Page 24 of Knight's End
"At least we’re dressed like Raslen soldiers," Connor said. “Maybe that will at least get us in the front door?"
Declan glanced at me. "You need to take that disguise spell from Cerena's bag. You're too recognizable."
"Me? Connor's the diplomat! The rest of you have all been active at court the last four years. I would think I would be the least recognizable. Except for Blue." Only Isla’s little entourage had seen me. But Connor’s face was familiar. He’d gone on diplomatic visits to the surrounding nations each year.
I turned to Quinn, forgetting that he couldn't think his opinion at us. His face scrunched in frustration. But then he raised a finger and pointed right at me, indicating he thought I should drink the potion. I rolled my eyes but complied.
I dug through my pockets and pulled out both Cerena’s spells and held them up to the light so I could tell which was which. The purple potion I set back in my pocket. I downed the disguise spell and let the familiar change wash over me. Dini let out a little howl as she got swept up in the change and turned into a misshapen lump of bark-like skin on my arm.
I ignored her and focused on the rest of my body. I tried not to change in size too much, so that my uniform would still fit. That meant I ended up looking like a very short, very skinny man. I wasn't certain about the rest of my features, but my two front teeth were so large that it was hard to close my lips completely.
“Had to choose a rabbit face? Couldn’t you have gone with something more discreet? You’re pretty memorably ugly right now.” Blue shook his head.
I bit my thumb at him. “Sard off.”
He grinned. “It’s fine. I’m used to playing with a deck stacked against me.”
Dini groaned on my arm. But she didn’t speak.
Good, maybe she’ll reconsider living on me, I thought. I’d get back to the castle and find more of these spells, downing one after the other until she fled my skin.
She just moaned again, and the lump on my arm shifted uncomfortably, like some moving tunneling growth. I shoved down my sleeve so I wouldn’t have to look at it.
Quinn grabbed my hand and pulled me to the ground. Then he started to write in the dirt with his finger:I'll run ahead. I'll take out any guards.
Before I could protest, Quinn took off. It was like he disappeared before my very eyes.
We waited with bated breath. But when I saw the two guards in front of the door fall without a sound, the anxiety in my chest eased a bit.
Quinn can do this, I told myself.
Still, I searched out Connor's hand and clutched it while we waited. My toes flexed in anticipation, ready to run.
The guards in the road were next. They went from gossiping and laughing to falling face first into the dirt. And all I could see near them was a blur. Quinn was so fast that he looked like nothing more than a strong breeze, a trick of the eyes, a quick flash of color.
It seemed like only a minute had passed when Quinn was back in front of us, breathing hard and sweating. His sword was out, and it was bloodied. His black hair was plastered to his forehead. He gestured for us to move forward. He jogged in the front, going just fast enough that I could still see him. He circled and tried to protect our flanks as the rest of us moved forward toward the tavern.
I led us to a side door, a worker's entrance. We piled into a back stairwell. It was narrow, so narrow that we needed to walk single file. My knights would not let me walk in front.
“I know where I’m going!” I seethed in a whisper.
“No. First, you’re our queen. Second, I can use the amulet if need be.” Blue argued.
“Whoa! What if you drop that thing and it falls down the stairs to hit the rest of us? You should be in back,” Declan whisper-yelled.
“Shut it! Everyone!” Connor said. “Get the hell up the stairs before we’re trapped here.”
We headed up, single file, Blue leading us. He held the tin in front of him, one hand on the lid, in case he needed to remove it and toss the thing at someone. I pictured him fumbling with it and dropping it on his shoe.
Hey!Blue protested.I got it off the sarding hook just fine.
Sorry,I mentally apologized.It was just a random thought.But I agreed with Declan on one thing—we needed to figure out a better way to wield it, that was certain.
When we got to a small platform that opened onto the guest chambers on the second floor, where I suspected Isla and her generals would be staying when they weren’t planning in the poker room, I whispered to Blue. "See if you can listen to Isla’s thoughts. When you think you found her mind, share her thoughts with us through the beads.”
He nodded and closed his eyes in concentration. His head moved as he broke through the thoughts of the people inside the room down the hall. After a minute, he pushed his thoughts toward all of us.She sounds happy. They're talking about the attack upon the capital. Details of stuff. Something to do with Raj.
Which capital? Ours? Sedara’s?A winter chill settled in my chest and my face went ashen. Ryan had headed for our capital. I closed my eyes as a cold sweat came over me.Send us her thoughts directly.
