Page 106 of Ecliptic

“I love you, too,” he murmured, his fingers tangling and fisting my hair.

Rowen reluctantly released me and pulled back, planting his stance with the rope in his hands.

I nodded that I was ready, and Rowan gave me slack to walk backward down the wall.

Once my feet hit the sand and I stepped out of the harness, Rowen reeled the harness back up for Dyani. As he readied the warrior, I glanced around to make sure we hadn’t been spotted. Thaydril’s comment about a dark night made sense now. There was no moon. It would be easier to sneak through the city of sandstone.

Moments later, I heard Dyani muttering curses as Rowen lowered her in the night.

She dropped to the sand, and we walked around the mesa, sticking to the darkness as best we could. Our movements were swift when darting through the shadows, and thankfully, we slipped between the patrolling guards without notice.

We faced the palace, scanning the balconies that would embrace the sunrise. My eyesight had improved with my new elven body, and the stars offered just enough visibility to aid my search. “There,” I whispered, pointing to the balcony filled with intricately carved aviaries.

“It had to be the highest one, didn’t it?” Dyani said, crouching low beside me.

The sand muffled our footsteps as we approached the palace made of red rock, but the place was surrounded by Hara’dune soldiers.

Suddenly, a soldier jolted and turned to his companion. “Did you hear that?”

My heart stopped, and I clutched Mithrion’s hilt. We’d wrapped our star blades in ripped curtains so they wouldn’t give away our positions. But how had they heard us?

The other guard nodded and drew his blade.

Me and Dyani made eye contact, a silent conversation that there would be no witnesses to our midnight rendezvous. The other guards drew their scimitars, and in unison the whole line of soldiers took off running in the opposite direction.

Dyani and I exchanged glances as the wall was left unattended. I silently prayed to the spirits that whatever they heard, it wasn’t Rowen.

We approached the smooth wall. “A’Anhara,”I whispered, and suddenly, blocks of stone were pushed from the rock, starting low and rising higher and higher. It was a hidden staircase!

I turned to Dyani in awe, but she looked like she was going to be sick. “What?” I asked. “This is easy.”

“No, it’s not,” she whisper-hissed. “There are no rails.”

“Just don’t look down,” I assured, patting her shoulder.

The staircase was precarious. One wrong step and we would plummet to the sand, but we kept climbing.

We landed silently on Rayal’s balcony, careful not to wake the birds sleeping within the massive aviary. There were many different kinds, all slumbering with their wings tucked comfortably to their bodies. I realized some only had one wing or half a beak, or bandages around their bodies and legs.

The birds appeared to be in rehabilitation.

A few of them rustled their wings as we passed, but for the most part, they remained unbothered as we walked through the billowing curtains.

The scent of jasmine wafted from the room that I prayed was Rayal’s. When suddenly, Dyani was yanked away from me. A flash of steel appeared as my companion was whipped around and held at knifepoint. A familiar face peered over Dyani’s shoulder, her grip firm as she held a letter opener to the warrior’s throat.

“Who are you? And what do you want?” Rayal demanded, her tone sharper than the blade she held. “Make another move, and I’ll slit her throat.”

“Rayal, it’s me—Keira. From the Crypts,” I rushed to say, feeling awful that we had scared her.

Rayal’s citrine eyes met mine and her blade fell to her side. “By the spirits. How?” she asked, her voice filled with relief and utter shock.

Dyani released a breath and stumbled away, rubbing her throat. With shocked eyes, she looked Rayal up and down, her chest heaving. “You are exceptionally quiet,” Dyani said, sounding impressed. “And fast. For a princess.”

“You think princesses don’t train?” she asked, bringing the tip of her makeshift blade back to Dyani’s throat. Her warm brown skin, similar to Thaydril’s, gleamed in the moonlight. Despite being barefoot in a silk crop top and pants, she stood like a princess—like a warrior.

“Maybe,” Dyani admitted, her eyes never wavering from Rayal as she brought her finger to the edge of the letter opener and slowly pushed it away. “But you’ve certainly changed my mind. Though if you want to skewer me, you should use something a little sharper.”

Rayal was as strong as the stone used to build her city, butstill, she allowed her hand to be guided to her side by Dyani. She twirled the letter opener and tucked it into her pajama pants, their eye contact painfully intimate. “All my weapons have been taken from me. This is all I could find.”