Thorin punched him in the arm. “Saeth.”
“What’s he going to do? Have us discharged? Cut our pay? This is insane and you know it.”
Thorin looked back at him, then set his own jaw and moved to block us, too.
I inhaled a breath of fire, ready to tell them both to clear a path, but then Quint put a hand on my arm. “They’re not stopping you. They’re protecting you.”
I sighed. “It’s a wonder I’m the king of anything anymore. Fine. Come along.”
We slip silently through the forest until we come to one of the tunnels Corrick and I used to access the back gardens of the palace. The entrance is well hidden, and the lock completely false. I enjoy Saeth’s surprise as we step inside.
“Who else knows that these still work?” he whispers in the near darkness.
“Hardly anyone,” I say, and I don’t whisper, because now that we’re in the tunnel, no one will be able to hear us. Our feet splash in the water that always lingers along the floor of this tunnel. “Most of them really have collapsed, especially the paths that run longer distances under the sector.”
“How did you ever discover them?” says Quint, and it’s too dark to see him, but I hear the note of intrigue in his voice. “All of the palace historical records indicate that they’ve been sealed shut or destroyed.”
“When I was young and relegated to convalesce in bed so often, I was left with piles of books. Ireadall those historical records.” I smile a little. “When I grew old enough to slip away, I decided to try to find out if any of the tunnels still worked. To my surprise, they did.”
I can remember my shock the first time I came out the other end ofthisone, and I found myself in the Wilds. I ducked back inside at once.
And then went right back out.
“I simply cannot believe you and Corrick were able to slip out of the palace for so many years without anyone knowing,” says Quint.
“We had quite the list of excuses for where we’d been,” I say. “No one ever knew.”
Somewhere in the darkness, Saeth makes a sound that’s either disbelief or incredulity, but without seeing his face, it’s impossible to determine.
“You already strong-armed your way along for this journey,” I say without any rancor, “so you might as well speak your mind.”
He’s quiet for a moment. “I wouldn’t sayno oneever knew.”
I almost stop short—which is dangerous in these tunnels because they really are so dark. I have to force myself to keep walking. “What?”
“I was only a hall guard at the time, Your Majesty. But it wasdefinitelyknown among the guards that the crown prince and his brother had developed quite a talent for slipping out of sight and escaping the palace.”
“Impossible,” I say. “We never would’ve been allowed to continue.”
Saeth says nothing. Thorin says nothing. The weight of their silence speaksvolumes, however. Our feet continue to splash through the tunnel. In a moment we’ll be at the other end and we’ll have to be silent again.
“Truly,” says Quint, “the suspense here is a torment.” Though he doesn’t sound tormented at all. He soundsdelighted.
“Indeed,” I say. “Explain yourselves.”
The silence stretches on for another moment, but it’s Thorin who finally yields. “Admittedly, we didn’talwaysknow. I’m still rather shocked that you were going out a window, to be honest—”
“Out awindow!” Saeth exclaims.
“Not every time,” I say.
“Exactly,” says Thorin. “Forgive me, Your Majesty—but of course you were allowed to continue. Who in the palace guard was going to admit to King Lucas that we couldn’t keep track of his sons?”
“Not me,” says Saeth, and there’s a dark note to his voice that I can’t quite unravel.
“Fascinating,” I say, in spite of myself.
“Understandable,” Quint says. “King Lucas was rather severe when it came to moments of disappointment.”
