[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.He’d taught Emily and the other girls that they had to outthink their targets, or male strength would prove decisive.Her training, combined with berserker, made her lethal in close-quarter combat.The soldiers never knew what had hit them.Emily staggered to one side and collapsed on the rooftop as the spell faded away.It was simply too dangerous to use for more than a few minutes, particularly when she was alone.The last time she’d used it outside training, Jade and the other Redshirts had been there to carry her to safety.Here, she was alone.Imaiqah was wounded, perhaps dead…and Alassa was a prisoner.Somehow, drawing on reserves she hadn’t known she had, Emily stumbled to her feet and saw a white scrap of cloth lying on the ground.Alassa’s handkerchief…Shaking her head, Emily picked it up, took one last look at the soldiers, and headed for the hole in the roof.There was no way she dared levitate down right now.Her magic was simply too unreliable.One lapse in concentration and she would die.She had to save Alassa, she told herself, but she just didn’t know how.But if she failed, the duke would win outright.Chapter Thirty-SixTHE INHABITANTS OF THE BUILDING HAD vanished in the confusion.Emily couldn’t blame them, any more than she could avoid a sense of relief that she wouldn’t have to fight again.Her headache was returning in force, now that berserker had faded away; it was all she could do to keep going, step by step.Making her way outside, she found almost no one in the streets, apart from a handful of youths who eyed her with a mixture of concern and puzzlement.Emily ignored them as she stumbled into the alleyway and found Imaiqah lying on the ground.“I didn’t quite catch myself,” Imaiqah whispered, as Emily collapsed beside her.“My leg…”Emily nodded.They’d been warned never to use healing spells on themselves, but numbing spells were actually quite effective.At worst, they simply refused to work.Emily tried to focus her mind enough to cast a healing spell, then scowled as her headache grew stronger.She had to fight down the urge to vomit…her head spun so badly she was surprised that she didn’t faint.The only thing she could do was sleep, but she didn’t dare collapse into the darkness.God alone knew what would happen while they were helpless.“They took Alassa,” she mumbled.Speaking above a whisper only seemed to lead to more sparks of pain in her head.“What…what will they do to her?”Imaiqah shrugged.“Use her as a puppet,” she said, finally.“Or have her executed to make her uncle’s throne safe.”Emily looked up as she heard a number of men entering the alleyway.Soldiers…? She relaxed, feeling an overpowering sense of relief, as she recognized the leader as Imaiqah’s brother Johan.The men were wearing what looked like makeshift armor and carrying clubs and staves.Given some ingenuity, she decided, they might be able to produce weapons for themselves.Or, given that they were merchants, simply manipulate the records to ensure that no one noticed some extra weapons had been produced in the factories before being shipped to the army.“By the God,” Johan said.“Are…what happened?”Emily felt her head spinning.“Get her a healer and get me to bed,” she ordered.“And then get water…”The blackness rose up and pulled her into its depths.Emily felt almost feverish, as if she were caught in the grip of waking nightmares, before something finally yanked her awake.A young woman was bending over her, gently pushing a straw against her mouth.Emily sipped gratefully, too thirsty to care that it might have been a trap.The liquid tasted vaguely like peppermint tea, but with the addition of some herbs that she didn’t recognize.“Stay there,” the woman ordered.“You’re safe now.”For the moment, Emily thought.Johan and his friends must have carried her and Imaiqah to a safe house, but they hadn’t known to keep a watch for birds.Even if they had known, what could they have done about it? Come to think of it, someone must have tipped off the soldiers, or they would never have known about the meeting at the inn.Her throat felt too dry to speak, but she had to try.“Who…who are you?”“I’m Pat,” the woman said.She gave Emily a reassuring smile.“I’m a healer, of sorts.”She passed Emily a gourd of water and helped her hold it until Emily had swallowed all of the liquid [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]