Stormcaster (Shattered Realms #3)(101)

She handed out the weapons. Hal slid the blade home with a satisfactory hiss.

Lila opened another cabinet. It was stuffed with what appeared to be black oilskin cloaks. Again, standard issue for the King’s Guard here in the south, where winter was more often rainy than cold.

“Leave the cloaks in here until you need them,” she said. “When the party gets under way, ease out and mingle.” She opened the door that should have led into the ballroom, but all Hal could see were thick blue draperies. “The hostages will be wearing animal masks covered in sequins—badgers, lions, elyphants, dragons, and so on. They’re all different styles and colors, so the hostages will be harder for the King’s Guard to notice when they congregate. Get word to each one of them to drift toward the punch bowl when the temple sounds the quarter hour before ten o’clock. Also—tell them to keep their masks on until they are told to remove them. We don’t want anyone picking them out.”

“That’s a lot of information to deliver,” Hal said. “Wouldn’t it have been safer to let them know the plan before they come up to the ballroom? What if we miss someone? What if someone notices us making the rounds?”

“Lieutenant Karn wants to make sure nothing leaks beforehand. There are eyes and ears everywhere.”

“But—”

“There are twenty-eight adults. See that you get to everyone, and make sure you’re not noticed.” She paused, and when there was no more protest, she went on. “At ten o’clock, all hell breaks loose, and you will herd them behind the curtain and out through the exit door, handing each one a cloak to put on as they come through. Got it?”

“Where do we go once we get outside?” Robert’s eyes were alight with excitement. He was all action, waiting to happen.

“The postern gate will be open, but you won’t go there. You’ll go back to Newgate.”

“Newgate?” Hal shook his head. “Why do we go back there?”

“Because it’s close, and because nobody will look for you there. Once you’re there, you’ll get further orders.”

“What happens at ten o’clock?” Robert said.

“Like I said. You’ll see. Now, I have errands to run.” She left through the door they’d come in, leaving Hal and Robert staring after her.

“What just happened?” Robert whispered.

“Damned if I know,” Hal said.

Destin Karn descended the now-familiar staircase to King Jarat’s secret prison, Luc Granger at his heels, along with a small crew of the king’s handpicked blackbirds. There were so many ways this complicated plan could go wrong, with so many untried civilians involved. So he’d have to feed them information just in time for them to put it to use. And he’d have to find a way to do it with Granger shadowing his every step.

The hostages were already assembled, dressed in their party clothes. Lila and Marina had done their work well, with help from Jocelyn, Destin’s tailor friend. They wore a combination of clothing fetched from their capital apartments, clothing they’d had with them in the Pit, now carefully cleaned and repaired, and some new acquisitions by Lila for the children.

He took a quick head count. All present and accounted for, including the Matelons. He asked Lady Heresford to hand out the masks. The children, especially, were smitten with the animal masks, arguing over who would get what. He noted that Harper chose a dragon mask, and her mother a badger.

“No pushing,” he said, feeling like a stand-in teacher at a grammar school. “There are enough for everyone. Does everyone have a mask? Good. Don’t put them on until we get upstairs. I don’t want anyone stumbling and cracking their head open, because I’ll have to clean up the blood.” I do enough of that as it is.

The lytlings seemed to find this hilarious. Their mothers, less so.

Granger seemed unmoored in this sea of women and children, as if they drained all of the swagger out of him, leaving the nastiness behind. “Tell them we’ll cut the whelplings’ throats if they make a scene,” he murmured to Destin.

“Good thinking,” Destin murmured back. “That’s guaranteed to put them in a party mood.”

Taking a step away from Granger, Destin addressed the hostages. “Now, just a word of caution before we go upstairs,” he said. “I know you’ve been put in an awkward situation. This might seem like an opportunity for a show of opposition—some kind of demonstration to embarrass the king in front of his guests. Trust me, it’s not. It will accomplish nothing, and it will damage Queen Marina, who stuck her neck out for you. Most importantly, it will put you at risk, since there’s no telling how Jarat will react. Does everyone understand?”

There followed a grudging mumble of agreement.

Destin took a deep breath. “Let’s go,” he said.





41


WALLFLOWER


It seemed to take forever to get the party started. Hal spent that time going over Lila’s orders in his head, worrying about all the things that could go wrong. Who was Barrowhill anyway? She looked like a Southern Islander, and maybe she was, because she swore like a sailor. Was she some minion of Karn’s? Had she been spying on the thanes when they’d met at Temple Church?

Karn must have a whole network of people to call upon. But how many of them could be trusted to go along with freeing the hostages?