A Court This Cruel & Lovely (Kingdom of Lies, #1) (127)

“I believe I owed you jewels,” he said.

I just shook my head at him.

Telean stood waiting. When she saw us, her shoulders sank a little in obvious relief. She swept past us into the ballroom, ready to unclasp bracelets and necklaces. To unhook earrings and remove tiaras and diadems. All of which would be tucked into thick, stolen cloaks.

By the time we got to the dungeon entrance, Tibris had already unlocked the door and was gone. Vicer stood next to the unlocked door, handing out keys for the cells. That replication magic again. Lorian and I each took one, Rythos, Cavis, and Galon appearing behind us, expressions grim, eyes alight. Just seeing them all together, ready to help free the hybrids… Something loosened in my chest. We could do this.

I hauled up my dress and shot down the stairs. Already, I could feel my grip on my power loosening slightly. I sucked in a panicked breath and held tighter. I’d trained so hard, again and again, but time wasn’t meant to be stopped. Not even for this.

In the dungeon, the prisoners were already waiting for us to step out of the way so they could begin moving up the stairs. All of them had stopped eating the food they were given days ago and had eaten the food we managed to smuggle down instead. All of them had a healed scar where their oozing, iron-infected wounds had been. Many of them had been pacing their cells in intervals, building up their stamina for this one chance.

Those who were still too weak to move were carried.

Tibris had gone over the plan with the prisoners over and over again. And so we opened each cell in the best possible order to ensure the prisoners got up the stairs as efficiently as they could. By now, Tibris knew each of their names. Knew who would be able to help the others. Knew who could use their powers to create a ball of light to guide their group or who could be counted on to use their gifts to keep their carriages safe from guards.

I held tightly to my magic, but blood began to drip from my nose. Already, my body was rebelling. My throat constricted, but I forced myself to keep holding on. Lorian was convinced I could do this, convinced I had much more magic than I’d ever thought. And it was that hope I clung to as I grabbed the arm of a young boy, no more than thirteen winters old, and hauled him up the remaining stairs with me.

Daselis stood at the top of those stairs, a young girl with her—obviously her niece. She was helping my aunt, and together they handed each prisoner a cloak with a pocketful of jewelry and gold coins—stolen from the nobles in the ballroom, the bedrooms of the courtiers who lived in the castle, and the room where their cloaks had been stored.

The prisoners wearing little more than rags were given the dresses, shirts, and breeches that Telean had spent the past two days stealing—with Daselis’s help today. As the queen’s seamstress, Telean had unrestrained access to every closet and drawer in the castle.

The prisoners each took a bundle, ready to change once they were in their carriages. Shoes were a problem—but one we’d had no solution to. They’d have to use their coins to buy shoes as soon as they were away from here.

“Pris.” Asinia was suddenly next to me, her eyes glistening. “I wish you could come with us.”

“I’ll be fine. Promise me you’ll be careful.”

“I will.”

I glanced at Demos, who was standing behind Asinia, wild anticipation in his eyes. “See you soon,” he said.

“Soon,” I promised, my heart light as Demos grabbed Asinia’s arm, hauling her away.

Asinia would have her life back. And Demos… Demos would get to smell the grass while he gazed at those clouds he loved. We’d watch the sun set together and get to know each other properly. I just had to get through the next part of our plan.

“You did it.” Dashiel grabbed my hand as he reached the top of the stairs behind me. I squeezed his hand back.

“I did the first part. It’s up to all of you to work together for the rest of it.”

The prisoners were running now, some of them stumbling, a few falling—only to be hauled up by the others. They moved as a group, splitting off as we’d planned and piling into the carriages that waited. Madinia had done it. She’d managed to convince Davis to let her into that map room, where she’d taken control. Even now, she would be with him. Hopefully, he was unconscious and she’d already ordered these carriages to go to the city walls.

If he wasn’t unconscious…

No. I would figure that out if it happened. For now, I had to believe Madinia had done her part.

Blood poured from my nose now. So much that it was only a matter of time before I would collapse. If that happened…

It was all over.

Lorian took my arm.

“Go,” I told him. “You have to take them and go. Now.”

He didn’t look pleased. His eyes were molten in a face that was set in hard lines. I held up my hand. “Blood vow, remember?”

He cursed, capturing my hand and bringing it to his cheek. “Stay alive. Just stay alive, Prisca.”

I attempted a smile. “You think I can’t handle it?”

“I know you can handle it. Because I trained you to handle it. That doesn’t mean I won’t wait with my gut in knots until I see you’re still breathing.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead, and then he was handing me a piece of his shirt for my bleeding nose once more. Only this time, I didn’t resent the way his scent engulfed me. No, this time, that familiar, wild scent steadied me in a way that few things could.