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"You’ll be able to escape the palace?" Evvy asked Parahan as she poured water into the collar lock to clean Briar’s potion out of it "I had a feeling …"

"You felt rightly," he assured her "Don’t worry about h of a risk as it is" He watched Briar open the locks on his wrists "I don’t know if I will ever be able to thank you"

"Just, if you’re caught, don’t say it was us," Briar advised

"You understand aof torturers," Parahan said "I will hold the as I can, of course, but I have already had one experience at the hands of the eators"

"But why?" Evvy whispered, accidentally splashing more water than she needed to "You weren’t an enemy"

"They wanted to see what secrets , of course I tried to tell theed "Such people only believe your answers once it has cost you soive them"

Briar remembered some of Parahan’s scars and shuddered Within a few more moments he had the ankle shackles unlocked Parahan was free He said nothing for a little while, rubbing his wrists as Evvy rinsed the locks Briar snapped all of the cuffs and the collar back together again and left thee lock up onceas if Parahan had si in the wall first He quickly scouted around a the trees, but the area was as quiet as when he had arrived When he returned to the wall, Parahan see with Evvy Then he nodded to Briar, turned, and picked up one of the blocks Carefully he eased it into its place in the wall, hisas he worked One at a ti When he finished, only someone who looked very closely would realize there was no mortar between the chunks of stone

Briar watched Evvy as Parahan worked The bigto make her think, that was certain She chewed steadily on her lip until she realized that Briar’s eyes were on her Then she turned her back to him He would ask her about it later, when they were not so pressed for time

Briar called on his vines to yank their roots froround He and Evvy then tamped the remains of the rice-and-limestone mortar into the holes the vines had left and filled the rest of the openings with dirt When they were done, Briar watched as the vines slithered into the trees They would search through the palace grounds until they found places to grow unhindered The ability to find hoain that Briar had ," Parahan said when Briar faced hiether before his face "Thank you both I am forever in your debt"

"This is all we can do," Briar said "Don’t co back on Rosethorn"

"You need not worry," Parahan told therounds Will you be safe?"