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Click hereRazai dove to the floor just as the blast hit her chair, destroying it. Before he could cast another spell, she ran for the door, flinging it open hard enough that it slammed into one of the guards standing just outside. The man let out a startled oath.
"Stop her!" Rusol shouted. "Assassin! Kill her!"
Razai sprinted away, the guards in pursuit. Ahead of her, the corridor branched in different directions. Which way? she shouted in her mind.
Left, the whispers replied.
She followed their direction, and as soon as she was out of sight, she stopped and turned herself invisible. The guards came around the corner, looking around in confusion when they couldn't see her.
Back in the direction of the king's study, a bell started ringing--like those sometimes used to summon servants, but louder. Another bell answered it, somewhere ahead of her, and then another off in the distance. Some sort of alarm system.
The two royal guards started working their way down the hall, opening each door and checking inside, trying to find her.
Razai remained still. She could only creep about slowly while under cover of invisibility, and it would take hours to get out of the palace that way. Worse, now that Rusol knew what she could do, he or one of his bondmates might be able to pierce her illusion. She needed a faster way to escape, so while the guards continued their search, she pieced together a disguise based on Lord Seneschal Branley.
It wasn't perfect, but it would do as long as no one tried to speak to her. Male voices were harder for her to replicate, and she hadn't had a chance to practice Branley's.
Once the guards were out of sight, she dropped the invisibility and strode down the hall as if intent on a task. The ringing bells had caused servants and soldiers to wander into the halls, trying to find out what was going on. She joined the growing crowd, hoping to slip by unnoticed.
She made it halfway to the palace's diplomats' entrance before she was stopped at an anteroom outside the main audience chamber.
"Lord Branley!" a functionary said, rushing up to her. "Is the king safe? What's happening?"
Other guards and courtiers gathered around, apparently having been drawn to the audience chamber by the bells.
"His Majesty is well," she told the crowd in a rough approximation of Branley's voice. "Someone thought there was a thief loose in the palace, but it was a false alarm."
They exchanged concerned glances.
"Are you all right, Lord Branley? Your eyes..."
The voice had fooled them, but she'd messed up the disguise. Branley was taller than her, and his eyes weren't meeting anyone else's gaze.
"I'm just tired," she said. She could fix the disguise and reassure the onlookers, but that meant staying in the palace longer. Running was the best option, but doing so would pinpoint her location for Rusol and his bondmates--and she had no idea what their capabilities were.
I need a way out, she said to the whispers.
There was the sound of wind blowing through tall grasses as the whispers argued amongst each other, and then one spoke, louder than the rest.
Darkness.
What? she asked.
Like this, the whisper said, and demonstrated.
Razai followed its example and summoned illusionary darkness, a blackness so complete that it blocked all light. It spread out from her in tendrils, quickly swallowing the antechamber and then spreading into the corridors beyond.
The courtiers and servants shrieked in fear, not realizing the illusion was harmless. They bumped into each other and tripped over furniture as they tried to flee.
Razai could see through darkness, though. She ran for the main entrance as quickly as she could. The commotion was likely to draw the attention of Rusol's bondmates, and she didn't want to find out whether they could banish her spell.
The darkness followed along, fifty feet in all directions, ensuring no one could see her. As she ran, she switched to her Aden disguise, but wearing the uniform of a royal guard. Once she was out of the palace, she could drop the darkness spell and pretend she'd managed to escape from it.
After that, it was time to get out of the city before Rusol tracked her down.
- COMMENTS
Ivy_Veritasalmost 2 years agoAuthorRe: the other books on Amazon. Yes, only the first book is out so far, because they go through three more rounds of editing before I publish them, and if I have to choose between spending my time writing or editing, I usually pick writing. But I'm going to make an effort to get books 2, 3, and 4 published by the end of 2022. We'll see how that goes. I can't make any promises, but I want to give it a shot.
Anonymousalmost 2 years agoFantastic series. I do not use Patreon, but would like to show my appreciation. I was going to buy the book series, but you still have only the first one available on Amazon. So…?
Ivy_Veritasabout 2 years agoAuthorRe: Anonymous, regarding a primer on the wardens.
I don't have exactly what you're looking for, but the list of important characters does include some details about the wardens. You can find it on my Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/posts/list-of-42381150 (you don't have to be a patron to download it).
