Pretending to be a sleepy servant, Allyssa moaned. “What do you want?”
“Castle-wide search,” the soldier answered, quickly examining the dark corners. “Report to the Throne Room immediately.” He slammed the door shut, presumably moving on to the next room.
Odar exited the closet. “Keep the cap on,” he whispered, helping her out of the bed. “And put this on.” He handed her a dingy cloak he must have stolen from the closet. When she moved to put it on, her ribs screamed in protest. He took the cloak from her, wrapping it around her body and securing it at the base of her neck.
“How are we going to kill Jana if they’re looking for us?” How were they going to get out of the castle? And if they didn’t kill the queen, would Kerdan still uphold his end of the bargain? Couldn’t anything go their way? She growled in frustration.
“We’re not going to kill Jana. At this point, our only hope of surviving is to make our way out of the castle without anyone knowing.”
“Even if it means war?” she asked.
“Let’s hope the prince kills King Drenton and becomes king. Then he can deal with Jana.” He shifted his weight from foot to foot, looking uncomfortable. “Before we exit this room, there’s something I want you to know.”
“Don’t.” She placed a hand on his chest, willing him to keep his declaration silent. “Now is not the time to talk.” If he told her that he loved her in case he died, she wouldn’t be strong enough to survive the next hour or so.
He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, all emotion evaporated, and his cold, steely face returned. “You’re right. There will be time to say what needs to be said afterward.” He handed her a knife, and she tucked it in the folds of the cloak.
“Let’s go.”
“Wait.” She pointed to the laundry chute in the corner of the room. “I guarantee that goes to the ground floor.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know. You’re too injured.”
The opening was small, and she’d probably get jostled around. However, it seemed safer than running around the castle. “Trust me.”
He nodded and opened the rickety wooden door to the chute. “Give me a ten-second head start. Hopefully, I won’t get stuck.” He shimmied his body in feet first and let go.
After counting to ten, she slid her legs in the chute, intending to put her feet on the walls so she could slowly climb down. Her injured leg shook so severely that she couldn’t gain her footing. There was no other way, so she released her hold and fell into darkness, her stomach feeling like it was in her throat. Thankfully, the chute was a gradual descent, and she only bumped her knees and shoulders a couple of times.
Since it was the middle of the night, she landed in a pile of stinky, unwashed clothes. No one lurked in the dark laundry room at this late hour. As she lay there, her entire body screamed in protest. Taking several shallow breaths, she tried to focus on standing instead of the stabbing pain in her ribs, the throbbing of her leg, or her numb arm.
“Allyssa?” Odar asked, kneeling next to her.
“I’m all right.” She just didn’t want to move. He pulled her to her feet. She wiped her tears away, not wanting him to know the extent of her pain for fear he’d do something foolish—like hand himself in so she had more time to escape.
“The dungeon isn’t far from here,” he whispered. “Let’s go.”
They exited the laundry room and silently walked along the deserted corridor until they came to an arched wooden door at the end. Odar pulled out the map Kerdan had given him and glanced at it. “The Great Hall is on the other side of this door. We need to reach the corridor on the other side. From there, we only have to go twenty paces or so until we reach the dungeon.”
“You don’t mean for us to walk clear across the Great Hall out in the open, do you?” They would be too exposed. There had to be another way—a safer way, even if it wasn’t as direct.
“We’re running out of time. This is the fastest route.”
Most of the soldiers would be in the Throne Room where the search was being organized. She was dressed in a servant’s cloak with a cap on her head. “Fine.”
“I’ll go first. Wait a minute and then follow. Walk with purpose, keep your head down, and move quickly.”
With her hand on the wall to steady herself, she nodded, hoping to make it across the large room without limping or drawing attention to herself.
He kissed her cheek. “With any luck, we’ll be out of this hellhole by dawn.”
As he left, she prayed this wasn’t the last time she saw him and that they weren’t about to make a colossal mistake.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Standing in the corridor by herself, Allyssa closed her eyes and tried to breathe steadily while listening for sounds of alarm—shouting or swords clinking together—anything to indicate Odar was in trouble. When she counted to one hundred and hadn’t heard anything disconcerting, she steeled her resolve and pushed open the door. Stepping into the Great Hall, she quickly scanned the area, searching for problems or threats. Two soldiers ran by, neither even looking her way. Her heart pounded. She just had to make it to the other side where Odar stood hidden in the shadows of the corridor waiting for her. Forcing herself not to run, she walked across the hall with purpose, her focus on the ground.
At the halfway point, she had an intense desire to run the rest of the way. Instead, she forced herself to remain calm. Three-fourths of the way across the hall, her back prickled with the sensation that someone was watching her. Sweat beaded on her forehead. Only twenty feet to go.
“Stop,” a familiar voice called out.
Allyssa spun around. Jana stood at the other end of the hall, all alone without any sort of protection. She could kill the queen to not only honor her bargain with Kerdan, but also to save her kingdom.
“You,” Jana snarled. “You killed my mother. Was my throne not enough? You’ve taken everything from me. You will pay.” Her face turned an angry shade of red, and her arms shook.
Allyssa fumbled in the folds of her cloak, searching for the knife. When she found it, her fingers curled around the hilt. One well-placed throw, and the queen would be dead. The evil woman who was responsible for all of Soma’s kills. Who deserved to be tortured for all she had done. Hatred boiled inside of her. This woman had ordered her caning and for her fingernails to be removed. She blinked, clearing the tears.
“Guards!” Jana screamed. Pounding came from the corridor as soldiers responded to her call for help.
Out of time, Allyssa zeroed in on Jana’s stomach, imagining where her navel would be. Then, aiming slightly above that, she drew a mental target. Deep breath. She pulled out the knife, aimed, and threw.