Mel pushed herself off the mound of clothes they’d been stretched out on and began making her way to the entrance, carefully stepping over the sleeping bodies of others. Eira rolled onto her other side so she could watch Mel, scanning those around her in the process. She’d draw her magic, go invisible and?—
“Eira,” Alyss whispered from seemingly nowhere.
Eira sat, looking around.
“Here.” The voice was coming from the wall by her head. Eira lay back down. There was a tiny hole, barely visible in the natural curves and dips of the rough rock. Alyss’s eyes gleamed up at her. “Were you captured?”
“No, I’m fine,” Eira whispered back. “Relieved to see you are as well.”
“Took a page out of Ducot’s book and decided to be a mole.” There was the hint of a grin in her voice. “It’s been slow getting around though, making sure they don’t sense me and I don’t destabilize anything…”
“Any sign of Ducot or Cullen?” Eira asked.
“No.” That could be good or bad. “Want me to get you out of here?”
Eira considered it. She went to look over her shoulder to see what Mel’s status was on the distraction. At the same moment, Alyss let out a sharp gasp.
The long, cold barrel of a flashfire pressed against Eira’s temple. A rune flared ominously on the ring the knight wore on his thumb—hovering just above what Eira easily assumed was the ignition point of the flashfire’s handle.
A sinister smile curled his lips. “Don’t. Move.”
37
The man hadn’t seen Alyss, so far as Eira could tell. She suspected he’d be acting very different if he had. Which meant she still had an advantage.
“I willgo,” Eira said awkwardly, stressing the last part. In the corners of her eyes she could see the tiny crack in the wall shift. Closing. Eira held a sigh of relief. Now was not the time for heroics on Alyss’s part. Her friend would be of significantly more help keeping herself hidden and striking at the right moment. “I’ll go with you.”
“Enough dawdling. Up,” the man barked.
Eira moved as slowly as possible, trying to get a view of as much of the room as she could in the process. The people around her had scampered back. Most still slept, as if one of their own being manhandled out wasn’t even remotely odd. Of course, none rose to help her.
When Eira was fully upright, the man grabbed her sleeves and yanked them up. The muzzle of the flashfire pressed further into her temple. He knew she had no shackle. She was as dangerous as he was.
More dangerous.
Eira made no sudden movements.
“Come with me.” The knight forced her through the cavern. Two others were waiting at the entrance; each had their thumbs poised above their own flashfires. The barrels of the hand cannons pointed in her direction.
Eira kept her magic right under her skin. She’d only have a second to react if one of them got twitchy with the triggers. Could she encase herself in ice fast enough to withstand the blasts? Unlikely, given all she knew about the power of flash beads and their ability to cut through magic. The phantom sensations of the blows against the hull of theStormfrostghosted her midsection. It behooved her to see how all this played out, complying peacefully, for now.
She was escorted through the tunnel. There was no sign of Mel. Her stomach twisted…and then fell through when she emerged back onto the plateau to find Mel and another knight.
“Take me to see Salveus. Please. I have delivered to him one of Slip’s allies. That is worth reward, is it not? Let me go back. Let me serve Her Majesty once more,please,” Mel begged one of the feathered-helmet knights with wide eyes.
Eira swallowed down the taste of bile. She’d been betrayed. Outed. But rather than anger, she merely felt pity. What a pathetic existence to be groveling to return to the service of a ruler like Carsovia’s—the same ruler that had condemned Mel here and probably hadn’t thought of her once since.
Putting Mel behind, Eira focused on what was ahead.
The knights led her down the winding pathway on the interior of the mine, circling to one of the lowest levels and back into the heart of the stone. Every distant, faint crack of rock, every sigh of earth and plop of a stone springing loose, had Eira glancing from the corners of her eyes.
Was Alyss following? The knights were setting a brisk pace so Eira doubted Alyss could keep up easily without giving herselfaway. Eira would prepare herself to be without aid for a short period while her friend caught up.
The end of the tunnel was barred off with an iron door and heavy padlock. There were chains on the walls and familiar crimson stains. Eira was already setting her jaw and rolling back her shoulders. Bracing herself.
“In,” the knight holding the flashfire commanded gruffly with a nudge to her temple. As if Eira could’ve somehow forgotten he’d been threatening her life the entire time.
She stepped over the iron threshold, into the far back of the tunnel. Sure enough, imprinted on the chains were additional runes to remove magic. Which meant the moment she was shackled, she’d lose her powers. Eira glanced over her shoulder as the man moved her into place. There were two more knights behind the two escorting her, halfway up the tunnel, also with flashfires in hand.
