“Which is all I’m trying to say,” Sam said.
“And what does the Shuver have to do with it?”
“I thought I could see if the two of you could work together.”
“We already work together often enough.”
“Not like this. I think if things happen the way I fear they might, there could be a different outcome in the city.”
“And this is all about the princess?”
Sam nodded. “Which is why I need to speak to Marin.”
Sam headed toward the cells, and Bastan went with her, nodding to the man standing guard. It was a measure of respect—a surprising one—that Bastan didn’t attempt to stop her. He didn’t seem to care that she was coming to visit Marin or that she moved so freely through his hidden areas.
“What do you intend to ask her?” Bastan asked.
“We are going to ask about what Master Helen might have done.”
“And then?”
“I don’t know. It might involve me breaking into the palace so that I can find the guidebook so that I can go after Tray.”
“Even though this Master Helen might have attacked your friend?”
Sam hated that it might come to that, but it was possible that it would. “Did you get him?”
Bastan frowned. “I tried, but…”
She rounded on him. “But what?”
“He wasn’t there. I assumed Aelus brought him out. He would know enough to keep his son safe.”
“And if he didn’t?”
“I will help you find him.” When they reached the door leading into the cells, Bastan took her hand. “You were careful making your way here?”
“Bastan, you taught me better than that. I made sure that I took the most roundabout way that I could. Kyza, that was why I went to the Shuver’s section. I needed to draw the Kavers away so that they didn’t know where I was heading.”
“But Elaine knows of your connection to Caster. If she comes here…”
“She won’t know how to find this place.”
Bastan frowned. Sam suspected there was something he wasn’t telling her, but maybe it didn’t matter.
When Sam pushed the door open, Marin stood at her cell, hands gripping the bars. A smile crossed her face. “Bastan. You have decided to question me again so soon?”
“It’s not Bastan who’s questioning you. It’s me.”
“Samara. Eventually, I think you’re going to grow tired of all of this questioning. Eventually, you’re going to come to a decision about how you feel about me. Maybe you’ll even begin to trust me.”
“I don’t know that I can trust you, not ever again, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t believe you.”
Thunder rumbled.
Bastan glanced toward the door, and he frowned. “Was it raining when you came?”
Sam shook her head. “No, but it was dark, so if a storm was coming, I wouldn’t have been able to tell.”
“Was there lightning?”
“No.”
Bastan let out a frustrated groan. “I think we need to move.”
“Why?”
Thunder rumbled again, and this time, it had enough force that some debris and dust trickled down into the cell.
“She found you,” Bastan said.
“She?” Marin asked. “You brought Elaine here?”
“I didn’t bring Elaine here. I—”
There was another peal of thunder that rumbled, sending the walls shaking.
Sam glanced over to Bastan. “We can’t leave her here, not if Elaine is coming. We need to bring her with us.”
“That’s dangerous, Samara.”
“Not as dangerous as if the Kavers get her. I don’t know what they’ll do, but I’m sure they will question her much more vigorously than what we have done.”
“Is that a problem for you?”
Sam glanced over at Marin. It shouldn’t be, not after what Marin had done to her, but Sam didn’t want to leave her here and didn’t want to lose out on any way that Marin might be able to help her when she went for Tray. And then there was the fact that Sam felt Marin was fonder of Tray than her. She needed the woman’s help.
“If I bring you with me, you won’t make a run for it?” Sam asked.
Marin looked at Sam and then at Bastan. “Where would I go?”
“There are plenty of places in the city for you to hide,” Bastan said. “I seem to recall that you have nearly as many contacts as I do.”
“I had those contacts. Most of them are lost.”
“It hasn’t been so long that you would have lost your contacts,” Bastan said. Everything rumbled again, and Bastan stood there, calmer than Sam felt. “If you decide to run, I will ensure you don’t go far. I will use my network to find you, and trust me when I say that I won’t be nearly as accommodating the next time I get ahold of you.”
“You haven’t been accommodating this time,” Marin said.
“You’ve been fed. You’ve been kept inside. You haven’t wanted for anything during your capture,” Bastan said.
“Other than freedom.”
“Had you wanted to maintain your freedom, you wouldn’t have done what you did to Samara.”
“If I hadn’t done what I did to Samara, then Trayson would already be dead.”
Sam glanced at Bastan. “Come on. Let’s bring her with us.”
The door opened behind them, and Sam turned, pulling her staff out and readying it. Sayd stood there, his eyes wide and a sword in hand. “Bastan. We’re under attack. There is pressure at the door, and I don’t know how much longer we’ll be able to hold it. You need to get out before they break through the door.”
“There’s no other way out,” Sam said.
“There’s another way,” Bastan told her. “Haven’t I taught you anything? You should always plan so that there’s another way out.”
Bastan pulled a ring of keys out of his pocket and unlocked the cell door, pulling it open so that Marin could come out. She hurried from the room, practically falling out. Bastan grabbed her arms and jerked her upright. “Don’t think of trying anything.”
“The only thing I will do is help,” Marin said.
“Don’t even try that,” Bastan said.
They hurried back to the main door, and she expected him to take them up the stairs, but he veered away and down another hallway. It was a narrow hall, one that she didn’t remember seeing before, and he reached a flat section of wall where he stopped. Bastan pressed on one of the stones, and the entire thing swung in.
“A hidden door?” Marin asked. “You and your secrets, Bastan.”
“I have kept Samara safe all this time because of my secrets,” he said.
“You were never asked to keep Samara safe.”
“No? And you would have kept her safe by yourself? You were absent all the time. It was almost as if you had no interest in her.”
“Then you weren’t paying attention. My interest has always been in Samara and ensuring that she was safe. If she wasn’t safe, how could Trayson be safe?”
Bastan led them into a room, and on the other side, there was a narrow stair that twisted around. Bastan started up it, and Sam motioned for Marin to go in front of her. Marin glanced back at her, a frown on her face. She followed Bastan up the stairs. At the top, Bastan stood behind a plain, stout door. His hand gripped the handle, and he remained frozen, waiting.
“What is it?” Sam asked.
“I’m just making sure there’s nothing on the other side,” Bastan said.
“And if there is?”
He glanced back, and his gaze fell on her staff. “Then we need to be ready for whatever we encounter,” Bastan said.
Marin pushed forward and attempted to get in between Sam and Bastan, as though she was going to force her way into the next room, trying to fight so that Sam didn’t have to.
“Step back,” Sam said.
“Samara—”
“No. If there’s something there, then I’m going t
o be next to Bastan, helping him.”
“You don’t think I would help?” Marin asked.
“I don’t know what you might do.”
Marin glared at her for a moment before stepping to the side and letting Sam pass.
Bastan considered her for a moment before pushing the door open.
He ducked and rolled, sliding aside as something streaked past Sam’s head.
She turned and saw that a crossbow bolt had stuck into the wall behind her.
Marin smiled darkly. “You wanted to be the first one in,” she said.
Sam glared at her.
She focused on an augmentation, thinking about strength and speed, but this time attempting to make her skin impervious. She was only intermittently successful with that, but anytime she attacked somebody who had the ability to hurt her, she tried to use this augmentation.
As it washed through her, she ran into the room.
Violence greeted her.
There were probably a dozen soldiers, common soldiers, and likely from the palace. Along with them were three people who had to be Kavers. Bastan was fighting with a sword, confronting three of the soldiers and managing far better than Sam would ever have expected. Maybe he was a djohn as Helen had suggested.
“Samara, get out of here.”
“Not leaving you behind, Bastan,” she said as she darted forward, the augmentation allowing her great speed. She swung with the staff, knocking down two soldiers before they could turn to her. Others approached, but Marin grabbed a sword and began to fight, knocking back the soldiers. Sam had only a moment to register that she should be more troubled by the fact that Marin was so skilled with the sword.
Then she came face-to-face with one of the Kavers.
She didn’t recognize the man. That bothered her. She didn’t recognize many of the Kavers she had seen, which meant that Elaine had kept them from her. Why would she have prevented Sam from knowing other Kavers? The only answer that made sense was that she didn’t want Sam to know about them.
The man glanced to her staff, and then he swung his down toward her.
It collided with her shoulder, but with her augmentation, she felt nothing.
His eyes widened slightly. “Yeah. I’m augmented.” Sam swung. She brought her staff around as rapidly as she could and caught him in his side. He grunted as he fell forward, and Sam allowed herself no remorse for the way that she knocked him down. How could she, when he had been so willing to harm her?
She darted to the side, coming toward the other Kaver. This one was an older woman, and she glared at Sam, giving Sam a moment to swing and bring the staff around, connecting with the woman’s staff. She was better prepared than the man had been. It was almost as if the man had been startled by the fact that Sam was not bothered by his staff connecting with her shoulder.
“You’re the one we’re after,” the woman said.
“Am I? Did Elaine send you after me?”
“Elaine? No. The princess sent us after you.”
“I have no intention of going back to the palace with you.”
“The princess doesn’t want you brought back the palace. She wants you removed.”
Sam frowned. Had she made a mistake with Elaine? Could she have been trying to help Sam avoid what Lyasanna might intend for her?
It would be something to think about when she had more time. Right now, she had to focus on getting out of here before these Kavers hurt her—or managed to grab Marin.
She pushed back, driving the Kaver toward the far wall. The room was not large, but it had high ceilings which was an advantage for her—but also for the Kaver. They were able to swing their staffs, and they attacked with a steady rhythm, one that Sam had not experienced before. The woman was quick, and she fought with a certain brutality. Sam felt her staff against her arm and then her leg, and was thankful for her augmentations, because if she hadn’t placed them, the staff would have hurt her quite a bit more.
Eventually, the augmentations would fade.
Having placed them herself, without Alec’s assistance, she knew they would fade soon. Alec’s augmentations seemed to have a lingering effect, though Sam wasn’t sure if it was her focus, or her strength that caused them to fade.
The woman seemed to be augmented, as well, though Sam wasn’t sure if the augmentation was the same. Did she use strength and speed the same way that Sam did? Or could she be impervious much as Sam was?
Maybe it was neither.
It would be beneficial if the woman wasn’t augmented at all, but the way that she attacked, the speed with which she was able to move, made it seem as though she was.
Sam spun and jabbed her staff forward.
The woman blocked, knocking Sam back with a kick to her stomach.
Even with the augmentation, it took the wind out of her. She focused, trying to keep her thoughts steady, trying to keep her mind on the attack, but it was increasingly difficult when facing someone like this.
Around her, she heard the sounds of fighting, and someone grunted, though she wasn’t sure whether it was Bastan or someone he was fighting.
She wanted to look, but she had to keep her attention focused on this Kaver.
Sam tried to bring on another augmentation.
What would she choose? She still had strength and speed, and she thought she still had the impervious protection, but there had to be something more that she could do to stop this woman.
She looked up at the ceiling.
The room was big—big enough for her as a giant.
She had never tried to augment herself that way, though Alec had. Sam had been annoyed when he had, but now? If she had speed, along with her strength, adding size shouldn’t be a problem.
Sam tried to focus on what Alec had written. It came to mind slowly, and she focused on the way he had written about her being too short, and things that he might have tried to make her bigger.
The augmentation washed through her.
With it, she grew.
The other woman stepped back and tried to bring her staff around, but Sam grabbed for it. She was quite a bit taller than the woman now, and with her longer reach, she grabbed her arm and tried to lift her, but the other Kaver tried to kick her back.
Sam spun her staff. It felt considerably smaller in her hands, and she moved it much more rapidly. She flicked it at the Kaver, and though she missed, it forced the woman to move off to the side.
Shifting her steps, Sam tried to keep herself low. If she were hit on the legs, she would go down hard. She was thankful that she hadn’t made herself too big. She thought about when Alec had made her into a giant, she had been enormous, and that would have been difficult for her to handle in such tight quarters.
Sam reached for her again and grabbed the canal staff away from her.
“Why is Lyasanna doing this?”
“Does it matter? I’ve learned not to question when it comes to the Anders.”
“You should always question. What if she’s wrong?”
“She’s the princess. She can’t be wrong.”
Sam jabbed at the woman with her staff, and she jumped away, her back slamming into the wall. “Everyone can be wrong.”
The woman glanced past Sam then turned and ran.
Sam turned to see what else might be happening in the room. There were still four soldiers, and they were converging on Bastan. Sam darted forward, sweeping her staff at them. The augmentation started to fade, and she began to shrink, returning to her normal size.
Weakness began to work through. It was surprising. She had used augmentations before and hadn’t felt quite as weakened when they faded as she did now. Maybe it was because she had done something she wasn’t accustomed to doing. She wasn’t sure she could fight again, were there the need.
Bastan made short work of the soldiers, finishing them off.
When he was finished, he turned to her, worry in his eyes. “Are you harmed?”
Sam checked herself her injuries but didn’t thi
nk she had any. “I think I’m fine,” she said.
“Good. We need to get moving. Grab Marin and—”
Bastan looked around, and his jaw clenched.
Sam followed the direction of his gaze and realized that Marin was gone.
Not only that, but the three Kavers were gone.
“I don’t think she escaped,” Bastan said.
“No. That’s what I’m worried about.”
Sam raced outside the building, and the streets were empty. In the distance, three people moved quickly—far too quickly to be anything but augmented.
Not three. Four.
The fourth was flung over one of their shoulders.
Kyza.
Marin was gone.
Bastan joined her on the street and looked over at her. “What are you going to do?”
“I have to get her back.”
“You don’t need her to get Tray.”
“That’s not it.” Sam hated to admit what she said next, but seeing what Lyasanna had been willing to do, what other choice was there? “I have to get her back because I think she might be the only one to have done the right thing all these years.”
Bastan sighed. “Then I’ll help.”
24
Working with Royalty
Alec leaned on the table as he stirred the pot, working with the combination of substances he had memorized. There was other information in the book that might have been helpful, and had his father not taken it, Alec might have tried to see what else he could learn, but he’d have needed someone to translate the Theln language.
As he mixed the combination together, he wondered if the outcome would be any different this time. Would he end up poisoning himself again? He didn’t think the combination of items in the recipe for the easar paper were toxic, but how could he be sure? He’d never heard of items that were stable when separate somehow became dangerous when mixed together.
“I still need the svethwuud,” Alec said.
The prince leaned over his shoulder, wrinkling his nose as he stuck his head toward the pot. “I have someone looking to see if they can find something called svethwuud.”
Alec took a seat. He was still tired, and the time he’d spent mixing the ingredients and constantly stirring it together had made him even more aware of how tired he was. He had slept, the bed far more comfortable than any he’d slept on in quite some time, and he had been well cared for, the prince providing food and water and anything else he could ask for. Regardless of the fact that he felt something like a prisoner here, the prince made sure he had everything he needed.
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