“We need to get inside,” Onric said, stepping up to the door and pulling at its handle in vain. “Every second he is in there with them...”
“We will get to them,” Robin said. “Gareth cannot have blocked every door into the keep.”
Aden pointed to his right. “Isa is in there, too. I will go this way and check every door,” he said. “Erich, you check that side.”
Erich ran down the steps without offering a reply.
Aden jumped over the steps altogether, leaping onto the ground and running in the other direction.
Robin stepped backward down the steps. Gareth had been inside the great hall for several minutes. He’d had enough time to lock every door of the keep. She leaned back, looking at the balcony overhead.
Ian walked down the steps toward her, twisting his body around to look at the balcony as well.
The stone surrounding the doors was smooth, white marble. It was not climbable—by hand or by biter—but a thick vine grew up around the door frame.
“We can get to the balcony,” Robin said. Ulli appeared silently at her other side.
Ian must have already come to the same conclusion because he was stepping forward, ready to make the ascent.
Robin also stepped forward, reaching toward the vine in front of him. It would be smarter for her to go first, to assess the danger before he walked into it. But the movement of her arm pulled through to her shoulder, flaring the burning pain of the chaos magic that still festered there. Hiding her wince, she dropped her arm and pressed it against her side before anyone could notice.
Ulli noticed immediately. “Allow me, Your Majesty,” he said, stepping in front of Ian to reach the vine first.
Robin caught the flash of hurt that crossed Ian’s face—subtle, quick, hidden almost before it appeared. Ulli had never called Ian by a title in all the time they had spent together. He was using it as a formality now, in this moment where Ian was leading them as a king. But she could see that Ian would still have preferred for him to go without.
Robin pressed her good hand over her burning shoulder. Lyra’s harmony magic had eased the pain, but the woman had not had a chance to look at her wound in several hours. Perhaps...
Ian moved to follow Ulli up the vine, but Robin touched his arm. He stopped, turning to her.
“The weakness of harmony magic is that it is amplified by the number of people who are in harmony together,” Robin said, repeating the words Ashlin had recently told them. The harmony magic of a single person was not strong. Lyra’s magic alone helped, but it was not strong enough to fully heal.
“Did you just figure something out?” Ian asked, understanding her even if he did not appear to understand what she was thinking.
“Go,” she said. “I am staying down here. I will find you soon.” She felt an odd mixture of panic and excitement—she was letting a member of her band go into danger without her as backup, but it was possible she might be right about the magic.
Ian released the vine, giving her his full attention. “What is wrong?” he asked. “Are you injured? It is not like you to voluntarily remain behind.”
Robin shook her head. “It is the opposite. I think Aizel and the Majis can heal my shoulder. Fully heal it. I do not know how long it will take, though. And you need to get to the rest of your family. Go. I will find you as soon as I can.”
He stared at her for a long moment. “You are taking care of yourself.”
“So that I will not be useless when you find Gareth,” she replied.
He nodded, but a small smile played across his lips. “It is a good idea. I hope it works.” He squeezed her good arm, just below the shoulder, then turned back to the vine.
Chapter 59
Using the vine, Ian climbed over the railing of the upper balcony.
Ulli stood by the door that led into the castle itself, his hand on the handle. “It is unlocked,” he whispered.
Ian stepped aside to make room on the balcony for Onric, who had followed him up the vine.
“Once inside,” Ian said, “I will seek out Gareth. Onric, you know the defenses of this castle better than anyone. Will you find a way to open one of the outer doors so we can let others through? Ulli, go with him. Gareth has not even shown his best soldiers yet. We can expect a brutal fight once we find him, and we will need every person we can get.”
Onric nodded.
“I should remain with you,” Ulli said.
