A Queen of Ice (A Trial of Sorcerers #5)

Chapter 36

36

W here had the man come from? She hadn’t seen anyone then, suddenly, he was there. But he looked right through her with vacant, dull eyes.

Eira’s heart had gone from hammering, to thundering, to stopping entirely. No one made a move, no one breathed. If he took one step closer, they’d be caught.

But, with a sigh, the Pillar turned on his heel and went back the way he’d came, muttering about patrols and the wall acting up.

Breaths ragged from nerves, she pulled them down the street. The first faint lines of dawn were streaking against the bottoms of the clouds that dotted the sky and Eira knew they had to get to the Archives before the sun rose. The attack from the other nations would be launched at some point today. If she wasn’t ready, she might miss her opportunity entirely.

Moreover, the houses between the first two walls were, as expected, much more occupied. And once all those occupants were awake and moving, it’d become significantly harder to maneuver unnoticed.

Everyone in the inner circles was no doubt a Pillar, or so loyal to Ulvarth they might as well be. Which meant they couldn’t risk being seen at all. Eira kept her illusion as they wove through what side streets there were and squeezed through passages of buildings that Alyss managed to widen just enough for them to sidestep between by shaving off a layer of stone. But eventually they came to a point where their only option forward was the main road that led to the entry of the next wall.

None of them had said a word since they’d left the first wall. But now, as they caught their breath, it was clear they were all grappling with the same question: What next?

Unlike the first wall, this second wall was visibly patrolled both on the ground and by Pillars stationed at intervals along the wall’s ramparts. Their robes swished , revealing ominous glints of steel plate in the lamplight. These weren’t the same as the random Pillars they’d encountered so far. It was clear that these men and women were part of the Swords of Light—the illustrious force dedicated to the defense of the Faithful of Yargen.

“We could go up?” Cullen suggested, keeping his voice the barest of whispers. “Along the rooftops? Wait for an opening and use an illusion to get across?”

“Going up seems more overt than staying on the ground.” Plus, while her illusionary skills were great, Eira wasn’t sure if she could manage maintaining one across all of them, simultaneously, while jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

“Under, then?” Alyss chimed in. “I could make a tunnel.”

Eira considered this. It was an elegant solution…but there was a reason they hadn’t done it from the start. “Check for passages as subtly as possible.” There was a reason Deneya hadn’t used the tunnels to get Eira closer to the Archives all those months ago—there were none. So if Alyss sensed any passageways, it had to be assumed they were Pillar made and controlled.

Alyss pressed her palm to the ground. It only took a few pulses of magic for her to pull it away with a muttered curse. “There’s many.”

“As I thought.” They were doubtlessly all trapped or patrolled, too. “Damn the Pillars for being such good moles.”

“Indeed. Being a good mole is my responsibility,” Ducot said under his breath. Eira didn’t dare a laugh, but she did crack a smile.

“If we can’t go over, or under, then…” Cullen let his train of thought trail off, as much at a loss as anyone else.

“We go through,” Ducot said, a little louder but still mindful of the shuttered windows all around them and the sleeping people that were surely inside.

“What?” Cullen asked.

“There are too many patrols for us to just waltz through it.” Olivin made it sound like Ducot was being ridiculous. “Moreover, the gate is closed.”

“We go through,” Ducot said to Eira, “just like we did to escape them before from the Champion’s Village.”

“ Ah .” The idea was brighter than the nearing dawn. “But then we had?—”

“There’s a building, not far, that is within a hand’s width of the wall. We navigate through the buildings, out of sight of any patrols, to a place that’s so narrow no one would even think to look.” Ducot motioned toward Alyss. “Between her and me, we can button it all back up to look like no one was ever there.”

“What about the people inside the buildings?” Cullen’s question was hasty. They all knew they didn’t have a lot of time to stand around and debate.

“We’ll be careful. You’re good at sensing people, Cullen, and Eira and Olivin’s magic will be free to illusion while Alyss and I keep us moving.” Ducot shrugged. It wasn’t the most confidence-inspiring answer. But it was an honest one.

“We don’t have time to scheme out a better plan,” Eira murmured. Then, with more confidence, “All right, let’s do this.”

They all gave motions of affirmation.

“You lead,” Alyss said to Ducot.

He took a step forward toward the side of the house and pressed his hand against it, walking toward the back. Finally he stopped and nodded, pointing to the stone. Alyss was there, unraveling the mortar and brick. It sounded like the whisper of sand on a beach underneath one’s feet.

Ducot stepped inside, then gave a small wave. The rest of them followed into what was some kind of back entryway for another alley. With a wave of her hands, like spinning on an invisible loom, Alyss seamed the wall back up.

Eira moved for the door and unlocked it, glancing into the alleyway. There was a line of sight to the wall, but no patrols were there yet.

“Quickly.”

They followed her lead out the back, Alyss closing the door whisper-soft. On light feet they raced toward the dead end of the alleyway as another patrol ventured into their line of sight. Cool stone at their backs and chests heaving, they all held their breath and waited, listening.

No alarms were raised.

Ducot and Alyss repeated the process and they found themselves in a stately parlor. Over the fireplace was a portrait of Ulvarth, face turned up toward a blindingly bright sun. Carved into its ostentatious frame were the words:

Trust in Her Champion .

“Gross.” Eira nearly gagged.

Alyss wriggled her fingers and the carved wood shifted before Eira’s eyes. Letters sank back into the frame. New ones rose. It now read:

Liar. Heretic. False Champion .

Alyss shrugged and caught Eira’s eyes with a wry grin. “Maybe they’ll think it’s a sign from Yargen and listen?”

Eira opened her mouth to ask Alyss to change it back—it was too much of a risk—but Ducot tapped on the wall to the right of the fireplace. Perhaps it was a sign from Yargen that they didn’t have a chance to return it to the way it was. The goddess worked in mysterious ways.

Alyss went to open another wall, and Eira followed.

“It is better that way,” Cullen said.

“Wish we could burn it,” Olivin mumbled.

Eira found herself agreeing with them both.

In the wee hours of the morning, they glided through the rooms and walls of the most loyal individuals to Ulvarth. Unseen. Their presence felt in little changes that Alyss seemed too eager to make while she waited for Ducot to point her in the next direction.

First it was the frame. After that it was a marble sculpture of Ulvarth standing upon the sun transformed into him being immolated by flames. Then it was a tapestry that unraveled around his outline, having his woven self slump to a puddle on the floor.

Eira knew better than to expect anything to come of it, but the little rebellions when they were otherwise being so cautious felt good. And a part of her that she’d never admit to secretly hoped that the citizens who owned these would genuinely take it as a sign from Yargen. That when Ulvarth fell, his name would be shamed and his memory would live only in slander.

They came to a stop in a sitting room, where Ducot ran his hand along the wall three times over before turning to Alyss. “I think this is it, the wall should be right on the other side.”

Alyss went to the wall and placed her hand by the floorboards, her eyes fluttering closed. “I think so,” she eventually agreed, looking to Eira.

“Keep the opening low and small. Even if we’re only a hand’s width away from the wall, I don’t want to take any chances of a patrol seeking the opening and having a reason to linger, suspicious,” Eira instructed.

Every decision she made and instruction she gave had the memory of Noelle living within it. Would Noelle still be alive if she had been more decisive when she’d had the chance? Eira forced the guilt back into its pen, allowing that monster to pace its cage. It’d be a forever occupant of her thoughts, escaping from time to time, but she couldn’t let it run wild. That was how mistakes would be made. And more mistakes would lead to more of her friends dying.

Alyss opened the wall just as Eira instructed.

“Ducot, do you sense any patrols?” As he did, Eira kept her focus on Alyss. “Work on another hole in the opposite wall.”

This was the deeply risky part. They didn’t know how thick this wall was. Or if there were people within. But chances had to be taken.

“We’ll have a window in another thirty seconds.” Ducot opened his eyes. “About two minutes, I’d guess.”

Plenty of time.

“We’re through.” Alyss leaned away from the opening. “But it looks like the wall is hollow. There’s a passage within.”

“Ducot, you first as a mole. See if there’s anything inside we need to be worried about.”

In a blink, he was in his other form, scampering across the narrow gap. But there was no time to wait for him to return. The floorboards overhead creaked loudly. The sound was followed by a few heavy footsteps and the rattling of pipes within the walls. Muffled talking.

“Go.” Eira looked to Cullen and Olivin. They were on their stomachs in a second, wriggling through, arm over arm.

The footsteps crossed the room upstairs. Another pause, the creak of door hinges. Weight on stairs.

The sounds faded away as Eira raced past Alyss. There was only a breath of fresh air before she was inside the defensive wall opposite. It was so thick that Alyss’s opening felt more like a tunnel. The second she was through, two sets of hands grabbed her arms on either side, pulling.

Eira’s magic flared, but her eyes met Cullen and Olivin’s. They stood on a sloping ramp that descended into the depths beneath the wall. They were keeping her from tumbling flat onto her face.

“Thanks.” Eira accepted their help, her wriggling far from graceful, but still effective. She didn’t summon her magic to soften her landing, not wanting to have too many different pulses of power that could alert the patrolling Pillars.

Alyss was behind, feet first. Eira took her delay as a sign of her closing up the house opposite. But the seconds ticked by in Eira’s mind. The two minutes Ducot had warned them of had flown by. She’d be seen if she didn’t?—

With a push, Alyss practically threw herself off the upper ledge. Olivin and Cullen were still at the ready, helping ease her down. She must’ve known they were there, and assumed their help, as her focus remained on closing up where they had just entered from.

“Did anyone see you?” Eira was conscious about how her words might echo in the tunnel they now found themselves in.

“I don’t think so.” Alyss shook her head. “But it was close.”

“No alarm is a good sign,” Cullen said hopefully.

“Let’s work on getting out the other side.” Olivin remained ever focused on the task.

“What about Ducot?” Alyss scanned the tunnel.

At that moment, a frantically squeaking mole raced toward them. It leapt and landed as a man. Ducot was still running and wasn’t slowing.

The rest of them took it as a clear sign and followed the untold instruction. They dashed down the tunnel.

“Pillars. Coming. Hide,” Ducot panted. The effort of keeping his words soft was as strenuous as running.

“Where are we going?” Eira asked, trying to keep her voice as quiet as possible. Their footsteps were already too much of a risk.

“It’s a dead end ahead.” Alyss didn’t even try to blot the worry from her voice.

The tunnel ended in a large, underground storeroom. Eira wondered if these were part of the network Alyss had sensed earlier. For a second, they were all dazed, staring at the flashfires.

“Look at all of them…”

“Carsovia still got out a shipment?” Ducot had hate in his voice. “What was the point of any of it?”

“They’re flashfires, not flash beads.” Eira’s mind was moving faster than her feet had just been. “Carsovia is just like the Pillars—they wouldn’t want to be seen as weak so they?—”

There was no time to finish. Footsteps echoed down to them. Pillars were almost upon them.