Claire got to her feet. “Put that down, Jemroth,” she said, a tone of authority she’d never heard before in her voice. “If you touch her, I’ll be forced to use learth, and I promise you it’ll hurt.” Before anyone could stop her, she stretched out her fingers, flames gleaming at their tips. She shot one at his feet, forcing him to leap backwards in surprise.

“You’d turn on us for her?” Jemroth demanded incredulously.

Claire sighed as she doused the flame. “I’ve had quite enough of murder. Do what I say and stop being an idiot, Jemroth. I’m ashamed of you. You and Lotte have more in common than you think. You’ve both lost your families and homes for starters.”

Mouth hanging open, Jemroth did as he was told. Lotte glared at him, then glanced at Claire gratefully. Claire was sure if Jemroth wasn’t still in the way with a knife on the floor, she’d have peeled off the wall and hugged her.

Gareth hauled Jemroth to his feet, grabbing the knife and pocketing it with his spare hand, then tugging the advisor to his end of the loft. Claire noticed Jemroth stared at his feet as if ashamed as both he and Gareth sank onto a mattress.

As the awkward silence grew, she cleared her throat. “We’ll put that little episode behind us. Jemroth, I’ll never mention it again.” She paused. “Assuming it never happens again.”

“Fine,” Gareth answered for him, sounding strained. “But what are we going to do about her?” At Claire’s glare, he backtracked. “I mean, about Lotte. I don’t trust her, and you can’t make me. I, for one, don’t want her going to my father on her own lest we get a repeat of Dorran Manor—”

“For the last time, I ain’t the enemy!” Lotte said, red in the face and looking ready to launch herself at someone.

“She would say that, wouldn’t she,” Gareth said, nudging Jemroth in the side so the sulky man looked up. He nodded his agreement.

Claire put her hands on her hips, fixing him with a hard stare. “Then what do you propose? I won’t let you hurt Lotte. If you insist on stupid prejudices colouring everything, we’re doomed.”

“Then she’ll have to stay with us,” Gareth said. “No messages to my father and no going anywhere else alone either. We stick together.”

“Right, and Eidan wins. What a brilliant plan,” Claire scoffed.

Gareth flushed, falling into silence. Jemroth stared at the floorboards like he was praying, and Lotte had her arms crossed, wearing a mutinous expression. Claire wanted to scream as she sank back into her own mattress. Everything was coming unstuck. Even if Lotte had betrayed them to Eidan, she didn’t deserve death. That would make Claire and the others as bad as Kelnarium’s leader. But how could they succeed now? Someone had to take a message to Gwenivere and the others.

She racked her brains, carefully going over everything Marcus had told her. Maybe there was something she could use from that conversation …

Yes! She restrained a squeal. What a wonderful idea. Risky, absolutely, but if it worked …

“I’ve got something,” she said, trying to sound casual, even as adrenaline coursed through her like a sugar hit. “Marcus said Eidan’s preparing his army.” The others blinked at her, dull-eyed and sulky. “If you insist on keeping an eye on Lotte, why don’t we go with them to the Rift?”

“How?” Gareth asked, looking blank. “None of us are soldiers and we don’t have the right uniform or weapons. The army would know we were fakes straight away.” He thought for a moment. “Unless you meant we could knock a couple out in town and steal their identities. I suppose that could work.”

“She could run off and warn Eidan of our presence at any moment,” Jemroth said, jerking his head at Lotte, who glowered back at him. “We’d have to guard her round the clock and that might look a little obvious. Armies are disciplined. They don’t do things out of the ordinary unless they’ve been ordered to, or they’re spies. We’ll be caught.”

“No,” Claire said, sure her eyes were shining with glee. “We’re all good with looking after horses and –”

“I ain’t,” Lotte interrupted.

“Well, I’m sure you could manage organising supplies and that sort of thing. Unless history class has led me astray, armies have baggage trains.” The others stared at her in confusion and she could have burst with impatience. “Isn’t it obvious? We join Eidan’s army that way. In the textbooks I read, no one ever notices them. They’re the servitors, so why should they? We’ll be behind the main army too, so there’s less chance of Eidan or Marcus noticing us.” She glanced at her friend. “And if Lotte is who you say – sorry, I don’t think you are, but I’ve got to make the argument – the three of us will have time to grab a horse and ride away. And,” she finished triumphantly, “I can try talking to Marcus and persuade him to come away with us and as soon as I succeed, we can ride hard for Gwenivere and the others.” She looked from person to person. “Well? What do you think?”

“It’s pretty audacious,” Gareth said slowly, “but it could work and at least we’d be close to Eidan and all the action.”

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Jemroth grinned nastily, darting a glance at Lotte. “And it will be easier to keep an eye on this one in such an environment. The baggage train is a disordered mess compared to the main army.”

“What do you think, Lotte?” Claire asked, ignoring Jemroth’s hostility.

The exile shrugged. “Nothin’ I can say will change those two’s mind so it’s as good an idea as any, only how’ll we join? Won’t Eidan have people already, especially if he intends to set off tomorrow? Isn’t that what Marcus said?”

Claire nodded, pulling herself together. “There isn’t a second to waste. Pack up your things. Take only what you need and can carry without drawing too much attention to yourself.” She squared her shoulders, trying to look and sound confident. “We head for the Council Buildings. I still have the token to get into the complex and we can find the stables from there.”

***

As soon as they got inside the complex, Claire knew where to go. Men and women in black and grey cotton with the symbol of the city stitched on their chest hurried with baskets of food and drinking skins towards a point to the left of the main building. Not all of them were in uniforms so she and the others could hopefully blend in. Claire made sure the others were right behind her, and set off in the same direction, a small bag of coins tied through her belt sitting hot against her skin. She’d elected to leave most of their stolen supplies behind, taking only what they could fit into pockets. They had to be able to run if they needed to. Lotte had nothing but spare coin, dry biscuits, and hard cheese. Gareth and Jemroth had added tiny daggers to their boots. They kept their heads down.

Claire picked her way past the side of the building, letting servants brush past her. In front of them rose squat mud-brick buildings. It was here that supplies were dumped, men with long, unravelled parchment scrolls marking items off on lists, then directing people to take them in hessian sacks to the nearby sheds. Claire glanced about, trying to spot the stables. A woman pushed past her, leading three horses by the reins. Hoping no one would look at her too carefully in the bustle, she followed close behind the animals, with Lotte, Gareth and Jemroth close behind.

Every step felt closer to discovery. When someone shoved at Claire, she was sure they would call out and ask her what she thought she was doing, especially as she wasn’t carrying anything useful to the war effort. Yet somehow, she made it into the darkness of an empty stable, straw and dirt packed to make a hard surface and wooden stalls stretching out as far as she could see. To her right, troughs full to the brim with feed waited.

Now, for the hardest part. Convincing someone to let them come along. Luckily, she’d thought of a plan as she’d wended her way through the city. She’d claim Wallis had sent her party to join the army as a sign of support for Eidan’s new anti-magic policy. With the councillor well known for his fanaticism, hopefully no one would question her story. Then, she thought, as she untied her bag of coins and settled it in her hand, people could always be bribed.

Lotte, Jemroth and Gareth jingled their own coin behind her, the agreed signal to indicate someone was coming.

Claire spun around to come face to face with an irritated looking overseer, the metal on his belt gleaming from polish and his attire crisp. “What’re you doing?” He demanded belligerently as Lotte, Gareth and Jemroth tried to give nothing away in their expressions. “I’ve no time for slackers.” He squinted and stepped closer, “And why aren’t you in uniform?”

Claire clasped her hands together, wishing her heart wasn’t beating quite so loudly. “Please, Sir, Wallis sent us to help with the horses. I’m one of the best in his stable.”

“I’ve received no word,” he snarled.

Claire held out the bag of coin. “He sent this too, for the overseer who will take his people on.”

The man’s eyes lit up with greed. He snatched the bag out of Claire’s hand. “If you can manage the war horse on the end, I’ll take you. Brighid knows, half the servitors I’ve been sent are lazy brats and the other half piss themselves at the barest mention of magic.” He peered at Claire. “Are you scared, girl?”

Claire decided for a half-truth. “A little,” she admitted, “but Wallis says the people of Kelnariat are made of stronger stuff than those as use magic and we’ll catch them unawares and beat them bloody before the week’s out.”

“Hm,” the overseer said. “Get to the far stall and let me see what you’re made of. His name’s Luln and he needs a brush and a feed.” He turned to Gareth and the others and pointed to the following stalls, then clicked his fingers. “And you three can do the same with the next few along.”

Claire did as she was told, trudging to the wooden door, and reaching for the bulky bolt. She wasn’t too nervous. She and Marcus had ridden horses since they were four and she’d met her fair share of temperamental creatures. She made sure she side-stepped as the door swung open. Sure enough, the horse kicked out the second he saw her. Making crooning noises, Claire cautiously entered his stall, grabbing the brush from a wooden plank at eye height as she did so.

She brushed Luln as gently as she could, feeling the horse calm at her gentle touch. Soon, she was able to lead him outside to the troughs of oats and barley she’d seen on her way in. Jemroth followed less than a minute later with Gareth close behind, their own horses tall and proud.

Come on, Lotte! Claire thought as the overseer shifted his feet like he grew bored. This was the riskiest part of her plan. The exile hadn’t ever ridden horses or even really been around them until she’d met Claire and joined the Dorrans. The man was tapping his boot heel hard now. Claire had to do something fast. She reached for learth, aiming cold flame at the far end of the stable. Within seconds, the overseer screamed, and she knew her spell had worked. As he ran outside shouting for buckets of water, she quickly doused her working, a bit of sweat dripping down her neck as the smell of burnt meat faded.

She gripped Gareth by the elbow as he gaped. “Take off your shirt and pretend you put it out. I’ll help Lotte.”

Without waiting for acknowledgement, she raced for Lotte’s stall. Her friend stood white-faced, backed into a corner as her horse snorted belligerently her direction.

“It’s all right,” Claire whispered. She grabbed the horse’s halter and led it outside, thrusting the rope into Jemroth’s hands, then headed back for Lotte.

Lotte shook like a leaf. “I can’t do this. I’ll have to wait in Kelnariat for ya to close the Rift.”

“I don’t think so,” Gareth’s voice came from behind her.

Claire made a quick decision. She could tell from Gareth’s face he didn’t believe Lotte and thought this was a ruse to get away from them. “Get the rest of your coin together,” she said shortly. “We’ll bribe the overseer to let Lotte take care of rations, and you too, so you can keep an eye on her, not that she needs it.”

“But—”

Claire could see Gareth was upset about having to do anything with the exile, but Claire didn’t care. She’d had enough. She didn’t have time for more arguments. “Maen and then your father made me the leader of this group. You’ll do as you’re told.”