She paused on the stairs. “You might be able to use those chains against him,” she suggested. “That would please the Bonded.”
They all nodded and started up the stairs.
There were no guards posted in this hall, which was mostly lined with small residence chambers. The courtiers who occupied them were nowhere near, undoubtedly busy about their duties. Caris pulled aside the curtain over the alcove.
Nora and Mira slipped in, whispering to each other as they stripped down to their underthings.
Caris stood near Avice, keeping watch on her end of the hall. Her hand slipped into the slit in her skirts, checking her knives.
Avice watched the other way and kept a wary eye on Ritathan’s door. Ever the cool one, was Avice. No sign that her blood was up or that a kill was pending.
Caris bounced on her toes ever so slightly, trying to settle her racing heart. Excitement hummed through her, making the world bright and sweet.
Avice gave her a quelling glance, but her eyes were just as bright.
The curtain behind them shifted. “Ready,” Nora whispered.
“Clear,” Avice set her shoulders back and stepped to the door of Ritathan’s chambers. She rapped sharply with her knuckles. “Mage Ritathan, a message from the Queen.”
“Come.”
Avice opened the door, swinging it wide. She took a few steps in and curtseyed.
Caris followed, stepping to the right.
The room was as Nora had described. The chairs, the desk, the shelves. Sunlight streaming in the windows. Songbirds chirping in the cage on the corner of the desk.
Ritathan stood in front of the windows, dressed in his dark robes, his chains running from neck to wrists to waist to ankles. He was reaching to open one window, a dark outline against the light. “Yes?” he asked over his shoulder, pushing the window wide.
Avice stepped forward, extending a hand, her smile bright. “M’lord, the Queen sends a message—”
Nora and Mira came in, crouched low, moving swiftly, their feet silent on the stone floor.
“What?” Ritathan turned. Caris couldn’t see his face, but she saw the glitter of his eyes. “What is—”
Caris hurled her dagger at his face, aiming for that glitter.
The knife bounced off something unseen, a shield of some kind. That was fine. Her goal was not to strike but to distract.
Ritathan flinched back, raising one hand in front of his face instinctively, his chains rattling. But that glitter grew hard. His other hand lifted, a dark, pulsing glow seeming to come from his palm. “The contract is broken,” he spat.
Nora vaulted the desk, legs straight, toes pointed. She kicked the bird cage as she passed, without breaking momentum. Her feet hit Ritathan squarely, just below the ribs, throwing him back against the glass of the window. The man lost whatever breath he had in an explosive “oof.”
The cage toppled, fell, and burst open. The songbirds screeched and fluttered about, colored feathers floating in the air.
Nora twisted to land on her feet.
Ritathan staggered but didn’t fall. The pulsing glow dimmed for a moment, then flared bright.
Caris froze, eyes drawn to the threat as he reached for Nora.
Mira came in from the side, grabbed the mage’s chains, and yanked them toward her.
Ritathan stumbled, then braced, then surged toward Mira, hands outstretched, fingers spread.
Mira scrambled back, releasing the chains.
Nora leapt, sinking her hands into his robes and using his own momentum to bear him to the floor. She and the mage disappeared from sight, falling behind the desk.
