Night Study (Soulfinders, #2)(58)

The man asked a number of detailed questions about our reason for visiting, how long we planned to stay and where we were lodging. He wrote all our answers down with slow strokes of his quill in a ledger. Then he consulted another book before he allowed us to enter the Citadel. The whole exchange took much longer than normal.

Once we were out of sight of the guardhouse, Janco rode alongside me. “That’s new. When did they start with the cross-examination at the gate?”

The last time I’d arrived, I’d been waved through. I calculated. “Sometime in the last forty days.”

“Do you think it’s because the Commander now has Curare?” Ari asked me.

“No. In that case, they would have doubled the guards at the border, but we didn’t see any unusual activity on the Sitian side.”

“Do they know Owen’s in Ixia?” Janco asked.

“Leif may have messaged Irys.”

“Is Leif back from Broken Bridge?” Ari asked.

“It’s possible. We’ll ask Irys once we reach the Magician’s Keep.”

“I’m so looking forward to being in the Creepy Keepy again,” Janco muttered sarcastically. “Can’t we crash in Leif’s apartment? Mara won’t mind.”

“She will if an assassin climbs through her window,” I said. “He might get my blood on her pretty yellow curtains.”

“I guess it’s the cold, hard floor of your room in Irys’s tower, then.”

“The Keep has comfortable guest quarters. I’m sure—”

“Not a chance, sweetheart,” Janco said. “Valek said ‘protect.’ We’re not letting you out of our sight. Except...you know...when...” He blushed and spurred The Madam into a faster walk.

The Citadel was a large, rectangular-shaped city divided into six quarters. The northwest and southwest quarters contained a maze of residences. The two middle quarters resembled a giant bull’s-eye with an impressive market right at the center. A diverse selection of goods imported from all over Sitia and Ixia were sold in its many stands. Large-scale businesses and factories ringed the market in ever-widening circles. The Magician’s Keep with its four towers occupied the entire northeast corner of the Citadel, and the Council Hall, government buildings and Councilor’s residences were located in the southeast quarter.

At this late hour, only a couple people hurried through the streets of the Citadel, but I knew various members of the Helper’s Guild hid in the shadows cast by the street lanterns. Fisk, the young man in charge of the guild, would be informed of my arrival well before anyone else. Good thing he was a friend and would keep the knowledge to himself.

Firelight blazed from a few taverns where voices buzzed and an occasional burst of laughter tumbled from open windows. We soon passed the outer ring that consisted of inns and taverns and entered the quieter and darker loop of factories.

After a few minutes, the cool breeze shifted and Kiki stopped. She reared up and snorted, signaling trouble. Without conscious thought, I yanked my bo staff from its holder on my saddle just as Ari and Janco drew their swords.

Dark figures rushed from the shadows and blocked our path. My pulse rate increased as I counted over a dozen. Too many for the three of us.

“Ambush,” Ari said.

“Ya think?” Janco pulled on the reins, backing The Madam closer to Kiki and Whiskey.

We turned around. More figures stood on the street behind us. There was just enough light to reveal the swords and daggers gripped in their hands. At least two aimed crossbows at us. I scanned the buildings on each side, seeking an alley to escape down. Instead, I spotted more ambushers.

We were trapped. Anger mixed with fear. Those two guards hadn’t been rushing home after their shift. Idiot!

“We’re on horseback. We can charge them,” Janco said.

“And get bolted,” Ari said. “I don’t think so.”

“Drop your weapons and dismount,” a deep male voice ordered. He strode forward and into the faint light. Two silver captain bars glinted on his shoulders—Captain Romas.

“They’re the Citadel guards,” I said to my friends, relaxing. Then, louder, I asked Romas, “Why have you ambushed us? We’ve done nothing wrong.”

“You mean other than giving false names at the gate?” he asked.

Uh-oh. We were recognized. “I don’t—”

“Save it for your hearing. Yelena Zaltana, Ardenus Ixia and Janco Ixia, you are all under arrest.”

“You can’t still be mad at me over that little incident last season,” I said, referring to when Romas and a unit of his men tried to stop Leif, Hale and me from leaving the Citadel about a hundred years ago. Or so it felt.

He grasped the hilt of his sword. “It isn’t about that.”

Oops, I shouldn’t have reminded him. “Is it for lying to the gate guards? You can’t—” I tried.

“No. For conspiring with the enemy, for espionage and for treason. Now drop your weapons and dismount, or my archers will knock you off your horses.”

And that answered my question about the Council’s state of mind regarding me. Kiki tensed. One word from me and she’d shoot forward and trample anyone unfortunate enough to be in her path. However, I’d been hit by a crossbow’s bolt before. If it didn’t kill me, it’d still mean an excruciating trip to the infirmary.