Chapter Nineteen
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Mira
I paused at the top of the stairs. Battered wooden tables were scattered around the room, hosting a variety of unsavoury-looking people. But it was the sight of my mother that stole the breath from my lungs: laughing with these people, a dagger twirling casually in her fingers.
I pressed closer to the doorway, not ready to be seen. I barely made out her words as she murmured, ‘I need to get across the Tempest Sea, today. Do you have access to a ship?’
The man she was speaking to was older – perhaps mid-forties – with dark-blond hair and shrewd grey eyes. Though he was dressed simply, the quality of his clothes hinted at wealth. ‘As it happens,’ he said, ‘my ship is in port. It has enough provisions for a long journey, but I can’t risk recalling my crew and making the emperor suspicious. I’ll need more men.’
‘That can be arranged,’ Darius said, entering the room and smiling at my mother. ‘Hello, Adalyn.’
‘Darius,’ she breathed. She threw herself into his embrace, a choked sound leaving her lips.
With shock, I realised that my mother – my unflappable, composed mother – was crying.
‘I thought you were dead,’ Darius said, and though his voice was muffled, it was thick with emotion. ‘For years, I thought—’
‘I know what you thought.’ Celeste pulled back from him, her eyes bright with tears. ‘It’s a long story, and one that I want to share with you. But first, I need to save my daughter.’
Darius glanced over to where I was still standing, shock-still, in the doorway. The sudden realisation on his face was somehow worse than amusement or threats. In that moment, he stared at me like I was something unexpected. Something valuable.
Celeste twisted guiltily to face me. ‘Mira,’ she started, ‘I can explain—’
‘I understand perfectly,’ I said, casting my gaze over the room – and its rough-looking occupants. Her accomplices.
Maybe Celeste saw the accusation on my face, because hers twisted in pain.
‘I’m not going anywhere with you,’ I told her firmly, taking a step back just as she took one towards me.
‘You have to,’ Celeste said urgently. ‘Mira, we need to leave for the docks. We need to leave now , before the emperor’s Warriors discover we’re here. I promise I’ll explain everything once we reach open ocean. But please, stay with me until then. Hear me out.’
Some of my anger faded at the pleading tone of her voice. The desperation in her words.
At my hesitant nod, she quickly turned back to Darius. ‘Can I count on you?’
Darius didn’t hesitate. ‘Always.’
My mother smiled, like that was all she needed to hear. Like she trusted this man implicitly.
But I was less convinced. And as I listened to them plan, I was reminded of Darius’s earlier words:
How much is a promise from a criminal really worth?
The ship we were going to use was moored at the commercial dock. According to Darius, it was heavily guarded, though nothing like the central harbour that sheltered the Imperial Fleet.
I still thought our chances of success seemed unlikely, but I didn’t say so. Instead, I studied my mother as we moved through the Lower Districts, noting how even her walk had changed. She didn’t glide along anymore; she strode with purpose, matching the rest of Darius’s small entourage.
‘I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced,’ said the man who had offered us his ship. ‘I’m Governor Halvor, and you must be Kasmira.’
‘It’s Mira,’ I corrected, wondering where he’d gotten Kasmira from. ‘ Just Mira.’
‘Mira, then,’ he agreed, his pleasant smile belying the intensity in his gaze. He studied my face, as if he was examining the shade of my skin, the slope of my eyes, the colour of my lips.
He looked away before I could become too uncomfortable, and suddenly I was the one staring unabashedly at him. Sizing him up.
‘Why did you volunteer your ship?’ I asked. ‘If you’re found out—’
‘I’ve worked with the Ravalian resistance before,’ Governor Halvor interrupted. ‘Not quite as directly as this, but I understand the risk. Like the loyalists in the Wilds, I believe Kalure should be ruled by the Sorceress’s descendants – not a tyrant like Emperor Kalias, but someone in tune with nature and magic, who can unite Kalure. Part of that belief involves helping Darius’s people survive – smuggling the bravest rebels to the Wilds, where my contacts can shelter them.’
The governor said it as though I should be pleased. As though breaking the law should meet with my approval.
I wondered how he would react if I told him that, up until a day ago, I had wanted to become a Warrior. To protect the empire and safeguard it from exactly the kind of people I now found myself with.
At that moment, a flash of colour caught my eye. It drew my attention up to the rooftops, and I had a glimpse of red – a girl from above, watching me.
‘What is it?’ The voice belonged to a lithe, dark-haired woman who had introduced herself as Jadis.
I was only distracted for a second, but when I glanced back at the rooftop, the girl was gone.
‘I thought I saw . . .’ I shook my head, feeling foolish. ‘Never mind. It’s nothing.’
Jadis didn’t look convinced, but she didn’t question it. She was one of two guards Darius had assigned to escort us to the docks, while he prepared the ship. Her brother Elian guarded the front of our small group, silent and grim.
Jadis caught me looking. ‘He doesn’t speak,’ she said. ‘Not since the Masks got to him a few years back.’
I stared at Elian, wondering what had been done to him. I wanted to say something conciliatory, but he seemed the type to despise sympathy in any form.
We covered a few more blocks without incident. Then we rounded the corner, and I stopped dead in my tracks.
‘Wait,’ I said urgently. ‘That’s—’
Wyatt looked up from where he was speaking to some soldiers up ahead, and for an instant, I thought distance might be enough to disguise me. But then the bartender’s expression hardened in recognition, and I knew we were out of luck.
Jadis didn’t ask questions. ‘This way,’ she directed, turning down a nearby alleyway.
I ran after her, straining to match her pace. Even as we tore through the streets, I heard the unmistakable sound of pursuit – heavy boots pounding against cobblestones.
Elian must have heard it too. He slowed, nocking an arrow and aiming for the soldiers, while Celeste grasped my hand and pulled me on. People shouted as we pushed roughly past, but we ignored them.
Somehow, we made it to the docks – which were much larger than in Aldara, and heavily patrolled. Warriors and soldiers were everywhere, a glittering sea of black and gold.
My pulse was racing by the time I slowed to a brisk walk. Next to me, my mother’s breath was coming in pants.
‘Follow me,’ Governor Halvor instructed.
As we approached the wharf, I had my first glimpse of his ship: an imposing vessel with Drakkar painted on its side and the carved head of a dragon adorning its high prow.
Nearly there. Nearly—
‘Stop!’ someone shouted. ‘Halt in the name of the emperor!’
The sails were already unfurled, Darius and his men working quickly to stow supplies and provisions. We stepped onto the gangplank, single file. The ship loomed just ahead when the first arrow sliced through the air.
I flinched but didn’t stop moving. The warning shot soared harmlessly over our heads.
Just a few more minutes—
Another arrow. This one closer.
‘Take another step,’ the archer warned, ‘and my next shot won’t miss.’
I glanced back at the docks. We were in the worst position possible: halfway from the soldiers, halfway from safety, and unable to move without risking death.
‘On the count of three, you run.’ Jadis’s voice was soft and certain. She didn’t look afraid of those arrows, or the men on the shore. ‘There’s only one archer. Keep your head down, run as hard as you can, and get to that boat . Do you understand?’
‘I don’t—’
But Jadis wasn’t listening. She was murmuring something to two sailors.
‘One . . .’
There was only one archer, but he wasn’t likely to miss from this distance. If we ran for the ship, how many of us would make it?
‘. . . two . . .’
I exchanged a terrified glance with my mother. But Celeste nodded grimly, her lips forming the word: Run .
‘. . . three .’
I ran, keeping my head down. A rebel sailor let out a terrible, gurgling sound as an arrow pierced his throat. Celeste’s hand was ripped from mine as a second sailor tried to push past us, only to receive an arrow to the back.
My mother screamed my name, but I couldn’t move. I was trapped, the sailors’ bodies blocking my only route forward. Twisting towards the docks, I saw the archer take aim, his attention fixed on me.
Just as his arm drew back, preparing to release that final, fatal shot, an authoritative voice cut across the chaos.
‘Hold your fire!’
The archer didn’t lower his bow. And then the voice shouted something that made no sense, that my shock-numbed mind couldn’t process—
‘That’s the princess!’