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Just because he hasn’t continued to confine me to a windowless tower doesn’t make him any less of a warden. His hospitality still has strings and boundaries. And I am no longer interested in being controlled by either.
Which is why I’ve spent the last few days preparing as best I can and avoiding Thieran altogether. A feat, now that he seems intent on seeking me out. The man made a study of ignoring me for weeks, and suddenly he’s there every time I turn a corner.
It hardly matters, though. In just under an hour’s time, I’ll be well on my way back to Rhagana for my things and then as far away from the Shadow Realm as I can manage. Maybe I’ll go all the way to the northern coast and sail away to somewhere new.
A land where the gods don’t have power, where people would only blink in confusion at the mention of Thieran, the dark God of Death.
The pretty mantel clock Kaia conjured for me the other day trills the time. An hour past midnight.
Moving to the window, I push the curtain aside enough to peek out. I see no movement from my vantage point, no light in the windows on this side of the palace. As far as I can tell, everyone is abed at this hour.
Kaia is in Rhagana tonight preparing for her solstice celebrations, and since her rooms sit right next to mine, her absence makes this the perfect time for me to escape. She’s nice enough, but she seems as committed to keeping me here as Thieran is, even if she is less intense about it. Though I can imagine no one is more intense than Thieran.
Satisfied no one is roaming the palace grounds at this hour, I let the curtain fall back into place and cross to the bed.
Aside from the dagger strapped to my thigh, I have a carving knife I took from dinner tonight tucked into my boot. I will not be caught off guard by another forest beast and end up right back where I started.
I’d prefer my bow, but since it was never returned to me, I have to assume I discarded it in the forest while running for my life from an animal that wasn’t quite an animal. It doesn’t matter. I can buy another one once I get back to Acaria and find a target for my blade and someone willing to pay for the work.
Running my fingertips over the fur-lined cloak, I consider leaving it behind for the millionth time. I’d prefer to leave the Shadow Realm taking only what I arrived with, but it’s even colder in the dark than it is in the subdued light of day. And though I think I’ve found a route that will lead me out of here much faster than Railan’s ominous months, it won’t do me any good to be slowed down or weakened by the realm’s eternal chill.
Decision made, I swirl the cloak around my shoulders and fasten it across my chest. It’s almost quarter-past, and I need to hurry. I want to be well away before anyone stirs.
On my way to the door, I crouch in front of the fireplace, using the poker to shove aside the embers for my prize. I hope I remembered all the steps and ingredients; it’s been lifetimes since I read about this cloaking charm in one of my aunt’s books as a child and again when I was running from the boy who broke my heart.
A trinket or bit of jewelry steeped in a tea made with mint, comfrey, cinnamon, obsidian shards, and a lock of hair from the wearer for three nights. There was something about the full moon in there, but since I can’t see the moon, I have to hope it was full enough for it to work.
Once aged under the full moon, I sealed it with fire. Holding up the coin, blackened with soot, I study it closely. It looks no more extraordinary than it did three days ago when I found it, but I tuck it into my pocket anyway.
I’m not a big believer in mortal magick, but I figure it’s better than nothing to shield me from Thieran’s senses. Between the coin and the late hour when everyone in the realm should be sleeping, the odds feel like they’re decidedly in my favor.
Pushing to my feet, I cross to the door and ease it open. The hallway is empty, as I expect it to be at this time of night, and I step out. Padding toward a set of back stairs I discovered in my first week here, I keep to the shadows, avoiding the halos of light from the torches. I attempted to extinguish them the night before, but they must be magicked, because no matter what I tried, they wouldn’t go out. Not even water would douse them.
The door to the back passage groans softly when I open it, and I freeze. No one else has rooms on this side of the palace that I know of. Or no one currently in residence, anyway. But that doesn’t mean I want to announce my departure.
When I’m sure the coast is clear, that no one is coming to drag me back to my room and lock me inside, I slip through the door and make my way down. There are no torches to light my way here, so I drag my fingers along the smooth stone wall to keep my balance as I follow the winding staircase down and down until it ends at another door.
This one opens without issue, but the wind instantly rushes into the tight space and whistles up the cylinder, tossing my braid around my face. Darting out into the night, I close the door behind me and press my back flat against it.
That’s the first phase done. Now all I have to do is make my way to the weak spot in the wards I found when I was walking with Nevon after dinner.
It’s so dark I can’t even see my hand in front of my face. The pitch black of the palace’s face swallows up any light there is to be had—and there isn’t much. My natural instinct is to use the stone in my pocket to light a torch, but I can’t risk it. Not yet. Not until I’ve been cloaked by the trees and am out of view of the palace.
I memorized this route. I can do this. Follow the wall of the palace until it gives way to the balustrade lining the balcony off the dining room. From there it’s fifteen paces straight on until I reach a statue in the shape of a winged horse.
The wards stand guard beyond the row of statues Nevon was showing me earlier. I’m still not sure what to make of Railan’s surprise that I can sense a god’s boundaries, but whether it’s unusual or not, I’m going to use the skill to my advantage. It’s the way I found the weakness in the first place.
Wandering with Nevon while he droned on about the creatures depicted on the statues, many of them I’d never seen before. Myths from a forgotten era long before I was born. We’d passed the horse, and I’d felt it.
It was more a loss of sensation than a sensation itself. The power felt weaker, that feeling of buzzing energy disappearing for a scant moment before returning as we continued our walk.
I thought maybe I’d imagined it until I returned a few hours later to be sure. The feeling was the same. More than that, I was able to put my boot through the hole to the other side.
I thought I’d have to wait a few more days to find a way past them, make up a cunning excuse to Railan or Nevon, who’s too easily distracted by a pretty smile and a flirtatious caress. But this was better. Now no one could suspect what I was doing because no one was the wiser.
My fingers hit air, then the carved stone of the balustrade, and I breathe a sigh of relief. I’m getting closer. I might as well be walking with my eyes closed for all the visibility I have. But I push forward, fingers bumping each pillar of the balcony’s railing in turn.
When it ends, I pause. I have to walk straight ahead to hit my target, except straight could be any direction when you can’t see where you’re going. It’s disorienting, wandering in the pitch black. But the only way out is forward, and I’m hardly one for giving up before I’ve really begun.
