“It was the best trick I had,” Eli said, keeping his voice casual. “Queen Theresa’s debt to Banage is well known. The name gave her cause to think twice at the very least, and if I hadn’t given her a compelling reason not to throw me out, you’d be spending tonight with the lovely Adela. Of course,” he said, glaring down at Josef, “if I’d known you were going to get all noble prince on me, I wouldn’t have bothered.”
Josef let the barb roll off with a shrug. “You’re being thicker than usual if you think it isn’t going to come back around,” he said. “This isn’t some idiot guard you’re bluffing. You know the queen is going to check. I’d bet money the Spirit Court is here tomorrow morning, hunting for your hide.”
“Really?” Eli said. “How much money?”
Josef arched an eyebrow. “You have a good reason why they wouldn’t be?”
Eli folded his arms behind his back. “Let me come at this from another angle for you. Anyone who pays attention to bounties knows that Josef Liechten pals around with Eli Monpress, right? So think, what happens when you show up out of nowhere with a handsome young man who looks even a little like the posters? Queen Theresa hasn’t hung onto her throne as long as she has by being an idiot. She’d figure things out real quick. By giving her another trail to sniff, I bought us time to escape. Which, of course, is wasted now.”
Josef rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Still doesn’t explain why you chose Banage. Seems needlessly reckless to me.”
Eli smiled grimly. “I wasn’t lying when I said the Rector Spiritualis was ashamed of his son. Let’s just say that Banage has more on the line than most in making sure that any Eliton appearances stay uninvestigated. Your mother can send messages all she likes, but if we see so much as an apprentice come down to investigate, I’ll eat your sword.”
“Now that I’d pay to see,” Josef said, tugging off his boots. “Get out of here, I’m going to bed. If I have to be home, I’m not doing it on no sleep.”
“Bridegrooms do need their sleep,” Eli said sagely.
The look Josef gave him wiped the smile clear off Eli’s face, and the thief wisely decided it was time to leave his friend alone. He stood up and wiggled out the window as easily as he’d wiggled in. He had time for one last wave before Josef slammed the shutter behind him. Duly rebuked, Eli hung on the stone ledge momentarily, searching the shadows for Nico. He knew she was there. He could almost feel her watching. He called her name softly, but there was no answer, nothing but the wind blowing up the mountain and the sound of the city below.
Feeling defeated and more than a little angry, Eli pulled himself along the ledge and through the bars into his room. He landed on the carpet and picked himself up, snuffing out the lamp with a wave of his hand. He crossed the dark room and collapsed facedown on his bed. He rolled around awhile, wiggling out of his clothes and tossing his wig over the bedpost. Finally undressed, he flopped onto the pile of pillows, turning his head from side to side in a futile attempt to cut off the massive headache he could already feel forming. Fifteen minutes later he was still awake, his head throbbing full force. Eli sighed in a drawn-out curse, grinding the heels of his palms deep into his eye sockets.
It was going to be a long night.
CHAPTER
7
Miranda stomped five steps across her cell, hit the stone bars, turned on her heel, and stomped five steps back to the wall. She slapped her hand against the smooth, featureless stone before turning around to start all over again. Five steps, slap. Five steps, slap. Miranda gritted her teeth. The endless stomping was stupid, a waste of time and energy, and yet she could not stop. If she didn’t do something with all the rage inside her, she would explode.
Across the hall, Gin shoved his nose through the stone bars of his cell, orange eyes narrowed to slits against the constant white glow that seeped from the mountain’s stone. “Do it,” he snarled. “It’s past time for patience.”
Miranda shook her head and glanced at Slorn. He was sitting as he had been since they’d arrived, cross-legged at the center of his cell. His dark bear eyes were closed against the whiteness, his breathing was deep, and his face was slack, as though he were asleep. It was his ears that gave him away. They stood taut on his head, shifting to follow every sound Miranda made.
He’d been like this since the Guildmaster had locked them in here two days ago, completely silent, no matter how many questions she asked. It was his silence that made her angrier than anything else. She’d followed him here like a little dog, licking up every bit of information he’d thrown her, but now that he’d landed her in prison, he wouldn’t even talk to her. Just thinking about it made her shake with fury, but as much as she wanted to follow Gin’s urging, Miranda held back. It wasn’t the bars that kept her in. Gin could have broken them, she was sure, or any of her spirits could have, for the Shapers had not taken her rings. Once she was free, she was pretty sure that she could find her way out of the mountain if it came to that, but she didn’t try to leave. She couldn’t. Angry as she was, she’d followed Slorn to this mountain to help right whatever was going wrong with the world. Now that they were finally here, she wasn’t about to give up and leave just because things weren’t going like she wanted. Of course, that didn’t mean she was going to forgive Slorn for clamming up on her when she needed him most.