"We have a problem." Runeo jumped from the tree, landing on the soft earth without so much as a sound. "The area just south of here is swarming with councilguards."
"What, were they guarding the entrance?" Quenti let out an exasperated sigh. Their detour into Attalea had gone well, so it only made sense they'd hit another obstacle this close to their destination.
"I don't think so," Runeo said as he walked past Quenti. "The way they're spread out, it looks like they're just guarding the entire perimeter."
The group had arrived at the outskirts of Cielo the night before. Rather than go with Quenti's instinct of heading directly toward the city, they had circled north of the mountain and camped a few miles north of where Quenti guessed the entrance was.
Despite having recently escaped the Haven, she hadn't paid attention to the landscape under the cover of darkness. The most she could give them was a vague approximation—a fact that had left her stomach twisted with guilt for the past two days.
"Which means they might not even know the tunnel is nearby," Quenti said with a small amount of hope.
"Doesn't help us if we can't get past them."
Quenti only gave a grim nod as she followed Runeo back through the thick trees.
***
They were still walking in sullen silence when they reached the clearing.
Lili and Alara had their supplies laid out on the ground in front of them, Alara counting weapons and Lili repacking the bags.
"Two bows, thirteen bronze-tipped arrows, seven wood arrows, four daggers, and two bolas," Alara said, eyes focused on the ground and still unaware that the others had returned.
"Don't forget the dull letter opener," Quenti chimed in.
Alara looked up at the sound of her voice. "I'll have you know, that dull letter opener has actually done well for me."
Quenti tilted her head at this revelation. Alara's dagger looked incapable of opening a letter, let alone stabbing anyone.
"What's the situation?" Lili said, ignoring their side conversation.
"Multiple patrol groups circling just south of us," Runeo answered, attempting to snatch a small piece of dried meat at the top of one of their packs. The bruya smacked his hand without looking up from her task.
"They're guarding the tunnel entrance?" Alara asked.
"I don't think so. They look more like they are just guarding the general area. Looks like they're expecting us."
Quenti swallowed. They had made it this far, but now, Khuna seemed more distant than ever. "There is no reason they would know we're coming," she said. "Who would have told them?"
"No one," Alara said. "This is how they do things. There are many secret entrances into the Haven. By design, no one person knows all of them, but they still need to protect and track everyone who comes in."
"But wait," Quenti said. "When I escaped, I didn't run into anyone on my way out. Was I just lucky?"
"It's possible," Alara said, "there's an uptick in perimeter guards in the days following bruya captures, for fear of retaliation or infiltration."
"For good reason, I guess," Lili said with a smirk.
"Well, it's a good thing we have you around to enlighten us, magite," Runeo said dryly.
Alara couldn't help but smirk.
"We can take them," Lili said, her eyes sharper than Quenti had ever seen.
Runeo let out a gruff laugh and shook his head. "There are too many to fight. At least with the weapons we have right now."
To that, Lili did not argue. The four of them stared down at the small stash of weapons. Again, Quenti's stomach twisted. They had no plan beyond "get in and get out." Maybe Quil'la had been right to doubt them. This was a hopeless mission, borne from the desperation of love. Were the others thinking the same thing? When would they realize this and decide to walk away?
"Lili, do you think you could forage for food around here?" Runeo asked, looking around the clearing. Quenti smiled at that. She had no idea what he was thinking, but it was clear she wasn't the only one surviving on desperate hope.
"I'm a healer, Runeo, not a hunter," Lili said. "You know more about foraging than I do."
Runeo glanced around, looking lost. He spotted a small growth of mushrooms along the trunk of a nearby tree and grabbed a few.
"Are we going to bribe them with mushrooms, or are you hoping they're poisonous?" Alara said.
"We can say we are traders if we're spotted."
Alara looked at him, her eyebrows raised. "That's not going to work. Not even a bit. Traders don't take the back routes and they don't carry one small bag of mushrooms. Or a slew of weapons."
Quenti frowned. "She has a point."
"You think?" Alara said.
"Well, does anyone have a better plan? I don't do stealth."
"We know," they all said in unison.
Alara's eyes lit up. "We still have our magite uniforms."
Quenti frowned. "But we only have two."
"That's all we will need."
***
Twenty minutes later, Alara and Quenti were standing in their uniforms. The material was wrinkled and the cuff of Alara's sleeve was torn, but she rolled them up, hiding the hem and showing off her gold cuff.
As smart as this plan was, Quenti didn't like wearing the clothes again, even temporarily.
"Do you think this will actually work?" Runeo looked between the two of them.
"I don't know." Alara said. "It's rare to have older recruits, let alone runaway bruyas, but I know it's happened before."
"How many of the councilguards know your face and know you've been missing?"
"Everyone likely knows I'm missing, but few would recognize me by my face alone. Only Emaru's closest guards ever interacted with me. Same with Quenti."
Runeo's eyes darkened at Emaru's name, but he said nothing. The topic of Alara's relationship with the Council hadn't been broached since Zinita's revelation, and Quenti didn't think this was the time to debate it further.
"How far are we from the entrance?" Lili asked.
"It's hard to tell," Quenti said with a sigh. "I remember what it looks like, but I wasn't mapping it out as I was running." Twisting guilt. Shame. Hopelessness. Why was she even there if she couldn't help?
No. Stop thinking.
"We just need to walk carefully," Alara said. "I'll try to help us dodge as many of the councilguards as I can. Usually, squads come with at least one mage, so I should be able to track them. But if we run into trouble, remember: no visible weapons. And let me do the talking."
They made their way slowly, Alara rigid in concentration as she used her mind-stalking abilities to track nearby councilguards as they moved through the trees.
Somehow, amid the anxious stew brewing in her gut, Quenti managed to squeeze in a small bit of pride for the magite's growing abilities.
It took a while, but Alara steered them around two small scouting groups. All the while, Quenti scanned the surrounding area dutifully, in hopes of—
"Shh!" Quenti said, bringing the group to a stop. "To the left. I hear water! I think the waterfall I escaped through is this way."
They turned left, Quenti feeling a little lighter. After a few minutes, the roaring of water grew louder and clearer and the trees thinned.
"Hey, you."
Quenti's stomach dropped. The voice was imperious. She saw a small group of councilguards break through the trees some yards away, wearing black tunics and leather armor, spears casually draped over shoulders. They didn't seem to see them as a threat—yet.
Alara squared her shoulders and Quenti ran through their story again in her head.
This plan was going to work.
She saw the magite beside her shifting, emotions flickering across her face so quickly Quenti couldn't understand them. And then...
"Alara!" the voice from within the group of councilguards was warm and familiar.
"Oh, no," Quenti said under her breath.
This plan was not going to work.
She looked at Alara and read the mix of emotions in the brightness of her eyes and the tightness in her jaw.
Frustration. Mixed in with joy and something more.
"Ardo!"