The Spirit War(125)
If Tesset heard him, he gave no sign. They were darting through the rich neighborhood just below the palace now, weaving in and out of the growing traffic. But as they turned down a street that led to the palace square, Tesset reined the horse to a skidding halt, forcing Nico and Eli to hold on or be thrown.
“Didn’t I tell you?” Eli cried. “Not the square!”
Tesset ignored him and hopped down. Shaking and cursing, Eli followed, leaving the cart and the panting horses standing in the middle of the street. As Eli had predicted, the entrance to the palace square was blocked by a mass of people crawling over each other to see what was happening.
“I told you,” Eli said again, pointing disgustedly at the wall of backs. “We’ll never get through now.”
“What’s the matter, thief?” Tesset said. “Afraid of a little crowd?”
Eli started to tell him exactly what was wrong with that question, but before he could get a word in, Nico and Tesset stepped up to the edge of the crowd and began pushing people out of the way. Fortunately for all involved, the crowd in the square was too preoccupied to care about a little pushing. They were all staring up at the palace roof. Some were pushing toward it, but more were trying to get away. Eli didn’t blame them. The western side of the palace was a wreck. The palace watchtower was half gone, its northern side blown out completely, which explained the boom from earlier. Fallen hunks of stone littered the square and the buildings around it, especially the elegant building at the castle’s northwest corner, which seemed to have lost a large chunk of its roof. Eli was still wondering what could have caused such massive destruction when Nico grabbed his arm and pointed up at the palace roof.
Of course, Eli sighed. Who else?
Josef was on his back on one of the castle gutters with Adela standing over him. Even at this distance, Eli could see it was bad. The stone beneath Josef was dark with blood, and the Heart was nowhere to be seen. Adela’s mouth was moving, but this far away her words were lost in the noise of the crowd and the endless wind.
“It’s a bad position.”
Eli glanced at Tesset, who had stopped pushing the crowd and was now eyeing the battle with professional interest.
“Liechten should be able to take a girl like that,” he continued. “She must have a gimmick, and he must have fallen for it hard if he’s on his back, especially considering how he took Sted. Still, won’t be long if he keeps bleeding like that.”
“Josef will win,” Nico hissed.
“I’m with Nico,” Eli said. “I would be an old man by now if I let myself panic every time I saw Josef at death’s door. He’ll win, I’m sure. Our problem is what comes after.”
Nico shot Eli a furious look. “What do you mean?”
“Listen,” Eli said, dropping his voice.
Nico and Tesset obeyed, falling silent as the noise of the crowd rolled over them.
“Go on, princess!” an old man shouted. “Kill the traitor!”
“Thereson is a murderer!” someone else shouted behind them. “He killed the duke! Avenge Finley!”
“He’s no prince of ours!” a woman cried. “Kill him! Kill the traitor!”
And on and on and on.
“I see what you mean,” Tesset said at last.
“They’re all idiots,” Nico said at the same time. “How dare they—”
“Nico,” Eli’s voice held a sharp warning. Nico glared at him, but shut her mouth. Eli smiled apologetically at Tesset and grabbed Nico’s shoulder, turning her around and leaning down so that their heads were together.
“Listen,” he whispered. “Josef’s going to win this fight, but it’s our duty to make it count.”
Nico nodded. “What have you got in mind?”
“We’re going to clear his name,” Eli said. “But first, I need you to find me a wind.”
Nico gave him a skeptical look, but she didn’t question him. Instead, she looked up, her eyes darting across the sky. “There,” she said, pointing up.
Eli followed her finger with his eyes. “You!” he cried, layering just a hint of power into his voice as his finger shot out, pointing at the same spot in the sky as Nico. “Can I ask a favor?”
He felt immensely stupid yelling at the empty air, but he hid it with a confident smile. Thankfully, a few seconds later, a strong breeze ruffled his hair.
“Good guess,” the wind whispered in his ear. “I’m impressed enough to hear you out, wizard.”
“You’re too kind,” Eli said. “I have a bit of an odd task for you, but I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”