“Do you have a plan?”
“I suggest you play nice, show up for meals and pretend to be influenced by Bruns.”
“Then what?”
“We gain his trust and find the chink in his armor. Then we send a message to Ari and Janco and Irys.”
It sounded easy, except... “We can’t eat the food in the dining room.”
“But I can’t keep coming here. Bruns is getting suspicious.” Leif rubbed his chin. “And frankly, I’m sick of eating nothing but fruit and vegetables. I’m friends with Alvar, the chef—let me see what I can do.” He stood, squeezed my hand and turned to go.
I made a quick decision. “Leif.”
“Yes?”
“Make sure you get plenty of food. I’m eating for two.”
He jerked as if I’d slapped him. Then a range of emotions crossed his face—surprise, excitement, worry and then concern. “You shouldn’t have risked the baby for me!”
“I couldn’t not try to rescue you.”
Leif wrapped me in a hug. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you. Congrats, sis. Does Valek know?”
“Yes.”
“Then we’d better escape before he sends the entire Ixian army to rescue you.”
* * *
The next morning I met with Leif in the dining room. He had two plates of scrambled eggs and bacon waiting for me. I thanked him before shoveling the food into my mouth. Leif filled me in on how he’d offered to help Alvar with the morning rush and managed to snag a few servings of eggs before they were glazed with a special sauce.
“Holy snow cats! There’s Dax Greenblade.” Leif gazed over my shoulder.
I crushed my napkin in my hands to keep from turning around. Was he captured? “Does he have goons with him?”
“No. Just a goofy smile, and he’s heading this way.” Leif leaned forward. “Remember, we love Bruns.”
“Leif! Yelena! So this is where you two have been hiding,” Dax said. “I should have known you’d be where all the action is.”
I glanced way up at the tall man with light green eyes. For him, I didn’t need to fake a smile. He’d been my first friend when I’d been a student at the Magician’s Keep. “Hi, Dax! Did you just arrive?”
“Yup. Isn’t this place great? Much better than that stuffy old Keep, where we don’t do anything but study. What a waste of time. Now we can contribute to the welfare of Sitia.”
“Yes, isn’t it wonderful?” The words tasted like ash on my tongue.
“That looks yummy,” Dax said. “I’m famished.”
I grabbed his wrist before he could leave. “You can have the rest of mine. It’s still warm.”
“Great.” He dug into my plate with abandon.
“So how did you hear about this place?” I asked.
“One of the students, I think,” Dax said between mouthfuls. “This is good, but not as good as the Keep’s.”
“Really?” Leif asked.
“Yeah. We got a new chef and her dishes are...divine!”
Nausea bubbled in my stomach. I met Leif’s equally horrified gaze. If Bruns had managed to put Theobroma into the food at the Keep...
“I don’t remember a new chef,” Leif said. “When did she start?”
“Oh, a couple weeks ago, I think.” He shrugged, oblivious to our alarm.
I sagged back in my chair. Everyone at the Keep ate their meals at the dining room, including Irys and Bain, the two most powerful magicians in Sitia.
Leif used a series of subtle hand signals, telling me to stick to the plan.
I replied, What plan?
Get Bruns to trust us.
And then?
We stop him.
That’s not a plan.
Do you have anything better?
No.
Discouraged, I said goodbye to Leif and Dax. I scanned the faces in the dining room as I left, searching for more magicians from the Keep. I recognized four others. At this point, I thought only the Commander’s army could stop Bruns. But what if he couldn’t?
I was so preoccupied, I tripped and sprawled on the floor.
Before my goons could help me, another soldier swooped in and lifted me to my feet. “Are you all right?” he asked.
I met Janco’s gaze without visibly reacting. Inside, my heart was doing a jig. “Yes. Just a bit clumsy.”
“Not your fault—there are lots of people in here. It’s hard to move.”
My depression lifted. Help had arrived! “All the better for when we go to war.”
“True. Bruns will lead us to victory.”
I took a step, but wobbled and fell into Janco, who caught me with ease. He’d dyed his hair red and wore a fake ear that covered his scars.
“Don’t eat the food,” I whispered in his good ear before straightening. “Guess I must have tweaked my ankle.” I gestured to my goons and let them support me as I limped from the dining room. Ha! How’s that for acting!
My elation over seeing Janco faded as I realized that even with more people on our side we still didn’t have a clue how to stop Bruns.
* * *
Bruns joined me in the armory the next day. I’d been practicing using one of the new blowpipes that had scoring in the barrel to improve accuracy and distance. Too bad the dart wasn’t filled with poison. That would have been a quick way to solve the problem of Bruns.
“I heard you twisted your ankle. How are you doing?” Bruns asked.