A Sprinkle of Stardust

Chapter 37 - Escape

Dessie's explanation raised more questions in Lyrani's mind, but it would have to do for now.

All that mattered was that Lyrani needed her friends, and they were here.

"I told you I can be an agent." Morloy tightened the last knot around the guard's wrist and stepped back to admire his handiwork.

It was impressive, Lyrani had to admit. It would take the guards valuable minutes to escape their bonds if they regained consciousness, by which time Lyrani and her friends had to be long gone.

Dessie seemed to share Lyrani's thought. "Well, come on, Agent Ailk! We must be out of here before they wake up."

Lyrani looked between her friends. "Do you have a plan?"

"What kind of question is that?" Morloy gave Lyrani a confident smile, and she returned it.

They would escape this prison because they were together.

"Come on!" It was the seamstress who spurred the healer and the assassin into action.

Dessie gathered her skirt with one hand and grabbed Lyrani's arm with the other.

With Morloy behind them, they ran up a narrow metal staircase set into the dirt and then two more. When they reached the top of the last flight, they pressed themselves flat against the steps to survey the scene.

Three guards watched the dungeon's exit, patrolling with the complacency of men who hadn't noticed that their king had been down at the high-security cells for an awfully long time. They'd notice soon enough.

A thick rope dangled from a bell hanging from the ceiling behind the guards.

Lyrani and her friends would have to cross the room and pass the guards to reach the opening leading up into the afternoon. They also had to keep the guards from ringing the bell to alert the rest of the palace to trouble in the dungeons, or their escape would fail, and Morloy and Dessie would be arrested too.

Lyrani wouldn't subject them to Rayn's torture and games. She'd punch down as many people as was necessary in order to make sure of that.

Lyrani smelled the fresh air. She could taste her freedom, and nothing was going to take it away from her, not a vengeful spirit or a group of guards.

"Stay behind me," whispered Lyrani. She waved her hands, gathering the darkness around herself and her friends. "Don't make a sound."

Lyrani watched the guards as she and her friends inched towards the exit with their backs pressed against the wall. The men's voices resonated through the room with startling clarity as they talked and guffawed about King Nash and his latest paramour from Irylen.

One guard leaned towards the others as if he had a juicy secret to share. "Apparently, she tried to kill him afterwards."

"Is he that bad in bed?" Another snorted with suppressed laughter.

"Only way to know for sure is to ask her," sneered the guard who had first spoken.

"I heard she ran through the palace naked. Wouldn't that have been a sight?" The third guard chortled.

Lyrani stopped dead. How could they talk about her and Nash like they were a joke? How dare they exchange nonsensical gossip and laugh about it?

"Keep moving," whispered Morloy beside Lyrani. "They're not worth it."

His warning came too late.

Lyrani's concentration was broken, and the darkness melted away from her and her friends like ink dissolving in water.