The Crow King's Wife(156)

“I’m going to get Charm.” Shade announced as the priest moved toward the next cell door.

“Good you do know the plan then.” Grim replied with a faint chuckle as his hands locked around the iron bars. “Stand back please I don’t want any of you to get hurt by metal shards.” He warned the prisoners as they pressed themselves closer to the door in their eagerness to escape.

“Bastard.” Shade muttered as he turned away leaving the common prisoners in Grim’s capable hands. He had two doors between him and Charm and at least six cells to open. He sincerely doubted it would be as simple as tearing the doors free. The doors restraining the Elder Blood prisoners would be layered with magic and using Grim’s method of tearing them off the hinges would likely result in an explosion of wards that would level part of the prison.

“Black Bastard.” Grim corrected pleasantly from behind him and Shade had to smile in response.

“Black Bastard.” Shade repeated as he pushed open the first door and silently prayed any patrolling guards would run into Grim first. He would need all of his attention to disable to the magical wards and didn’t want the distraction of a fight to interfere with his rescue.

He had seen the pale blur of Charm while exploring the prison, and even through the shadow wrapped form he could tell the man was in bad shape. If there was going to be a fight it was going to be entirely on his shoulders, Charm would be no help in his current condition.

The sound of fighting erupted from the halls behind him as Shade slid through the second door and moved swiftly toward the back wall that held Charm’s cell. Glancing around the room he assured himself that it was empty of everyone but the prisoners and felt a moment’s relief. It wasn’t that he feared fighting. It was that he feared who he would be forced to fight. He knew many of the Fionaveir from his time amongst them, and no matter the situation he didn’t look forward to having to face a friend in combat.

“Shade!” A familiar voice burst out from the first cell along the wall and Shade froze in his tracks and whirled in surprise as Lex pressed himself against the door. “Shade what the hell are you doing down here?” Lex demanded.

Blinking stupidly Shade stared at Lex and tried to make sense of why he was in a cell. Lex was the Empress’s brother, and the idea that Symphony would have her own brother locked away was ridiculous. Lex had served as bodyguard for Shade for years and he knew the man didn’t have a traitorous bone in his body. “Rescuing people.” Shade answered lamely.

He glanced at Charm’s cell then detoured to Lex’s cell instead. The Fionaveir seemed to be whole, and Shade knew he was a good fighter. It seemed prudent to release Lex first and trust him to watch his back while he opened the rest of the doors, though Shade wasn’t entirely certain that Lex would fight the guards if they did arrive. Lex was a loyalist to his order and even though they had locked him away he might still be sympathetic toward their cause.

“Good to hear, I can’t say I object to the thought of rescue. I’ve been down here for weeks.” Lex beamed a smile at him and shook his head in amazement. “How did you know to look down here?”

“A big ugly obnoxiously arrogant bird told me.” Shade replied dryly as he bent to examine the lock on the cell door. “Whoever designed the lock on this cell door was a complete and utter son of a bitch.” Shade concluded after a moment’s examination and straightened to look at Lex once more. “This is going to take me a few minutes. I have talent, but not quite this much talent. I will have to muddle my way thought this and pray Fortune is feeling generous with me.”

“No time for that!” Grim snapped as he stormed through the door. Not bothering to slow he pulled his coat off and tossed it to the floor before pushing Shade gently back. “We have to go now.” He announced firmly as he glanced through the cell door. “This is Charm?” he asked as he centered himself in front of the door.

“Wait! No Grim don’t do that. Big magic and I am too pretty to die!” Shade yelped as he lunged forward and seized Grim’s arm before he could break the cell door.

“No shit, really?” Grim replied dryly. “The gate at Delvay had quite a bit of magic too. I’ll be fine.” He added with a hint of exasperation in his voice. “This is Charm?” he repeated.

“No. I am not Charm.” Lex said with venom lacing his words.

Startled Shade loosened his grip on Grim’s arm and stared at Lex in confusion. As far as he knew there was no bad blood between Charm and any of the Fionaveir, but Lex’s voice spoke of pure hatred. “This is Lex, also a friend of mine.” Shade replied hesitantly.