Page 84 of Hidden

“It’s not safe to leave that way any longer,” she whispered, glad her father and Rafe were close enough to feel their presence. The dark was absolute. “They’ll be watching to see who blunders through that.”

Lila had been lucky so far. No doubt Farras had sent minions to find her, but they wouldn’t think to look in the hidden part of the dungeon. She wasn’t supposed to know about it, and that assumption had given her time to free the prisoners.

Unfortunately, her good luck had run out. Lila took a shaky breath, feeling the confined space close in around her. The soft tread of the fae guards grew fainter as they moved down a different corridor, their voices low and urgent. They would be back, and they’d bring reinforcements for a thorough search. She couldn’t hope to hide in the cells any longer.

She willed the merest spark of light to rise from her palm. “We’ll have to leave the way station from the main floor and hide in the woods until help arrives.”

Rafe gave her father a careful look. “It will be risky with so many guests around, but we can do it.”

But her father frowned. “Guests?”

“Lord Farras is here.” Lila kept her tone neutral. “Mother is hostess of a banquet in his honor.”

“Galeeta is here?” Her father straightened. “Under this roof?”

“Yes, and Ademar, too,” she replied. “They’ve been staying here.”

He pressed his hand to his forehead, as if a sudden headache had struck. “So close. Why don’t we just go to them?”

Lila grabbed his wrist, feeling prominent bones. “No, you shouldn’t. Lord Farras has everyone under his sway, including Mother.”

“Stop.” He put a finger on her lips, as he’d done when she was a child. “I know Galeeta too well to believe that. She is a slave to the whims of court, but she finds her way to goodness in the end.”

“Sir,” Rafe said before Lila could argue. “At the very least, Lord Farras is no friend to us. And he brought approximately two hundred retainers with him, many of them soldiers. I would advise leaving now and contacting your family later.”

Gareth wavered, then seemed to make up his mind. “I agree that Farras can’t be trusted. Lead on.”

The moment Rafe pushed the door open, they all breathed deeply, as if their lungs had starved for free air. Wasting no time, Lila took the lead, using her magic to sense any traps the guards might have set. Her father came next, leaning on Rafe’s arm and shielding his light-sensitive eyes.

They made slow progress, stopping often to let her father rest. There was one near miss with a patrol, but Rafe heard him in time to duck down a side corridor. The main challenge was maintaining a reasonable pace. When they finally made it to the stairs that led up to the entry hall, her father was spent. He leaned against the wall at the foot of the stairs, face ashen. Lila reached out, ready to help, but he pushed her hand away.

“Don’t you dare,” he said. “You’ve already given me too much of your strength.”

Lila frowned at the stairs. There were spells galore to keep anyone from leaving, but she had dealt with them all before. She folded the magic aside and led the way up. Rafe helped Gareth follow. Lila waited for them at the top, then cracked the door open to peer out. Her plan was to go directly to the secret passages and wait until the coast was clear.

When she saw no one, she beckoned the others into the black and white tiled hall and led them around the base of the stairway, reversing the path she had taken with Rafe earlier that night. He’d appeared ragged in the dim dungeon, but under the shimmering chandeliers, he looked like a hermit fresh from his wasteland hovel. When she noticed a man’s cloak tossed over the banister, she flung it around Gareth’s shoulders to hide his clothes. As an added bonus, the hood shaded his eyes from the light.

They’d almost made it to the secret door when she heard Farras giving orders in a whip-crack tone. He was somewhere close by and coming nearer, and now she heard the word escape. Her stomach dropped.

There was no time to fumble with the door and usher everyone through. Instead, they hurried around the corner, where the entry connected with the main part of the house. She glimpsed Farras walking past with two of his guards. The lord’s hair was streaked with blood from where she’d hit him. He was gazing down at something a guard held. It looked like an amulet on a chain. Thankfully, it was interesting enough that he didn’t look up until he was well past where Lila cowered. She released a gust of pent-up breath.

The place was buzzing with voices, and the mood no longer felt like a celebration. Something was happening. While it was possible her absence had been noted, she doubted the anxious murmurs had to do with her. Farras wasn’t the type to admit he’d been bashed over the head by his supposed date. So, what was going on?

Groups of servers were coming through with trays of glasses, no doubt heading toward the kitchen. Not sure where to go next, she pulled Rafe and her father as far out of sight as she could behind a decorative pillar. Hopefully, they’d look to any passer-by like a cloaked noble with a pair of servants in tow.

Gareth pointed toward the banquet hall, just visible from where they stood. “Did you decorate that?”

“Yes,” she replied softly, not wanting to be overheard. “Mother insisted.”

Prison had done nothing to dim her father’s wits. She saw the implications sink in—that after so many years, the issue of her marriage to Farras had been revived. He nodded slowly, as if putting additional pieces into place. “Did he ask for your hand?”

“Asked isn’t the right word.”

“How did you respond?”

“I knocked him unconscious with a wine bottle.”

Rafe choked down a laugh.

---