Page 27 of The Flame and the Forsaken

For all of their sakes, he needed to be at the jailbeforeit happened.

Mariel was almostto the central hall when an exuberant Sessaly came bounding toward her.

“Oh, Mariel! Do forgive my absence at morning meal. I was with my charms tutor—” Her smile froze. “Is something wrong?”

Patience on reserve and nerves frayed beyond repair, Mariel nonetheless tried to seem pleased to see her sister-in-law, who was nothing like any of the young women she’d been raised around. Sessaly’s only concerns in life were being the first to secure new gossip and not missing the monthly textile bazaar, where she’d pick out her dress patterns for the next season.

And what the bloody hell was a charms tutor?

“I’ve been called to see my aunt.”

“Oh, dear.” When Sessaly frowned, it was a perfect inversion of her smile. “Is she...”

“I’ll know the situation better when I can see her.” Mariel’s focus was still pointed ahead, where she needed to be, not proffering reassurances to someone who could not care half as much as she pretended to. Mariel had to speak with Remy and Augustine immediately. There was a way to fix this, but they had to act fast.

“Can I do anything to help?”

Mariel’s attention briefly returned to her. The girl’s expression was earnest, which could have been a result of practice, though it didn’t seem inauthentic. But she had no time to tease out her true intentions. As with Hestia, there seemed to be two sides to Sessaly’s motivations, and neither woman was to be entirely trusted. “I think a visit will lift her spirits. Will you excuse me?”

“Oh, of course!” Sessaly called after her. “But I am here if you need me, sister!”

She waited until she was clear of the outer gates of Goldsea Spires and then shifted to a jog, lifting her pace every few yards until she was running so fast, the years melted away and she was again the little girl who had raced her siblings around the lake until they were all delirious. She was usually the victor, enough to take the wind out of Destin’s sails, so she started letting him win to lift his spirits, which were so easily defeated, even then.

Mariel stopped at the town stables to rent a horse. Even though Hestia knew she was going to see her “aunt,” the Spires stable boy would no doubt report her comings and goings, and she had no idea when she might return.

Remy lived above a forge in town, his rent paid by doing odd jobs for the blacksmith. It was a small, cramped apartment, one she’d spent many days and nights in herself before her marriage, and it was the closest thing she had to having a place she still thought of as home.

Augustine was already there, as was Alessia. Magnur was working his shift as a guard for a local marine merchant.

Mariel bent over her knees to catch her breath. Remy passed her a cider in silence when she stood, which she shook her head at and blurted, “I know how we can get him out.”

Alessia laughed from where she sat atop a crossbeam that cut through the center of the pitched room, her feet dangling. “We’re many things, Mar, but jail breakers aren’t one of them.”

Remy guided Mariel to the table, where Augustine sat in silence, watching them approach. “We won’t just abandon him. Of course we won’t.” He rubbed her back while she got settled. “What’s your idea then?”

Mariel expected resistance. They’d be right to offer it. There would be no time to plan, to account for contingencies. It was all risk with only a hopeful reward, and if they failed, Destin could rot away in a cell forever, which would be convenient for her in-laws. But while she did not exactly believe in fate, she did believe in providence. The Guardians were fickle, but it didn’t mean they wouldn’t provide to those willing to receive. “First, tell me what happened last night after I left.”

“None of us knows,” Augustine said softly. Her red braids were wound in a messy knot atop her head, like she’d slept crudely in them and hadn’t yet met a mirror. “He left not long after you, and then the rest of us dispersed. Alessia and I came here with Remy because I had the night off, and we were both too sozzled to do much else. A few hours later, Magnur showed up in his guard’s uniform and told us Destin had been jailed for declaring loudly in a tavern that he was the Flame.”

“No one believed him, of course,” Alessia said. “But the lawmen are under order to take all claims of banditry seriously, so unless someone presents evidence on his behalf, he’ll wait to stand trial, where they’ll either see clearly he couldnae possibly be the Flame, or...”

“Or he’ll crumble under the pressure is what you mean to say,” Mariel snapped. “Which is why... why we cannot let him spend even another night there. You all know that, right? Even if you don’t care about my brother?—”

“Mariel.” Remy folded a hand onto her forearm. “We love Destin, same as you. You’re speaking from fear.”

She bowed her head, wringing her hands. An unsteady drip from Remy’s broken sink thrummed between her ears. An idea was forming in her mind, and even to her it sounded hazardous. Preposterous. But if itworked... “They moved the auction up because they’re getting nervous. Last night spooked them. It’s tomorrow, in Sandymount. The steward is headed there now to speak with a broker, Banner, who is the one in charge of the whole thing.”

“Really?” Augustine’s mouth dropped open. “Tomorrow?”

“The auction is tomorrow, aye.” Mariel clenched for the next words. “Our best chance is today.”

“Well, that’s just too soon, innit?” Alessia crossed her arms. “We’d need weeks to plan. Even in the best circumstances, five, six days at a minimum? It was a nice dream, Mariel, but it was always a longshot.”

“Would we though?” They were all staring at her, waiting to make their oppositions. Even Remy. She had always found the right words before, but they had become harder, because as she was the Flame, her passion burned brighter than her own personal aims. She could separate Mariel from the equation and trulybecomeher other persona, the arbiter of justice for those who most deserved it. Never had her heart been so exposed and raw. “If we can just get to Banner?—”

“How will this help Destin?” Alessia asked, pressing. “Everyone knows Obsidian Sky isnae just one person. They’ll assume his friends went ahead without him.”

“Nay,” Mariel replied. “They won’t. Because how could Destin possibly know the auction had been moved up if he was in jail when the decision was made?”

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