In the distance, the walls of Glorious Ingvar rose. They were close. If Abghar really had a cart, it would barely take us till mid-morning to ride to the city.
“You should be working more on speaking to your manifestation,” Essena said with a sniff. “You might still be able to change the way it presents itself.”
“What do you care?” I asked. “You’re here as a spy for Le Majest. You aren’t even with your apprentices. Didn’t you have some waiting for you in Astar Harbor?”
“I have work to do here,” she hissed. I knew what that work was. She was a spy for the crown prince. Why else would she be here ingratiating herself with the rebels while also driving them apart? I didn’t trust her and just because I couldn’t figure out her purpose didn’t mean she didn’t have one. “And I didn’t break your precious older brother’s rules, so your family doesn’t have blood feud with me.”
She was right. She’d left the gap before dawn was finished breaking. She’d met Abghar’s demands. I found it interesting that she mentioned that. Perhaps she knew I was more powerful than she was pretending I was. Perhaps she didn’t want me to be more of an enemy than I already was.
It turned out that Abghar’s plan to get us into the city involved hiding in a hatch under a higgler’s cart – both of us but not Essena.
“They won’t recognize you,” he said by way of explanation to her. “Especially if you can keep your bird hidden. They’re looking for Aella and maybe for someone who looks like me but not for you.”
The fit in the hatch was uncomfortable and with us both squished together in the false bottom, it felt impossible to breathe. But I felt better about being in this little place with Abghar than I would have up in the cart with Essena.
The eggs were placed carefully above us and after that, there was no getting out until we made it to our destination. Just the thought of that made me worried. And just getting worried made me need to get out and take a breath.
I held myself together by breathing deeply.
“What were those spells you were having on the gap trail?” Abghar whispered to me when the cart was rolling down the road easily and the bumps weren’t so bad that they rattled our bones.
It was dark in the little compartment and every muscle in my body hurt from the way we bounced on the hard wood.
“My bees show me visions,” I whispered. “I saw what was happening in the capital of the Winged Empire.”
“Did you see the emperor?” he asked.
“The emperor is dead,” I hissed, not able to hold back my fear.
“And why is that a bad thing?” he whispered back.
“Because his son is my husband.” Just admitting that felt like drinking something bitter. I hated the thought of being tied to Juste in any way and marriage was the most personal way possible. I should have told Osprey all of this before I left. I should have woken him up and made him listen.
“We can’t talk about that right now,” he whispered. “There are ears that hear everything.”
Abghar was silent as the cart jostled us and I slipped back into the stream of visions.
Retger and Zayana slipping out of the gap and sneaking into the woods. Anfrea singing to the children, looking worriedly out the window and trying to disguise her worry for the little eyes looking at her. Osprey, still fast asleep but now with Victore sitting beside him, feeding his ravens. Raquella – looking fierce – her face framed by the city gate she was walking through.
As grateful as I was to see them safe, as the hours passed, I only worried more. I saw them in little glimpses. A look in Raquella’s eye as she slipped into an alley, the confidence of Oska striding out onto the docks dressed as a sailor. Young Alect whistling as he unloaded a cart.
And still, Osprey slept.
I wondered if I should have told him that his father had been killed. And I worried that he wasn’t sleeping at all. What if he had died from my bees and their work and I just couldn’t tell because the snapshots were so quick?
I was getting more anxious by the second, and Essena’s muttering from above us on the seat of the cart was not helping.
“Stay strong, my owl, watch for anyone with a heart who does not love the right way – the pure way – the way of glory – and eviscerate that person. We shall expose and reduce them to ash. We shall winnow and burn.”
Why did the Single Wing think she was on their side? Hadn’t they heard whispers like that before? Sure, she was strengthening her bird – but for what? I didn’t believe for a second that she was doing any of it to help them. I’d never seen someone so obsessed with the Empire – unless it was Xectare – and I was certain she’d only come to undermine Abghar and me – or possibly kill us while we were trying to start the overthrow in this city.
“What are the three of us supposed to do?” I whispered to Abghar. “In the other cities, they have a plan for taking the towers and the wall but there are only three of us on this mission.”
“We’re supposed to be a distraction,” Abghar whispered, bringing his lips close to my ear so that the sound wouldn’t make it up into the cart. “In the original plan, this attack was meant to keep Le Majest’s forces here instead of running off other places to reinforce them. When we get close to the city, I’ll drop this hatch and the two of us will fall out the bottom and slip into the crowds before Essena notices.”
“Really?” I whispered back. Relief filled me at the thought of being rid of her.
“I believe you, Aella. I know she is a threat. We’ve been sent here to die, not to achieve anything. No one expects us to make it back. They must have sent her, too, to get rid of all the discordant voices in one blow. But you and I will prove them all wrong. Relentless.”
“Relentless,” I agreed.
After that, it seemed like no time before we heard guards talking to the crowd and investigating the egg cart. I held my breath, watching Abghar’s worried expression through the dim light that filtered in between the wooden slats. Just a few minutes more and then we’d be in the city and able to sneak off the cart and away without Essena noticing.
I felt for Abghar’s hand and he held mine tightly.
And then the cart started to move again. It turned a corner, shifting me into Abghar. He squeezed my hand tightly. The floor dropped out from under me so suddenly that I didn’t have time to gasp. My brother wrapped me in a bearhug as we fell, rolling with me under and then over him and then leaping to his feet and dragging me to mine. We stumbled together into an alley mouth and looked out into the street.
My mouth dropped open. I’d been worried we’d be seen. The trap door opened up into two doors that dropped us neatly to the ground and I could still see them swinging under the cart as it turned a corner. The occupants hadn’t noticed. Neither had the people of the city. And no wonder. This entire section was a ruin, ravaged by fires, still smoking. In some places, the embers still glowed in the ruined houses. The few people in the streets were soot-covered and picking through the rubble, heads down and shoulders drooping.
It felt like someone had slapped me in the face. This was not what Glorious Ingvar had looked like when I’d left. It was not the strong city of tales and legend.