I didn’t actually buy a ticket to Londinium. Not yet. I had some unfinished business to complete, the first task involving making contact with the princesses. My father monitored all messenger bird stations, so he would definitely catch me at some point and punish me. Plus, once the bird recognized my face, the government would know my location. And they hated deserters. Good thing I wasn’t planning on staying in Egron City much longer. After locating a hub, I dictated my message and gave the bird Tegan’s information. Hopefully the princesses had stuck together and survived these last few hours.

I paid a little extra for an express message. Those birds flew faster and utilized slightly better facial recognition. I hoped that Tegan would reply soon.

Next step: breaking into my house in broad daylight. Why, you might ask? My money, hidden behind a loose brick, would pave the way for my plans.

I took back roads and alleys to my house. The back door opened without a creak after I unlocked it. I heard murmurs from the bakery and froze. Then I relaxed. I recognized the voice of a regular customer. Merle was an elderly lady who bought a loaf of bread once a week; she had no clue about our, um, other business.

While she chatted, I slowly walked upstairs, taking care to avoid each squeaky floorboard. My bedroom door was open and nothing out of place. I folded the stolen paperwork into my emergency backpack, put it on, then crawled under my bed to get to my bank brick.

Someone opened the door that connected the bakery to the house and their familiar footsteps on the stairs made my heart pound. I saw my father’s shiny boots as he entered the room. I could guess his thoughts: ‘I definitely heard something up here. Could I be mistaken? There is no evidence of an intruder. Perhaps a log shifted in the oven.’

He left my room and I heard him tromp downstairs and enter the bakery. As I let out my breath, I removed the loose brick from its place and drew out my coin purse, heavy with potential.

I slid out from under the bed and looked around my childhood room one last time. My airship models hang on strings and my favorite quilt colors the bed. I peeked out the window and saw a couple dozen strangers, each with their own life to live and their own set of difficult choices to make.

After sneaking down the stairs, I slipped out the back door and joined the passerby. The Triumdemic had plainclothesmen all over the city, but there will be less of them the farther away from headquarters I am.

I walk for about half an hour until I find a dusty alley. Lines of clothes obscured the sky. After I sat down, hidden from the street, the exhaustion of the past day caught up to me. My eyes closed and I fell asleep despite myself.

A harsh voice woke me up. “Percy Baker? Message from Precious Tavin. Do you accept?”

Precious Tavin? Princess Tegan? Disguising her name was a good idea. Smart girl.

“I accept. Play message.”

“Parker, the three of us are safe. But we want to leave. Will you meet us at the train station so we can hitch a ride to Victor? Flanders has a plan. No reply necessary, just meet us there as soon as possible.”

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“What was your location at the time of recording?”

The bird tilted its head as it accessed its memory banks. “Location: Northgate. Would you like to send a reply?”

“No, that’s all.”

The bird flew away below the clotheslines. I needed to get out of the alley; the government and possibly the Triumdemic knew my location. As I walked the opposite direction of the bird, I thought of the possibility that the meetup was a trap. The train station would be full of soldiers, so why would the princesses choose to go that way?

I should have asked what “Tegan” was wearing. That would have cleared up some of my questions.

At least Callum is safe. Now the only responsibility I have is for myself and for Shaphan. So what would happen if it is a trap? Deserters are brought into custody and shot. That’s it, end of story. What if I convince them that I’d been chasing Callum, who deserted first? That might work. I bought some food at the nearest market, just in case I did survive.

It took me an hour to walk to the train station, where I promptly hid in a train car full of medical supplies. The huge sliding door was ajar, so I sat in the shadows at an angle where I could see outside. There were tons of platoons and groups of soldiers. I hoped that none of them saw me hop in here.

Then I heard a quiet voice from the other side of the car. “Percy?”

“Chantelle? Is that you?”

“Now that we’re undercover, my name is Chase.”

“Okay. Tavin said you had a plan. Can we talk about that?”

“Yep, Chase is just the sweetest, most intelligent boy I’ve ever met,” Tegan said sarcastically. “We are headed to Astor, then to our home countries.”

“The train station in Caldey is just full of soldiers! How are you going to get out of there?”

“What do you mean? We’re soldiers too!” Flora struck a match and in its little circle of light I saw the three girls in official military uniforms, surrounded by boxes.

“How did you get those?”

“Snagged them from the Triumdemic’s cave. They were in a crate.”

“Of course. I’m sure they’re sold to the government,” I sighed. “But how am I going to survive Caldey? I have someone to meet there, but if anyone recognizes me I’ll be shot.”

“That’s why I have a plan,” Chantelle said sweetly. “Drumroll, please. Actually, don’t. Someone might hear us. Anyway, here’s a dress in your size. Go ahead and put it on.” She tossed a brown lump of fabric across the car.

“A dress?” I asked.

“Yep. You are a female Astorian spy who managed to sneak into Egron City to try to assassinate the king. We are a trio of guards tasked with taking you to General Morley for interrogation and execution.”

“And according to the timetable,” Flora added, “this train will be leaving soon for Caldey. We’ll arrive in the morning.”

“You’re certain that we won’t be caught?” I was still skeptical. So many things could go wrong, and yet they were treating it like a walk in the park. Maybe they really were taking me to General Morley.

“Well, pretty sure. But Chantelle can talk us out of anything.” Tegan replied.

I heard footsteps on the gravel outside and sat perfectly still, holding my breath for good measure. The person shut and locked the door, and that was it.

We chatted for a while. I informed them of Callum’s departure, and Chantelle told me she’d received his message. We shared our food, then fell asleep one by one.