The two were not in uniform, which was a rare sight. Maddox shushed me, eyes wide.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
I raised my brows. “What areyoudoing here?”
“Didn’t you hear? Lord Frederick and His Majesty sent us to infiltrate the rebel meeting,” Flannery said, shaking out his foot.
“They chose...you two?”
“Thanks for the unwavering faith,” Maddox said flatly. He looked over my shoulder. “Look, as much as we would love to stay and chat, we have to find the entrance to the sewers.”
Flannery sighed pitifully. “We’ve been looking for half an hour.”
Dominic had gone further down the side of the building, nowhere to be seen.
I bit my lip. “I know where it is.” I told them what I had witnessed and my suspicions of Dominic being part of the anti-witch rioters. “He could be meeting them right now.”
Flannery nodded. “Let’s go then. Otherwise we’ll be late.”
Maddox frowned at me when I followed them down the building. “You are not coming with us.” He quickened his pace, leaving us behind.
I trotted to catch up, the grass squelching beneath my boots. “But I—”
“Lord Frederick will have my neck. Not to mention the crown prince. Did you know he was looking for you all day?” Maddox said.
Bennett was looking for me. I ignored the warmth in my chest at the thought of him. All the more reason to go. “I’ll stay close, I promise,” I said.
“You’ll slow us down.”
Flannery panted from behind us, slinging his lamp over his shoulder. The flame nearly sputtered out again as it swung wildly. “Maddox is right, milady,” he said, between breaths.
Despite their protestations, I kept pace with them until we reached the back end of the building. Beneath a patch of tall grass was a metal disk, slightly ajar.
Maddox moved it aside. A ladder led down to infinite darkness.
“Here it is,” he said.
Flannery gulped. I tucked my hands behind my back and bent over the hole. “There are all sorts of animals in the sewers. Rats, possums, perhaps a stray cat or two. Did I mention rats?”
“Rats?” he squeaked.
I nodded. “Feral ones. But I’m sure with some reasoning they could be kept at bay.” I turned on my heel. “I suppose I’ll see you two tomorrow. If you survive.”
Maddox exhaled as Flannery whimpered.
“Fine. If you get hurt or kidnapped I’ll—”
I held up a hand. “After you, brother.”
***
THE AIR GREW IMPOSSIBLYcolder when we descended, bringing with it the putrid odor of rot and sewage. I smothered my nose in my cloak as Flannery held the flickering lamp before us. A thin river of water ran through the center of a narrow hall, rippling from a slight draft.
“Two lefts, four rights, then one left,” Maddox said, squinting at the slip of paper he had written the instructions on. “Are we supposed to skip past any entrances?”
“If there were entrances to skip, it would have been included.” I gave him a nudge. “Let’s hurry.”
We proceeded down the hallway and turned left, then again. We turned four rights. Miraculously, it was silent save for our boots against the damp bricks. No critters made an appearance, thankfully. Feral animals seldom listened to reason.
