Page 73 of The Omega Thief

But unconscious wasn’t dead.

“Ash?” No answer. “Is Ash here?”

“No, sire,” Thakeray responded. Was that another good thing?

“Who else is here?”

Another seven guards all spoke up. The ones that guarded Raz at the palace.

“I hope your question means you have a plan.”

It took Attiker a moment too long to recognize her voice, probably because the thought of her being in here made him want to throw up. “Grandmother?” he asked incredulously.

At the same time, Thakeray said, “Highness?”

“Indeed,” she said crossly. “I’m not sure I should be pleased or offended.”

He could understand the offense. By any moral standard, locking away an eighty-year-old woman was appalling. “Pleased?”

“Yes, pleased that I’m considered a threat. People have underestimated me all my life.”

Attiker didn’t have an answer to that one.

“Sire?” Thakeray pressed. “What should we do?”

Attiker wanted to shout he didn’t bloody well know, but he managed to reign in his frustration and take a breath. “We won’t be rescued,” he said slowly. “Not that I’m saying our friends wouldn’t try, just that they can’t get to us.”

“Meaning?” Grandmother said.

“Meaning it’s up to us. Somehow, we have to get out. I could likely get my cell open, but not the door to the steps.” He knew that door was three-hundred-year-old oak, reinforced with iron bands. And unlike his cell, no lock to pick. The iron slats just slid home to their mate.

They all looked over at the sudden noise, and the massive door he’d just been considering swung open. Attiker shaded his eyes against the light, and his heart seemed to get stuck between beats as four guards appeared, two dragging a body between them. One lit the sconce on the wall, and Attiker was shamed to be relieved when he realized he was looking at a bloody, beaten-up Carter, who was dragged unceremoniously into a cell.

And not a prince.

Then someone shouted from above, and the guards rushed out, banging the door behind them.

And forgetting the lit sconce.

Attiker glanced around. He could see all the cells. See Grandmother, perched on the stool in hers. See Benta on the straw floor still with his eyes closed. Thakeray. The other guards. “Carter?” Attiker said, hoping he would answer.

Carter groaned pitifully. “Highness?”

Attiker nearly laughed at the title. He’d never been much of a royal, especially now. “Never mind that. And I’m deeply sorry to ask when I can see you’ve been hurt, but have you any news?”

Carter moaned a little and made no attempt to move. “They wanted me to draft the notice the challenge had been completed and the official surrender. Anyone could do it, but I suppose it’s my job, and I refused.”

“Good man,” Grandmother said gently.

“Highness?” Carter said in shock at hearing her voice. Like them all, he couldn’t believe she was here.

“And they beat you because of that?” Thakeray asked. Carter didn’t reply, but Attiker didn’t suppose he had to.

“What else can you tell us? Did you see Raz?” Attiker almost begged.

“For a short moment, Highness,” Carter answered. “Just after he was taken away. But the Abergenny infantry has the palace surrounded. They’ve said if the army doesn’t surrender, they’ll start killing indiscriminately.”

“They said what?” Thakeray echoed in horror.

---