Cyrene returned safely to her room, feeling happier than she had in weeks. She couldn’t believe the turn in events today. Kael had acted like a human, Rhea had found out about the prophecies, and then Edric…
A shy smile crossed her face at the thought of their afternoon together. She closed the door and stretched out her tired feet. Her slippers were full of sand despite having taken them off several times already. She tossed them to the ground and padded into her bedroom to change out of the clothes she had been in all day.
After throwing her blue cape on the bed, she opened her wardrobe, bent down, and ran her hand against the side pocket of her large leather bag. The book’s indent was visible, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
She stood, closed her wardrobe door, and nearly screamed as the shape of a figure materialized in the doorframe from out of nowhere. Her heart beat a thousand miles a minute.
“Shh,” Ahlvie said. He put a finger to his mouth.
“What are you doing in here? You scared me half to death.”
“Seem to be intact to me.”
“How did you even get in here?”
He shrugged. “I have my ways. Where have you been all day? Aren’t you on lockdown? I’ve been searching for you.”
“You’re not even supposed to be in the castle.”
He shrugged, unconcerned.
“I was granted leave to visit the library. I met Rhea there.”
“You’ve been there all afternoon?” he asked as if he already knew the answer.
“Never mind what I was doing. What are you doing in my bedchamber?” She set her stony gaze on him.
“Obviously looking for you,” he said.
“Yes, but what for?” She had other plans tonight, and she really would like to clean up before then.
“We have to go.”
“Go?” Cyrene asked. “Where? Why? I can’t leave the castle.”
“You’ll have to make another exception.”
“Ahlvie, what is this all about? There isn’t a way for me to leave. All the guards know who I am.”
“I can get you out, but we need to get moving,” he said. He was already walking out of her bedroom and toward the exit.
“Wait.” She rushed after him. “What about Maelia? Are we bringing her? Do I need my bag?”
“No. You won’t need that until later. I can’t bring both of you, so you’ll have to settle for me tonight. It’ll be fun.”
She stood her ground. “Where are we going, Ahlvie?”
“Do you have to know everything before you do it? Trust me when I say we need to go now. You didn’t last time, and we missed the ship. Now, you’re stuck in the castle. So, let’s go!”
“Ahlvie, someone out there is trying to kill me,” she reminded him.
He shook his head back and forth, as if debating whether this whole thing was a waste of his time. “I think I’ve found us another ship, but I need a woman’s finesse.”
“For what?”
“We’re going to a bar.”
“A bar?” she asked skeptically. “Right now?”
“No time like the present.”
“Ahlvie, I can’t go to a bar. I’m an Affiliate!”
“You won’t be wearing your pin.”
“That’s not the point.”
“You want a way out?” he asked. “Then, live a little. Stop caring about others expectations, and live by yours. Are we going or not?”
Cyrene couldn’t exactly tell him that she had somewhere else to be tonight. Maybe they wouldn’t even be out that late, and she could still see Edric.
“Fine. Lead the way.”
Ahlvie knew Krisana as if he were reading a floor plan. She thought her two weeks of wandering the halls had familiarized her with the castle, but he took turns, hallways, and stairwells she had never set foot on. She wished she knew how he was so good at this. Not to mention, he wasn’t making any sounds on the stone when he walked. And she hadn’t heard him enter her rooms either.
When they turned a corner, Cyrene stopped as she heard footsteps approach. Ahlvie grabbed her, and they ducked into a small alcove. They had made it nearly all the way across the castle, uninterrupted, and she wasn’t about to get caught now. She waited anxiously, trying to hold her breath. She was certain whoever was there could hear her heart beating wildly. The footsteps seemed to stop near them, and she listened to the voices for a second.
“We can’t go into the Affiliate quarters.”
“You wouldn’t do that for me?”
Cyrene released a small gasp, and Ahlvie nudged his elbow in her side. She would recognize the seductive tone of that voice anywhere. Prince Kael was trying to convince Jardana to take him back to the Affiliate bedchambers.
Ugh! Swine.
“The Queen would kill me if she found you in there with me.”
Cyrene bit her lip as hard as she could to keep from groaning at the sound of that incessantly annoying voice.
“Let me worry about Kaliana. You just worry about us.”
Jardana giggled.
Cyrene prayed to the Creator for them to pass by because she wasn’t sure how much more of this she could listen to.
“You’re talking about us like you don’t spend time with that woman,” she spat.
“Don’t start this again.”
“Well, if you didn’t make such a public display of it by walking her to the library this morning, I wouldn’t have to.”
Cyrene closed her eyes and concentrated on breathing evenly. She couldn’t believe that Jardana was whining to Kael about her.
“Next time the King of Byern gives me a direct order, I’ll tell him you told me to refuse,” he said dryly.
“Fine,” she groaned. “The Affiliate quarters it is. I can’t stand this any longer.”
Cyrene actually agreed with her on one thing.
Their steps retreated down the hallway, and Cyrene blew out a breath of relief. Ahlvie rushed to the staircase and opened a wooden door at the bottom, and she followed him through it. He grabbed a lit torch from the wall. The dark stairwell beckoned them downward, and the stones grew colder and colder despite the summer temperatures.
When they reached the bottom, they hurried down an empty hallway. Even with the torch, she couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of her. Ahlvie took a few random turns. She sure hoped he knew his way out because she didn’t think she could get them back. He hesitated at a three-way intersection and then surged forward down another impossibly long tunnel.
Time seemed to pass endlessly.
As she opened her mouth to ask if he had any idea where they were going, he said, “Aha!”
He clicked a lock and pushed open a heavy stone door. On the other side, the moon shone bright, high in the sky.
Cyrene glanced around at her surroundings. Krisana could be seen from anywhere in the city, but she was shocked by the distance. The tunnels didn’t run under the castle. They ran under the whole city!
The alleyway was dark, and she covered her nose to keep from gagging as the rank stench of sewage and manure pinched at her stomach. Wherever they were certainly wasn’t the nicest part of Albion, and she wondered what kind of bar they could be going to in this part of town. It would certainly be nothing like the one they had ventured into on the coast.
“Is this the place?” she asked him, trying to breathe through her mouth.
He glanced over at her and laughed. “Never been to the slums before?”
She arched an eyebrow.
“You’ll be fine. I’ll be with you the whole time.”
“Why are we here?” She grabbed his arm and kept him close.
“Just smile a lot and look dumb. They’ll think we’re together and cut me some slack.”
She clenched her hand tighter around his bicep. “What are you playing at?”
He roughly pushed her up against the dirty white stone wall and covered her mouth with his hand. Two guys passed by them and snickered at their position, but they kept walking.
He dropped his hand as soon as they were gone and leaned in close. “I’m not playing at anything.” His voice was hoarse. “At the inventor’s house, we all agreed that we were going to do this together. If you don’t approve of my methods, fine, but that doesn’t mean they’re not effective. All right?”
She glared at him. “Don’t ever touch me like that again. You’re right. I don’t approve of your methods, and I certainly don’t approve of you throwing me against a wall. But if this is how we get out of Albion, then let’s just get out of Albion.” She shoved his body away and gritted her teeth. “What do I need to do?”
“For one, your name is known all over the city, so you need to go by something else, something common. How do you feel about Haenah?”
Cyrene rolled her eyes. “Haenah de’Lorlah? Like the dance?”
“Whatever works for you. The person we’re about to meet might appear nice, but he has loaded dice behind every question. He doesn’t play fair, and he doesn’t answer fair.”
“We’re gambling, too?” she squeaked, wanting nothing more than to leave this place.
“Yes. He has a penchant for taken women. So, act like you belong to me, and we’ll get our answer.”
“Taken women?” she scoffed. The skin on the back of her neck prickled, and she briefly glanced behind her, seeing if anyone else were around. She turned back to Ahlvie, angry that the environment was making her chase shadows but even angrier with him. “What exactly are we doing?”
“Trust me on this.” He was asking too much all at once.
He offered her his arm, and she rolled her eyes, wondering why on earth she would ever go along with this absurd plan.
“Come on, Haenah.”
She sighed and reluctantly placed her hand on his arm. She wondered what the hell she was getting herself into as Ahlvie walked them toward a ramshackle inn with a swinging sign that read, The Silver Trinket.