“It won’t be long before the soldiers scatter them,” Cat said. He pointed towards the castle, glowing in the distance. “Do you hear that?”
Emily nodded. She could hear the sound of marching men, weapons clashing against their armor. It was the sort of thing that would drive Sergeant Miles into a fit of homicidal rage–damaging one’s own weapons was the ultimate sin–but she had to admit the sound was intimidating. The weaker hearts amongst the crowd would probably already be retreating into the side streets and alleyways–and, if the soldiers were smart, they’d let them go. There was no point in risking a pitched battle in a confined space if it could be avoided.
“This way,” Cat said. “Hurry.”
Emily looked down the row of houses, feeling another surge of déjà vu. The rooftops were wider in some places, but thinner in others…with greater gaps between one building and the next. As she followed Cat, she tried not to think about the prospect of falling five stories to her death even though the sergeant had drilled a handful of levitation and hard-landing spells into her head. A single enemy sorcerer–or even a student magician–could give her a very hard landing indeed if she tried to fly.
She caught sight of the thronging crowd as she jumped over an alleyway and cursed under her breath, hoping that most of the locals would have the sense to get out of the way before it was too late. Anyone caught in the open would be sure of a beating, if nothing else. Randor might round up a handful of rioters, just to make an example of them. Justice in Zangaria was swift, punitive and not given to admitting that it might have hung the wrong man. An innocent man might go to his grave with his name unfairly blackened.
“We’ll have to levitate across the gap,” Cat called back. “There’s no way we can jump it.”
Emily swallowed, hard. If they were seen flying through the air…Cat was right, there was no choice, but if they were seen it would reveal the fact that there were magicians amongst the rebels. It wouldn’t necessarily lead to Randor pointing the finger at Jade–or her–yet she couldn’t take that for granted. Not that it mattered. There were too many soldiers attacking the crowds below, driving them back with the flat of their swords, for them to open a rooftop hatch or clamber down the outside ladders. They’d be caught in a flash.
She looked down and instantly regretted it. The soldiers were battering their way through the crowds, knocking men and women to the ground and trampling over them. They weren’t using the edges of their blades, thank goodness, but the death toll would still be terrifyingly high. The thought made her sick. A handful of boys and young men rained stones and makeshift weapons down on the soldiers–she saw a handful fall under the barrage–yet it wasn’t enough to stop them. The crowd simply couldn’t fight the soldiers in the open.
Someone shouted behind her. She turned to see a handful of soldiers scrambling onto the roof. They seemed to be coming from the brothel, but…she shook her head. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting away without revealing too much to the king’s investigators. And they had to jump…
“Hang on,” Cat said.
He clutched Tam to him, then threw himself into the air and over the street. Emily cast her own spell, trying to fly as quickly as possible. They’d have bare seconds to react–if that–if another magician saw them. She glanced down, suddenly very glad she wasn’t wearing a skirt, as she flew through the air. No one seemed to be looking up. They were too busy clearing the streets. The shouts from behind her grew louder as she landed on the far side and fled after Cat. He glanced back, once, then kept moving.
The buildings got older and darker as they hurried towards the docks. Emily saw hidden walkways and concealed shacks, some built on top of buildings that dated all the way back to the kingdom’s foundation. Street urchins and unemployed men glanced at them blearily as they ran past, too worn down by life to give much of a damn about the distant riot or the advancing soldiers. Emily shuddered, reminding herself–again–that there was a darker side to everything. The unemployed men were the ones who had been unable to get jobs to support themselves, yet couldn’t go back to serfdom. No lord would take in a serf who’d run away.
She glanced back as they reached the end of the row, trying to see if the soldiers were still after them. A small army–or a handful of sorcerers–might be able to track them, but she doubted the soldiers had time. Rioters tended to be nasty when pressed, even if they didn’t have any real weapons. It was quite possible that the soldiers had been called back to deal with the riot before it got out of hand.
Or that they didn’t know who to expect, she thought. Randor would have pulled out all the stops to catch Jade. Or her, perhaps. If they only knew about Tam…
She put the thought aside for later contemplation as Cat found a ladder and peered down into the darkened alleyway. Alexis reminded her, at little, of photographs she’d seen of Manhattan, where most buildings had staircases on the outer walls to allow people to escape in case of fire. There were few staircases, but there were quite a lot of ladders. It made a certain kind of sense. She doubted King Randor or any of his predecessors had pushed for it–health and safety was hardly a governmental concern–but flames spread quickly through the crammed tenement blocks. The residents would want to be sure they could get out quickly if fire started to spread.
“I’ll go as far down as I can,” Cat said, shortly. “Tam, follow me in five minutes; Emily, bring up the rear.”
Emily nodded, looking around as Cat started down into the darkness. It was unlikely the ladders reached all the way to the ground, which meant there would either be a ladder they could lower on the first floor or a gap they’d have to drop down to land on the pavement. The ladder didn’t look particularly safe to her–she kicked herself for taking a close look at the mouldy wood and rusty metal–but it seemed to have endured.
The air felt hot and silent as she slowly scrambled down the ladder, glancing down every so often. Whoever had installed the emergency escape ladders had been too cheap to shell out for a ladder for the final story, unsurprisingly. She lowered herself down as far as she could, then dropped the rest of the way. The landing hurt worse than she’d expected, but at least they were down. There didn’t even seem to be anyone sleeping rough in the alley.
Cat smiled at her in the semi-gloom, his teeth flashing. Emily smiled back, feeling a sudden thrill that surprised her. They’d nearly been caught, but they’d escaped…she wished, suddenly, that they were alone. If Tam hadn’t been there…
She gritted her teeth as she heard the sound of running footsteps from the south. They had been seen or tracked, then. She tested her wards quickly, trying to determine if anyone was spying on them, but the wards seemed intact. Someone with a great deal of skill might be able to track her through her wards–they’d be a little too good–yet she found it hard to imagine such a person working for Randor. There was plenty of call for their services–and rewards Randor couldn’t bestow–available elsewhere.
“Tam, you sneak around and get back home,” Cat ordered. “If you make it back, we’ll set up a meeting through Master Abrams. If not…good luck.”
Tam smiled, rather weakly. “Thank you, both of you.”
He turned and hurried down the alleyway. Cat winked at Emily, then led her up the alleyway, right towards the sound of footsteps. The streets outside were almost completely empty, the locals having gone to join the riot or decided that it was better to run inside and bolt the door. Emily followed Cat across the road and into another alleyway, just as the soldiers came into view. They looked pissed.