My only surprise was that his pulse beat against my back at nearly the same pace. His manner this morning had suggested he was inured to the excitement and fear of such dangerous undertakings.
We lay there together for an indeterminate amount of time, and I was lulled into a strange sort of peace. When we finally did begin to slow, I gasped softly, caught off guard. The Keep—it had to be.
Guards called down to Ash, and he called back a reply, explaining his purpose. Soon the creak of the great wooden gate sounded, and the wagon rolled forward again, lurching to another stop inside the Keep’s external walls. Now came the complicated part. We hadn’t been able to make specific plans since everything depended on what happened with the wagon, the cakes, and Ash.
A voice I didn’t recognize welcomed the baker, and from the rocking of the wagon, Ash had climbed down to greet the speaker in person. Various sounds of boots, animals, and unidentified thumps made it harder to hear than before. I strained to catch the words exchanged and decided this must be the Keep cook, come to meet and direct the baker.
Sudden light filtered through our wool covering as someone thrust back the front of the canvas to expose the boxes of cakes. The cook called loudly for a number of assistants to remove the crates and carry them to the kitchen, berating anyone who didn’t treat them gently enough for her liking.
I held my breath while Gabe did the same behind me, neither of us making even the slightest movement. If someone pulled the canvas all the way off, or came poking toward the back of the wagon, there was every chance they would notice the strangeness of our shapes beneath the blankets.
“Six—that’s the lot of them,” Ash said, and the darkness returned, the canvas over the wagon dropped closed again.
I gave a silent breath of relief, but Gabe’s arms around me didn’t relax. Several long moments stretched out, and then the wagon lurched again. No one had climbed up, so someone must be leading the horse.
A loud voice soon confirmed the impression, calling for a stable boy to lead the vehicle to an out of the way spot behind the stables. I could almost hear and feel Gabe’s grin.
The wagon stopped again, and the horse was unharnessed. The slow clop of hooves retreated.
“Give it another minute,” Gabe breathed into my ear, and I remained still.
When I thought I would burst with the tension of the wait, his arms moved, disentangling themselves from me and giving me a gentle push. I twisted around, scrambling up onto my knees and crawling to the back of the wagon. The way was clear now, the boxes all removed, and I reached the edge as Gabe pulled himself up beside me.
Cautiously, he lifted the canvas, sticking his head out just enough to see.
“All clear,” he whispered, slithering out the back and disappearing.
I followed as quickly as I could, clambering down to stand beside him. We both looked around, taking in our surroundings as fast as possible.
We stood in a thankfully shadowed corner of the large space inside the Keep’s walls. A stone building that must be the stables sheltered us, and I could see a number of other outbuildings scattered around. Inevitably, however, my eye was drawn to the Keep itself—an enormous round stone tower, reaching far above us.
That was where Leander’s study was, where we would find anything of importance—and where Leander himself would be. An icy trickle counteracted the flush that had gripped me.
“We need to get in there,” Gabe whispered, and I realized his eyes were trained on the Keep as well. “We need to find Leander’s study.”
I pointed toward the big window near the top.
“Is that the one Stormy saw Leander through?” Gabe asked. “If only we had wings to fly up there ourselves.”
The sound of footsteps made us both draw back, retreating around the side of the wagon. They passed without pausing or moving in our direction, and I let out the breath I had been holding.
“We need to move confidently, as if we belong,” Gabe said. “But heads down, so our faces can’t be clearly seen.”
I gave a single, quick nod. I didn’t like this part of the plan either, but I could see no other alternative.
Chapter 19
Gabe produced a cap and a scarf from nowhere, handing the scarf to me and gesturing for me to tie it over my head while he pushed