“Gods, Bercola.” Lena’s face blanched as she eyed the black opening. “A daylight practice run would’ve been nice. What the hell is this place?”
“A secret way out, which is why we didn’t tell any of you loose-lipped jabber-mouths. Now go!”
The tunnels beneath the palace were narrow, the shadows from the torches dancing on the walls. The heavy breathing of the women was loud, the only other noise the scrape of boots against the stone floor. No one spoke, and Lydia wondered if they were thinking the same thoughts as her. That there was no way to know what was happening in the ballroom. Who was alive. Or who wasn’t.
Down and down they went, following the white chalk on the walls. Several tunnels branched off from the main path, though where they led, Lydia could not have said. Then the silence was chased away by the roar of waves smashing against the cliff. Fresh air hit Lydia in the face, her boots splashing in puddles as she entered a chamber that opened to the sea.
Two black-painted boats sat on the ground above the waterline, both containing oars, black tarps, and a crate of what Lydia suspected were supplies. Ready and waiting in case the unthinkable happened. Which it had.
The opening to the sea was secured by a gate of steel bars draped in seaweed, but Bercola was already unlocking the heavy padlock and swinging it open. Waves splashed against a set of stairs that had been cut into the rock, leading down to where the boats could be launched.
“We get out,” the giantess ordered. “Make our way to one of the ships and set sail immediately.”
While the others worked to move the boats, Lydia picked her way down the steep steps to where she could see the ocean beyond. What she saw stole the breath from her chest.
The sea was illuminated, bright as day, by countless floating infernos.
“No. Gods, no.”
Lydia turned to discover Malahi at her shoulder, eyes reflecting the flames consuming the Gamdeshian fleet.
“Shit!” Bercola slammed her fist against the bars. Then she shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. We row down the coast until we reach Abenharrow. Now get those boats down here!”
“Wait.” Lydia pointed out across the water. It was too dark to determine what sort of vessel it was, but she could see the life of the people aboard. “Someone’s coming this way.”
“Probably sailors who escaped the ships. Now quit standing there, Lydia, and help!”
“In a moment,” Lydia muttered, something catching her eye.
The vessel came closer, and a figure that burned unnaturally bright stepped out from behind the others. “They aren’t Gamdeshians,” she shouted. “There’s one of the corrupted with them. Look!”
Even as the words exited her lips, an arrow sliced past her face, embedding in the boat behind her. Lydia grabbed hold of Malahi and shoved the Queen farther back into the chamber, everyone ducking for cover behind the boats.
“We can’t go out there!” High Lord Calorian was crouched behind the same boat as Lydia and Malahi. “They’ll pick whoever is manning the oars off and we’ll be slammed against the cliffs. It would be suicide.”
“I’m aware,” Bercola snapped. “We need to get that gate shut.”
“I’ll do it!” Lena darted out from behind the boat, dodging arrows as she slammed the gate shut.
“Lena!” Bercola bolted after her, shoving the girl out of the way right as a flurry of arrows shot into the cavern.
Lena rolled across the ground, the padlock in her hand slipping from her fingers to tumble into the water even as Bercola recoiled, an arrow embedded in her shoulder.
“Bercola!” Lena screamed, but the giantess only growled at her to stay down.
“We’ll wedge the gate shut with the boats,” Lydia shouted. “Push them closer. Push! Push!”
Together, they slid the heavy vessels against the gate, wedging it shut while arrows flew through the bars.
“There’s more of them coming.” The words came out from between Bercola’s teeth, her face lined with pain. “We need to backtrack. Find somewhere to hide in the palace. Sonia, hold them off for as long as you can, then retreat.”
The Gamdeshian guardswoman’s gaze was fixed on the inferno consuming the fleet of her countrymen, but at Bercola’s order she nodded. “Go.”
Her bow twanged over and over, providing the rest of them cover as they ran through the chamber and back into the tunnel.
“The trapdoor leading back into the palace is solid steel set into rock,” Bercola said. “They won’t be able to get through it. We can hide in the storage