Land of Smoke and Ashes

A New Plan

Natalie's shoulders slumped. She had been hoping Casey would reveal something else, maybe how to get to her. Or what the guard schedule was like. That was probably too much to hope for.

Sam cleared his throat, and she glared at him. "Natalie wants to go charging in to rescue her mother," he said, staring at her sternly. "I did try to tell her that it needs far more careful planning than that."

"Well you have a week," Casey said, rather bluntly, Natalie thought. "There's six days of open market and then the feast. You could maybe sneak in during the big feast, it will be insanity. But the north tower is no farmers market. It has its own special guard and everything."

Now her stomach really did plunge. It felt like an icy hand had closed over her heart. It wasn't as if she'd been thinking this would be easy, but it was sounding more and more impossible.

"So she might go into the castle to rescue her mother and just get caught." Edward's voice was biting. "Risking everything for nothing."

Natalie turned on him, anger burning hot beneath her breastbone. "My mother is not nothing," she hissed, and Edward leaned back in his chair, clearly startled. Once again, she lapsed into silence, this time her mind was spinning. This changed nothing. She was still going to try to get her mother out, she had to. Now that she knew she was there, that she wasn't dead.

She slid her hand into her pocket, fingers tracing the outline of the necklace. Devon didn't know about the necklace. It was possible that even if her mother was covered in the black veins if she got her back into their world the magic might not be effective anymore. She wasn't sure how it worked, and when she glanced sideways at Sam his face was so grim that she didn't dare ask any questions. He would guess that she was planning something. That she wasn't going to wait.

They cleared the table in silence, and Natalie helped Jewels wash the dishes, drying them with a scrap of a dishtowel. All of them kept glancing out the window, gazes drawn by the spectacle of the massive tower in the distance. It was lit up now, yellow lights sparkling from the windows of all but the tallest towers. It had started raining now, the drops pattering on the thatched roof above them, and in the rainy night the tower was somehow both eerie and beautiful, the lights sparkling through the rain. The streets were completely quite now.

"I'm going downstairs," Sam said gruffly. "I'll get some extra bedding from the owner for everyone."

He vanished downstairs without another word, and with Edward in the next room talking in low voices to Jewels and Devon, Natalie figured this was her best bet. She made eye contact with Princess Kira and jerked her head toward the kitchen. Thankfully the princess didn't ask any questions, just darted a look over to where Gwen and the others were huddled on the bed talking quietly. Kira joined her by the sink, raising a questioning brow.

Natalie made sure to make a fair amount of noise as she put the cutlery away, letting it clatter into the drawer to disguise the sound of her voice. "I want you to help me get into the palace."

To her surprise, instead of looking shocked, or giving her a disapproving look, the princess actually smiled, a crooked, mischievous look on her fair features. "I thought you might say something like that. Meet me for breakfast downstairs in the morning as soon as the sun comes up. Try to slip out without them seeing."

Natalie blinked at her. "What's your plan?"

"Not now, I'll tell you then." Kira glided away, and Natalie watched her putting a stack of bowls away in the cupboard, whistling to herself, as if they hadn't been speaking about anything more secretive than how dinner tasted.