Page 41 of Court of Lies and Deceit

“But you three are definitely changing your clothes,” she declares. She scrunches up her nose in disgust again as she looks us over. “You two are dressed like pleasure slaves, for some reason.”

Both Isera and Alistair flinch.

But before they can say anything, she shifts her gaze to me. “And you look like a beggar.” She heaves a sigh. “Malachi’s balls, maybe I shouldn’t have picked you after all. Oh well, too late now.”

Before I can ask why she did pick us, she lifts both hands and makes a shooing motion towards the stairs.

“Get to it,” she commands. “Take a bath. A long one. Clothes will be delivered in a couple of hours. Food is in the kitchen. Eat. Rest. I will be back again in the morning. Feel free to explore the city if you want, but we only have a week to train before the games start, and you will need all the rest you can get, so I recommend using the day to recover your strength and get ready.” Raising her eyebrows, she looks from face to face. “Any questions?”

But I can barely concentrate on her words because that middle part of her instructions is still ringing inside my head like a bell.Feel free to explore the city.Staring at her, I try to make sense of the words. Are we actually allowed to leave?

My friends seem equally stunned, because they also just stare at her in silence.

When no one asks a question in the first five seconds, she claps her hands. “Excellent. See you in the morning then.”

And with that, she strolls back out the door and closes it behind her.

I wait for her to lock it.

She doesn’t.

Her footsteps quickly fade as she walks away down the street.

My heart is beating so hard that I can hear it pounding in my ears.

She doesn’t know. She doesn’t know that we are supposed to be prisoners. Oh Goddess above, shedoesn’t know.

Hope and excitement surges inside me as I tear my gaze from the unlocked door and meet my friends’ eyes. They look equally stunned and relieved and hopeful.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Lyra asks, a conspiratorial grin on her face.

“Yes,” Alistair immediately replies.

I nod. “We escape.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

My heart pounds against my ribs as I stand there hidden in the shadows of a tree. The woods lie dark and still around me. A few strides away, Lyra, Alistair, and Galen are waiting silently as well.

Since we didn’t want to risk being spotted in the city, regardless of what Jocasta said about us being allowed to explore it, we had to wait for nightfall before we made our escape. Thankfully, that at least meant that we also had time to eat, take a bath, and change into the clothes that Jocasta’s assistant brought us.

I glance down at the black fighting leathers I’m now wearing. They look similar to Draven’s armor, except they’re made of leather instead of dragon scales, obviously. But they’re sturdy and flexible and fit me perfectly. And most surprisingly, I feel different wearing them.

It’s strange how much your clothes affect how you feel about yourself. For decades, I’ve been wearing frayed and dirty worker’s clothes, and I’ve felt that in every fiber of my being. I’ve felt poor and ragged and…lessthan others. As if I should hunch my shoulders and keep my head down so that people won’t look too closely at me. But now, wearing these badass fightingleathers, I feel strong and powerful and confident. I feel like I could conquer the world. The unexpected change in how I feel about myself honestly stuns me.

Glancing over at Alistair, who is also wearing black fighting leathers, I find him standing a little taller too.

And I’m struck by the sudden realization that this is probably why they did it. This is why the Icehearts had such strict regulations on clothes. They wanted our clothes to be worn and dirty and full of holes so that we would feel even more beaten down. So that we wouldn’t get too confident.

Shaking my head, I blow out a long breath. If I wasn’t so angry, I would be impressed. They truly have thought about every single detail. Planned their conquest and how to keep us in line meticulously. Nothing has been left to chance.

They are strategic masterminds. And I must never forget that. Otherwise, we will never win.

A flash of indecision pulses through me.

Shifting my position, I look through the trees in the direction that Draven will be returning from. He flew back to the city to get Isera, and once they’re here, we will leave. But now that we’re here right by the borders of the Unseelie Court, I can’t help but think about what Isera said earlier. About how we need to get Orion on our side now that we have the chance.

She’s right. But I also have no idea how we would even accomplish something like that.

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