The man sprang into the hallway where the guards had just emerged. “There!” he shouted. “She ran that way, past the door to the wine cellar! I think she’s headed outside.”
The guards advanced without pausing. The word of their comrade had been enough. I waited a few moments and prayed they wouldn’t backtrack for me. When I felt assured I was safe and made ready to peel off the wall, the bearded guard flashed in front of me, the barrel of a flintlock pistol aimed at my chest.
“I’m sorry, Sonya,” the man said, “but I need you.”
I blinked at him, this time with recognition. His new beard had disguised him. It covered his jaw and lips with matted blond hair. “Yuri?” I asked in amazement.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
I STARED AT THE SOLDIER. HE WAS BACK, ALIVE. PIA’S YURI. A member of Anton’s league, not captured. Still loyal. Or maybe not. I glanced at the pistol. “How is it you are here?” I asked. “The emperor has a bounty on your head.”
“I still have friends at the palace.” He looked around, his thumb jittery on the pistol hammer. Apparently not enough friends to make him feel safe. “We must hurry. You’re a favorite of the emperor’s. I need you to arrange for me a private audience with him.”
A flare of panic seized me at the thought of returning to Valko, but it dwindled as I took in Yuri’s red-rimmed eyes, his aura crazed and violent and broken. “You know about Pia,” I said in realization, my shoulders falling as his nostrils flared with emotion and a vein engorged on his brow. “Oh, Yuri, I’m so sorry.”
His voice wavered. “Please tell me you pleaded for her life.”
“I did. I was too late.”
“Then this can also be your vengeance. If you truly loved Pia, you will help me.” He swallowed with determination and planted the pistol barrel on my breastbone.
I sucked in a sharp breath from the cool bite of metal. “It appears I don’t have a choice.”
“See it how you will.” He shrugged. “Let’s go.”
“This isn’t necessary,” I said, desperate for some means to persuade him. I was losing time to free Anton. “Do you know the peasants are marching?”
“The emperor will die at my hands, and no one else’s.”
My racing heartbeat slowed as I contemplated Yuri and considered a new strategy. “If I promise to help you, I’ll need a favor first.”
“What?” he growled.
“You said you have friends here. Guards. Are any loyal to you in the dungeons?”
His jaw ticked. “Some. Why?”
“Tosya isn’t the only one imprisoned. Anton is in the dungeons, as well. Valko plans to have them both executed in the morning.”
Yuri’s brows pinched together, then he shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. When Valko dies and the people storm the palace, they will be freed, anyway.”
“I need him.” I gripped Yuri’s arm, then flinched as the pistol bit harder into my skin. “I can’t chance anything going awry until he is released.” When Yuri didn’t budge, I added, “This revolution needs him. They need a leader. After all Anton has done, doesn’t he deserve to stand alongside his people?”
“I can’t.” Yuri dropped his gaze. “We have to find Valko now.”
“Please . . .” How could I reach him? “He is to me what Pia was to you. Please . . . help me.”
Yuri’s pistol hand shook harder. I felt our shared love for Pia intensify his struggle.
Tentatively, I touched his arm. He made a muffled noise of pain. “She would want you to help me,” I said, and I believed it wholeheartedly.
He cursed and lowered the gun, raking his hands through his hair. “Very well, Sonya. But quickly.”
The entrance to the dungeons wasn’t far away. As Yuri opened the door, he exposed a winding stone staircase. The cloying stench of refuse and rotting flesh assaulted me. I held my sleeve over my nose and rushed down as quietly as possible.
Yuri grabbed my arm when we reached the dungeons’ floor. “Stay here until I return,” he whispered before he strode off through a stone archway where the light of the sconced torches couldn’t reach him.
I tucked away into a corner. The walls dripped with condensation. A rat skittered across the stones. How much longer did we have before the peasants stormed the palace, before the chaos of raging battle came?
When I thought I might scream from impatience, Yuri finally returned. “The gods are with us.” He grinned. “The jail master is sleeping, and one of the guards stationed at Anton’s cell is my friend. He’s willing to distract his partner, pinch the keys, and give you five minutes to do your business.”
I exhaled with amazement. Perhaps the gods were real and lending their assistance. “That’s wonderful.”
Yuri’s grin slipped. “He is my friend, but he still wants some kind of payment for taking such a risk.” His gaze dropped to my sapphire necklace.
“Yes, of course.” I unclasped and handed it over without second thought.
He tucked it into his pocket. “Ready, then?”