Page 97 of Queen of the Night
“Five of them,” Rhosse adds.
I clench my jaw, remembering the last shard beast I fought and very nearly lost to—I have a scar to prove it. With the weakness of lucent magic, five would decimate my entire army.
“Let’s find out what else they’ve got,” I mutter.
“You have a death wish?” Darvy scoffs.
“A kingdom to protect and a Tulip to rescue,” I growl, then begin leading the way around the edge of the encampment to get a closer look at the gloam beasts. It takes longer than I like, crouching painfully behind large dead bushes and scraggly trees that hardly help hide us from groups of soldiers that pass every so often. The awful sound of the shard beasts growing louder tells me we’re traveling in the right direction. One particular roar is so loud that Rhosse curses.
Between the scraping glass and my ears ringing, Darvy whispers to Rhosse, “What do you bet I could tame one of those?” Darvy gestures with his chin toward the shard beasts.
Rhosse considers the beasts with narrowed eyes. “I’ll bet a month’s pay you die within three minutes of trying.”
Darvy appears truly offended, but I speak before he can argue because his foolish bet has given me an idea.
“I have a plan,” I say, still counting gloam beasts trapped within gated, gloam-wreathed pens below us.
“Every time you say that I end up almost dying,” Darvy whispers.
“We simply need to set them all loose. Cause a big enough distraction that I can find a way through the camp.” And hopefully find Vera unharmed. I point far past the many tents and a smattering of smaller buildings to a large house, designed to be more imposing and indicative of status. “I assume she’s there.”
The tightness in my chest at the thought of what they could have done to her solidifies my decision.We need to move quickly. Rhosse frowns as he stares across the wide expanse of tents and penned beasts that block the way.
Darvy appears just as doubtful. “How do you know she’s there? What if she’s in one of the thousands of tents?”
“You like to gamble,” I remind Darvy. “Think of it like that.”
“Except it’s our lives instead of money,” Rhosse mutters darkly.
Darvy ignores Rhosse, his eyes brightening with interest. “I’ll bet you six months’ pay and my second-best enchanted sword I can set half of them loose.”
Rhosse shakes his head and challenges the glint in Darvy’s eyes. “Your confidence is terrifying. What happens if we’re unsuccessful, which is likely?”
Darvy offers a bitter smile. “Honorable death. Living on the other side of magic, preferably with the beautiful goddess, Lucentia.”
Rhosse scowls.
Darvy turns toward me, serious now. “As your healer, I strongly advise you to stay here. Rhosse or I can get Vera.”
The suggestion irritates me. “I’ll not hide in the bushes,” I growl. “Set the beasts loose and run. We’re not here to battle an army with only the three of us. I just need enough chaos to reach that house undetected. I’ll circle around in the forest that way.” I point to our right. “We’ll leave from there as well—meet there as soon as you release the beasts.”
Rhosse and Darvy both nod, taking the official order as well as any top commanders would.
I unsheathe my sword. “Let’s go.”
Chapter 54
Vera
As the middle of night approaches, Rupi and I are jolted from half-sleep by a thud against the wall of our prison that leaves the gloamy walls shaking. She tumbles from my shoulder to the furs on the bed, and quickly hops up, as flustered and wide-eyed as me. I scramble away from the wall where I fell asleep upright and realize that, even through the walls, I can clearly hear sounds of chaos outside. Isthisthe signal?
I scoop Rupi up and place her on my shoulder before tentatively walking to the door and pressing my ear to the splintered wood. I don’t hear the voices of guards outside, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there. I stew for a moment. I already know I can zap gloam; I did it to Jethonan’s experiment, and I’ve also used lucent orbs to ward off gloam monsters. Can I do something with this as well?
I lift a finger and pull lucent, never more grateful for its cool and familiar feel, and touch my finger against the gloam surrounding the door. To my delight, it begins to disperse. I pulla little more power and push it through my finger. I’d sit and wonder at the sight before me, still as in awe now as I was when I first realized I could do this, but suddenly the lock clicks, and I quickly backstep to avoid being hit with the door as it swings open forcefully. My mind is already spinning some sort of excuse together as I expect the large form of a guard to be standing there, questioning me about the missing gloam. Instead it reveals Tatania, appearing agitated. Dirt stains her gown and strands of hair blow about her face as if she just ran here… And is that a tear in her sleeve?
I stand there blinking at her, feeling caught even though I’m not the one who just unlocked the door. She slips into the room as I let relief calm my anxiety that, somehow, I’d botched my escape before I’d even begun.
“Where have you been?” I whisper at her, almost angry. I know it’s not her fault that Renton behaves the way he does, but now that I’ve decided to escape, I no longer want to wait around for another moment such as the one that happened at lunch.
