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Lily smiled, channeling Draven’s irritatingly placed confidence. “That’s not what I asked.”
“If it were possible, yes. I would.” Estelle shook her head, lowering her voice. “But I worry about Gwyn… Sometimes I wonder if she even remembers life before this.”
“Don’t talk for me! I remember,” Gwyneth snapped. “But I’m content.”
“You’re just afraid!”
“And you should be! Telle, that’s enough talk of this.” Gwyneth stomped toward Estelle, wrapping her arm in hers. “You need to keep in line, that’s all.”
“I can do it,” Lily said before she could stop herself. Estelle’s eyes flashed, and Gwyneth’s narrowed. “If you want to get out, I have the means to do it. I can get you back home.”
“This is a trick,” Gwyneth said, teeth tight and voice icy. “It’s not worth the risk. I’ll call the captain to bring Rin back.”
“It’s not. I promise you. I’ll get you out tomorrow night, during the banquet. Something… something’s going to happen, and it won’t be safe for you here anymore. The Swarm will come, and they’ll find you.”
The girls studied her with different looks of judgment.
“There’s nothing wrong with being afraid and wanting more,” Lily continued, “but I want to offer it to you. I don’t want you to leave here suffering a worse fate. I will get you back to Zaitrerin.”
“How can we trust you,” Estelle said. “We don’t know you.”
“You can’t. You just…” Lily chuckled softly. “You have to follow your instincts”—she cautiously extended her hand—“like I’m trusting you not to say anything. If you do, then the offer is completely gone. I’ll come back tomorrow, and I hope you’ll come with me.”
They watched her, then each other, before Estelle cautiously reached out. Gwyneth grunted, yanking her friend away and stepping around Lily toward their chamber.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Lily pushed aside her plate to examine the roll of paper again. The layout of Caiven’s estate matched what she remembered. Now all that was left was to find the best route out undetected…
Her shift ended hours ago. She’d returned to the inn at the heart of the city, cleaned up, and spent nearly as long trying to figure out how to get the girls tomorrow. The sun had set long ago, and her frustration only grew as every idea led nowhere.
“What do you think about this?” She trailed her finger from the chamber to the kitchen. “There’s a back door near the stables. We can steal a horse and meet the cart at the tunnel’s exit.”
On the opposite side of the table, Croll shook his head, gaze never leaving whatever he was reading in his lap.
“You’re right,” Lily said after a woman took the remnants of their dinner away. “The kitchen is too close to the great room.” And what about their clothing? They stood out wearing so little, so brightly colored. “I can get extra armor. Pose them as other guards?”
The chatter from the few patrons in the tavern was noticeable over the quiet strum of a lute.
“How am I supposed to get uniforms for them?” she wondered aloud to herself.
“Going after both girls is unwise.”
“So you keep saying.” If Croll was this opposed to the news she wasn’t leaving without both Gwyneth and Estelle, she was dreading trying to convince Draven when he showed up.
She groaned. “I didn’t even think about the other women! Surely, they’ll say something.”
“You’re aware of the lift in Caiven’s chambers?” Croll asked.
Lily set the estate blueprints aside and pulled the armory plans beneath into view. It depicted the massive space as well as the various tunnels connecting it to the house. Supposedly, Caiven had an escape elevator in his personal room that connected to a tunnel system under the estate. The tunnels were visible on the blueprint—one led to the armory, the other outside, but the location of the lift wasn’t marked on either map.
“That’s about all I am with it,” she said. “Kyer mentioned Novak mentioned it to him after Caiven mentioned it, but he hasn’t seen it before. Do you know anything?”
Croll flipped a page.
That’s a no then… Lily leaned her chair back until she was staring at the ceiling. Though he didn’t speak over the day-long ride to get to Gridian, he definitely made it known he was annoyed with her whenever she had an issue with the horse. Croll was harmless—more of a nuisance than anything—and he provided the perfect outlet for her ramblings.
Except for one topic of conversation.
