She rolled her eyes and faced the water, leaning on the edge of the stone wall, but a hint of red touched her cheeks. I faced the sea as well, trying to focus on why we were here. It should begin any moment now.
When the trumpets sounded from inside the great hall, I knew it was finally time.
“Everyone, please come to the balcony for a surprise,” the King’s voice boomed over the crowd.
Everyone already on the enormous balcony began to murmur in excitement.
“Come,” I said softly, pulling Arie away from the edge, pushing against the flow of people. I regretted staying on the balcony so long. We only had from now until the final dinner course.
The volume and chaos of the great room transferred outdoors and rose to new levels as they crowded each other, trying to get the best position. Arie pressed closer to me as we approached the King and his son, ducking behind me out of sight as they passed, and then returning to my side once indoors.
I didn’t say a word. Whatever her secrets might be, they could wait until this was over.
I stuck to the sides of the room, slipping into the hall at the first opportunity, keeping a slow, meandering pace for appearances as a distracted couple strolled by and busy servants glided past. “Not long now,” I murmured.
Sure enough, the first boom sounded behind me. The castle shook.
Arie’s eyes flew open and she gripped my arm.
I patted her hand, grinning. “Don’t worry, it’s just the fireworks.”
***
WE MET UP WITH NAVEED, Illium, Bosh, and Ryo in the far tower. Naveed signed to Bosh, who frowned as he tried to follow, while Ryo outright ogled Arie in her finery. Illium’s scowl deepened, causing his dark skin to wrinkle.
I held the door open for Arie and entered behind her, waiting until it was closed to whisper, “Where’s Daichi?”
Ryo rolled his eyes. “After we unbarred the door, he followed some girl out of the kitchen. Haven’t seen him since.”
My jaw tightened.
They looked to me with brows raised, to see if they should be worried or not.
I was, but they didn’t need to know that. “He knows the plan,” I said, waving them onward. “Let’s go.”
We circled the tower stairs to the ground floor. A quick pick of the lock and we were in, following the mosaic patterns along the floor toward the Keep.
The Keep held the treasury. And also the dungeons.
If Naveed’s reports were accurate, this part of the castle should be very quiet, with everyone in the kitchen and dining room on the other end of the castle, or in the guard house by the entrance.
“Illium,” I whispered, gesturing for him to take the lead. “You’re up.” As the authority on powders of all forms, our demolitions expert could flatten people as easily as buildings. Before our departure, I’d watched him grind up a special formula that would render any man unconscious within seconds of breathing it in.
According to Illium, one simply needed to blow the powder in their direction. But we all preferred him to do the job. What if we inhaled by accident? Most likely, we’d wake up on the dungeon floor. Better to let Illium do what he did best.
He led us down the halls until we reached another turning point. The guard on the other side was down before I rounded the corner. He’d been posted alone. No one else to raise the alarm.
We dragged him inside the stairwell, and Illium stripped him of his armor, putting it on over his own clothes for the next stage of the plan.
The tiny arrowslit window in the tower barely let in the light of the moon. As the hallway door swung shut, Naveed lit a match and held it to the wick of his small candle, before lighting the rest of ours.
We continued to follow Illium in his armor down the hall, bunching together, no longer worried about appearances this deep within the castle. No average servant would be caught wandering here.
Our shadows crept along the walls as we reached the Keep.
Another guard down.
A set of stairs that led to the basement of the castle. Dank and dark. Now our candles were our only light.
