her instruments 03 - laisrathera by hogarth m c a

Author:hogarth, m c a [hogarth, m c a]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Studio MCAH
Published: 2014-05-12T04:00:00+00:00

It took exactly five hours for Malia to get worried enough to beep her. Irine touched the telegem at her ear and tapped back a ‘fine’ response and immediately started looking for cover. She was hugging the palace’s basement beneath the balcony that led to the lake; there were sunken windows along its edge that suggested a way in, if she could find one that hadn’t been shut tightly enough. Guessing that Malia was going to want words with her, though, she found the deepest corner and cuddled up into it, puffing out white breath. While she’d been sneaking back she’d hardly been aware of the cold; now that she wasn’t moving, it felt a lot more acute.

Hopefully the conversation wouldn’t take long and she could move on. She hugged her knees and bent her head into them, scanning the lake’s edge. There were scrapes in the snow where the bodies Hirianthial had left had been pulled away—into a pile, in fact. Why hadn’t their graves been dug yet? Maybe the ground was too cold to get a shovel through?

The telegem hissed to life in her ear. “Irine! Where in Iley’s name are you?”

“Under the ballroom balcony.”

“What!”

“I’ll be fine,” Irine said. “We need to get off this channel before someone hears us.”

“Irine, you’ve got to get back here!”

“And I will. When I’m done here—”

“Irine! If they take you and someone reads your mind to find out where everyone’s gone….”

That she hadn’t thought of, and it put her fur on end. She clenched her teeth against their sudden need to chatter. “I guess I shouldn’t get caught then.”

“Come back. Right now. Before you blow operational security to the moon and back.”

“I can’t.”

“Irine, they killed everyone at Jisiensire! They’re not going to bat a lash adding you to that count!”

Her heart lurched. “Everyone?” Irine asked, fingers tightening on her shins. “All Hirianthial’s kin?”

“Everyone. We just heard. And that army’s coming back this way. We’re going to get word to the rest of the allies. Tell them to start heading north….”

“Sounds like you’ve got work to do,” Irine said. “I do too.” In the distance, the pile of bodies seemed to waver. Was it snowing? She blinked to try clearing her eyes. “Angels with you, Malia.”

“Wait, Irine--!”

She shut the telegem off manually and tucked it in her pocket. She couldn’t afford to let Malia dissuade her. Her vow had been to Reese, not to the Tams, and not to the Swords. And Reese needed her. She crept out of her hiding hole and skirted the edge of the palace, grateful for the lack of technology that had deprived the building of the sort of external lighting that might have exposed her. All she had to worry about was the moon and starlight, which, granted, was reflecting off the thin snow… but then, she was used to that. The sand near her house was nearly white too, and on a moonlit night it could be blinding.

She checked the next window, found it solid and sneaked to the next.

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