Even in the dim light from the hallway, there was no way Rylan wouldn’t recognise his best friend. He smiled as her barely visible eyes crinkled happily at his voice. Before he could do much more than whisper her name, however, her hand appeared before the narrow slit, beckoning him closer.

  Rylan quickly obliged, kneeling down in front of the door.

  “Is it really true, Ry?” Zahra whispered, excitement tingeing her voice. “Did you actually do it?!”

  Rylan grinned. “That’s Thar Ry to you, ma’am.”

  “Great Spirits, that’s amazing!” she gushed. “Congratulations!”

  “Hey,” Loukas complained from beside her in a fake-wounded tone, “I already told you he confirmed it, didn’t I? Do you trust me that little?”

  “Oh hush, it’s just hard to believe, all right?”

  “Hey,” Rylan said, matching Loukas in tone. “What’s that supposed to mean? Did you ever even believe in me?”

  Zahra rolled her eyes. “Yes yes, you’re both foggin’ hilarious.”

  “Aw, thanks hon,” Loukas replied, the grin clear in his voice.

  “Anyway, I would’ve come sooner, except it was all hands on deck with the serving,” Zahra continued, turning serious. “But Rylan... before dinner, I overheard something. The Thistlethorns want to put you under Contract.”

  He frowned. “Oh? Well, I guess I still need to finish clearing my debt...”

  “No, I don’t mean just a regular contract, I mean a capital-c Quinthar Contract. They want Vidric to use his Skill to bind you in their service... for a decade.”

  Rylan froze, his heartbeat rapidly quickening. “What?!”

  While working for the Thistlethorns for another decade was markedly better than another twenty-three years, it was still preposterous.

  Rylan didn’t know the exact amount a Quinthar could expect to earn, but he was positive it was easily upwards of ten times what he was making now. Making fifty silver florins a season, he should be able to pay off his debts in a year.

  Also, they wanted a Contract? He wasn’t entirely clear on how those worked, but he knew the main point: a Quinthar under Contract couldn’t use their Skills without permission.

  Fog that.

  “What in the hazy depths are they thinking?!” he whispered harshly.

  “We don’t know, man,” Loukas replied after a moment.

  White-hot, boiling anger erupted in Rylan’s stomach, and unable to contain himself, he got up to start pacing the short-short length of his room.

  “First the Deeptides, then the anklet... now fogging this?!”

  “I’m so sorry, Ry...” Zahra whispered, her eyes shiny.

  It was so unfair. He’d worked so hard to become a Quinthar, and now they were going to use the very fact that he was a Quinthar against him to bind him more tightly to them than ever before. In hindsight, he really should’ve considered that rising in value in their eyes might not necessarily be a good thing. But what else could he have done? And what the fog was he supposed to do now?

  Well, there was one thing he could do to prevent this whole mess...

  Rylan stopped in his tracks, as a sick sense of clarity washed over him. “They’re never going to let me go, are they? I don’t even know why... but I’m not fogging having it. I’m getting out of here, one way or another.”

  “Wha—what are you saying, Ry?”

  Rylan sank back down in front of the door, taking in Zahra’s wide eyes. “I’m going to do the only thing I can do. Run. I have to.”

  “You mean... right now?” Zahra sputtered.

  “If not now, then when? You want me to wait until after Beatrice Thistlethorn comes marching in here with Vidric Talon to ‘negotiate’? What happens if I say no, huh? Is she just going to take that, or will she use her Voice Skills on me and make me sign whatever she wants?!”

  Zahra frowned. “Can she do that? I don’t know that she can...”

  “Well, they wouldn’t tell us if she could, would they? Either way, I’m not risking it.”

  “What about your anklet, though?” Loukas asked.

  That was an excellent question.

  After Rylan had been fitted with it, the first thing he’d done was naturally to have Zahra look at its lock. Unfortunately, the Thistlethorns seemed to have taken the possibility of lockpicking into account, as the fogging thing was fitted with a strange triangular lock that required a matching key.

  No amount of Zahra’s fiddling had accomplished anything.

  “We’ll have to find the key,” Rylan whispered decisively. “That is... if you’re willing to help me?”

  Zahra and Loukas shared a glance. Some unspoken communication passed between them, before Loukas nodded and Zahra turned back and took a deep breath. “Of course we are. Do you have an idea of where they keep it?”

  Well, Rylan certainly had his suspicions.

  Twice a season, Helen came to over to shift the anklet to his other leg, so he’d seen said key often enough. He wasn’t sure why she always did it herself. Maybe the Thistlethorns simply realised she was the only one of them he could tolerate right about now, and didn’t trust anyone else with the key. After all, it was rather unique, and couldn’t easily be replaced if lost.

  He'd always had rather mixed feelings about the process. On the one hand, he was grateful for the relief it brought, and about how apologetic and gracious Helen always was about it, but it also served as a reminder of the nightmare he was living.

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  Anyway, while he’d mostly written escape off as a valid option, he’d still been surreptitiously keeping track of where she was coming from and going with the key. Which was why he knew it wasn’t kept in the family safe down in the barracks with the rest of their valuables, probably because opening the heavy metal door was such a hassle.

  No, all the signs pointed towards her keeping it somewhere in the main building, the very one they were in.

  “Helen’s personal suite,” Rylan therefore whispered determinedly. “I’m positive that’s where she keeps it, though it’ll probably be well hidden. Fog, did the Thistlethorns finish their dinner? What time is it?”

  “Nearly tenth bell, but dessert has yet to be served!” Zahra whispered back.

  “Really? Wow, they’re running late.”

  Zahra’s eyes crinkled mischievously. “Well, that’s what you get when the menu is changed to a five-course meal at the last minute, and then someone causes a scene in the kitchen by nailing a fly to the wall with a knife.”

  Rylan grinned. “Then we better hurry! Loukas, you’ve got a master key that fits this door, right?”

  “Well,” Loukas whispered awkwardly. “I do, but—”

  “But what, Loukas?” Zahra asked sharply. “I thought you wanted to help!”

  “I did—I do—but that was before you got so loud you woke Gordo!”

  Rylan’s heart sank, and a tense silence fell over them.

  A moment later, it was broken by a heavy sigh. “Nope,” Gordo spoke loudly. “I’m too old for this shit. Since I’m clearly dreaming, I think I’ll just keep my eyes closed and continue my lovely nap.”

  “Well... that changes things,” Loukas said, a grin evident in his voice. “Stand back, Rylan!”

  Rylan hastily scrambled back, grabbing his letter and opener and shoving them in his pockets as the door swung open. He then hurried out, blinking until his eyes adjusted to the dim light of Gordo’s oil lamp. “All right, let’s get going; we don’t have long!”

  “Way ahead of you,” Zahra shot back in a whisper, already halfway down the hall towards the nearest staircase. As Loukas closed and relocked the cooler, Rylan hurried after her, only taking a moment to slow down when he passed the ‘sleeping’ guard.

  “Thanks, Gordo,” he said softly. “This means a lot.”

  “Just don’t die out there, kid,” the guard mumbled, opening his eyes for a moment just to give him a wink.

  Then Rylan was off again, Loukas hot on his heels as he quietly sprinted up the stairs.

  Helen’s suite was on the top floor of the main building, three stories high, and the cooler was naturally in the basement, so they had three flights of stairs to cover.

  Thankfully, as the staircase they took was near the back of the building, they didn’t run into anyone on their way up. Of course, it would be much easier to be spotted out in the hallways, but the top floor was considered somewhat of a private area for the Thistlethorns, so there shouldn’t be anyone loitering.

  Still, better to be safe than sorry.

  Zahra was waiting by the door at the top of the stairs, and held up a hand to stop them. “I’ll go on ahead,” she whispered. “Loukas is not supposed to be on duty, so my presence here would be least suspicious. If you hear the cry of a gull, the coast is clear for you to come over.”

  “The cry of a gull?” Rylan echoed quietly. “How will we know it’s not just a gull?”

  “Oh, you can tell the difference,” Loukas whispered, panting a little, “trust me; I’ve had to endure her attempts for days now.”

  “Shut up!” she hissed, her eyes narrowed at the young guard—who just grinned back—before she slipped through the door.

  Rylan just shook his head fondly. “Really don’t know what you see in her, mate.”

  Loukas let out a quiet laugh. “She’s out of my league, and you know it.”

  “Well, I wasn’t going to say anything, but now that you mention it...”

  Right as Loukas started to make mock-threatening gestures at him, Rylan stilled, as he heard a most unwelcome sound coming from the landing.

  “What are you doing up here, girl?” the stern voice of Miss Amberleaf asked.

  Fog! Why is it always her!

  If Rylan didn’t know any better, he’d think Miss Amberleaf had some obscure Skill for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Something like Busybodying, or Fogging-Over-Rylan.

  But no, she wasn’t a Quinthar. Just the bane of his existence.

  “Oh!” he heard Zahra exclaim. “Ehm, Lady Dionne sent me to check if the guest chambers had clean linens.”

  “What? Clean linens?!” Miss Amberleaf asked, affronted. “Of course they have clean linens! They haven’t been used in—” She fell silent for a moment. “Well, they should have clean linens...” she muttered. “Perhaps I better make sure. You go on back and tell the Lady they were spotless, you hear me?”

  “Yes ma’am,” Zahra replied.

  Rylan let out the breath he’d been holding, and shared a glance with Loukas. Nice job, Zahra!

  A moment later, Rylan heard an odd, hoarse noise that sounded somewhere between someone trying to clear their throat or dry-heaving, and he frowned in confusion.

  “That was the signal,” Loukas whispered helpfully.

  “Seriously?” Rylan asked, even as he opened the door, fighting back the laugh that threatened to bubble up. “In what world was that a gull?!”

  Zahra glared at them from a ways down the hall, seeming to suspect the source of their snickering, and beckoned them to hurry on over.

  They quietly sprinted down the hall, taking a right turn—the opposite way of the guest-chambers—and circled around to Helen’s suite.

  Zahra opened the door and briefly peeked in before turning around and dragging Rylan inside by the wrist.

  Rylan’s laugh finally escaped.

  “I’d love to hear your impression of a gull later,” Zahra hissed at him, red-faced. “Now stop laughing and find that key!”

  Rylan mockingly bowed to her and turned around to rush towards the fancy wooden dresser.

  Zahra quietly opened the walk-in closet, while Loukas started looking under the bed, of all places.

  Rylan was in a decidedly strange, giddy mood as he pulled open the first drawer with shaking hands. The idea of running, of finally being free—a free Quinthar no less—elated him. At the same time, his stomach was in knots from anxiety, with anger still simmering beneath.

  The first drawer he opened was full of rolled-up shirts, stylish but utilitarian, with hardly any ruffles or lace. He felt around beneath them, but found nothing.

  He opened the next one, his eyes widening at the contents. After hesitating for a moment, he decided to—rather than reach in—shake the drawer back and forth for a bit. Hearing nothing clattering around, he pushed it shut again, relieved. He’d figured Helen was too dignified to hide the key amongst her underthings, anyway.

  The last two drawers in the dresser contained socks, pyjamas, and various knickknacks. Feeling around, he did come across a suspiciously well-hidden stack of letters, but nothing remotely key-like, so he withdrew and glanced around for his next target. As he did so, he spotted Loukas lifting the mattress off the luxurious wooden frame of the massive bed, while, judging by the noises coming out of the closet, Zahra was rummaging through bamboo crates.

  Internally, Rylan shook his head at the young guard’s methods, but left him to it and moved on to the ornate armoire.

  To his surprise, it wasn’t filled to the brim with weapons like he’d half-expected. Instead, it contained mostly what looked like crafts materials: sheets of paper and brushes, bundles of wool in various colours, a half-finished knitting project, and a sizable collection of painted clay pots.

  He looked through it as best he could without making a racket, but found nothing. After standing back up, he swayed on his feet for a moment, his breath coming in fast and high.

  How long do we have before dinner is finished? What do I do if I can’t find it, should I try to find a knife to chuck at it with my Skill?

  Rylan pulled up the right leg of his britches, and took another look at the solid metal anklet, his stomach sinking. By Ethereon’s grace, Quinthar were supposed to heal miraculously fast, but he wasn’t sure how fast that really was. Moreover, he knew there were Quinthar with mana-powered prosthetics, so cutting off his foot was probably a bit much.

  Fog! What am I going to—

  “Ooh, ooh!” Loukas suddenly exclaimed, with his hand halfway up an end table. “I found a secret compartment! And guess what we have here...”

  Rylan’s breath hitched as the young guard drew his hand back out, holding... a triangular key.

  “Loukas, I take it all back; you’re a genius!”

  “Thanks Ry—hold on, what do you mean you ‘take it all back’?!”

  “Don’t worry about it, I—”

  Before Rylan could finish his sentence, however, the bell started ringing, and not in the normal, soft way it did to indicate the hour.

  Zahra froze in the closet’s exit, and they all listened as the guard captain used his Booming Voice Skill to loudly proclaim: “Rylan has escaped from the cooler! Find him immediately!”

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  Book 1: Unnatural Laws

  : Unusual Enemies

  : Unimagined Adventures

  : Unchained Potential

  : Untamed Spirit

  : Undivided Worlds

  //