"Remind me of what?"
What was taken from us. What was taken from you. What is owed.
The voice fades, growing distant.
My eyes fly open.
Mal sits beside me, rubbing my arms, worry etched into his face.
"You're still shaking." His voice is gentle. "I ran you a bath."
"I can't?—"
One look from him silences the refusal.
"I'm not asking you to soak for hours. But you need to calm down. Go. I'll get you when Kage returns."
I nod and take his hand.
As I step into the bathroom, I glance toward the forest. The darkness seems closer than before.
As if to say:It won't be long now.
Kage spreads a creased, stained map across the table. Lines crisscross the yellowed paper. "These are the old tunnels. The old tunnels." He taps the map for emphasis.
"Where did you get this?"
"Tilda. She's been hoarding old documents for years. In case something like this happened."
He traces a line on the map. "The hidden door in the bedroom leads to this tunnel." His finger slides through the forest, past the Shroud, and keeps going. "All the way up here."
My eyes widen. "To Vindariel?"
"As long as the passages haven't collapsed. Tilda says this is the only entrance, so I doubt anyone's touched them."
I slump back. A direct path out of Lunaris. This whole time. And Tilda knew.
"It could work as an alternative route for the Rooks," Kage says.
"According to the texts, the Shroud should clear a better pathway soon."
I sit up. "Didn't Jordi and Draven take that route?"
"The path is safe to reach the other side where the Rooks are waiting," Kage explains. "It's the route from there to here that normally poses a problem."
I sink back in my seat, wondering if it poses a problem because the Shroud is being fed from this side. I push the thought away.
"Did you hear anything about the Sages?"
"Only that they haven't been seen. Everyone assumes they're at the Keep. That they'll be at the amphitheater tomorrow."
"A show of power," Malachi says.
"Or he doesn't believe in the Flame," Kage suggests.
"Even so, he can't be stupid enough to publicly execute a Sage."
I suppress a shiver. "What's the plan for tomorrow?"
