Page 87 of Storm to Victory
Pressing her hand against the wooden sash, Jayna eased some of her magic into it. A moment later, she wiggled her fingers beneath the lower window and boosted it upward, the lock remaining where it was at the bottom.
She crawled inside, and Pip followed, sticking her head through the opening, hanging by her waist for a moment before she wiggled the rest of the way inside. She released her shield once she was safely inside the darkness of what appeared to be some kind of office.
“Now we just need to locate General Krellian’s office.” Jayna tiptoed to the door, pressing her ear to it for a moment. “Or wherever they are keeping the records. They could be in a bank of file cabinets in a basement.”
Great. Pip’s skin already crawled with the need to get out of there. They were going to be caught for sure if they had to wander through this building for too long.
Jayna cracked the door open, peeked out, and led the way into the hallway. When she turned back to Pip, she pointed, her eyes crinkled as if she was grinning.
Pip glanced around, not sure what Jayna had seen, until Jayna leaned forward and tapped something on the door.
Oh. A brass plaque. It conveniently had the name of the Mongavarian officer who used this office. Even better, it had a symbol to denote which branch of the military he served. This office belonged to a colonel in the navy.
This would make finding General Krellian’s office easier.
Jayna set out down the hallway, Pip tiptoeing after her. They had to duck into other offices a couple of times as people strolled the corridor, but no one paused as if they’d seen or heard anything suspicious.
The corridor ended in a grand foyer done in wood paneling with an oak staircase rising to the second floor. Military flags hung above the doorways for the various corridors, denoting which military branch occupied each.
“Handy of them to make this building so easy to navigate.” Jayna grinned and headed across the way toward the hallway underneath what Pip assumed was the Mongavarian army’s flag. Unlike Jayna, she certainly didn’t recognize which flags belonged to which service.
This corridor had even more bustle than the previous one. Pip and Jayna had to duck into empty offices several times to avoid being seen.
Finally, they reached General Krellian’s office. It remained dark, as were the offices around it.
Pip used her magic to open the door, then she and Jayna slipped inside.
As they had in the empress’s study, Jayna took the desk while Pip perused the file cabinets.
The stuff contained in these files had her stomach churning. The men stationed in Groyria. The ogre villages wiped out.
And then a file had her pausing. It was all here in black-and-white, stark numbers. A systematic rounding up of the ogres andholding them in various internment camps in Groyria near the border before group upon group was taken to the Ludin facility in southern Mongavaria for magical experimentation.
Pip closed the file and grabbed the whole thing. She pulled out a few more files before she turned to look for Jayna.
Jayna stood by the desk, a piece of paper gripped in her hands. As if sensing Pip’s look, she half-turned to her, the paper trembling. No, her fingers were trembling as they clutched it. “This…this is a report that they captured Uncle Farrendel and Fieran. General Krellian gave the order to take their magic.”
“But they didn’t succeed. Your dacha said they were both fine.” Pip hugged the files to her chest, her heart thumping harder again.
She’d been trusting what Prince Edmund had told her. But what if he was mistaken? After all, he was getting news of Fieran and Prince Farrendel from his heart bond with Princess Jalissa who was talking to Princess Elspeth who was communicating with Prince Farrendel through their heart bond. It was a rather convoluted method of communication back and forth. Could something have been missed?
“They probably are.” Jayna sucked in a breath, her shoulders shuddering for a moment, before she straightened. “I don’t see any reports confirming that their magic has been taken. So that’s a good thing. Let’s grab this stuff and get out of here.”
That sounded good by Pip. They’d already stayed long enough as it was.
After gathering a few more files and papers, she and Jayna stuffed it all in a leather satchel they found stashed under the desk.
Then the two of them sneaked into the corridor and back the way they’d come, dodging patrols and various military men going about their late night duties.
At the hallway they’d been in before, Jayna glanced at each of the doors.
One of the doors down the corridor opened, and a slim man in a Mongavarian uniform stepped out. His gaze flashed directly to Jayna and Pip standing there in their nondescript gray clothing.
Pip squeaked and jumped, her heart racing, as she clutched the satchel with all the incriminating papers to her chest.
Jayna ducked her head, grimaced, and shoved the door open. “That’s done it.” She all but shoved Pip into the room.
Pip stumbled but somehow managed to get her feet underneath her enough to scramble across the room. At the window, she grabbed the sash, swung her feet out, and dropped to the ground. The satchel banged against her, but she kept hold of it.
