Page 50 of The King of Koraha
The monk gasped as Shyla disappeared from her sight. She clapped a hand over her mouth and stared. Then she called, “Hello?”
Gone.
She bit her thumbnail. “Hello? Are you there? Come out. Lonato will not be pleased.” After an angle, the woman spun on her heel and dashed away.
After a few moments to recover from that simple effort, Shyla sought bumps in the distance. She wasn’t going to wait for Lonato to use his influence on her. As soon as she sensed him, she’d grab him.
Too bad he didn’t come alone. He had four monks with him. One of them was the woman. Shyla pushed magic at them all.
Gone.
Gone.
They strode up to her cell and peered inside. The woman hung back as if afraid.
Lonato cursed and rattled the locked door. “Where in seven hells did she go?”
“She just disappeared. I swear to the goddess,” the woman said.
“Magic?” a man on Lonato’s right asked.
Lonato frowned. “You mean a miracle?”
“Yes, sir. That’s what I meant. Maybe the Sun Goddess called the sun-kissed to her?”
“It’s possible. The Sun Goddess is all powerful,” Lonato said.
Shyla wished she had more energy to read that man’s soul. He appeared lucid and not under Lonato’s influence. And he held a ring of keys in his hand. Guess she’d just use her regular magic.
Freeze.
Freeze.
Her head ached with the effort of holding all five of them immobile. Hurrying to the bars, she reached through and plucked the key ring from the man. After trying almost every single one, she found the right key and unlocked the cell door. Then she replaced the ring.
Forget.
Forget.
She erased their memories of her stealing the keys. Her muscles shook and a dizzy spell threatened to topple her, but she rallied. Fainting now would ruin her chance to escape.
Gone.
Gone.
Lonato started. “Did you see that?”
“What?”
“I thought I caught a glimpse of the sun-kissed.” He peered inside the cell. “It’s a trick. She’s still there.”
And that was her cue. She stopped her magic and reappeared. Huddled on the cushion, she wilted as if exhausted.
The woman cried out and jumped back.
“Thought so,” Lonato said, mighty pleased with himself. “Nice trick. You’ll have to show me how to do that.”
Shyla looked at him. “What do you want?”
