Page 17 (1/2)

We learned more about the full extent of Imanuelle’s ability as Kiyo and I made our ith her on horseback to the Rowan Land Her illusions were every bit as good as she’d de awe as she transformed Kiyo into Girard, Shaya, and - ack - Dorian The illusions were perfect - and dangerous I began to fully understand why she was such a good assassin She really could be whoh security places without anyone knowing I was a bit shocked when so her to detaining her That part ofrid of her would be safer for me in the future, and I i potential ene would have done

"It’s not all-powerful," she said at one point I think she was justno clue of my concerns We’d crossed into the Rowan Land now, and she’d dropped her tricks with Kiyo, settling on illusions of bedraggled peasants for all of us "Doing it for three people takes uises forever" She made a small face "If I could, I’d be a spy instead A lot less lances with Kiyo behind her back He too had to have analyzed the i that e’d first tried to rescue Jasmine from Aeson, our plan had failed because a spy had betrayed us There was every possibility now that Imanuelle could do the same, and I wondered if I’d been too quick to trust such an unknown quantity I could only hope love for her brother would keep her loyal to his employer

Despite its name, the Rowan Land was dominated by cherry trees Well, at least that wasto other kingdo roads that delved deeper into Katrice’s kingdoave way to other plants and trees - including rowans They were smaller than I’d expected and laden with berries of their own This land was really quite nice, tereen landscapes It would be a sharound

We saw signs of Katrice’s castle long before the castle itself Other travelers joined us on the road, those whose towns had been caught in the crossfire of war and now sought out food and shelter from their monarch Most were on foot, and we passed theuilt on this journey

We also began seeing soldiers, undoubtedly part of the increased security that Rurik had predicted So to and fro the way, carefully watching those of us who passed I heldfor I her power lientry were sensitive to her type of h her spells She’d told us this halfway through the journey It was infor out

But, although ere scrutinized, the soldiers allowed us to pass, and before long, the castle itself ca it in spite of myself Dorian and I both had dark, blocky stone castles, like Norlish countryside Maiwenn’s ho me of a Disney ht out of a postcard froular lines, its sides white and covered s That sturdy boxiness was offset by graceful turrets rising fro with their pointed black roofs The land had been rising as we traveled, so it wasn’t a surprise to see the castle was situated high on one of the foothills leading off into pretty, snowcappedview of the area ere approaching frorounds

Here we ca adpeople?" I asked softly "We don’t usually have this ates"

Kiyo peered ahead, his sharp eyes seeing e couldn’t "No, they’re letting the, which is slowing things down And you’re right - you never have this many because your lands haven’t been attacked as ht I’d kepthoht not have to worry about Katrice If these people discovered as ary mob

"Easy," murmured Imanuelle "Don’t look nervous I can’t hide your expressions"

I schooledI looked blank and exhausted After aluards interrogated us, and ere quick with answers For our cover story, we’d chosen a village that had been near a battle Dorian’s arht with Katrice’s Most of the residents had cleared out before the fighting, but a large part of the village had been destroyed

"Our house was burned to the ground," Imanuelle said She didn’t even need the illusion of an older, rag-clad woman to be pathetic Her de despair "Our crops iped out"

After a bitus toas essentially a gentry breadline The inner grounds of Katrice’s castle were packed with people - h the crowd to reach the corner where the poor and huddled masses were situated Many appeared to have made this courtyard their teround Nonetheless, food was on hand, and I was relieved that these victi cared for

We hovered near the food line so as not to raise suspicion, all the while assessing the area In particular, our attention rested on the uarded spot of all, and I knew then that an outright assault would have indeed been long and bloody Other soldiers , which e’d hoped for Finding a relatively obscured corner between a tall tent and the wall, we ducked out of sight and let Imanuelle work her next spell She closed her eyes and took a deep breath A tingle ran over me, and the world blurred When I could focus on uards who had ad I probably looked like one of the gate soldiers as well "Don’t you think we ht have a few problems if we run into our clones? Why didn’t you make us look like randouards don’t recognize us, we’ll get questioned more," Imanuelle explained She studied her hands critically, a s pride in her work "I don’t think the ones at the gate are leaving their posts anytime soon We shouldn’t run into the she was secretly thinking I hope

Everyone was too concerned with his or her own affairs to realize that three peasants had ducked away, and three soldiers had eh, they stepped quickly out of our way No pushing this time None of us needed lessons on how to behave Whereas our initial entry had been weak and bedraggled, alked with the confidence and strength of those who ran this place We barely hesitated as we uard stepped aside without co We’d received some information on the castle’s layout, but we didn’t know exactly where Jas held We couldn’t pause to deliberate, though We had to keeplike we had purpose or else attract attention Soldiers and servants hurried around us, and we fell in step with so, stopped a lone, young soldier

"Hey," said Kiyo brusquely "We’ve had reports that soht try to rescue the Thorn Queen’s sister"

The soldier’s blue eyes widened "What? We should alert - "

"No, no," Kiyo interrupted "Keep it to yourself We don’t want to raise suspicion The outside guard already knows and is on watch We need to know if she’s been moved or not There were rumors that she had been"

I tried not to biteabout, but this was a dangerous ht not even be held here There was also a chance that this guard didn’t know her location, and we’d have to keep playing this game with others The more people we talked to, the riskier our mission became

"Not that I’ve heard," said the soldier "She’s still in the dungeon"

I breathed a sigh of relief I’d half-expected hieons weren’t great either, but wellit was no different than how I’d initially treated her I waited for Kiyo to deuards were on her, where the dungeons were, et cetera Instead he gave the soldier a curt nod and again warned hie

"We neededdown the hall Whatever her faults, Katrice had good interior design sense Floral paintings hung on the walls, and elaborate plants spilled out of vases The beauty was lost on o?"

"Because real guards would already know anything else anted to ask," he replied "Asking where the dungeons are would definitely be a tipoff that so was up"

"And I already knohere they are," said Imanuelle

Both Kiyo and I looked at her in surprise

"Downstairs," she added

"Dungeons are always downstairs," I pointed out

"Have you been to therin "Powerful leaders aren’t the only ones with prices on their heads Sometimes iriot us turned around With a clear purpose, I grew more andus a second glance up here, but in the dungeons, we’d attract attention - especially e busted out one of their prisoners

Our castle façades ht have been different, but Katrice and I possessed sieons Dark Gloomy Gray stone walls and torches It was such a stereotype, but I supposed it helped dampen the hopes of any prisoners

Ihts of stairs and into a long, wide corridor Jasuards stood outside it - again, reminiscent of her earlier conditions atbehind us She was apparently holding true to her word that this was all on us now The guards on duty were sharp-eyed and naturally noticed our approach, but none of them reacted ariness or alar perhaps if orders had changed, but that was it

Kiyo and I had discussed several strategies on our journey and finally decided swift and surprising force would be the way to go When ere still several feet away, I sentin the air like a deep breath and throwing it back at the guards in the forale-worthy wind It ruffled our hair and brushed our skin, but the blast literally threw the guards off their feet There were cries of shock, and tent down right then and there froainst the corridor’s end

The other four were up on their feet, three drawing copper swords Fire appeared in the hands of the fourth I should have expected Katrice would putwith brute force There was no other tiuy suddenly hurled a fireball at us I instinctually drew on the surrounding air again, along with itsthe fire with little effort Kiyo surged forward then, attacking one of the guards I ran forward as well, uard as I created a vacuu all air away froasped and clutched his throat, trying to draw an iic as one of his colleagues tried to attack er in uy in the thralls of en, and I released hi him collapse unconscious to the floor Before I could even deal with the other soldier by me, Kiyo leapt out and tackled him to the floor I took this tolearned anything the first time, he hurled another fireball at me I admired his control; too much would have incinerated everyone in the hall But with ht forof the iron, offering no fight as I began drawing away his oxygen too A realization glinted in his eyes Illusion or no, he ured out ould wield air and water so easily - and hold onto iron

"Thorn Queen " he gasped out, as the last of his air left hi hied a weak flutter of his hand No fire came, but I felt an intense wave of heat spread out It didn’t hurt me, but there was a physical poithin it, one that rippled the air and htly just before he too collapsed to the floor

Kiyo and I stood there alanced at each other and our surroundings carefully Imanuelle still stood back but looked impressed

"What the hell was that?" I asked

"I’ an alarm," she said

"Fuck"

I turned toward Jasmine’s cell and saw her huddled in the farthest corner, regarding e, wary eyes Water was her true specialty; she had only slight control over air Nonetheless, she would have felt the strength of the uard, she knew there were feho could do what I’d done - but her vision told her it wasn’tthere I was still under Imanuelle’s illusion

Kiyo was already searching bodies and soon found a key We opened the cell, but Jasmine didn’t move She didn’t look too worse for the wear, but I knew some of the most terrible behaviors rarely left a mark There was a small tear in her dress and a bruise on her ar her initial capture I also noticed they’d left the fine iron chains on her that Girard had created to stunt her uard had undoubtedly been useful for her captors

I gestured to the door, uneasy about what Imanuelle had said about an alarm "Jasmine, come on It’s us Me and Kiyo"

"And by enie"

Jas between our faces "How is that possible?"

I the hall’s entrance, turned hastily toward the cell "How do you think? With ic Look at yourself" Jas at another Rowan soldier Jasmine studied her hands in astonishment The illusion showed no chains, but she would still be able to feel them

"Your iPod’s playlist sucks," I said when she continued to hesitate "Would a gentry guard say that?"

"Coet herself out of any danger here, but those odds were better if she wasn’t in a hall that could easily be blocked off if a regi toward the entrance

Jasmine must have decided this new development could be no worse than her present fate She ju as the rest of us made for the stairs We reached the main floor without opposition, but once there, all was chaos Soldiers were running in the direction we’d co it’d take theeons

Exceptit turned out that wasn’t the case In the confusion, no one stopped us frorounds were packed with soldiers They were crauarded section, and the gates in the outer walls had been shut

"Fuck," I said again It still seemed like the only adequate way to sum up this situation

"We could juet out on her own"

I considered this It was true Ie into a peasant or whatever and escape detection until an opportunity for escape popped up Kiyo’s abilities allowed hih the worlds without a gate I could do it - but not without difficulty And I needed to use an anchor to draw me back I had a couple back inlike that She probably couldn’t jump at random from the Otherworld I wasn’t even sure if she could with an anchor - and the iron chains e to ourselves