Page 46 of Cage of Destiny
Odar grabbed a long, thickwooden board from the ground among a pile of stones and brokenfurniture. She pushed the window all the way open, and he slid theboard out and across the alleyway. A man reached out from thewindow directly across from them, grabbing the board and securingit on the ledge. He waved them forward.
A crash came from thestairs. “Go,” Odar said, pushing her up.
As she climbed onto theboard, it vibrated from her weight.
“Hurry.”
Without overthinking it,she crawled out, not looking down as she made her way to the otherwindow and to the men who awaited her. Strong hands clutched ontoher arms, yanking her inside. There were three men she didn’trecognize. A moment later, Odar jumped down beside her.
The board was immediatelywithdrawn. “Up there,” someone from the alleywayshouted.
“Blasted,” the man next toher said. He pulled out a blow dart from under his tunic and stuckhis head out of the window. Placing the blow dart to his lips, heblew. A moment later, he smiled and slammed the windowclosed.
“Let’s go,” one of the mensaid.
“How do we know we cantrust you?” Allyssa asked, panic setting in. Everything washappening too fast.
The man sneered. “Eithercome with us or die.”
The look Odar shot her madeit perfectly clear that he didn’t like any of this. But they neededto stick with the plan. They left the room and followed the men tothe first floor where one of them opened a door to reveal a narrowstairwell.
“Are we going underground?”Allyssa asked. Could there be prison cells down there?
“This leads to a tunnelthat can get us out of this mess,” he replied. “Get moving. Thereisn’t much time.”
She followed close behindOdar. As they descended, the smell turned dank. At the bottom was anarrow hallway. The man leading the way had to hunch forward so hishead didn’t hit the ceiling. After fifty yards, they came toanother stairwell. At the top, they entered a barn where severalmen mounted on horses awaited them.
“Get on,” the man who hadescorted them said, pointing at the horses withoutriders.
Hurit wasn’t among them.“This isn’t right,” she whispered to Odar.
“Run.”
She turned and boltedtoward the door. Grabbing the handle, she yanked it, but itwouldn’t budge.Blimey. Odar was at her side, banging on the lockeddoor.
“Get them,” someonesaid.
Two men dismounted and cametoward them. Allyssa unsheathed a knife, prepared to defendherself.
Hurit ran into the barnfrom the underground tunnel. “Fighting is spilling to the nearbystreets. We have to leave now.”
“We don’t have time forthis,” another man said, pointing at Allyssa and Odar. “Shootthem.”
Something pricked her arm.When she looked down, she saw a black feather sticking out of herforearm. Her vision swam, and everything went black.
Chapter Thirteen
Allyssa woke up and foundherself sitting atop a horse with a man behind her, his armssecuring her in place. Odar was already awake, similarly situatedon a horse next to her. They were traveling through the forest, andshe had no idea how much time had passed since she was darted inthe barn. A dozen mounted men surrounded her and Odar.
“Where are you taking us?”Allyssa demanded.
No one answered.
“If it’s money you seek,”she said, “I can pay you. My parents are the empress and emperor ofEmperion. If you take me home, they will bestow great wealth uponyou.”
“Shut up,” Odar snapped.“They don’t need to know who you are.”
One of the men chuckled.“Won’t matter anyway,” he said. “We’re meeting one of the queen’sguards who knows what Prince Odar and Princess Allyssa look like.If you’re them, which I suspect you are, it won’t matter what yousay or do because we’ll have all the confirmation weneed.”
