Page 48 of Heartless Enemy

“That she did,” I replied.

Eve blew out a sigh and narrowed her eyes at the water below. “Any ideas on how to cross it? Without being seen?”

I studied the area before us again.

While I did have a plan for how to get across, thewithout being seenpart was the problem. It would all depend on whether there were any guards inside the castle whose job it was to watch the area outside the defensive walls.

Drumming my fingers against the cold ground, I squinted at the castle itself.

Helspire was rather beautiful. Even I had to admit that. It was built of white stone, with three spires jutting up into the sky. The main part of the castle was larger than the other two towers that framed it, but they were all connected into one cohesive building. Hundreds of windows reflected the gray sky back at us and not a single smudge of dirt could be seen on the entire structure. Even though the castle was large, it still somehow managed to look elegant.

Straining my eyes, I tried to see into the windows to discern if there was anyone in there watching. But from this distance, it was impossible.

The white stone wall that circled the castle was deserted, so we wouldn’t have to worry about any guards patrolling up there at least. Inside the walls, however, was another matter. There was no way for us to know if there were guards roaming the grounds on the inside. But we would just have to improvise once we got there.

“I should be able to create a metal bridge across the moat,” I said at last.

Eve raised her eyebrows. “A bridge?”

“Well, more of a path, I suppose. I can’t make it too wide since I’ll only be able to attach it to the sides of the moat, which means that there will be nothing to hold it up from below. And if it’s too heavy…”

“Then it’ll collapse.”

“Yeah.”

Eve’s perceptive brown eyes scanned the castle in much the same way I had done. “What if there’s someone watching from inside the windows?”

“We still need to get down the hill. So if there is someone in there, they’ll see us before we even reach the moat. And if that’s the case, we’ll just have to fight anyway, so…”

“True. But still, if they only spot us once we’re halfway across the moat, we’ll be very exposed out there on the narrow parapet.”

An idea zapped through my brain like a lightning strike. “Mist. Can’t you create mist to hide us? It’s common enough around these parts that no one would think twice about some mist rising from the surface of the water.”

“That’s… actually not a bad idea.” She nodded. “Alright, let’s do it.”

“Actually?” I echoed, and shot her a pointed look.

She just grinned back at me and then got to her feet.

While standing up as well, I cast a glance over my shoulder to make sure that our three horses were still tied to the trees below. They were. Though my horse sent an annoyed look my way, as if displeased that we had left the saddles on. But we wouldn’t be gone long, and we needed them to be ready in case we had to leave in a hurry.

After brushing crushed leaves off my clothes, I turned to Eve. She drew in a deep breath and then nodded.

We started down the hill.

My muscles tensed as we hurried down the grassy slope. If someone was watching this particular spot from somewhere inside, the alarm would be called any second now. I flicked my gaze over the hundreds of windows. We were almost at the bottom now.

Next to me, Eve looked equally alert. Her hands hovered close together, ready to call up defensive magic at a moment’s notice.

Our boots reached the flat stretch of grass between the slope and the moat.

I kept my gaze darting back and forth.

Then we were at the edge of the water.

Brushing my hands together, I summoned a long sheet of metal that I sent flying towards the other side. It hit the rock wall with a faint thud. After securing it on both sides, I made the metal harden and then turned to Eve.

“Now,” I said.

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