Page 32 of Peril

He could try, and he’d probably find the papers Edmund had stashed on his person to carry back to Escarland.

But Edmund was betting that Lord Crest would gamble in order to gain the support of Escarland for his faction in the Mongavarian government.

After a moment, Lord Crest nodded. “Very well, Prince Edmund. You have a deal.”

Good. Lord Crest and the Consular Prime staging a little coup here in Mongavaria would hopefully turn Mongavaria’s attention away from the alliance to deal with internal affairs. It would buy a few years of peace.

Now Edmund just had to figure a way out of this castle and back to Escarland without being caught or dying of poison first.

He pushed to his feet and held out his hand. “Thank you for your time, Lord Crest. I look forward to better relations between our kingdoms in the future.”

Lord Crest also stood, and he gave Edmund a firm handshake. “So I do.” He hesitated, then added, “A cargo train leaves from the station outside of Landri in a few hours.”

That was more help than Edmund had expected to receive. Lord Crest wouldn’t actively aid Edmund and Jalissa to leave the castle. That would be skirting too close to treason and interfere with his ambitions.

But sometimes information could be just as valuable as actual help.

With a final nod in Lord Crest’s direction, Edmund headed for the door. Sarya peeked outside, then opened the door wider and motioned for Edmund and Jalissa to follow.

Together, the three of them tiptoed down the quiet corridors, ducking into rooms or alcoves whenever a servant or guard hustled past.

On the first floor, they crossed the ballroom, then exited the large doors into the private gardens. This side of the castle overlooked the bluff and the ocean beyond, so only a short railing separated them from the bluff rather than high walls that would have blocked the view of the sea. The steep cliffs and the harbor defenses out in the bay were enough to protect the king’s palace without the need for strong walls.

All the better for Edmund, Jalissa, and Sarya. The cliffs would have been difficult to climb for anyone but someone very skilled or in possession of a very long rope.

Unless one had elven magic on their side.

Edmund gestured to the cliff. “Sarya, are there enough roots in the cliff that you and Jalissa can get us to the bottom?”

Sarya pressed her hand to the ground, and a hint of green spread from her fingers before disappearing into the soil. After a moment, she frowned and shook her head. “After a few yards down, the cliffs are solid rock. But I think that ivy over there is sturdy enough that we can lower ourselves down the cliffs with that.” She pointed at a flowering vine that twined around a nearby arbor and onto part of the balustrade along the cliff edge.

“That will work.” Edmund glanced around, checking that the garden was still deserted.

Sarya led the way over to that portion of railing. She wrapped a hand around a section of the vine. It glowed with her green magic as it twined up her arm, then wrapped around her torso to hold her securely. She climbed over the railing, then eased over the edge of the cliff.

Next to Edmund, Jalissa gripped the vine with her free hand, adding her magic as well. She glanced down at their clasped hands, as if reluctant to let him go.

Edmund released her hand to grip the vine with both hands. “The poison hasn’t had time to fully get into my system yet. I’ll be fine for the time it will take to climb down the cliff.”

He had vomited up as much of the poisoned brandy as he could back in the water closet before he’d washed up. His body had likely still absorbed some of the poison before he’d purged as much as he could, but hopefully his efforts would buy him a little more time.

Jalissa nodded, then gestured to the cliff. “You go first, and I will climb down after you. That way, Sarya and I can more easily keep the vines twined around you.”

It went against his instincts to go first while leaving Jalissa to take up the rear, but she had a point. He didn’t have magic, so he would be a burden that Jalissa and Sarya would have to hold suspended between them.

Being a burden was something he was going to have to accept. Once the poison took hold of him, he was going to be a burden on Jalissa as she kept him alive and both of them would be a burden to Sarya.

Edmund climbed over the balustrade, waited until the vine had wrapped around his waist, then leaned backwards over the edge of the cliff. The vine tightened but held him securely as he took another step lower.

Once he was a few feet down, Jalissa climbed over the railing and started easing down the cliff, and Edmund breathed a little easier once all three of them were far enough down that a guard patrol was unlikely to see them unless they peeked over the cliff.

The vines slowly grew, lowering them foot-by-foot down the cliff. Thewhumpof the ocean waves breaking on the cliff below grew louder as they neared, until spray misted over Edmund’s face.

Sarya reached the bottom, her feet sinking into the wet sand at the base of the cliff. Another wave crashed in, breaking over the boulders scattered over the narrow strip of shoreline and washing all the way to the cliff, soaking Sarya to her knees.

After a few more seconds, Edmund dropped to the sand beside her. He reached up and steadied Jalissa as she descended the final feet just as a wave crashed into them, soaking through his boots and his trousers with a wet, cold slap.

Jalissa staggered against him with the force of the wave, her face pale in the moonlight. “That is cold.”

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