Page 77 of Storm to Victory
Twenty-Two
After the guards had checked on them for the evening rounds, Pip opened the door of her cell. The bars were getting a bit bent out of shape after she’d manipulated them so often, so she’d spent some time that afternoon fiddling with the locks on the doors to their cells. Thanks to all the lockpicking practice with Stickyfingers, she had a good enough idea of the internal workings to adjust the locks in such a way that the keys still turned, felt, and sounded like they were doing something, but the cell doors didn’t actually lock. She’d also used some metal from the bars of her cell to make a key to Prince Edmund’s shackles so he could take them on and off at will.
Prince Edmund pushed open the door to his cell. He still hunched slightly, shuffling as he walked, but he appeared better than he had that morning. “Can you do something to the lock on the main door? We don’t want them coming in while we’re out of our cells.”
Pip nodded and tiptoed up the stairs. Her heart hammered as she neared the door at the top. If a guard heard her or happened to open the door at that moment, there would be no hiding that she was out of her cell.
She placed a hand on the door and simply melded the bolt of the lock into place. The key would still go into the lock, but it wouldn’t turn.
The guards could probably still break through the door eventually, but the time it would take would give her and Prince Edmund a chance to return to their cells.
She crept back down the stairs to Prince Edmund’s side. He grinned and set off at a slow amble down the passageway. “Let’s explore our accommodations, shall we?”
“I don’t think you quite have the right idea of what it means to be held prisoner.” Pip fell into step with him, sticking close in case he appeared in need of support staying upright.
“But my version is much more fun.” Prince Edmund grinned as the two of them turned the corner.
Here the passageway was dark, lit only by the torchlight behind them. The doors on the rooms were wooden rather than barred, and when Pip opened one and peered inside, the room still had a bed, table, and other limited furnishings. This corridor would’ve made rather gloomy servants’ quarters, likely only used for the lowest scullery maids. “I think they never got around to turning this section into a dungeon.”
“Or they left it for prisoners who they don’t want to treat so prisoner-like.” Prince Edmund waved back in the direction of their cells. “I’d say it is for prisoners of high rank, but clearly my high rank doesn’t count.”
“I think their high hatred counts more than your high rank.” Pip entered the room and grabbed the stub of candle in a holder that had been left on the table.
“Undoubtedly.” Prince Edmund held the door for her. “I’m actually rather surprised I even have a cell as nice as that. A hole in the ground was more what I was expecting.”
Considering the Mongavarians planned to torture him, Pip wasn’t going to rejoice too much at their civilized prison cells.
She hurried back around the corner, held the candle up to the nearest torch until it lit, and returned to Prince Edmund.
The two of them peeked into each of the rooms until they reached the panel of metal that blocked the passageway. It seemed to have been welded in place to a frame set into the stone.
While Prince Edmund made himself comfortable in the nicest of the servant rooms, Pip set to work modifying the panel. She could just open a hole in it, but that would mean she would have to manually open and shut it each time Jayna wanted to come through.
Instead, she borrowed more metal from the bars of one of the unused jail cells to create hinges, which she attached to both the metal sheet and the frame. Then she freed the panel from the frame, turning it into a swinging door. Once that was done, she created a hidden latch that could be opened from both sides.
As she was finishing, there was the soft scuff of footsteps from farther down the deserted hallway stretching from the other side of the metal panel.
Pip quickly shut the panel, pressing her back to it as she waited, breathing shallowly. Was that Jayna? Or some other servant wandering the halls this late at night?
Someone rapped a knuckle on the metal. “It’s me. Jayna.”
Pip lifted the latch on her side and pulled the panel open.
Jayna stood there, still in her black maid uniform, though she had ditched the white apron and cap. Her dark hair remained piled on her head, the sleek sides hiding her ears, while her deep brown eyes twinkled. She held a tray with two plates piled with food and had a bag slung over a shoulder. “I see you made some modifications.”
“Yes. When you want in, just lift this here.” Pip showed Jayna where she’d hidden the latch to open the secret door.
“You’re handy to have around.” Jayna grinned as she slipped through the door and closed it softly behind her. “I’m surprised Dacha hasn’t recruited you for the Intelligence Office long before now.”
“I would have, but I didn’t know about her until the war started,” Prince Edmund’s voice called from one of the rooms just down the hall, although he kept his tone low enough that no one outside of this short stretch of hallway would hear him. “By the time I found out about her, the army was already in a tug-of-war with the AMPC for her. No way was I getting into the middle of that.”
“I’m shocked. Something you didn’t know about. You’re slipping, Dacha.” Jayna headed down the passageway.
Pip crept after her, not quite sure how to respond, given that she was standing right there while Prince Edmund and Jayna discussed her.
“She was well hidden at Tarenhiel’s western rail terminal. And she stayed invisible enough in her university studies that she didn’t catch attention then.” Prince Edmund’s grin was wide as Jayna and Pip stepped into the small room. He had sprawled on the bed, propping himself up with pillows. “It was quite the spy-level job, staying so out of notice while having such remarkable magic.”
“I didn’t do it on purpose,” Pip muttered, her ears burning at the backhanded praise. She hurriedly took a seat on the one wooden chair in the room, which was pulled up to the table.
