I tried to keep my face neutral even as white-hot adrenaline and rage coursed through me.I probably failed, but it hardly mattered, since Brannic and Mrs.Crowe kept their eyes locked on each other.Brannic’s mouth twisted into a wickedly smug smile, as if he’d just played the winning move in their game of political coercion.Mrs.Crowe’s expression was blank.
She spun around and walked briskly toward a passageway, gesturing for me to follow her.“I’ll see Orlik when I’ve finished my business,” she barked as we walked out of the room.
Brannic’s face twisted in rage.“Come back here!Guards, stop them!”
Mrs.Crowe ignored him and quickened her pace.She breezed past the guards without attracting so much as a look.They just glanced at each other and shrugged, keeping their eyes away from us.Apparently Mrs.Crowe cast a long shadow in the keep.
When we were down the corridor and out of earshot, Mrs.Crowe whispered, “Well, that complicates things.I didn’t even know Orlik was here.We need to hurry.”
Complicatewas an understatement.
“You should know,” I said, barely restraining my fury, “that if Orlik sees me, he’ll recognize me, and it won’t end well.”
Mrs.Crowe shot me a look indicating that my standing with her had just improved.“Noted,” she said with a half-smile.
We kept up a brisk pace, but not so fast as to arouse suspicion.At my request, Mrs.Crowe had drawn up a rough sketch of the keep’s floor plan when we were back at her shop.We were headed to the east staircase that led to the lower alchemy chambers, where Elena was being held captive.We descended a wide spiral staircase with an open central shaft that seemed to extend upward and downward to infinity.Several levels down, we walked along a corridor lit by the same flameless candles I had seen in the Citadel Library.Soon we approached a door flanked by two Royal Guards holding halberds whose blades glimmered in the light, sharp and deadly.Mrs.Crowe attempted to walk past them, but the guards barred our entry with their weapons.
“Allow me to pass,” Mrs.Crowe said, her voice full of authority.
“By order of the king, none may enter,” one of the guards said, her voice firm.
“We’ll see about that,” Mrs.Crowe said.She turned as if to go, then slipped a vial from her belt and flicked it open.She gave me a look of warning, then spun around and placed the vial under the nose of the closest guard before the guard could react.She instantly crumpled into a heap on the ground.
The other guard turned, ready to attack, but I had already flanked him and punched him hard in the kidney.It was just enough of a distraction for Mrs.Crowe to place the vial under his nose.
As the second guard crumpled, I turned to Mrs.Crowe.“You’ll have to give me the recipe for that one.”
She nodded.“That’ll last about twenty minutes.Now wereallyneed to hurry.”
We entered an alchemy lab that looked very similar to the one I’d seen in Pyrehold, only everything here looked newer and more elaborate.Potions bubbled, and an acrid smell hung in the air.Luckily, only a single alchemist was inside, working on an experiment.
He looked up as we approached.“Elandra!Well, this is a surprise.”
Another swipe of the vial, and the alchemist crumpled to the floor.
We ran to a door in the back of the room.Inside was a row of cells.All were vacant except one.Elena lay on the ground, pale and still as the dead.
“Elena!”I cried as I raced to my sister’s cell.
I pulled out my lockpicks and had the cell open in record time—the Embercloak potion heightened absolutely everything, down to my fine motor skills.I threw the door open and ran to my sister’s side.She was warm to the touch, and the slightest breaths escaped her lips.
“She’s likely still impacted by the null field,” Mrs.Crowe said.“The Embercloak potion should help.”
I gently sat her up and brought the vial of Embercloak to her lips, pouring the slightest bit into her mouth.Her throat bobbed reflexively as I administered the vial’s contents.It took a few moments, but soon the blood returned to her cheeks and her eyes fluttered open.
“Cas.Is it really you?”she said, still a bit dreamy.
“It’s me.”
“How did you find me?”
“It’s a very long story,” I said as I hugged her.
“Ouch,” she cried as I squeezed her tight.
I pulled away in a flash.“Are you hurt?”
“Bruised ribs and a few scrapes.That’s about it.”Her voice sounded stronger and clearer by the moment.“When we entered the keep, it felt like a sledgehammer hit me.That’s the last thing I remember.”
