If only I could.
I climbed onto the window ledge, finding familiar handholds in the carved stone. Telling myself not to look down, I focused on the first grip, the first step.
The night air slapped my face, carrying the scent of flowers below. Wind tugged at my clothing, and when my foot slipped on smooth stone, I bit my tongue to keep from yelping.
My fingertips whitened on the jutting stone, the only thing between me and a fatal drop. A crow cawed nearby, startling me. The gargoyle’s stone face seemed to smirk, daring me to let go. Handholds crumbled under my grip, ancient slabs weakened by centuries of rain and frost.
I pressed myself against the wall, breathing hard.
When my shakes had receded, I reached for the gargoyle’s head, grasping its stone ears, and pulled myself across the front to the other side. My muscles burned, and I couldn’t wait to reach my room.
How many times had Addie and I snuck between these rooms, giggling at our daring? She should be with me now. She’d help me scale the castle walls, her laughter bright in the darkness. Instead, she may be imprisoned, and I still had no idea where.
My window lay ahead. Cracked open, thank the fates, just as I’d left it.
I reached it, tugged the window wider, and hauled myself through, collapsing onto the floor of my room in a graceless heap.
Pherin zipped in after me, fluttering above me.
I lay on the cold floor, every muscle screaming. My hands kept spasming, and my entire body shook with exhaustion.
I’d failed. Addie wasn’t in the dungeons. I had no idea where to look next.
I pulled myself to my feet and staggered to the bathing chamber, turning on the water. I splashed my face and washed the grime from my hands, tiny cuts stinging. My haunted face stared back at me in the mirror, my eyes too wide and my face too pale beneath the dirt.
After peeling off my filthy clothes, I hid them in a chest. I bathed, retrieved Trew’s tunic from the trunk, tugging it on, and crawled into bed.
Pherin curled against my head on the pillow.
I had two weeks to figure out where my father had hidden Addie, rescue her, and escape this trap with those doomed to die on the Day of Mercy.
Right now, the tasks felt nearly impossible.
I closed my eyes, but sleep wouldn’t come. My mind kept circling back to the woman in the cell, her hollow eyes and her unexpected help.
The grate,she’d whispered.
She’d saved me, which meant I had to find a way to save her.
I reached under the pillow and pulled out the striped stone, clutching it tight as I let my tears come.
I wasn’t done fighting yet.
CHAPTER FIVE
ISI
The summons came with breakfast.
A steward delivered it on a silver tray alongside toast I couldn’t eat and tea that turned to bile in my mouth.
“His Majesty requests your presence in his office at your earliest convenience,” she said, giving me a bow and leaving without awaiting a reply.
Earliest convenience. As if I had a choice but to go right away.
I dismissed my ladies, unable to focus with them fluttering around. My hands trembled as I dressed, selecting a pale blue gown that made me look younger, more innocent. The princess mask felt heavier than ever as I mentally settled it into place, smoothing my features into dutiful compliance.
Pherin had left to hunt and hadn’t returned, but I would handle this on my own.