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I’d hoped I was hiding my emotions better than that. A sigh slips out of me. “It’s nothing new. I just keep getting reminded that no matter what the truth is, most people are going to be scared of me. Maybe even think I shouldn’t exist. Even once Petra’s on the throne, I’ll probably have to keep hiding what I am.”
Rheave growls defiantly. “Not with me. Not with Stavros or Alek or Casimir either.”
The glow of affection he stirred up earlier lightens my melancholy thoughts. “I know. You have no idea how grateful I am to at least have the four of you.”
It’ll be enough. I can hardly complain when I’ve gotten so lucky already.
By the time we complete the full circuit, it’s clear that the scourge sorcerers have wards monitoring about half a mile all around the outer building.
I stop to squint across that distance. Maybe a hundred paces away, a small metal grate shows through the grass.
It must be providing ventilation for the underground chambers. I suppose they probably need several of them. But we can’t reach those access points, small as they are, while the wards are in place.
The sight of the barred metal circle reminds me of a different hatch many weeks ago—the entrance to one of the royal army’s underground equipment stashes. It was guarded by a different sort of magic.
But that doesn’t mean the same solution wouldn’t work.
I look over at Rheave. “Do you remember how you’ve used your power to shatter other magic in the past? Do you think you could do the same thing to the wards around this place? Just… knock them out and dissipate the magic so the scourge sorcerers don’t get any warning?”
Rheave studies the landscape intently. He lifts his hand, and a few sparks shoot from his palm. They fade into the air ahead of us.
“I can feel it there,” he says. “It’s coming from different places… Let me try doing one.”
His stance tenses with his focus. He curls his fingers toward his palm and then splays them again in a sudden movement.
I don’t even see the power he’s sent out this time, only hear the soft crackle of it. But all at once, the tingle of nearby magic snuffs out completely.
“That did it!” I said. “At least near here. Let’s see if anyone seems to notice…”
We hold perfectly still for the space of a minute. The cool breeze tugs at my hair, but no one emerges from the building.
A smile stretches across my face. “All right. Let’s knock the rest of them out.”
While Rheave prowls around the facility in a second circle, I dash back to our companions to fill them in on the progress we’ve made. As soon as I mention the grate, Alek perks up. “I should take a look at that.”
The main reason the scholar joined us on this mission was to share his ideas for the best places to hit the facility to destroy it as quickly as possible. He’s studied plenty of architecture in his years of research into Silanian history. The fact that this architecture is mostly under the ground apparently isn’t too much of a setback.
With the third of Tinom’s concealment charms, he follows me back to the field. My breath comes easier when we walk past the marks Rheave made without any hint of magic touching my senses.
Alek kneels down by the grate, dangles his fingers between the bars, and then holds his hand flat over them to test the air flow. “I’d definitely expect there to be more than one if the underground structure extends this far from the center point,” he says.
With a quick search, we discover three more just on the hill-ward side of the facility. A light of inspiration gleams in Alek’s eyes that would make me nervous if he wasn’t on my side.
By that point, Rheave has finished disabling the wards. We all hustle to the hillside to confer with the full group.
“Exactly how many concealment charms do you have?” Alek asks Tinom first. “And how many other people do you think you could effectively divert attention from for several minutes?”
The magic advisor digs into his pouch. “I’ve managed to have two more blessed, which brings us to five. To be sure that no guards spot you, I wouldn’t want to risk extending my gift to more than three others. Eight won’t make for much of an offensive force.”
“The people won’t be doing most of the work. It’s about what they can carry.” Alek swivels toward Stavros, who’s acting general for this mission. “We brought those explosive materials. We can still use them even if we can’t see the building—through the grates.”
Stavros catches his enthusiasm. “Yes. We’ll have to set them off simultaneously for the best effect, because as soon as one goes off, the scourge sorcerers will go on the defensive. But that shouldn’t be difficult to manage. I’ll give a signal.”
The massive man turns toward our varied group of royal soldiers and local resistors. “We’ll need volunteers to launch the explosives. The rest of us will wait until the blasts have gone off, and then we’ll charge the building. Anyone who emerges from below on the attack, we end them as quickly as possible before they can make much use of their magic. In the chaos, we should be able to get the upper hand and make our way below to finish the job.”
I lift my hand before anyone else needs to. “I’m obviously going with the first group.” If someone needs to jump in to prevent an unexpected disaster, I’ll have the best chance of averting it, as much as it might cost me.
Unsurprisingly, Rheave volunteers too. Alek raises his chin with an air of defiance. “It’s partly my plan. I should bear some of the risk.”
