“Thank you,” she mumbled as Taavin released the package.
“I’m pleased to see the Head Specter recruited someone from Solaris. I know my betrothed will be delighted by this turn. She had hopes that our lands could work together at every level possible.” He stepped around her, starting for the door, but stopped just before leaving. “If I might give you a word of advice, new shadow?” Eira faced him and nodded. She’d take any wisdom he’d bestow on her. “You might not always understand the Head Specter’s methods…but she’s been to the precipice of the end of the world and back. She’s dined with the divine. Nothing will stun her, and very little gets by her. So put all of your trust in her.”
Eira didn’t know the meaning of all the strange Meru phrasing, so she merely said, “I already trust her with my life.”
“Good. I am—” He didn’t get to finish whatever he’d been about to say next as a nearby explosion rattled the foundation of the Archives.
Eira let out a shout in surprise, hearing as much as feeling the earth groan. Her ears rang and she blinked. Taavin was much faster recovering and he raced to one of the windows. A plume of black smoke rose up to the gray sky.
“What—”
“We need to go,now.” Taavin ushered her toward the door with a palm between her shoulder blades. “Come, follow me.”
He descended the ladder into the darkness and Eira was quick behind him. Taavin ignored the pathway she’d come in through, heading for a ramp opposite the ladder. He reached up, pulling on a trapdoor that rolled on silent casters.
“Keep this entrance safe and secret. Get the parcel back to the Specters,” he whispered. “Good luck, shadow.”
With a gentle push, Taavin urged her onto the ramp and slid the trapdoor closed behind her. Eira scrambled up and found herself on the walkway of the uppermost level of the Archives. She blinked at the large, empty basin suspended in the air before her.
“Eira!” Levit called from below.
“Eira!” Alyss shouted.
Staying crouched and unseen, Eira quickly unbuttoned her shirt. She’d worn a belt under her loose-fitting clothes today, in preparation to carry something back to the safe house. She cinched the package underneath the belt and quickly buttoned her shirt back up to her neck.
“Eira where are you?” Alyss called again.
Eira patted the parcel, making sure it was secure, then stood, and ran over to the railing. “I’m up here!”
Alyss’s face appeared over the railing about halfway down the spire. “What’re you doing up there?”
“Both of you come down!” Mister Levit shouted, louder than Eira had thought him capable.
Eira scrambled down the stairways and ladders of the circular walkways of the Archives. Alyss beat her by a wide margin and when Eira arrived she was breathless. She pressed a hand into her side, subtly adjusting the parcel and making sure it hadn’t slipped out from the belt. It was still cinched tightly against her skin. It hadn’t moved the slightest bit.
“Where were you?” Alyss asked, grabbing her shoulder. Concern marred her friend’s face.
“I was at the top, reading.”
“I didn’t see you go up there.” A frown crossed Alyss’s lips. “And why didn’t you come when the explosion—”
“Enough, ladies, we need to go back to the manor, now.” Levit turned to face one of the Swords of Light. “Sir, if you would—”
“The safest place for you is here in the Archives,” the man responded. “Please, for now, just stay put.”
More shouting was rising from outside. Eira heard barked orders to the Swords of Light, men and women in purple sashes running by the open doors. Other knights streamed in and out of the Archives, coming from the Swords’ barracks that Allan had pointed to earlier.
“What do you think is happening?” Eira whispered to Alyss.
“I don’t know. All I heard was an explosion, then screaming.” She shuddered and took a step closer to Eira. Her voice was even more hushed. “You don’t think that—”
“Stop him!” a man shouted in the square at the front of the Archives. “Stop him!”
Eira watched as another man dashed by—little more than a blur. Her eyes widened, trying to make out every detail. He was just a streak, but that deep green hair had been unmistakable.
“It’s Ferro,” Eira breathed. Magic flared around her. Glyphs ignited in the square beyond.
“Wait—Eira, stop!” Alyss shouted.
