Page 10 of Lies Within the Darkest Tower

“It’s not yours, either.” He was all I had left and I wasn’t going to let Edred send him to his death. And while I could tell him I’d foreseen his death, he’d just say he’d be more careful. Except I knew with all of my being that being careful wouldn’t be enough to change what I’d seen.

“You could have petitioned the king, not taken the binding spell,” he insisted. “I’m heir to Herstind March and not even sixteen. It’s obvious someone’s made a mistake.”

I set my hands on my hips and glared at him. “You don’t really believe it was just a mistake.”

He glared back at me then sighed and ran his hands through his drying hair, making the red locks stick out at odd angles. “No. It took me a moment to realize Edred was far too happy at the fae lord’s arrival. I knew walking into the great hall that my name was going to be on the summons.”

“Which means Edred has significant influence on the men administering the lottery, possibly even the head magistrate.” For all I knew, he had the king’s ear. He’d been one of His Majesty’s generals until he’d married our mother and took over the defense of the March.

That thought sent a new fear rushing through me.

“Or he’s got the king’s ear,” Sawyer said as if he’d read my thoughts. And if that was the case, there wasn’t anything either of us could do to stop Edred’s plan to get rid of Sawyer.

CHAPTER 7

Sage

Sawyer’s eyeswidened with realization. “I might not be able to petition the king to free you from the Black Tower without you being severely punished or be able to convince him that my name had been drawn in error. If he truly is Edred’s ally, then we’ll both end up in prison or dead.”

“Which means our only way out of this is for you to find a way to break the binding spell.” I grabbed his arm, urging him to start moving again. “And we can’t do that here. We need to get to your room, get supplies, and get into the tunnel before Edred sends someone to fetch me.”

“Except I can’t remove the binding spell,” he said, trying to keep up with me and catch his breath as we rounded the corner to the back of the keep.

Udara, still sitting on the kitchen step, watched us approach. She dropped a clean potato in the bucket beside her and picked up another one, but I couldn’t tell from her expression if she’d heard the news or not. It had only been a few minutes at most and both Dodd and me — the people Edred usually used to run messages — were busy. That, and even if it broke her heart that Sawyer’s name had been drawn and she knew it was wrong, she wouldn’t speak up against Edred. No one would.

“My lord,” she said, bowing her head at Sawyer while still scrubbing her potato.

“Udara,” Sawyer replied as we hurried inside, stepping out of the oppressive heat into a just as hot kitchen then beyond into a cooler, dimly lit, servants’ stairwell.

We hurried up the stairs to Sawyer’s room and rushed inside.

“I’m not a sorcerer,” he said, continuing the conversation Udara’s presence had interrupted. “I can’t break a fae spell.”

“But you’re smart and you have a knack for finding obscure pieces of information.” If my strange ability was a heightened intuition, Sawyer’s was accidentally discovering just that perfect, obscure detail to baffle his tutors. “If anyone can find a way to break or circumvent the binding spell, it’s you.”

I opened the large trunk at the foot of his bed, pulled out his rucksack, and shoved in two shirts, two pairs of pants, and Sawyer’s old, worn, brown jerkin.

“It’s more likely I’ll be able to figure out who Edred coerced into manipulating the lottery results.”

I jerked my attention to him. “Don’t you dare. If Edred’s influence goes all the way to His Majesty, the second you show your face in court, even if you wait until you’re of age and no longer need Edred’s help to approach the king, you’ll be imprisoned or killed.”

“So what?” he asked. “I just run away?”

“Right now. Yes. You run away until it no longer makes sense for the Black Guard to come after you once they discover the truth.” I rummaged to the bottom of the trunk, pulled out the short sword and dagger Sawyer had been given when he was a child then grabbed his old pair of boots and his cloak and shoved them into his arms. “Now come on.”

We rushed back into the hall and down the servants’ stairs, stopping just out of sight at the bottom. A quick glance aroundthe corner confirmed no one was in the kitchen and Udara still sat on the step scrubbing potatoes with her back turned to us.

With a jerk of my chin, I indicated it was all clear, just like I used to when we were children and were sneaking into the kitchen to steal Udara’s freshly baked tarts. But instead of taking tarts, Sawyer wrapped the handful of apples, the half-eaten loaf of bread, and the chunk of cheese sitting on the countertop in his cloak, and I grabbed a candle and holder and lit the wick in the kitchen’s fire. Then we hurried down the stairs into the cellar and went straight to the narrow wooden door at the back that was partially hidden behind a stack of barrels.

A heavy wooden beam secured the door against outside intruders, and I handed Sawyer the candleholder and set down the weapons and rucksack so I could lift the beam with both hands and try to silently set it on the floor.

Thankfully, I didn’t make much noise as I struggled with the beam, and I tucked it against the wall as out of sight as possible and gathered my things. We wouldn’t be able to secure the door after we left, but the moment Edred realized we were gone and hadn’t left by the main gate, he’d know we slipped out through the tunnel.

I could only pray that it would take him a while to figure out what had happened, that no one would accidentally notice that the bar on the tunnel door had been removed, and that we’d have enough time to get to Olinon and use the fae ring.

Once we’d gone through the ring, the only way Edred would know where we’d gone was if someone in the village had watched us leave. And I was hoping even if someone did, their dislike of Edred and their love for our mother and father would protect us… at least until we’d taken a second ring to another location.

Knowing the hinges on the door creaked, I slowly eased the door open.

---