“Ha.” Fenella rolled her eyes. “You know you need me. Stealth has never been your strong point.”
I gazed around at the five of them—even Nellie who had begun to climb from the bed. I didn’t much like the idea of her coming with us, but I equally disliked the thought of her staying alone in a strange bedroom while a powerful storm beat at the walls.
“How long do we really have, Toryn?” I asked. “And how many guards do you think will be out there?”
“It’s hard to say. Even within an orange band, the severity of the storm is difficult to predict. How fast it comes on, how strong the winds will be. It’s impossible to know ahead of time.”
“Give us your best guess,” Kalen said.
“To stay on the safe side, we should be back inside this room no longer than two hours from now.”
“And the guards?” Caedmon asked.
“Harder to predict. Mother doesn’t know I used to creep around the hallways during storms. She might not know how far we’re willing to go.” Toryn moved to the door and placed an ear against the wood. “So there should only be a few guards in the corridors until the winds pick up. Even they’ll take shelter once the storm really hits.”
Caedmon ran a hand down his tired face. “Dare I ask if we should wait for the winds?”
“The winds would kill us if we did,” Toryn said with a quick glance at Nellie. “It’s too dangerous.”
Ah. Well, that was settled then.
Kalen caught Toryn’s eye and inclined his head toward the door. Toryn nodded, which could only mean there was indeed a guard on the other side. How much had he overheard? A sick feeling burned the back of my throat, even as the darkness inside me stirred in anticipation. These storm fae guards were only following the orders of their queen. They were only doing their duty, and we hadn’t truly confirmed the queen was in league with the gods. That necklace could just be a necklace.
And if we were wrong, how could we ever expect her to ally her army with ours if we killed her guards?
As if reading my mind, Toryn nodded toward Fenella, who was polishing one of her twin daggers, the steel glinting beneath the light of our lanterns. “Put those away. You know what we need you to do.”
She huffed out a breath. “Is that truly necessary? I thought we’d get to have a little fun.”
“Yes,” Toryn and Caedmon insisted in unison. But she looked to her king, whose solemn expression held no room for argument. With pursed lips, she shoved her blades back into their sheaths at her hips.
“Fine, but I’m not leaving them in here.”
She crossed the room and held her ear to the door before nodding.
“What’s she going to do?” I whispered to Kalen.
“Just watch,” he said with a small smile.
Fenella yanked open the door, and the guard outside stood facing us with a hand on the pommel of his sword. Steel encased every inch of his body, including the helmet that engulfed his head. Only his glittering golden eyes showed through his armor, narrow and tense.
“Hmm.” Fenella grabbed his arm and tugged. He stumbled forward into the room. Toryn slammed the door behind him and stood to block the way while the storm fae guard let out a grunt of surprise.
“This isn’t ideal,” Caedmon said. “Someone take off his helmet.”
The guard shoved Fenella back. The sound of steel sang in the air as he dragged his sword from its scabbard and then held it up before him. A deadly glint lit his eyes. “I knew you lot would be trouble. Allies, my ass.”
“We just want to look around the castle,” Fenella said sweetly. “Since we aren’t prisoners, I’m not sure why a fully armored guard is trying to fight us with a sword. Some might say we’re merely protecting ourselves fromyouract of war.”
The guard shifted on his feet. As he weighed Fenella’s words, I noticed Caedmon closing in beside him. A second later, the guard’s helmet was off his head and Fenella’s fingers were on the back of his neck. And then one second after that, he was unconscious on the floor.
With a smug smile, Fenella brushed her hands together. “It’s been a long time since I got to do that. I forgot how much fun it is.”
Nellie gaped at her with an appreciative glint in her eye. “What in the name of light was that?”
“A pressure point,” Fenella replied. “Sneak up behind a man—or woman—and push as hard as you can rightthere, and he’ll lose consciousness. He’ll only be out for a few moments, so we’d best get moving.”
After we rushed into the silent corridor and shoved a chair under the door to slow the guard down when he awoke, I fell into step beside Fenella. “I need you to teach me that,” I said.
