The river flowed into Bright Lake from the south and then out through the marshlands to the north. River gates controlled the waterway. With the army patrolling the entire perimeter of the city, an exit through that gate had been as unfeasible as any other, but now that most of the rebels were inside the lower city, only the eastern shore of the river was patrolled. If someone could leave via the river itself, they could perhaps make it to the west shore and out of range of the army unseen. At least that was my hope.
My hands quivered as they extracted a rolled-up paper from the cording of my dress and nerves made my stomach clench. There hadn’t been enough time to plan this first part fully. Still, it was too late to back out now. Soon Jov would come back and find the note on the chair. The thought of my brother’s expression when he read it … I swallowed, placed the parcel between two rocks, and strode toward the tower with my chin high.
The Order Guard Mago let me in. “What can we do for you, Credola?” he asked.
I wiped my hair from my face, taking that moment to scan the room. Three guards, one near the gate wheel. Heart beating faster, I handed the paper to Mago, nonchalant. “New rosters.”
Mago frowned, unrolling it. “I thought the roster was settled.”
I shrugged, edging back around the curve of the wall, toward the gate wheel. “The Warrior-Guilder was handing them out earlier. I was coming this way so he asked me to pass it on.”
He glanced up at me, eyebrows raised. But as he started reading, his confusion gave way to an angry frown. “What is this?” he muttered. “I can’t do dayshift. My cousin’s on days and someone’s got to look after my little Tash.” He shook the paper at me; I shrugged again, trying to look confused and innocent.
As I’d hoped, the other two guards joined Mago in examining the roster. Soon all three were exclaiming in annoyance, pointing at parts of the document and swearing. I backed away, eased my hands behind me, and got a grip on the wheel. Eyes on the three guards, I pulled.
Nothing.
My stomach turned over. The lock, idiot. I took a step to the right and fumbled for the lock lever.
“This is ridiculous,” the female guard said, rounding on me. “Whoever wrote this must’ve been drunk. We can’t do these shifts.”
My hands froze behind my back. “I didn’t write it, sorry.”
“Honor-down,” Mago said. “Look, there’re people rostered back-to-back here. What was wrong with the old roster?”
The three of them bent over the paper again, and I tugged behind me. The lever moved with little protest. Biting my lip, I stepped back to my left and took the wheel again. Just a little, now, turning gently, one hand over the other.… Don’t make a noise.…
That would have to do. I stepped back to the lever again and relocked the gate mechanism. It made a slight click as the lever fixed back in place and I froze as Mago looked over. “Credola, are you certain this is the current roster? It’s nonsense.”
Breathing easier, I walked back over to the door, spreading my hands out. “I took it from a pile on the table,” I said, pitching my voice a bit higher, making myself sound a fraction younger, less certain. “The Warrior-Guilder pointed them out and said they were the rosters for the south wall.” I frowned. “There were lots of papers there.… Maybe I got it mixed up with an old one?”
Mago blew out his cheeks. “I hope that’s the case, Credola. Pardon the slur, but the Warrior-Guilder’s gone mad if he thinks we’ll take this nonsense.”
“I’ll take it back and check,” I volunteered. “Maybe it was my mistake.”
I took the paper and bid them a hasty farewell.
My breath came too fast as I slunk behind the ruins of the bridge again. Now, when it was too late to turn back, this seemed like a terrible idea. Tain hadn’t wanted to hear it when I’d suggested it, unwilling to risk another messenger. Heart hammering, I untied my dress cording and wound it around my hands, making neat coils even Jovan would be proud of, and laid the loops on the ground. I took off my dress and bound the oiled parcel against my back with the loops of cording. There, arms wrapped around my shivering body, paralyzed by fear, I paused. In the end, I wasn’t brave, no matter how much I wished to be.
But Tain was as good as dead, and Jovan wouldn’t be far behind if the city fell. We needed dramatic action and this was the only idea that might work. My whole life I had wanted not just to contribute to something greater but—perhaps selfishly—to be seen to contribute. Not to be immediately forgotten by the people I met, or only to be thought of by reference to my limitations. I might never have done anything special or courageous in my life, but this could be the city’s only chance.
I dropped down onto my belly, the soggy soil chilly through my thin undergarments, and watched across the lake for any sign I had been seen. There was at least one watcher on the wall on the west side, but their light was being used to monitor the top of the gate, not the water below. Hugging the shoreline, I crawled through the sand and mud toward the tower, low and slow.
The water felt shockingly cold, tightening my lungs. My feet crept along the slimy bottom, silent and slow to minimize ripples, water lapping up to just below my nose. Close to the gate now, one of the most dangerous points because of all the guards on our side of the water. The water grew deeper as the tower rose out of its bank until my toes lost touch with the mud. Just like you practiced. I let my face drop lower underwater, swimming with just my eyes and the top of my head above the water, turning my face for breaths. The tower loomed up ahead, lit windows illuminating the lake with patches of dark green and silver, then beyond that, the great river gate. It became harder to move through the water with the turbulence underneath; though the surface looked sluggish, the water below rushed through, cold and strong, carrying the power of the river from beyond the walls. I had underestimated the strength of the current on this side of the gate. From a boat, or from the shore, the river seemed barely to move as it trailed into the city.
The hum of guards’ voices inside the tower, possibly still complaining about the false roster, reached me. But no one came to the window, and there was no movement from the guard on the other side of the water. I reached the gate and clenched cold fingers around the wide metal bars and chain links. The current buffeted me backward, flattening me out and bubbling around my face.
Steeling myself, calming my breathing, I filled my lungs, tucked my head down, and dove. I kicked hard, fighting against the current to claw down the gate like an upside-down ladder. Even with my eyes open it was too dark to see anything. My lungs burned and my arms weakened quickly. I struggled, flailing. I was going to have to give up; I’d never make it below. I hadn’t raised the gate enough. I’d failed.
Just as my shaking right arm lost the last of its strength, my scrambling fingers wrapped around a different type of bar: a solid, long one. A spike. Hope triggered a new burst of energy and I thrust myself under the bottom of the gate. For a moment I floundered, stuck halfway, tightness spreading from my chest to my throat and face until it felt like my head was going to explode. Then with one last frantic wriggle, I passed under. Now, instead of pulling me away, the water buffeted me against the grate. I scrambled hard, head spinning. The dark water seemed to stretch on forever.