“That’s wonderful news.”
“For you,” he mock-grumbled. “Not for me. I needed a break so I asked Ximen to take a turn with him.”
“Good idea. Did you bring a statue?”
Jayden dug into his pack. “I thought this one makes him look the most kingly.” He handed her a statue of Tamburah wearing a crown and elaborate royal garments.
It was about thirty centimeters high and weighed around two kilograms, which meant it was hollow. If it’d been solid gold, it would be much heavier.
She updated Jayden on the new members. “We’ll take them with us when we leave at angle zero. In the meantime, I’m going to visit the professor.” She grabbed a handful of coins and gave them to Jayden. “Here. We’re going to have twelve more people to feed. Please buy some fresh food.”
He stared at the coins in his palm. “Twelve?”
“So far. I’ve been recruiting and I plan to get a dozen more.” She slapped him good-naturedly on the back before hurrying to level forty-two to finish her business with Emeline.
After dodging a couple guards, Shyla slowed. No sense running straight into the enemy. When she reached level forty-three, she paused as a familiar set of…bumps touched her. Pressing against the tunnel’s wall, she peered around the corner. About three meters away were Nuru and Vallie—the two guards who helped her when Utina, the historian, demanded that she be arrested. They had seemed open-minded and intelligent when they escorted her to the library. Would they be open to the idea of joining the Invisible Sword?
Shyla drew in a breath. Only one way to find out. Gathering her courage, she rounded the corner and strode to the pair. It took them a few heartbeats to notice her, and then a couple more to recognize her.
“Hey!” Nuru shouted, pulling his sword. “You’re under arrest.”
She held out her hands to show them she was unarmed. “I’m not running away.”
Vallie had also drawn her weapon. “Good, then we won’t hurt you.”
“I just want to talk to you,” Shyla said.
“Fine. You can talk all you want on the way down to the Water Prince. Turn around and put your hands behind your back.” Nuru gestured with the tip of his blade.
“No.” She made eye contact with each of them. Both were confused by her behavior, but excited to have caught the sun-kissed. “You know the Water Prince will torture me and eventually kill me.”
“He might spare you,” Vallie said.
“You should have thought of that before you stole The Eyes from him,” Nuru said.
“The Eyes were never his. But if he gets them, he will have a great deal of power. And what do you think he’ll do with this power?”
“Not our concern,” Nuru said. “Now move, or I’ll—”
“When will it become your concern? When the prince targets your family? Your friends? Your partner? When your mother is hanging upside down being tortured because your thoughts were not what the prince wanted to hear?”
They both stared at her.
“Yes, The Eyes will give him the power to read your minds, your emotions, your souls. You won’t be able to lie to him. Ever.”
Vallie sheathed her sword and pulled out a pair of manacles. “Nice try, Sun-Kissed. But we don’t scare easily.”
“I’m telling the truth. And you can help me to overthrow the prince. I’m—”
“A delusional sun-kissed whose brains have been fried by the sun. No, thanks,” Nuru said.
“You’ve no idea what you’re talking about,” Vallie said. “There’s no reason for us to trust you.”
Their emotions matched their words. The idea of working with a sun-kissed or anyone to overthrow the prince would be suicide. Too bad. Shyla summoned her will.
Stop.
They both froze. Vallie’s arms were extended as she reached for Shyla. Pushing her arms down, Shyla hooked the manacles back on the woman’s belt. Then she took Nuru’s sword and slid it back into its sheath. Shyla stepped behind them and erased their memories of the encounter with her. Only when she was out of sight did she release them.
She climbed to level forty-two. After ensuring there was nobody in the tunnels around the professor’s room, Shyla knocked on the door.
Emeline invited her inside. “I didn’t think you’d be back this quick.”
“No sense waiting.” Shyla pulled the statue from her pack.
“Oh my.” She took the golden figure almost reverently. Holding it near a lantern, she examined it carefully, once again using her tools. “It’s genuine.” Emeline glanced up. “Well done. How many artifacts did you find in Tamburah’s second vault?”
“I’ve a few more pieces,” Shyla hedged. “Are you interested in buying them?”
“I doubt I have the coin for such historically valuable items. But the Water Prince is very curious where you found these. Guards!”
Shyla started as guards rushed from the professor’s sleeping chamber. So focused on potential ambushers outside the room, she’d never considered seeking them inside. A deadly mistake.
Fifteen
Shyla recovered from her shock and held up her hands. Not to surrender, but to push her magic at the six guards.
Stop.
They halted.
The professor clutched the statue of Tamburah to her chest as she glanced at the guards. “What are you waiting for? Grab her!”
Sleep.
The four men and two women collapsed to the floor.
Emeline backed away from Shyla. “What did you do to them?”
Shyla stepped toward the deceitful woman. “You’ll find out if you don’t pay me what you owe for the crown.”
“She’s bluffing,” a familiar and rather terrifying voice said. The Water Prince stepped from Emeline’s sleeping chamber with Captain Yates right behind him. “Shyla won’t hurt you.” He met her gaze.
Big mistake as that allowed her to read his soul. The prince gaped in shock as he noticed her new eye color. His surprise transformed to fury in a heartbeat, but he recovered, burying his anger deep and resuming his neutral expression. He studied her as if appraising a gamelu herd. As much as she was tempted to go deeper into his thoughts and emotions, she kept her focus on his surface emotions only. For now.
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Shyla said. Her voice remained calm despite the tight fear ringing her throat. Gauging how much strength she needed to knock both the prince and Yates unconscious, she collected her will. From past experiences, Yates would be hard to influence. Perhaps she should just bolt. But would she make it to the door before Yates caught her?
Still clutching the statue, Emeline pressed into a corner, staying out of the way. The prince and Yates kept their distance from her. The Water Prince wore an unremarkable tunic and pants that showed off his athletic build. At twenty-five circuits old, he was young for such a powerful position, but his ruthlessness had developed at an early age.
Holding his hands out to the sides, the prince said, “Relax. We’re here to talk.”
The truth. Yates’ massive fists were pressed to his hips, but he hadn’t drawn his sword. Or his knife. His fierce glower warned her that he could grab both at any time.