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Aren’s caustic laugh cuts through the air "We tried that once, reates He needs the tinril to pay off nobles and bribe his Inner Court"

"He needs the tinril to protect the Realm from you" Kyol’s eyes flash "He needs it to prevent another Brykeld"

Aren doesn’t flinch, but I do I kno he’s not responsible for what happened He regrets the massacre He even set up the fae who led it so I could track him down, so the Court could capture him I believe all that, but he’s responsible for other cri Kyol’s swordsmen into tor’um

Damn it, why does this have to be complicated?

"McKenzie," Kyol says softly "I’ll end this war as quickly as I can"

"You could do estion I knohat his response will be He’s too honorable a , too honorable to abandon the Realm to Radath’s brutality It’s selfish to ask it of hinize him, worried he’ll be pissed I allowed Naito and Evan to knock hi except hand y and a thank-you--it’s the least I can do--then follow Aren down the corridor

He knows the way out We creep down the shadowed hall, hugging close to a rough stone wall covered in a fuzzy moss I’m fairly certain we’re not beneath the Silver Palace This place is too big; there are too many other prisoners here We passback theback only silence Most likely, Radath had e of the Barren Fae can’t fissure out of that stretch of land, not anyate in the Barren’s core No one kno he did it, but when the gate collapsed, it created a void in the Real handicapped by silver It’s still possible to open fissures in the atmosphere, but they’re too hot to approach It’s like the loss of the gate daed the In-Between

Aren holds up his hand at an intersection, signaling for e forward

I peek around the bend in ti in a heap Aren deflects the other’s attack, counters with swings of his own The guard staggers under the brutal blows, alains his balance, Aren kicks his feet out from under him, then slams the hilt of his sword into the fae’s temple

The hair on the back of my neck stands on end I scan up and down the corridor, looking and listening for running footsteps The fight was brief--less than a unfire

Aren glances over his shoulder, seeshere "Clear?"

I listen for a few secondsthe alarm by now

Aren holds out his hand

"Taltrayn’s kept his word so far," he says, intertwining his fingers with uards on the roof are distracted, but we’ll need to move quickly Can you run?"

I nod I don’t haveshadow of the prison stretches across the dirt at our feet The sun is setting somewhere behind us If we could wait twenty minutes, we’d have the cover of darkness, but we can’t just stand around here Aren squeezes s and a stitch in my side makes me want to double over, but I don’t stop, not until Aren finally sloe reach the first sprinkling of trees He puts a hand under ht of the prison, though, so I force ain ain If fae not loyal to Kyol look this way, they could see us An archer could still hit us I have to keep going

I make it ten, maybe fifteen minutes before I take Aren’s hand and make him stop Not because I think we’re safe, but because we’re heading west, deeper into the Barren The jolt of adrenaline that brought me this far has worn off and h to know this isn’t the e should be going

"We need to get to the gate in Belecha," Aren says "Rokan is closer, but the Court will expect us to go there"