“Then for the love of God, get Saam to open the window in the room below us!”
Taking a deep breath, she edged out the window and lowered herself. Wet mist swirled around her, blocking the lights of the city below, which was a mercy because to have stared down that long fall might have been her undoing.
The air was still without even a whisper of wind, and Zarrah braced her feet against the stone of the Sky Palace as she edged downward tothe windows of the room below. The diamonds of Fiona’s leash gleamed, and she prayed to every higher power that the leather was as good a quality as the stones, because if it gave, there would be no stopping her plunge. There were no handholds, the windows near flush with the stone wall.
Wood splintered as the door was forced in, slamming heavily against the opposite wall.
“What is the meaning of this?” she heard Keris shout, but the response of the soldiers who’d broken in was too muffled to make out.
Hurry,she silently pleaded, her arms trembling from the effort of bearing her weight. All it would take was one soldier noticing Fiona’s leash hanging over the window frame and they’d catch her. At best, they’d pull her up.
At worst…
Crashing and Keris’s angry words of protest echoed down, then a soldier’s voice near the window. “Send word down the spiral to search the grounds. He may have thrown them out the window.”
“Thrown what?” Keris demanded. “What the fuck is the meaning of all this?”
“Your pretty bodyguard is believed to have stolen the royal family’s financial records,” the soldier replied. “Where is she?”
“I have no idea. And why would she do that?”
The man didn’t respond, only barked, “Search the room. Top to bottom!”
“The king will hear of this violation of my privacy,” Keris shouted, but Zarrah could hear the fear in his voice. Knew that he was envisioning her shattered at the bottom of the spiral, his composure holding together by a thread.
“Find his bodyguard! What’s her name? Daria?”
Hurry, Saam.
Her sweating palms were beginning to slide, her grip on the leather of her belt failing.
She was going to fall. Was going to smash against the stones of thecourtyard below, dead before her screams finished echoing across Verwyrd. And though it was madness, Zarrah half swore she could hear her aunt laughing as she whispered,You deserve this fate.
“Zarrah!”
Her eyes shot downward to find Saam leaning out the window below.
“Climb down!” he whispered. “Hurry!”
Hand over hand, Zarrah edged down the length of her belt, every breath now a panicked gasp. Yet as she reached the end of her belt, it felt as though her heart seized entirely. Because she was still out of Saam’s reach. “I’m at the end!”
Her friend cursed, then whispered, “You’ll have to let go. I’ll catch you.”
How long would it take to fall? How long would she have to regret every choice? How long would she have to beg Keris not to give up without her?
“Zarrah,” Saam said softly. “I won’t let you fall. Trust me.”
Whether she trusted him or not, her grip was failing.You can do this,she ordered herself, trying to drive away the vision of her aunt’s head cracked open like a melon on the rocks.You can do this.
Zarrah edged her feet down until her weight was supported entirely by her arms. Her hands were sliding on the slick leather, and a scream started to rise in her throat. But if she screamed, they’d hear. If she screamed, all of this was for nothing.
Clenching her teeth, Zarrah opened her hands.
And dropped.
Her stomach slammed into her throat, and then Saam’s arms were around her. He tightened his grip under her armpits and heaved her into the dark room, where they both landed in a heap.
All she could do was suck in breath after breath, the rush in her veins making her feel so sick that it was a struggle not to vomit.
