Page 124 of The City of Zirdai
“Where are the guards’ quarters?” she asked.
“Their quarters are in the southwestern section of the prince’s level right above the prince’s special rooms.”
“What else did I miss?”
“Mojag just reported that the rumors about the priestess preparing for an attack arehot. His words not mine,” Ximen said. “We might not have as much time to get ready as we’d thought.”
“How soon?”
“Four, maybe five sun jumps at most.” Ximen picked up one of the torques and waved it in the air. “What we really need to know is how you countered this. Assuming that’s what happened. Timin was sketchy on the details. Did you wield magic?”
She explained what happened. “Once I realized the symbol on their torques didn’t match our new symbol, it no longer blocked my magic.”
“All you need is faith that it’ll work?” Gurice asked. “That seems, no offense, too easy.”
“At first, it did seem too easy. But think about it. When we swore our loyalty to the Invisible Sword, we sketched the symbol onto our bodies with magic. They’re connected. And even though the torques no longer worked when we swore with the new symbol, we thought they did and didn’t even try to use our magic. It was only when I was utterly desperate that I realized this.” She shuddered at the memory. Glancing at Rendor, she asked, “Did you know what was going on in the throne room when you arrived or was that an amazing coincidence?”
“A bit of both,” he said. “I had intel that the prince was going to try to wake The Eyes during that sun jump, but I didn’t know the exact time. I had to guess based on the activity around the throne room.”
Mojag returned with a servant in tow. The woman placed a tray down in front of her. Shyla stared at the meal in wonder until the spicy ginger aroma of roasted gamelu meat caused her stomach to roar. It was the first time she’d had real food in sun jumps. A glass of that pure clear water accompanied the feast. She’d groan in pleasure, but her mouth was full.
Ximen tapped his finger on the torque. “The good news is we can all bypass the protection.”
“We can?” Mojag asked.
Gurice updated her brother on what he’d missed. “As long as the symbol remains the same. If they find out the new symbol, we’re screwed.”
“Good thing we uncovered Jayden’s treachery before this discovery,” Ximen said.
A heavy silence filled the room. Shyla glanced at Mojag. The boy wrapped his arms around his chest. Hanif’s words about a person’s ability to change repeated in her mind. Perhaps it was worth the effort to revisit Jayden’s soul. And that reminded her.
“How long has it been since he…” She gestured with her fork, unable to say it.
“Sixteen sun jumps since we locked him up,” Ximen said.
He had plenty of supplies left. That also meant she’d been taken prisoner fourteen sun jumps ago.
“We do need to worry about the deacons who can wield magic.” Gurice picked up one of the platinum necklaces. “These can protect our people and some of the guards, but not all. Do we have any intel on how many deacons have power?”
“I originally thought there weren’t that many,” Shyla said. “But they’ve had time to find more.” She considered the new wielders in the Invisible Sword and if they were ready to fight. “How do you think the priestess is going to attack?” she asked Rendor.
“If I was going to target her people, I’d send small units to ambush all the clusters of deacons in the city at the same time. Also, at that time, I’d lead a bigger unit to her level and fight my way in.”
“You’ve given this some thought,” Ximen said.
“The prince hated her and we brainstormed different strategies. That one had the biggest chance of success with the least amount of expected losses. I’d expect the priestess will use a very similar plan. If she strikes with surprise, speed, and intensity, it will be hard for us to counter and she’d have the advantage.”
“That means the guards throughout the city might be attacked at any time,” Gurice said. “Do we need to double them?”
Good question. If they did, that would alert the priestess. “We can assign Invisible Swords to guard the guards. They can blend in with the citizens and not tip the priestess off.”
“That’s a good idea,” Rendor said.
“And I think we should do what Rendor suggested and put together small units and attack at the same time,” Shyla said.
Everyone nodded in agreement. Shyla assigned them each tasks.
Mojag hopped to his feet. “I’ll keep watch on the deacons. If they so much as twitch in our direction, I’ll let you know.”
