pulling her hand away.
“What are you doing here?” Vi asked, rubbing the freshly mended skin of her stomach.
“By the light, woman, you just had a sword through you and you’ve not so much as a single tear on your cheek. Are you even human?”
“No.” Vi sat upright. “It’s hardly the worst I’ve endured. The prize for worst pain goes to my body being rebuilt between worlds,” Vi said grimly as she pushed herself to her feet. There were aches and pains, but it was nothinghalleth maphcouldn’t fix. “I thought I told you to leave.”
“Well, aren’t you glad I didn’t?” Deneya walked out of the stable. “I was collecting my things from my room when I saw you.”
“What about the horses? I didn’t see them in their usual stalls.”
“They’re here.” Deneya led her quickly down the long stretch of stables and out the main entrance to the castle. Sure enough, both horses were there, their reins looped lightly around a post at a tavern. “I hadn’t put Midsummer back in since I followed Egmun. So all I did was take Prism out.”
“Why aren’t there guards posted?” Vi looked around, still making haste for the mounts.
“I’m sure there will be soon. Egmun sent them away. I didn’t catch what he said, but they were sent running.”
“Likely some lie about the Knights of Jadar attacking,” Vi mumbled as she swung herself up onto the saddle. “That way he could argue my corpse was one of them.”
“Thingsreallydidn’t go well with the illusioned sword.”
“I told you as much.” Vi grimaced as she mounted. Deneya followed her lead. “Mistakes or no, this is all for nothing if they make it to the Caverns without us and destroy the sword. Let’s go.”
With a kick and call, Prism bounded down the main road of the city with Midsummer right behind. The glyphhallethwas still around Vi’s wrist, stinting any lingering pain. Her skin had been mended, but no glyph could return all the blood she’d lost. Her vision was blurry, and Vi felt faint.
“Look, there.” Deneya pointed as they departed through the main gate of the city. “I think that’s them.”
Sure enough, on the switchback down the mountain, two other horses with three riders between them rode out through the night.
“Let’s slow down. We don’t want to give them room to be suspicious,” Vi declared.
“Egmun thinks he killed you.”
“Egmun will jump at his own shadow right now.”
“Do you think he’ll hurt Aldrik?” Deneya asked gravely.
