Queen of Fire

For a second I could only stare in amazement as she continued to beckon, her movements becoming frantic, then I swung myself off the bunk, dressing quickly and moving to Fornella. Over the weeks she had slept more soundly than I, either through the rapid onset of age or a salved conscience. In either case it took several attempts to wake her and several more to coax her from the bed.

“Why is she here?” she whispered, a deep frown on her wrinkled brow as she regarded Jervia fidgeting in the corridor.

“I don’t know,” I said, returning to my bunk to pull on my shoes. “However, we are provided with an open door, and I intend to use it.”

Jervia put a hand over my mouth as I came to the doorway, forestalling my whispered questions, moving away and gesturing for me to follow. I glanced back at Fornella, now dressed but no less suspicious. “I’m not sure I can run,” she murmured, coming to my side and taking my hand.

I led her along the corridor, past the other cells, all empty I noted, to where Jervia waited at the barred gate. I came to a rigid halt at the sight of Raulen, standing aside and holding the gate open.

“It’s all right,” Jervia whispered. “He doesn’t see us.”

I stepped closer to the gaoler, taking in the sight of his features, the eyes focused but not on me, a fond smile on his lips; the face of a man viewing a long-cherished sight.

“You did this,” I murmured to Jervia, sliding past Raulen’s bulk to come to her side.

She gave a nervous smile. “His daughter died at Marbellis. I gave her back to him.”

Gifted, I realised, glancing back at the gaoler and gaining a new appreciation for his sense of duty.

All those years with the Hopekiller in his grasp and he never sought vengeance.

“It won’t last,” Jervia said, tugging at my sleeve.

She led me through Raulen’s meagre quarters and into the only slightly more ornate north wing of the palace; a series of storerooms and living quarters where the army of Imperial servants slept. We encountered only two guards, all wearing the same expression of focused delusion as Raulen. I saw Jervia wipe her cuff across her face as we moved on, noting the dark smear of blood on her skin and wondering how much strain she endured to facilitate this escape.

We stole through the courtyard in a crouch, though the pair of guards on the northern gate showed no sign of having noticed our passing. “We must hurry,” Jervia said, making for the grassland beyond the road. “The illusions will fade soon.”

“The road . . .” I began but she shook her head.