Valara shrugged. “I can make a spell with a lock. Your friend may wait a day, a year, then speak the words to complete the spell and set magic free to do its work.”
Leaving Galena free to join her brother at the borderlands, or farther west. But Ilse did not dare to interrupt. She, too, needed Galena’s cooperation.
Galena licked her lips. “I will then.”
Once more the scene rapidly changed. Alesso helped Galena to sit up. Ilse fetched a wet cloth to clean the wound on her neck. Valara murmured a string of Erythandran, and the wound closed to a bright red scar.
“Now,” Alesso said. “We make our plans quickly. You can’t slip past the city gates, or by sea. Those soldiers keep a strict watch by the harbor as well as the highway. Even if you could, there’s the fort. They’ll snatch you up within two miles of Osterling. No, the only possible way is through the tunnels.”
“What tunnels?” Ilse said sharply.
But Galena nodded slowly in recognition. “From the old days before the empire,” she said in a wondering tone. “The kings of Fortezzien had them built in case of a siege. They could send messengers past the enemy, to summon aid from another city.”
“You know where the entrances are?” Alesso asked her.
“Inside the Keep’s ruins. They used to set guards outside, but not anymore. But I don’t know anything else about them.”
“How far do they run?” Ilse asked. “Far enough?”
Meaning, would the tunnels take them past the first circle of patrols. Alesso seemed to understand because he nodded. “Back in the old days, the tunnels ran halfway up the coast. Most collapsed years ago, but it’s still passable for a few miles, if you don’t mind rats and rubble. Is that acceptable to my lady?”
He left a great deal unsaid, but Ilse could piece together the clues. Alesso and his colleagues used the tunnels for their own activities. Which meant the regular soldiers did not. “It is,” she said. “What if they decide to follow?”
“Then we make certain they don’t. You and your friend go to the tunnel. Soldier girl reports to her harbor duty. Certain of my friends will arrange a distraction, while I handle things here in the pleasure house to explain your absence.”
Ilse gazed into Alesso’s eyes, wishing she could read what lay behind them. Trust was indeed a gift. You could not ask a bondage price for it.
“Give us until the next hour bell,” she said.
Alesso’s eyes narrowed, as if he were calculating a great many things. “When are you due at your post?” he asked Galena.
“At the hour bell after next.”
“It will have to do,” he murmured.
He rose and made for the door. Ilse followed him into the corridor. “Alesso.”
Alesso turned. His lips curled in a sardonic smile. “What? You wish a kiss in farewell?”
She ignored his banter. “No. A favor. You must have the means to send messages to your colleagues. Send one for me to Lord Kosenmark, as quickly as you know how. Tell him…” She paused, wishing she knew how much she could commit to Alesso and his unknown associates. “Tell him to expect word from me through the usual means. Tell him that we need a ship for passage to a far foreign port. I can only tell him more once … once we meet.”
The smile faded as she spoke. He studied her a moment with a strange, unreadable expression. “I will send word to your love. And you, you remember your promise to me.”
She nodded. “I will.”
“Then we are friends indeed.” He bent down and kissed her on the cheek. The next moment, he was hurrying toward the stairwell.
Ilse closed her eyes. Her pulse danced far too fast for comfort. I do not love him. I love Raul. Oh, but in a different life …
No time for self-doubt. She spun back into the room.
“We need provisions,” she said in an unsteady voice. “I’ll fetch as much as I can from the kitchens. Galena, go to my bedroom. Help her to find better clothing for our journey.”
She didn’t wait for their reply, but sped outside and down the stairs. Once on the ground floor, she slowed her pace. It was quiet below, in these hours between midnight and dawn. A few lamps burned in their sockets, but otherwise the house was dark. Ahead, a bright light shone from the kitchen itself. She paused to collect herself, to think what she absolutely needed.