Eira held onto him tightly, taking them into the thick of the smoke and chaos of the docks.
There were still people trying to flee onto the few remaining vessels. Others, who did not look like Pillars, had decided to capitalize on the chaos. They threw rocks through the windows of storefronts and fought with shopkeepers on the streets. Eira tripped over herself at the overwhelming compulsion to help up a bloodied and beaten man thrown down by a group of looters.
She had always imagined Meru to be…better than this. The gorgeously illuminated manuscripts she’d pored over had painted pictures of an idyllic world where magic was plentiful and powerful. Where the people had all they wanted and lived joyously underneath their sage, beloved queen. That this land was exempt from the blood and conquest and infighting that plagued every page of Solaris’s comparatively short history.
Except, it wasn’t.Theyweren’t.
Meru was a land of people just as Solaris was. From top to bottom. They fought and squabbled as much as Solaris had, ifnot more. There was awfulness every step of the way, outlining the gilded images Eira had constructed in her mind.
Fortunately, they didn’t run into any Pillars at the docks. The ones that had chased them not long ago had left. But their absence almost made Eira more alarmed.Where were they?She knew they had to be on the move. Was there more business here in Warich? Or had they already begun heading back toward Risen?
Before she knew it, she and Ducot were back in the alleyway with the entrance to the secret tunnel Alyss had made. Eira released Ducot’s hand and went for the familiar swirl. She paused, running her fingers over the design. It seemed like they had only just been here—the four of them.
Olivin… Her chest tightened and she looked over her shoulder despite herself. As if he would round the corner at any moment. But he didn’t.
Had he found his brother, Yonlin? She hoped so. With any luck, they were already out of Warich and halfway back to Risen. No…with any luck, they were headed far from Warich, or Risen, or Ofok. They would go out into the plains and forests of Meru and make a good and peaceful life for themselves in some cute little cottage with breathtaking vistas. Just like she should have done when she’d had the chance.
“Is everything all right?” Ducot knelt beside her. “Alyss didn’t seal it up, did she?”
“No. It’s fine.” Eira hoisted the opening off to the side. “You first.”
Ducot went ahead and she scrambled down the ladder after him. With a grunt, Eira pulled the cover back into place.
The tunnel was pitch black. With the cover replaced, she could hardly see her hand in front of her face. Luckily, there was only one path and Alyss’s construction was perfect, so there was nothing to trip over.
Ducot paused at the bottom of the short staircase that led up into the Solaris household. He didn’t have to say why. He was no doubt doing the same as Eira—waiting, listening, seeing if there were any Pillars above them that would strike the moment they came through.
But everything remained silent.
“Do you think it’s safe?” she finally whispered.
“As close to ‘safe’ as we might get.” Ducot took a step up, holding out his hand until it met the ceiling. Then he took another step, hunching over. “Let me up. I’ll see if I can sense anything.”
Without further explanation, he shifted into his mole form. Eira could see the rippling of reality changing around him. The wiggles that he slipped between as a human and emerged from as a mole. But she couldn’tfeelit. Her magical senses had been well and truly silenced.
The void that had opened in her when she’d learned the truth of her parentage was nothing like the yawning chasm that now was left behind in the absence of her powers. There was nothing where she knew something should be. The sensations sheshould befeeling weighed on her mind, accenting the lack of them.
Perhaps…Ducot was right. The best chance she had at reclaiming her magic was to work with Adela. To prove herself, despite having no magic at present. Surely, fixing her channel would be easy for a sorceress of Adela’s caliber.
Or she could find her uncle. Eira’s heart hammered at the thought of her parents and uncle, making it hard to keep her hand steady when she scooped up Ducot. The entire time she was opening the trapdoor above them—just a crack so Ducot could slip through—her mind was back in the arena.
The remnants of the arena were so close. Just a short passage through from the village. She could make a quick detour and see what was left. Venture through the tunnels to get back to thedocks again using the same passages she found the first time. Assuming the Pillars weren’t still there…
There was nothing left for her at the arena. Eira knew it without needing to go. She’d seen—survived the explosion. The chaos that followed consumed every spectator and royal alike. No one would still be in that place. No one alive, anyway. But perhaps, if her family had perished, she could find their bodies and offer them a proper Rite of Sunset. Her eyes stung. She owed them that, didn’t she?
The trapdoor opened above her without warning, casting hazy light on her dark thoughts. Ducot was there, holding it open.
“It seems clear,” he whispered. “At least in here. I still hear noises outside.”
“Let’s move quickly, then.” Eira scrambled up.
Ducot eased the trapdoor closed behind her. “Here I was thinking we should take as much time as we possibly could to potentially attract their attention, just to make this a bit more interesting.”
“I’m rolling my eyes at you.” She wasn’t, in fact.
“You do that a lot.”
“You’re right. You should constantly assume I am and save me the breath.” Knowing there weren’t any Pillars in the house, Eira moved quickly up the stairs, not worrying about any creaking floorboards. Though, Alyss’s construction had none.
