There was only a short distance to traverse to the nearest door to the main Palace building. There was a guard on the door, just like there was on every door along the building’s length.

This would be a lot like sneaking through the Volg apartments on Scovese, but with the newer trick she’d learnt, it should be a lot easier. Opening the first door without the guard noticing seemed almost effortless in comparison to how it had been before. She motioned the other two through.

She had to be sure not to let herself get over-confident, though. It was taking a lot less energy than it used to, but it was still taking some, and that energy could still deplete her over time.

The interior layout of the building was straight-forward. It was a much smaller place than the Arnorin Royal Palace, and while the rooms were smaller too, they were also more open, often with multiple entrances and exits. Most didn’t have actual doors, just archways, some of which had curtains strung across them.

There weren’t many corridors either. Rooms connected to other rooms, which meant they passed a lot of people. Every room had multiple people in, from nobles lounging to servants doing chores to warriors standing guard or searching. Even the “private” rooms tended to have two or three people in them and nothing but a curtain to separate each room from the next.

The small number of doors made things easier, but the large number of people meant this was not turning out as easy as she had started to think it would. It was also cramped at times. Walking between two people talking—something they had to do several times—was something of an attention-drawing act, and not only did Felitïa have to convince the speakers’ minds that there was no one new in front of them, but also that they could still see the people they were speaking to. The number of adjustments she had to make to the spell rose quickly and after only a short time, she started to feel a hint of strain.

The Palace’s small size, however, meant it didn’t take long to reach their destination. Nin-Akna pointed to a curtained archway. Four warriors stood on guard, two to either side of the archway and two more several feet in front of them.

“Wait here and let me take a look,” Felitïa whispered to the other two, while increasing concentration on the spell to ensure the guards didn’t hear. Then she moved up to the curtain, made certain she had extended the spell to cover every presence in the Room except Rudiger’s, Nin-Akna’s, Lon’s, and Nesh’s, and pulled back the curtain a short way.

Fra-Atl dozed in a chair in the room, a book in her lap. She wasn’t far from the entrance, but neither were the two guards standing by her. There wasn’t much free space in the room. Most of the space was taken up by two large beds, a table, and several more chairs.

Now came the hard part.

She could put the two guards in this room to sleep, but not without risking the invisibility spell. It would also be hard to keep the four guards in the adjoining room from hearing these two fall. She might be able to get Fra-Atl out of the room without the two guards noticing, but it would only be a matter of moments before they realised she was gone.

She moved the curtain back into place and returned to Rudiger and Nin-Akna. “Be ready. There’s a high chance we’ll need to fight our way out. But don’t do anything unless they see you.” Then she went back to the curtain and stepped through it.

She knelt in front of Fra-Atl, who was still asleep, snoring softly. She put a finger to her lips and with her other hand gave the priest a gentle nudge.

Fra-Atl awoke with a soft gasp. The guards looked in her direction, and the strain of the spell ramped up. She tapped her finger against her lips, hoping Fra-Atl would get the message.

“Bad dream,” the priest said to the guards. “It’s always a bad idea to fall asleep sitting up. Gives terrible dreams.”

Felitïa leaned close to Fra-Atl’s ear. “I’m going to get you out, but it won’t be easy. Do exactly as I direct.”

Somehow, she had to not only hide Fra-Atl’s movement from the guards, but also convince them she was still sitting in the chair. In principle, it was the same thing she had done with the doors and curtains, but a living human was a much more complicated thing.

“Pretend to sleep,” she told Fra-Atl.

The old woman closed her eyes and let her head loll.

Felitïa crooked her fingers a little and directed the image of the priest sleeping at the guards. She gave it a few seconds, then told Fra-Atl it was all right to move. “Slowly, and stay with me. We should be fine until the next room, but after that, things could get sticky.”

Felitïa stood up and moved back to the entrance. She checked back to ensure Fra-Atl was with her and the guards hadn’t noticed, then pulled back the curtain and motioned Fra-Atl to go through.

On the other side, they walked to where Rudiger and Nin-Akna were waiting. Fra-Atl gave Nin-Akna a vigorous hug, and Felitïa struggled to maintain the spell. “No. Too much strain.”

Fra-Atl grimaced and put her hands over her mouth.

Felitïa motioned to Nin-Akna. “Closest—”

“She’s gone!”

The four guards snapped to attention and raised their spears. Felitïa made a quick adjustment to the spell to account for the added scrutiny. She’d hoped it would take them a little longer to notice Fra-Atl’s absence. This was going to get difficult.

The guards inside Fra-Atl’s room came running out. “The prisoner’s gone!”

Felitïa motioned to Nin-Akna and whispered, “Closest exit.”

Nin-Akna took the lead, motioning for Rudiger to take the rear. Two of the guards dashed in the same direction and Felitïa had to pull Fra-Atl out of the way to stop them running into her. The spell strained, but didn’t break.

Once the guards had passed, Nin-Akna resumed her movement, heading back the way they’d come, though changing to a different direction in the next room.

“Keep slow,” Felitïa whispered as they moved, “but keep out of people’s way. A sudden movement is easier to handle than colliding with someone.”

Two more warriors rushed past amidst startled cries from nobles.

“What’s happening?”

“Watch where you’re going!”

“She didn’t come this way!”

From room to room, it was the same. Warriors running about. People huddling aside. Servants dropped trays they were carrying in their rush to move aside. People yelled. Emotions flared. So many emotions. Felitïa hadn’t expected this. It wasn’t like with the Volgs. Dealing with the emotions and the spell was... No, it didn’t matter. She had to do it.

It was only a couple rooms this time, yet it felt like a thousand. Then a short corridor. They spent some time there with their backs against the wall. Then a small entry room with a wooden door.

And three warriors standing in front of it. Shoulder-to-shoulder. No space between or behind them. No way through the door.

Nin-Akna paused and looked back at Felitïa.

“Next one,” Felitïa mouthed.

They backtracked to the corridor, and took a different route. It was a little calmer now, both physically and emotionally. People were adjusting to the situation. Non-guards had gotten out of the way and the guards had settled into a pattern. Felitïa could still feel urgency from them, but not so overpowering. The strain on the spell lessened.

After a couple more rooms, they reached the next exit. Like before, it was a small entry room with some plants and statuary—and three guards positioned shoulder-to-shoulder against the door.

Nin-Akna paused once more.

Felitïa sighed. Someone had realised she was using invisibility to get them out. Clever.

“Next one?” Nin-Akna asked.

Felitïa shook her head. It would be the same everywhere now. The guards had the advantage of being able to move much more quickly.

There were two other ways out of this room. One led to a corridor which had a warrior stationed in it. The other went into a larger foyer lined with animal statues. Three more warriors stood there.

Felitïa motioned to Nin-Akna and Rudiger to watch those two ways and took a couple steps closer to the guards at the door.

Could she put them all to sleep?

One at a time, certainly. But once she’d done it to one, the other two weren’t going to stand still and just wait for her to do it to them. She’d never tried to do it to more than one person at a time. She wasn’t even sure it was possible.

She waved Nin-Akna over to her and leaned in beside her ear. “I’m going to try something I’ve never tried before. It probably won’t work. Be ready to fight our way out.”

Nin-Akna positioned herself in front of the three guards, her spear ready. Rudiger continued watching the other exits.

Felitïa closed her eyes halfway. No, of course. There was no way to get a good enough view of all of them this way. Maybe with her eyes a little more open? There was only one way to find out. She tried it and cast the spell.

The spell energy released and it went awry at once. It was too unfocused. It just spread out and dissipated. One of the guards did sway a little and stumble, though.

“They’re here!” one of the others yelled.

Nin-Akna’s spear jabbed forward at the one who’d spoken. It ripped through his chest. And threatened to shred Felitïa’s mental control over the invisibility spell.

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Felitïa dropped the spell. She grabbed hold of Fra-Atl and pulled her back against the wall. She placed herself in front of the old priest.

Nin-Akna had taken a few steps back, both spear and shield raised. One of the remaining guards had stepped to the side of the door.

The third guard was still stumbling by the door. Still drowsy. Felitïa focused on him and completed the spell. The guard dropped to the floor.

Rudiger cried out. Spear-wielding warriors were attacking him from two sides. Blood dripped from a hole in his chainmail at his side. He parried one attack, but the second almost struck him.

Rudiger took a couple steps back and bumped Nin-Akna. “Watch it!” she cried.

Felitïa focused on one of Rudiger’s attackers. He was moving too much to put to sleep, but perhaps just a clouding of the mind. She released the spell and he stumbled in his attack on Rudiger.

Rudiger shoved his spear into the man, then let go of the spear. He drew Slay.

Nin-Akna blocked a spear thrust with her shield, then brought her own spear down over top of it and into her attacker’s chest. “The door’s clear!” she yelled.

“Behind me,” Felitïa told Fra-Atl and rushed for the door. She opened it, but the priest cried out.

The guard she’d put to sleep had grabbed Fra-Atl’s ankle and pulled her over.

Felitïa cursed herself. She’d forgotten about him, forgotten the fall would probably wake him.

The guard was reaching for a dagger at his belt. Felitïa half-closed her eyes, but Rudiger’s sword slid through the man’s chest.

“Check ahead,” Felitïa told Rudiger. While he ran through the door, she helped Fra-Atl up.

Nin-Akna had spun around and was blocking attacks from the warriors coming in the other way.

“More company!” Rudiger called from outside.

Felitïa helped Fra-Atl through the door. They were on the south side of the Palace now, not far from the barracks, and right along the edge of the hill the Palace was built on. Warriors were forming walls of spears to both sides. Rudiger spun back and forth, trying to keep an eye on both directions.

“Nin-Akna, get out here!” Felitïa called.

The young Ninifin backed out the door, and Felitïa slammed it shut.

“Which way?” Rudiger said.

The walls of warriors to either side once again made squeezing past impossible. Hiding them would do little good.

But why were the warriors moving so slowly?

And why had the ones on the other side of the door not re-opened it yet?

“Something’s wrong,” Felitïa said.

“Shit! They’ll have bows!” Nin-Akna cried. “The cliff! Run!”

They ran.

On each side, a volley of arrows flew over the heads of the warriors. Felitïa tried to keep beside Fra-Atl, tried to shield the priest’s body with her own. Arrows thudded all around them. One tore through Felitïa’s cloak. Another scraped against the armour on Rudiger’s back.

The arrows stopped and the walls of warriors took several steps forward.

Felitïa and Fra-Atl reached the cliff edge. Rudiger was already there. Nin-Akna came up behind them. Two arrows protruded from her shield.

“They’ll be expecting us to do this,” Nin-Akna said. “They probably even want us to do this. But there’s no other way. Unless you can provide another one.”

Felitïa shook her head, then looked over the edge. It wasn’t very steep and there were plenty of hand-holds.

“Surrender!” someone yelled.

“How do you feel?” Felitïa asked Fra-Atl.

“Not good,” the old woman said, “but at least there’s a chance.”

“Then we go,” Nin-Akna said. “Move!”

“They’ll just pick us off like flies,” Rudiger said, though he was already lowering himself over the edge.

“I’ll hide us again,” Felitïa said. She recast the spell just as two more volleys of arrows launched. Her right shoulder exploded in pain as an arrow tore through it. She cried out and lost the spell.

“There are lots of rocks to shelter behind,” Nin-Akna said. “Use them!”

Felitïa gritted her teeth against the pain and started climbing down the side. Any movement of her right arm intensified the pain, so she did her best to use only her left to stabilise herself as she stepped from rock to rock.

She looked back up. Warriors armed with bows were lining up at the top. She quickened her pace. There was a large rock outcropping up ahead. She’d try to make for that.

Where were the others? She’d lost track of them.

There was Rudiger, well ahead of her. No sign of Fra-Atl or Nin-Akna.

Arrows thudded against the ground near her. Felitïa ran for the outcropping, slipping, sliding, but somehow staying on her feet. She dived under it, pushed herself against it. Her feet continued to slip as she sought for a handhold. At last, she found one, and held on for dear life.

Nin-Akna and Fra-Atl were there with her. They looked in more stable positions, though they still grasped at small handholds in the rock. Nin-Akna no longer had her shield.

“I can’t hold on long,” Felitïa told them. “And I can’t move my arm. You need to get that arrow out of me.”

“When we’re on flatter ground,” Nin-Akna said. “Rudiger’s trying to draw their fire. When we no longer hear arrows hitting this rock, we run for that one over there. It’s not as big, but there’s a flatter patch on the other side and we can hide behind it there.”

Felitïa’s fingers were slipping, and she was still scrambling with her feet to stop from sliding down the cliff. Her fingertips were burning.

“Now!” Nin-Akna said.

Felitïa let go and let herself slide the first part of the way. It was unavoidable. Getting back to her feet when she stopped was difficult. Her shoulder burned when she accidentally put pressure on it.

Nin-Akna and Fra-Atl had already made it to their next stop, where Nin-Akna helped Fra-Atl over the rock. “Hurry!” she called to Felitïa.

Arrows hit the ground near Felitïa. She scrambled over the rock, pain shooting through her arm once more. She slid down behind the rock, pressed her back against it. All the time breathing heavily. Trying not to think of the pain.

Fra-Atl gasped for breath. She was covered in dirt and grime, but otherwise looked uninjured.

Nin-Akna had scrapes on her knees and elbows, but otherwise looked fine.

At least they were doing better than her, Felitïa thought. She hoped Rudiger was okay.

“Let’s get that arrow out,” Nin-Akna said, climbing over Fra-Atl to get beside Felitïa.

“You could expose yourself,” Fra-Atl said.

“At this distance, they don’t have much accuracy,” Nin-Akna said, “and it’ll only be for a moment. The arrow is slowing Felitïa down though because she can’t use her arm. See if you can find something for her to bite down on.”

Felitïa just stared ahead of her while the other two shuffled about. She tried to focus on her emotions, on the emotions of those around her. The Room wouldn’t cooperate though. The walls kept collapsing every time she formed them.

Damn her concentration problems!

“Will this do?” Fra-Atl asked.

“It’ll have to.” Nin-Akna handed a rock to Felitïa. “Bite down on this when I tell you. The arrowhead went all the way through. I’m going to yank it the rest of the way. Bite down.”

Felitïa put the rock in her mouth and bit down on it.

“Ready?”

Felitïa nodded and closed her eyes. She screamed as the pain shot through her. But it was over fast enough.

Nin-Akna ripped a hole in Felitïa’s blouse to bare her shoulder. She then tore a piece off Felitïa’s cloak, and wrapped it around Felitïa’s shoulder, under her armpit and around again a couple more times. She pulled it tight and tied it off.

Felitïa spat out the rock. She had loved that cloak.

There were arrows lying on the ground near them. Nin-Akna’s shoulder was bleeding.

“It was just a nick,” Nin-Akna said.

Felitïa’s shoulder still throbbed. Moving her arm still increased the pain, but she had a bit more mobility. At least she could move her hand and fingers much more easily now. That meant spellcasting would be possible again.

If she could concentrate.

The walls of the Room sprang up at her command, and she took stock of the mental presences around her.

Lon and Nesh!

Yes, they were still there.

She reached into the hood and pulled out a squealing rat. It was Nesh. He looked okay. She soon found Lon as well, and he too seemed fine.

She needed to learn to deal with pain better. If she was going to get caught in situations like this, she could keep losing concentration whenever she was injured. She also needed to learn alternative casting methods so she wasn’t so reliant on her hands. From what Meleng and Nin-Akna had told her of Ses-Tlacotl and from what she had seen herself, it was clear that woman had been much more capable of mobile spellcasting than Felitïa was. She wished there was a way to learn her secrets.

“Are you ready to move on?” Nin-Akna said. “They’ve started sending people down after us.”

“I think I can hide us again,” Felitïa said. “But do your best not to send too many rocks sliding. That’ll draw their attention. I know that’s virtually impossible, but just minimise it.”

“We understand,” Nin-Akna said.

“Once we’re at the bottom, first thing we do is find Rudiger. Then we find a spot to rest.” Felitïa concentrated, then cast the spell. The pain threatened to wreck her concentration, but she adjusted her finger position a little to redirect the energy flow. That was a little better. “Let’s go.”

They stood up and continued down the slope. Felitïa kept a constant eye out behind them and kept note of their pursuers’ presences in the Room. The warriors at the top were already too far away to appear in the Room, though they were still in reach of the spell. Just. She had to adjust the spell to compensate for that. She’d gotten so used to combining her spellcasting with her telepathy recently, she’d almost forgotten how to do it without.

Another thing she needed to improve.

There was a loud bang and crash from the east.

Felitïa looked in that direction, but the plateau blocked view of anything.

“What was that?” Fra-Atl said.

“I don’t know, but it’s diverted their attention,” Nin-Akna said, pointing to the top. The warriors were gazing to the east as well. A moment later, they began rushing to the source of the sound. Their pursuers coming down the side after them had also paused and were calling back up to the top.

“We can find out what it was later,” Felitïa said. “Let’s keep moving while they’re still confused.”

Whatever the confusion was, it helped them lose their pursuers, and they were soon at the bottom. From there, they hurried into the forest. Now they just needed to find Rudiger.