Neverseen (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #4)(131)

“Someone has to steal that cure. It’s the only way to stop the plague and save the gnomes from slavery.”

“I know,” Sophie said. “But you can’t do this by yourself. How are you going to get inside the city? And if you do get in—what then? You don’t even know where you’re going.”

“I’ll figure it out.”

“Or you’ll get yourself captured—or killed. You can’t leave without a plan.”

“We don’t have time for plans! We have a week.”

“Then we’ll have to plan quickly.”

She crossed the room and grabbed the strap of his satchel, which felt unexpectedly light as she pulled it off his shoulder.

“The Neverseen have been planning this for years, Keefe. You can’t defeat them with zero thought and . . .” She opened his satchel and smiled as she peeked inside, where a fluffy green stuffed gulon stared back at her. “Mrs. Stinkbottom will help you sleep, not defeat ogres.”

“I know,” Keefe mumbled.

She wished he would smile, or crack a joke, or do something Keefe-like—especially at the name Elwin had chosen.

All he said was, “I also have a melder in there. And some of those cube things Dex used in Exile.”

“That’s not enough to take on ogres, Keefe. Ogres. Remember what King Dimitar did to Sandor?”

“That doesn’t scare me.”

“It should. I know it terrifies me.”

“That’s why I’m going by myself.”

“No, you’re not. We’re a team. We’re stronger together.”

He reached for his satchel, but she wouldn’t let go.

“At least give me one day,” she begged. “One day to come up with a better plan.”

His sigh stretched so long it sounded painful.

“Fine. I’ll wait until tomorrow night,” he said. “Then I’m leaving.”


“We need a guide,” Sophie told her friends as they gathered around the breakfast table for a How To Break Into Ravagog brainstorming session. “And not a telepathic guide. An actual guide, who knows their way around the city. We can’t afford to get lost.”

They only knew two people who’d been to Ravagog: Lady Cadence, Sophie’s former linguistics mentor, and Alvar, Fitz and Biana’s brother.

“It has to be Alvar,” Keefe said. “Lady Cadence is scarier than the ogres.”

Sophie agreed.

“Did we ever find a way to contact Alvar?” Sophie asked Fitz and Biana.

“I did,” Della said, appearing in the corner of the gazebo, next to the pile of underripe fruit they’d picked for breakfast. “He didn’t remember the boy you’d asked about. I forgot to tell you.”

“I thought you were with Prentice,” Biana said.

“I was on my way. Then I heard five of the people I care about most in this world talking about sneaking into the ogre capital. So I figured I should stick around and make sure you don’t do anything crazy. And before you start to argue”—she held out her hands to silence them—“I’m not going to try to stop you. I knew when I followed you to the Black Swan that there would be times, like right now, where I’d have to stand by and watch you take huge risks. It’s not easy. Part of me wants to barricade the doors and keep you safe until you’re at least three hundred years old. But . . . I trust you—all of you.” Her eyes lingered on Keefe. “And I know the incredible things the five of you can do. So I’m not going to talk you out of this. I’ll even ask Alvar to help. But I need you five to promise you won’t run off until you’ve discussed your plan with the Collective. I don’t care if you think they’ll try to stop you. You’re strongest when you all work together.”

Della left after they agreed—though Keefe didn’t sound very convincing—and Sophie looked at her list of problems they hadn’t solved. “Okay, so assuming Alvar is our guide, we need to figure out how we stay hidden.”

“That’s easy,” Biana said, vanishing.

Fitz rolled his eyes. “What about the rest of us?”

“And how do you know the ogres aren’t like the gnomes and have a way to see you?” Sophie asked. “Even if they can’t, they’ll be able to smell that we don’t have a Markchain.”

A Markchain was a silver necklace housing a tiny ecosystem of bacteria, and it served as a hybrid between the elvin registry pendants and the dwarves’ magsidian. The scent made it clear to any nearby ogres that the person with the Markchain had permission to be in their city.

“Maybe Lady Cadence would let us borrow hers,” Fitz said.

Sophie made a note of the suggestion, even if she couldn’t imagine Lady Cadence agreeing. “We’re going to need disguises, too. In case we’re spotted. I still have the Neverseen robe I used when we went to visit Gethen.”

“I have mine, too,” Keefe said. His voice hid a slight quiver.

“Okay, so that’s two. We’ll have to find a way to make three more. And he had the Neverseen symbol on his arm, too—maybe we should add that. In fact, maybe we should try to re-create his whole outfit. He had this fitted vest that looked almost military style. The ogres probably don’t know all the members of the Neverseen, so the harder we work to get the details right, the better chance we have of them letting us go if we get stopped.” Sophie made another note, and drew a quick sketch of Gethen’s vest, wishing she had Keefe’s artistic skills.