Page 34 of Sanctuary of the Shadow
“We have six days before Raith’s show. I say we leave the final night, so we have ample opportunity to get ready. We’ll need to buy the lockpick, find a horse, steal provisions, and secure lodging to hide in until the circus leaves town.”
Mal’s eyes bugged a little. “You make it sound so easy.”
Harrow laughed nervously.
“So you’re really leaving? Just like that?”
“I have to. Like I said, after I made that promise to Salizar, he’ll throw me out once Raith escapes.”
“It won’t be the same without you.”
“It won’t be the same withoutyou. You’re the only family I have.”
“You too, Harrow. Goddess, I remember when you first showed up here, just a little sprite of a thing.”
“You were pretty little yourself,” Harrow said. Malaikah was only five years older than her. The two of them had joined the circus in the same year, but Mal had arrived several months before her.
Malaikah chuckled and shook her head. “We were so messed up back then.”
Harrow smiled sadly. “We still kinda are.”
“True.”
“You should come with us, Mal.”
“I’m tempted. But you know it’s not exactly safe for me in the outside world, and besides, I love the circus. I couldn’t give it up.”
If Malaikah actually had plans to return to Kambu one day, she would have to give the circus up anyway, but Harrow decided not to remind her of that.
“I just hate the idea of leaving you here with slimy Salizar.”
Mal snorted. “I’m not scared of him. I’m his star performer. He needs me.”
Harrow sighed. “I suppose you’re right.” She swallowed hard, fighting back tears. “Goddess, I can’t believe this is happening.”
“I’m proud of you. Coming out as Elemental? Choosing to help someone in need?” Mal reached across the table and seized her hands in a tight grip. “I wish you weren’t leaving, but knowing you’re following your heart, doing what you believe is right even if it means giving up your whole life… It’s amazing. You’re Goddess-damned amazing, and I love you.”
Harrow’s fight against tears failed miserably. She practically burst into them, shoulders shaking with tiny sobs until Malaikah came around the table to sit beside her. She wrapped her arms around Harrow and held on tight. “Stop that, you horrible woman, or I’m going to cry too. You know I hate crying.”
Harrow managed a laugh, and the two embraced in companionable silence.
Now all they had to do was outwit their cunning ringmaster and hide an Elemental with a completely unique set of features in the middle of a crowded city. What could possibly go wrong?
Chapter Eight
The end of the week came too soon, but there was no hiding from it. Harrow spent the final day going through her usual routines in a daze. She read fortunes, spoke to fellow circus workers, ate her meals, and tidied her caravan, but she wasn’t really aware of any of it.
Everything was ready. Malaikah had secured a room for them at a tavern in the Underground and purchased the enchanted lockpick to open Raith’s cage. Harrow had narrowed down her possessions into two heavy bags and bought clothes from the market for Raith. He was so big that she’d ended up ordering them custom-made, and the tailor looked incredulous when she’d given his approximate measurements.
She’d also purchased a horse which, combined with the cost of the inn, had put a significant dent in her savings. It was a plain brown, unremarkable mare, but the seller swore it was well trained. Not that it mattered. Once she picked it up on Friday at midnight, Mal, hooded and cloaked, would be leading it straight to Allegra’s main stables and leaving it in the care of the stablemen.
Harrow had stayed up the night before with Malaikah stealing food and supplies from the circus stores. That hadn’t felt particularly good, but it was part of the decoy plan and had to be done. Luckily, Mal had leftover skills from when she was on the run, and they managed to liberate some loaves of bread, a wheel of cheese, a small sack of vegetables, and two water canteens.
Raith tried repeatedly in his silent, intense way to convince Harrow to give up on her plan to free him, but she wasn’t budging. She also knew Salizar suspected her of something. She was pretty sure Loren had been trailing her all week, and the guards outside Raith’s tent had seemed more alert than usual. But she and Malaikah had been careful on their separate forays into town, and their tails hadn’t followed them there. She was certain Salizar didn’t expect her to go as far as she was planning to.
To take care of the guard tonight, Harrow had brewed up her strongest sleeping draught. The tea wasn’t enough to actually knock him unconscious, but it was an effective sleep aid. The odds were good he’d be out within an hour.
After finishing her last reading, Harrow closed up her booth, putting the day’s earnings in her purse rather than taking them to Salizar. Afterward, she gathered up her crystals and cards and emptied the contents of her hidden Seer drawer in the wardrobe, stashing everything carefully at the top of her bags.
