Shadow Cursed by May Sage Page 0,55

my fathering bastards. There were guards everywhere. But I may not have been the first in the court to have been fond of wandering off outside the gate. There's a path underneath the castle, leading outside. One has to know—and be able to perform magic—to find it." He's confident. "I can get you in. I don't know about getting us out once we're spotted, though."

"We could create a diversion." Meda tilts her head. "Set something on fire. Detonate a bomb. And while they rush to see what's happened…"

"Get the prisoners out." Ina nods, turning to Vlari.

She hasn't said a word yet. Feeling the weight of all our attention on her, she says, "It's risky."

She looks to me.

Me.

I shrug. "This mission is risky no matter what."

She nods. "Jules, you know Ichor best. Where would they keep the prisoners?"

"Under the castle, in the dungeons. The passage we'll take will come out close."

"So, we can get the folk out that way. Where could we start the diversion to draw the attention out?"

"The armory, or the watchtower."

He draws a map of his home in the sand, and as we plan, this madness almost seems to become doable.

Jules can lead Meda and Lucan to the watchtower, and blow it up with the gunpowder humans are sure to keep there. Lucan's fire will come in handy. Meanwhile Ive, Vlari, Ina, and I can lead the prisoners out. Ive will remain on the lookout to save our exit.

We walk south for the rest of the night.

We’re on top of a hill when I take notice of the landscape before me—all around me. My fists tighten at my sides.

I haven't seen Tenebris from such a height since the beginning of the invasion. From here, I can see the damage. Entire forests have been razed, replaced by roads and villages. Smoke darkens the stars, polluting our land. The humans have started to reshape the unseelie realm into their ashen, barren desert.

I think about the folk. Those left outside of Whitecroft. The smart ones hid deep in the wilder woods, but if the humans have hunted the elves, I doubt there'll be anywhere safe.

My gaze darts north, past the Murkwood, to Denarhelm, the seelie lands. What do they make of our sorry state? I know they laugh at us. I laugh at us too, for once we were mighty and fond of our own importance, yet we've been vanquished by humans, who are led by a child. Denarhelm is supposed to be the weaker fae kingdom, as it's been centuries since they've stood together under one flag. Una, their last high queen, died without naming an heir. She had three children; Maeven, who already ruled the Court of Wind here in Tenebris, her twin Tharsen, cursed and cast out in the wilderness, and Fenemir, who declined the burden of the crown, content to rule the Court of Sunlight. No one insisted on her replacement—the local lords were happy to fashion thrones and call themselves kings.

And yet we, the strong, united nation, fell. I'd wager they're also worried. Once the humans have taken all that Tenebris has to give, they will no doubt cast their eyes north.

Reaching the seelie lands from the Alfheimr empire is all but impossible; the great canyons and waterfalls littering their western borders make for a better wall than any iron gates. At the first sign of an attack, they'd send archers to dispatch of the enemy army. The high ground gives them a considerable advantage.

But there's no such natural reinforcement between the borders of Tenebris and Denarhelm. The humans could march right up north if they so wish.

No doubt, the lords of Denarhelm have sent forces and spies south, watching and scheming in the shadows.

I suppose we’ll find out when we get to them.

Come daylight, we agree to rest, though we're less than an hour away from Sandovar. This isn't the kind of mission to be undertaken while exhausted.

"It's market day," Jules says cheerfully. "There'll be plenty of people in the town square—we'll manage to get to the watchtower undetected."

We set camp in an abandoned goblin hole under a hill. It's far from comfortable and still smells of rotted leeches, but it's better than being exposed.

I offer to take the first watch, and Vlari's quick to say she'll take it with me.

I think I see Meda roll her eyes, but no one protests.

They settle deep in the burrow, and I sit at its entrance, my back against the wall of the cave. Vlari joins me, her