“Shh,” I whispered soothingly. My stifling of her emotion only seemed to make it worse, and as I could hear Sevedi leading the group away from us, Ava collapsed against me, shoulders shaking with muted sobs. “It’s alright,” I murmured, keeping my hand over her mouth and wrapping my other arm around her chest, supporting her weight to keep her on her feet. “They’ll be alright.”
Ava continued sobbing silently, and I noticed that there was no sound from the hall either. I couldn’t hear any words, or footsteps, and I wasn’t sure where Sevedi had gone. For a long minute we stood there, stuck against the wall in the tense silence, my arm burning with the effort of holding Ava up. I inched toward the door, intent on peering out to see if anyone was in the halls because we couldn’t just stand here. Whatever had become of Sevedi, Ava and I had to escape. I was just about to crane my neck around the doorpost when Sevedi’s face burst through the opening.
“Let’s go,” she commanded.
I released Ava to take her hand in my own, dragging her behind me while we followed Sevedi and Albus. She led us not to the stairs or toward a main hallway that would be our exit, but toward the back of the wing. Toward a dead end. Only, when we reached it, she swept aside a tall, decorative tapestry and pushed hard against the wall. The stones gave, moving back in the shape of small door, which she then worked sideways to reveal a long, narrow tunnel.
“Come,” she motioned. I pulled Ava into the passageway, and Sevedi entered and sealed it behind us, creating a magical glow in her palm to light the path. “This way.”
We started a swift pace along the tunnel and began to descend a flight of stairs. All around, echoing through the walls, I could hear hysterical shouts and the clanking of armor, of soldiers running to various positions. We made it down the stairs, a flight long enough that, when we reached the bottom, I knew we were underground, because it wasn’t made of brick like the castle anymore, but dug out of crude stone and earth.
No matter how urgently I pulled on her hand, however, Ava hadn’t been keeping up with Sevedi and me. After the passage leveled off and we picked up our pace, she yanked out of my grip and collapsed to the floor.
“Ava,” I said, and Sevedi stopped to wait while I knelt in front of her. “We have to keep going.” She didn’t say anything, just kept sobbing as she buried her face in her hands. “Ava, please. I know you didn’t do this.”
Her hands lowered, and for the first time that morning, her eyes met mine. “I—” Her voice quivered, and she breathed the syllable a handful of times before finally managing to stutter, “I did.” A fresh flow of tears cascaded from her eyes. “Kiena, I did.” My brow furrowed in disbelief. “My scar,” she said shakily. “Hazlitt. He was controlling me. I was glowing red, everything was red.” She whimpered, arms wrapping around her torso as though her grief was excruciating. “I remember it all,” she sobbed. “I killed them.”
“Keep moving,” Sevedi growled, pacing over and gripping Ava by the arm, jerking her to her feet. “If you didn’t have those necklaces, I’d kill you both myself for what you’ve done to my kingdom.”
I grabbed the collar of Sevedi’s shirt, throwing her back against the wall of the tunnel and materializing a current of sparks in my hand. It didn’t matter one bit if she was helping us, I wouldn’t let her treat Ava like that, and especially not when Ava was on the verge of a complete breakdown. “Touch her like that again and you’ll never get the chance.” And Albus supported my threat with a rumbling growl of his own.
She glared at me, but said, “They’ll kill us all if we don’t hurry.”
I let Sevedi go, rushing back to Ava and scooping her up in my arms, because if she couldn’t run then I’d carry her myself. We hurried down the remaining length of passageway at the fastest pace possible. It led to a heavy gate that, once pushed open, I could see had brought us to the woods just outside the castle. I exited, squinting against the brightening light of morning. Sevedi had already prepared a single horse, and without being told, I helped Ava climb onto it.
“What about you?” I asked as I hopped up behind Ava.
“You murdered my rulers,” Sevedi said, and at hearing it, Ava whimpered and curled further into herself. “My kingdom will need me.”
“I’m sorry,” I told her sincerely.
She didn’t respond to that. “Don’t stop riding until you reach Valens. If they catch you, you’re dead.”
I nodded my thanks and kicked back my heels. The horse took off at a gallop, as fast as it could go with both Ava and me on its back. I steered us in the direction of the road we’d arrived on, and so far it looked like the castle was still in such a state of confusion that the road hadn’t been blocked. It was clear, leaving an opening for us to get away even quicker.
But I feared this was something we’d never escape. Even if we managed to get away from Ronan soldiers, Ava would live with this forever. She’d finally had a good, honest family. She’d finally had a place to call home, and found people to love and love her in return. It didn’t matter that she was going to leave with me, because they were dead. She’d known her father and stepmother less than three days, and she’d killed them. If we managed to make it back to Valens before being caught, it would make little difference. This would haunt her. Then my goal would be to comfort her, but then, right that moment, my only goal was to make sure we were around later for that to happen.
We traveled as swiftly as we could. Past the city and the farmland. After that, the road became unfamiliar, because on our way here we’d journeyed through the woods. It wound through the forest, and we were moving so fast that the sharp bends in the road were a surprise every time. It took all of my focus to guide us through, and as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t spare a moment to try and tend Ava. The only thing I could do was hold the reins in one hand and wrap the other arm around her. I pulled her into me, too focused to say anything but hoping my warmth did something for her spirit.
Though my heart was still pounding fiercely in my chest, it felt like we might actually make an escape. There was no indication that we were being followed, and I risked a brief glance back to check. We were turning another bend as I faced forward again, and it was so sharp that we nearly crashed into the blockade as it straightened out. A blockade of soldiers. I pulled back on the reins so abruptly the horse reared, throwing both Ava and me off and to the ground.
I bolted up, pulling my dagger and creating a ball of sparks, ready to fight back. But the moment I reached my feet, a crippling force shot through my body. It was magic, and it was agonizing, and paralyzing, and I fell to my knees as someone stepped forward from the thick line of soldiers blocking the road. And it wasn’t someone Ronan.
It was Hazlitt, and at seeing him, I glanced side to side to finally look at the expanse of men that accompanied him. They didn’t just obstruct the road. There were so many spanning out through the woods that they reached farther than I could see. Their numbers were so thick that they stretched back along the next bend, and all of them were clad in red and gold. Hazlitt had brought his entire army. He’d used Ava to kill the king so he could come in and conquer Ronan while it was in a state of panic.
“You bastard!” I shouted, vaulting forward with every intention of plunging my dagger straight through his armored chest.