It was a shame to have to kill him; the man had only been doing his duty. But, like the soldiers under Vikros’s command, he had to die.
If I had to choose between protecting Eira and protecting this stranger, I knew who I would pick.
I darted out of the bushes and eased open the door. With a grunt, I dragged the soldier’s body inside. When I reached the dark hall, I let the door swing shut. A quick glance told me the hall was deserted, thank the gods. I lingered there in the darkness for a brief second, waiting for shouts or approaching footsteps—some indication that someone had seen me kill the man.
But there was nothing but silence.
Then—
“Ouch!” I hissed as something sharp pinched my arm.
“You seriously couldn’t do one simple task without killing someone?” breathed a voice in my ear.
I exhaled, the sound somewhere between a sigh and a laugh. Relief mingled with amusement in my chest, and I felt as if I could breathe freely for the first time in an hour. “It’s what I’m good at. Come on, help me hide the body.”
“This one’s unoccupied.” A door to my left magically swung open. I pulled the soldier’s body inside. Eira’s grunt told me she was helping. Together, we managed to stuff him into the closet and close the door before returning to the hall.
“You had me worried for a moment there, hunter,” Eira said softly. “I thought you might have gone and done something stupid.”
I grinned, wiping sweat from my brow. “Didn’t mean to cause you such distress, princess.”
She huffed in exasperation. “Come on, then. Huck has created a diversion so you can get to the infirmary without being spotted.”
“Infirmary?” I asked incredulously. “Won’t someone see us?”
“Not since Calista declared that ahumaninfirmary was a wasted wing in the castle,” Eira said, her voice dripping with venom.
“Ah.” Yes, I did recall her shutting down that area. Now she referred the sick or injured to the palace healer or Lavinia.
“We need to get you cleaned up,” Eira muttered. “Shivering bones, how did you get sofilthy?”
Murdering people tended to be fairly messy. I shrugged and said, “I have my ways.”
“Yes, but as elusive as your assassin ways are, we don’t want to make some poor servant faint at the sight of you. That would be theoppositeof stealth.”
I grinned, shaking my head as Eira tugged on my arm, guiding me toward a shadowy staircase. From down the hall, echoes of the bustling servants bounced off the walls. The cook was shouting orders. Maids were scurrying about. I was about to ask what Huck’s diversion was, when I heard a distinctly loudcrashechoing from the kitchens. Screams rang out, and a cacophony of voices drifted farther away from us as everyone ran to go investigate.
Still clutching Eira’s arm, I followed her up the staircase, my head spinning as the taxing ordeal of using necromancy twice finally caught up to me.
When we reached the top, Eira whispered, “Wait here.”The door creaked open just a fraction. After a moment, she said, “All right, let’s go.”
I frowned as we emerged in a barely-lit hall. Old, dusty paintings lined the walls, and the blue carpets were frayed along the edges. It looked like no one had been in this hall in years.
“Father wanted to dedicate this entire hall to humans,” Eira said, her voice bitter. “In honor of my mother. Obviously, when Calista entered the picture, that plan went to shit.”
I swallowed hard, unable to stifle the thought that I had contributed to such a hateful divide in our kingdom. “When you’re queen, you can bring his plans to life.”
She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t have to. I knew she was thinking she wouldn’t be alive for long enough.
I had to believe she was wrong. There was a way for her to live. Therehadto be. And with my necromancy… perhapsIcould save her. I had done it once before. Maybe, with the right amount of focus and strength, I could do it again.
We made it to the double doors at the end of the hall. Eira pushed them open, and I strode into the massive space, eyes wide. Floor-to-ceiling windows illuminated the room, highlighting the dust particles in the air and coating the floor. Several rows of cots lined the floor, spaced evenly to allow patients enough room to climb on and off. On the far end of the room was a set of shelves with shattered jars and tubes. A washbasin rested on the table underneath, along with a pile of clean rags, which Huck must have prepared for us.
Eira shut and bolted the doors before dropping her invisibility.
“Where’s Huck?” I asked her, noticing we were alone in the infirmary.
“He went to rendezvous with Stella and Denton. Frisk, Mauro, and Kendra are rounding up the other fae beasts. They’re all waiting for my signal. Our safest bet is to make our move when the guard shift changes in one hour. That’ll be the best opportunity to slip past.”
