She shook her head. Because he loved her, Sober would swing. There was nothing noble or good about her.
"I'm sorry I can't help you or your sister, now," Lord Carrull said. "You're welcome to hide out here. It will be safer than on the street. And you are right about one thing: Sober will not give you up without a fight. If Sober doesn't talk, my friends will get me word, and I'll be able to come back. Then I'll be able to help reunite you with your family."
"My family?" She looked at him hopefully. "You saw them at Mistress Merricc's farm?"
"They are safely on the way to Montphilo."
Relief flooded her and she couldn't speak.
"You were at the farm?" Comfort asked.
"Not so as anyone would have known. I spent the night there. I didn't meet your family because I was trying to avoid any ties to your sister or Sober. But I did see your family leave, and they will get to Montphilo safely. I promise. No one was chasing them. The troopers left with you, confident that you were all the bait they needed."
Repentance nodded. They were right about that.
After the others left, Repentance sank to the floor and wept. If she lived, by the time she left the hidden room Sober would be dead.
He would be dead by sunrise. And maybe all of Hot Springs along with him. She wouldn't put it past the prince to wipe out the village in a rage. The pain in her chest rose into her throat and she felt like she might choke on it.
Comfort knelt next to her, patting her back, as her own tears splattered on Repentance's neck.
After she was cried out, Repentance sniffed and swallowed and wiped at her swollen eyes with the sleeve of her gown.
Comfort rose and moved to the settee. She sat down with a heavy sigh. "Will we ever get out of this room?" she asked. "Or are we locked in forever?"
"We aren't locked in. All we have to do is poke the dragon in the eye if we want to get out."
Comfort gave her an "are you mad?" look.
"The door will open," Repentance said, "But we have nowhere to go. This is the safest place in the city for us."
She looked at the door. It struck her that one of the reasons she was so desperate to leave the swamp was that she never felt safe there. She'd always been afraid that one day the overlords would come for her, or someone she loved. No one was safe in the swamp. She thought she'd rather get into the slave cart of her own free will than have to keep living in fear that they would come for her one day.
But she would never really be safe unless she was free. And she would never be free if she left Sober to die alone.
"But that man," Comfort said. "Lord Carrull. He will come back for us? Someday?"
Repentance crawled over to Comfort and leaned against her knees. "He will come back for you. I ... may not be here."
"Where will you be?" Her sister's tone was high-pitched and anxious.
"Sober saved me by breaking me out of the dungeon two days ago. Then he saved me again this afternoon by jumping on that wagon and setting you free. I have to try to save him."
"How will you do that? Where will you go?"
"I'll have to go to the palace. It's the Moonlight Festival. I'll be able to sneak in." She pulled over the trunk of clothes Starved had brought in. "I wonder what kind of disguise I can come up with."
Comfort joined her. "I'll come with you."
"You'll stay here," Repentance said matter-of-factly.
"Sober saved my life, too. I want to help him." She gave Repentance her stubborn look. "Besides, there is not a way in the swamp ... no way on this Providence-forsaken mountain, are you leaving me in this room all by myself."
Repentance sighed. And nodded. She'd left Comfort once. She couldn't do it again. But then again she couldn't very well take her into the dungeon, either. She needed to think. There had to be a way for her to keep Comfort safe.
If you fail to take a weapon when you beard the lion in his den, you should hardly be surprised when he decides to eat you for dinner.
~Professor Pottamous Scroll, Harthill University
Chapter 36
The trunk was full of fine overlord clothes and rough slave clothes all mixed together. Costumes Lord Carrull had apparently collected as disguises for the slaves he smuggled out of the city.
Repentance considered a pair of flannel trousers.
Comfort rubbed her cheek against a velvet gown. "I never imagined material this soft. And look at this!" She rubbed her hand over the nap, changing the material from dark to light and back to dark again.
Repentance nodded absently. "But look at these." She held up the trousers. Aren't they nice?"
Comfort wrinkled her nose. "You're going dressed as a boy?"
"I was thinking you might. You have the short hair already. We'd just have to trim it a bit."
Comfort put a hand to her ill-cut hair, looking like she might cry.
Repentance hugged her. "I know. I know. It's too much. You've been dragged off and paraded in front of a mob. You've been
