His wing isn’t massive by any means. It contains his bedroom, meeting room, jewelry room, and less than a dozen other private rooms for who knows what, but there will likely be at least a few guards walking the main hallway where most of the entrances sit.
Stopping a little ways away from our destination, I whisper to Daegan and Kezra. “Should we cause a minor distraction and draw them out, or do we sneak up on them and take them out?”
Daegan twists his mouth, pondering the options, and Kezra doesn’t seem like she cares either way, giving a sassy shrug.
“There’s a small room right over here that’s basically useless,” I add. “We could hide out in there while they pass.”
“Kezra,” Daegan starts, turning to face the small fairy. “Do you think you could create a little sparkly dust that will draw them down that way?”
“Yes.”
His gaze shifts back to mine, eyebrows slightly raised.
“Yep. Let’s do it.”
“Be careful,” I tell her as she takes off.
We stick to the shadows along the sides of the wall until we reach the room, and then we hurry inside, keeping to even deeper shadows. They won’t see us in here even with the door wide open, unless they come in looking for some reason. If they do, they will meet their death, because there’s nothing in here for us to hide behind, and we’re on a mission.
We wait in silence once again, only the sounds of each other’s breathing filling our world for a few moments. Daegan looks into my eyes and smirks. I smile back.
And then we hear the footsteps. They’re not running, but slightly hurried as they pass by our room. We don’t waste any time. I follow Daegan out, and we sprint when we find the hall clear.
And just like that, we’re in my father’s wing. The jewelry room is only a couple of doors down, just around the next corner. There are no more guards in this stretch, but I know the room is always locked, and almost always guarded by at least one elf.
I stop so I can whisper in his ear. “We’ll have to steal the key off the guard, if there is one at that post.”
He nods, then steps in front of me. A cold look takes over his features. But he reaches back, takes my hand, and gives it a squeeze. I fear for what he’s about to do, but if there are people standing in our way who refuse tohelp us, we don’t have any other options anymore. We will get through one way or another.
Daegan stops, peeks around the corner, and gives me a nod of confirmation. There is a guard there.
We go for it.
I don’t know how long it will take Kezra to return to us, but I know she’ll find us. She always does. And we need to move fast before we’re noticed.
We stick to the shadows along the walls and columns of the very wide, vaulted hallway. It’s especially dark in his wing.
Once we get close, my heart rate begins to speed up. Daegan reaches for something and tosses it down the hall past the guard. The tall guard, whose features I cannot make out right now, whips his head in that direction. He takes a few curious steps that way, craning his neck out, as if that will help him see in the dark.
That’s all Daegan needs. With a few silent, deadly strides, like an undetectable shadow, Daegan is behind the guard, pressing his knife to his neck.
A familiar move.
“Give us the key and you’ll live,” he says in a deep, deadly voice.
“Fuck you.”
And that’s enough.
With a swift swipe of his blade, blood splatters the wall and the guard drops.
Daegan leans down, searching his pockets.
I stay planted where I am, unable to feel too much sorrow for the guard, but also unable to stomach searching through a freshly dead person’s pockets.
I also don’t want to see his face out of fear I’ll recognize him.
The searching doesn’t take long. He snatches the key and moves directly to the door, wasting no time. I follow him as he unlocks it.
