“That was fun.” Cat laughed. “Was I a convincing executioner?”
“Very convincing,” Emily said, as they ran past a row of shops. Shopkeepers were slamming shutters into place and breaking out weapons, such as they were. Emily doubted they’d be able to defend themselves, if the soldiers went on the rampage. The rules of war in the Nameless World didn’t grant any protection to rebels and those who supported them. “I was very scared.”
“You were very brave,” Cat said. He glanced behind them as another explosion shook the city. “I was afraid they’d have to drag you up to the block.”
Emily shrugged. “What’s happening?”
“The Levellers had enough gunpowder to make a lot of bangs,” Cat told her. They turned a corner, crossing what looked like an abandoned barricade. “We started hiding it around the city as soon as we heard of your date with the headsman.”
“Oh,” Emily said. “And now the city is under attack.”
Cat nodded, soberly. “We may have weakened the defenses quite badly,” he said. “The city may fall to the nobles.”
The Noblest, Emily thought. She had a feeling that name would prove painfully ironic. And what will happen to Randor if he retreats into his castle and closes the door?
She shuddered, looking up at the looming bulk as they hurried down the street towards the docks. The castle would not be easy to take. Randor could happily bombard the enemy positions with cannonballs while waiting for the besiegers to run out of food and drink. Or for disease to wreck their forces…somehow, she doubted the Noblest would take any interest in the New Learning. And everyone living in the city would be at risk if the barons tried to lay siege to the castle.
“Thank you,” she said. She took his hand, just for a moment, and squeezed it. “I would have died on the block…”
“You would have died well,” Cat said. “And instead, everyone saw the king get a black eye.”
Emily swallowed. Randor had stared Alassa down and won…for a given value of won. His daughter hadn’t been able to pull the trigger, although there was no guarantee that she could have killed her father. Randor wasn’t stupid. He’d have no trouble working out why most wards wouldn’t stop bullets and devising a counter. A solid ward would drain him badly–or whoever cast the spell–but it would save his life. Who knew what would have happened if Alassa had pulled that trigger?
Her legs were aching as they ran into the upper docklands, but she kept moving anyway. The streets were coming to life, young men building barricades while their elders handed out weapons and shooed women and children off the streets. Emily sucked in her breath sharply as she saw a handful of preteen boys helping the older men. They would be torn apart by the soldiers, if the fighting spread into the docklands, but…they’d die anyway, if the troops went on a rampage. Randor might not be able to stop them, even if he wanted to. Troops that had to fight their way into cities and towns that really should have surrendered saw their opponents as fair game for looting, raping and mindless killing.
And Randor might prefer to hand out an object lesson, she thought, feeling ice running down her spine. A brutal series of attacks now might cow resistance elsewhere.
“Tam got a lot of his organization done in record time,” Cat said. His voice was pleased, yet there was an edge in it that worried her. “But I don’t know how long they’ll last if they’re attacked.”
Emily glanced behind her. There was no sign of Matilda–or Randor’s soldiers–but she could hear the sounds of fighting from the south. Sir Roger was out there somewhere, battling to keep the Noblest out of Alexis…she wondered if he’d survive the next few hours. She didn’t want him to die, but…she wasn’t sure she wanted him to live either, not while he was on the other side. He knew too much about modern weapons for him to be anything other than an asset to his king.
Maybe Randor won’t know that, she thought, although she knew it was almost certainly whistling in the dark. Sir Roger is too competent to be ignored and too loyal to be casually discarded.
She slowed to a walk as they stepped into yet another alleyway. “I told Jade we’d meet him at the inn.”
“I know a better place to go,” Cat said. He started fumbling through his pockets as the sound of fighting grew louder. “We still have to get out of the city.”
Emily frowned. She didn’t have the power to teleport and she didn’t think Jade or Cat had it either. She wasn’t even sure if Alassa knew how to teleport. “Will Jade know where to find us?”
Cat dug a parchment out of his pocket. “Yeah,” he said. He scribbled out a quick note. “I’ll tell him myself.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
EMILY COULDN’T HELP FEELING A FLASH of déjà vu as they stopped outside a warehouse that was practically identical to the last one. She would have thought it was the last one, at least from the outside, if it hadn’t been far closer to the docks and clearly vacated in a hurry. The stench of fish was overpowering, but she almost welcomed it. King Randor’s dungeons had smelt worse.
She glanced at Cat as they stepped through the door, the wards brushing over them. “How…how did you get here?”
“We were a bit drained when we left the Tower,” Jade said. He was working at a table, hastily putting together a set of crystals. Alassa sat next to him, her arm resting on his shoulder. “We underestimated just how much magic we’d have left, after we escaped, so…we ended up leaving the warehouse to burn and fleeing here.”
“And we couldn’t leave you in my father’s hands,” Alassa said, softly. She looked up, her face grim. “I knew what he’d do to you.”
Emily nodded, feeling a wave of love and gratitude for her friends. They hadn’t had to rescue her–they might have risked everything trying to rescue her–but they’d saved her life. She leaned into Cat for a moment, enjoying the chance to just relax. Friends…were wonderful, even if they did make life more complicated. She just wished she’d had a real friend before she’d fallen into the Nameless World. Perhaps her life would have been better.
She sucked in her breath as she realized who was missing. “Where’s Imaiqah?”
Jade jerked a finger towards the nearest door. “We did what we could for her, but she really needs a proper Healer,” he said. “She didn’t have a good time in captivity.”
Emily looked at him for a long moment, then sighed. “How are we getting out of here?”
“Portal,” Jade said. He held up one of the crystals. “There’s no other way out of the city before it falls.”
“We have one battery left,” Cat added. “The portal won’t stay open for long, but we won’t need it for more than a few minutes.”
Emily nodded, feeling suddenly dizzy. It had been a very long day.
“I’ll speak to Imaiqah,” she said. Another wave of dizziness threatened to overcome her. “Can one of you find me something to eat?”
“I’ll see to it,” Cat said. “I stuck some hardtack in the backroom.”
Emily met Alassa’s eyes, just for a second. Her friend wanted to talk about something…and Emily could guess what. But…Emily didn’t want to have that conversation, not now. They were too far from safety to risk an argument. She didn’t have any idea how many people knew about the warehouse, let alone that it had been turned into a rebel base, but she suspected it wouldn’t be long before the soldiers started looking for them. Or the Noblest, if the city fell. They were more likely to burn the docks to the ground than make the slightest concession to the Levellers.