In the early afternoon there was a soft knock at her door, and when she opened it Ella found a paper packet on the threshold. Opening the packet Ella found willow bark, sable root, and blue pine powder. Even as she looked down at the sedatives—no doubt from Rogan—pain trembled its way through Ella’s body, but she couldn’t afford to have her reflexes slowed, not now.
It was a sweet gesture, but Ella put the medicinal herbs to the side. Instead, she fought the pain, her forehead creased in concentration as she spent the day renewing her wand and working on the items she would need, lore she’d never tried before.
When she was done, Ella examined her work.
She held her two silver slippers in her hands, items that would help her when night came. Ella ran her eyes over the symbols she’d drawn throughout the day, checking the matrices, the activation rune, the whorls and bridges. She turned the slippers over to check the soles, muttering to herself as she rehearsed her plan in her mind.
She’d never tried anything like this before, but she’d never been this desperate.
Ella put the slippers on her feet and took a shaky breath as she looked at the vial of essence Lady Alise had procured for her, essence that smelled the way it should. Her set of scrills sat in a row beside the vial, and next to the scrills were her protective gloves. She could always do more, but Ella couldn’t wait. Every passing moment sent more pain wracking her body and revealed more of the Sentinel to the world.
She didn’t plan to throw her life away, and she would do her utmost to escape unscathed, but at least her illness gave her the courage and determination to see the task through.
Looking out the small window, Ella saw that it was night.
She left the palace before her courage deserted her.
The staccato thumps of the cannon resounded like rumbles of thunder, rolling into the city from the harbor. Wearing her hooded enchantress’s dress and silver slippers, Ella quietly exited the Imperial Palace, careful to stay out of the way of the officials dashing to and fro. She passed through the great hall and out of the main entrance, the guards nodding and making way for her as she exited through the barred iron gates.
Ella walked through Imperial Square as clouds flitted overhead, dark storm clouds that echoed the mood in the city.
As she headed down to the harbor, it began to rain.
Ella lifted the hood over her head and heard the patter of droplets on the streets, soon sounding in splashes as the rain formed puddles. Ella thanked the heavens, feeling determination in every fiber of her being. The rain was a blessing, for together with the darkness it would help hide her from her enemies.
Reaching the docks, Ella saw soldiers and civilians alike clustered around the wharves, taverns, and shipyards. To a man they stared out at the harbor, huddled under the eaves of the buildings as they flinched with every boom of the cannon. Flashes of light flickered again and again. A gush of bright energy lit up the far side of the harbor, followed by a shattering crash. In the sudden glow, Ella saw the statue revealed along with the wreckage of stone blocks falling outward.
She hoped Sentar would use all of his power to destroy the wall. She hoped he would be distracted enough for her plan to work.
Ella walked as far along a pier as she could, until she stood at the water’s edge. The heavy rain bounced off her, splashing into the waters of the harbor with a steady tinkle. The plumes of flame at the mouths of the warships’ cannon regularly lit up her destination.
For what she planned, conditions were perfect.
Ella looked down at her feet. She called out an activation sequence. “Arias-lutanas!”
The silver slippers flared up, a fiery glow traveling from each symbol to the next faster than the eye could follow. The runes shone with blue and green, so bright it hurt Ella’s eyes to look at them, and even against the falling rain, the shine would be visible at Ella’s destination.
“Arias-lutanari!”
The next sequence dimmed the runes, sending the light into itself, until the slippers only glowed softly green-silver, like phosphorescence glistening on the waves of the open sea.
Ella took a deep breath, feeling her heart race. She prayed her plan would work. She’d performed some successful tests in the washbasin. The sea should be the same, shouldn’t it?
Ella sat down on the pier, her legs dangling, and raised her left foot out over the water. She placed her foot onto the glistening surface.
Her left leg wobbled as the cushion of air under the slipper slid on the water. Still sitting on the pier, and realizing there was only one way to find out if she’d been successful, Ella placed the other foot onto the water. She pushed down tentatively with her right leg, noting with some relief that the platform of air was evidently big enough to support her weight.
Ella pushed off the dock, and then she was standing on the water.