“And if the Baron of the First Line captures you?” I choked out, even though the words felt like acid on my tongue.
“Then I guess you better have a damn good plan to rescue me,” she said softly. She stroked my cheek. “Don’t make me sit back here, going crazy with worry. We’re in this together, Hayle.”
I let out a defeated sigh, because how could I argue with that? “I hate this,” I murmured, kissing her stubborn mouth.
“I know,” she whispered back.
Someone cleared their throat, and I pulled away. Both my brothers had shit-eating grins on their faces; I knew they’d rib me about this another time. I didn’t have time for that now, though. “Let’s go over the plan again.”
Voxin a blond wig was pretty fucking funny. We’d managed to get some Dawn Army uniforms, and we were dressed like we’d just been released from our duties for the day, so we could go and watch the execution of an innocent man.Fucking First Line ghouls.
The worst part was leaving my hounds at home. They were too recognizable, too out of place in Fortaare. Quarry was in the air. We had Epsy, who was in Avie’s coat. But otherwise, I was fresh out of companions, and it felt wrong.
We moved through a knee-high flow of shit, and it stunk so fucking bad. “This is disgusting,” Vox grumbled. “I’m going to have to burn these boots when we’re done.”
He wasn’t wrong. I was carrying Avalon, which she’d protested, but not too hard. There wasn’t enough room in these tunnels for Vox to float us over all the waste, but I’d never wished more to be in the cold embrace of Vox’s magic.
“Do you think he’ll forgive us?” Avie whispered against my ear.
I hefted her a little higher, so her toes didn’t touch the shit. “Who?”
“Zier. He didn’t ask to be dragged into this. Now he’s been found guilty of treason, he’s lost his Barony, and he can never go home.” She sounded so small. I hated it.
It was Vox who answered. “Zier Tarrin knew what he was signing up for, knew the consequences of being caught. You didn’t bamboozle him, Avalon. He was standing against tyranny, and knowing what I do of the man, I have no doubt he’d do it again, even if he knew the outcome.”
That was my thought of the man too. If Zier wasn’t of the same opinion, I’d beat the wisdom into him, especially if he hurt her feelings.
We must have been getting closer to the center of Fortaare, because the soft whispers of a crowd managed to drift down through the stone and dirt. “How much farther?” I asked Lierick. He’d memorized the sewer map, along with a couple of others. Apparently, some members of the Second and Sixth Lines had that little party trick in common, the ability to recall things from memory in great detail.
“Left up ahead, then it’s the second manhole along.” This was the part with the greatest amount of risk. There weren’t many reasons for anyone to be in the sewers, least of all members of the “Dawn Army.”
We were silent as we made it to the manhole. It should put us out in the subterranean levels of the Hall of Ebrus. A level below that were the dungeons, where hopefully Zier was being held.
Vox used his magic to gently remove the manhole, then floated Iker up until his head was just above the floor. Iker gave a thumbs up, so next went Lierick, then Avie from my back. I jumped up after her, because I didn’t need help jumping six feet in the air.
“Showoff,” Vox grumbled. Floating himself out, he replaced the manhole cover. The cavern we’d exited into was damp. There was a well of water beside us, its depths dark.
I didn’t want to contaminate it with sewerage, but the urge to bathe in the clean water was overwhelming, especially as I got a whiff of our stench.
“I made the right choice not inviting you to the library.”
We all spun at the sound of the voice from the shadows, a ball of fire lighting up Vox’s hand. I let out a relieved breath, seeing it was the Librarian from the Hall of Ebrus library.
“Goddess’s fucking tits, you scared me,” I breathed, my heart beating wildly in my chest.
The Librarian raised an eyebrow. “Apologies. The library suggested perhaps you’d need these from the… lesser-known archives.”
“Lesser-known?” Vox asked lightly.
“Secret archives sounds a little too on-the-nose, wouldn’t you agree?”
I blinked at the woman.How? Just… how?Having met Meela and Reeba, the why was no longer a mystery, but how had she known we were going to be here? Was she a spy? “How?”
She gave me a soft smile. “The how doesn’t really matter right now. You have an innocent man to save—at least, that’s why I suspect you’re here?” She didn’t wait for any of us to confirm her theory, just handed over a leather bag with a long strap. “I’ve wrapped these thoroughly, just in case you decide to travel home the way you came.” The thought looked like it pained her. “I request you attempt to keep it from being submerged in waste, but I understand some circumstances would prevent that. You should hurry. The Baron has been called away momentarily, and there’ll be no better moment to rescue him.”
Vox walked over the Librarian and bowed low. “Thank you, Librarian. What is it?”
For the first time, the Librarian looked nervous. “It is best not spoken about within these walls. It is… important.”
