“And if he agrees, he’ll take us to Illvya?” Cameron asked.
“Not all the way. Not at this time of year, with the trade fleets out. Too risky,” Chloe said. “There’s a small island a few hundred feet off a cove on the southern peninsula. There’s a portal there.” Taking the pen, she scribbled a symbol on the paper. “This is the portal symbol for Lumia.”
Lumia. The capital of Illvya. Right into the heart of the enemy. Or somewhere they would be safe. It was a gamble. But they had no choice. Sophie peered at the paper, memorizing the portal symbol.
“The island portal will take you only to the public portal in the nearest coastal town—Orlee di Mer—and no, that portal doesn’t have the symbol to return you to the island. As I said, this is a one-way journey. But the Orlee portal should have a direct link to Lumia. Just look for the symbol. It’s a long way to the capital. But I imagine the two of you can manage the power needed.” She looked at them. “I’m not sure which Lumia portal it will take you to. They change every so often. But once you’re in the capital, all the public portals have a crest on them.” She sketched another symbol, which looked like a sun with a square imposed over it. “That’s how you’ll know you’re in Lumia itself.”
Cameron was studying the symbols. “Then what?” he asked.
“You speak decent Illvyan,” Chloe said. “How about you, milady?”
“Some,” Sophie said. “Not well enough to fool anyone, I’m afraid.”
“Well, as I said, no one’s going to hurt you simply for being Anglion there. They might try to rob you blind if you wind up in the wrong part of town, of course.” She paused, thinking. “So perhaps a direct journey is safest.” She drew a third symbol. “Once you’re in Lumia, look for this symbol in the portal.” This time the symbol she drew looked like a bird with open wings. Or maybe a flame. Sophie wasn’t sure. “That will take you close to where I suggest you should go.”
“Where exactly is that?” Cameron asked.
Chloe said something in Illvyan too fast to follow. Cameron’s eyebrows shot up.
“Do you truly think that’s a good idea?” he asked.
“I think it’s the only logical place, given your wife’s abilities.”
“And they’ll take us in?”
“I can’t imagine they’d turn her away. And you two are kind of a two-for-one proposition, unless I’m mistaken.”
“But if there’s trouble?”
“Then ask to see the man in charge. Tell him I sent you. Tell him I said . . .” She said something in rapid-fire Illvyan that once again Sophie couldn’t quite decipher.
“That will make a difference?” Cameron, who apparently had no such trouble, said.
Chloe smiled. A little too brightly. “Yes.”
“Why?”
“Well, for one thing, he’s my father.”
Cameron’s mouth fell open. “Your father is—”
“Yes. You’ll understand why I don’t share that information here. So. That’s where you need to go. Look for the portal symbol. There’s only one portal in that sector of the city. When you leave the portal, turn right. Then follow this map.”
She sketched quickly before handing the paper to Cameron. He folded it carefully and put it inside his jacket.
“I—” Sophie began.
“No, no more questions. You don’t have time. The smugglers won’t come if it’s too light when you light the lamp to summon them. They need darkness to get back out to sea. Do you need anything else?”
Other than answers to about a thousand more questions? But she wasn’t going to ask any of them. What mattered now was getting away.
“No,” Sophie said. “We have money. And weapons.” Cameron’s sword and pistol were in their customary places at his hip. And her gun and Honoria’s dagger were in the satchel she carried. She thought of the bundle of magic supplies she’d swept into her bag. Eloisa’s gift. One that might also prove useful. “And other things.”
“Food?”
“No.”
“I will see what I have in the kitchen. Wait here.” Chloe disappeared through the door and then reappeared before Sophie could think of anything to say to Cameron. Her mind was whirling. Illvya. They were going to Illvya.
“Here.” Chloe held out a small sack. “Bread. Cheese. Some apples. Enough if you have to wait until tomorrow. Though if you do that, I would suggest you go somewhere else via the portal and return when it’s dark. Make you harder to follow.”
“Thank you,” Sophie said. “You don’t know what this means.”
“Luckily for you,” Chloe said, “I’m one of the few people in Anglion who understands completely. Now, quickly. You must go.”
They stumbled down the rocky path that led to the beach, trying not to fall. The moon provided light. Too much light, even. Cameron tried to ignore the feeling that they had targets on their backs as he held Sophie’s hand and led the way over the uneven ground. He’d kept up a punishing pace since they’d emerged from the portal. Sophie hadn’t been sick when they’d arrived. Maybe her growing magic had cured her of that affliction. Whatever the reason, it meant that they had been able to get moving fast instead of having to wait for her to recover.
Still, no matter how quickly he wished to go, there was a limit to how fast they could travel at night over strange terrain. Chloe’s warning that the smugglers wouldn’t come to shore if it grew too light was replaying over and over in his head each time he slowed the pace to navigate an obstacle. But if one of them fell, that would slow them even more.