Page 28 of A Court So Dark
Arabis shook her head and rolled her eyes. “I’m ready too.”
I looked expectantly from Kryn to Silver. The former simply nodded, while Silver punched a fist into his open palm.
“I’m ready to get out of here,” he said. “Ever since I spent time in its dungeons, I don’t care for the Vine Tower all that much.”
“As if Highmire’s dungeons will be any better,” Cylea put in. “So we agree then? We leave tonight?”
Everyone nodded.
Cylea pulled something from her tunic’s pocket. “Good thing Kalyll left this with us.”
She held a transfer token, a wooden coin with the carving of a snake in the middle. It was the same one Kalyll had let me use when he sent me back home after Mount Ruin. The same one Wölfe had used to get me right back.
My spirits lifted slightly. In a few moments, we would be closer to Kalyll, well on our way to rescuing him.
“I’ll go get my things,” I said.
Jeondar stopped. “While you’re in your chamber, mention casually that we’re going to Imbermore. Hopefully, that will keep Cardian looking in the wrong direction.”
I nodded and while Larina and I retrieved my backpack, we did as Jeondar instructed. For ten minutes we stood gathered in a circle. My bag’s strap rested across my shoulder and its weight on my hip. We only had a few necessities. Jeondar had said that if we needed anything else, we would purchase it.
“Who’ll go with me first?” Cylea asked.
Arabis put a hand up. “I think I will be the least conspicuous, so I should be the one to procure our lodging.”
“Let’s go then,” Cylea took Arabis’s hand, and in the next instant, they dissolved into thin air.
They all looked at me.
“What is it?” Jeondar asked.
“I forgot something. I’ll be right back.” I ran out of the room, headed for my chamber. When I had changed, the brooch that Kalyll gave me stayed on the dress. I had to get it back.
“Hey, wait,” Jeondar called.
Wings whirred behind me as I ran down the hall, headed back to Kalyll’s tower.
“Wait, Dani,” Larina called behind me. “I can get it for you. It will only take me a second or two.”
I stopped and glanced back. “Okay.”
Using her magic she flew past me at a prodigious speed. I smiled as glittering dust rained down on me, giving me a tingling sensation.
Marching steps sounded from the hall to my left. I turned to find a host of guards crowding the tight space. They were led by Cardian.
CHAPTER 10
KALYLL
Somethingwokeme.Thenumbness turned to pain.
As I opened my eyes, the first thing I noticed was the bitter cold that still clung to me. I was still trapped in the force field, which pulsed with a soft blue light. I shivered uncontrollably, trying to make sense of what had happened.
Slowly, the memories of the sorcerer’s spell came flooding back to me. His spell had lowered the temperature so drastically that I had fallen unconscious within minutes. How long had I been out? I wasn’t sure.
As I tried to sit up, I realized how weak and stiff my limbs felt. My fingers and toes were numb, and my face and ears burned with a painful sensation. I took a deep breath, trying to push away the fog that still lingered in my mind.
A movement caught my eye. Someone came into the room, steps light and measured.
