'1 need something he wants.' He worked his fingers in deeper. 'Something to bargain with.'
His stupidity forced a rush of angry energy through me. 'Bargain?' I yelled. 'You idiot.'
I swung my fist at his face. He jerked his head back, my blow skimming his ear. With the strength of madness, he forced my hand down and clamped it under his knee. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ryko crawling towards us, his eyes bulging with agony.
'Ido's not going to bargain with you,' I spat. 'He's going to kill you.'
'That's why I need the book.' His grip was like a vice. He hauled on the pearls and I felt their hold slip.
'No. You need to come with us.'
'You?' he sneered. A girl? A pretend Dragoneye? I know all about you.' He had one coil of pearls off my arm. 'You haven't got a chance against him.' He closed his eyes and took 'a deep breath. He was going to call the Rat Dragon.
'No,' I screamed. Surely Ido would sense him calling their dragon.
Suddenly, the whole rope released. Dillon fell back, the black folio in his hands. He scrabbled away, hugging the book to his chest, the white pearls whipping like an angry tail.
Near me, Ryko groaned, his face a dull grey. He was fighting the illusion, but it was too strong. Dillon was already on his feet, running. I froze, caught between the two.
I struggled to my knees and flung myself across Ryko's back. I felt the pain snap out of his body. Across the garden, Dillon pounded over the bridge and headed towards the archway. I bowed my head. The black folio was gone.
'You should have gone after him,' Ryko finally said. I rolled off his back, keeping my hand on the flat of his shoulder blade. He looked up at me, his gaze steady. 'You should have run after him. But I'm glad you stayed.'
CHAPTER 21
I stroked the black pearls hidden under my sleeve, trying to ease their hold as I strained to hear Solly's low voice. The air-punch of explosions and cries of battle seemed unnervingly close to our position in the forest, although Solly assured us that most of the fighting was at the palace wall. Beside me, Ryko held our horse by its bridle, ignoring the animal's nervous mouthing as he concentrated on Solly's report.
All the roads up to the palace are held by the army,' Solly said softly. His small eyes had almost disappeared under the heavy fold of his frown. 'The gardens are crawling with 'em too.
It looks like the guard are holding 'em out of the palace for now, but…'
'Not for long,' Ryko finished. He pressed his lips together, considering. 'We could go out into the city and come back into the Dragon Circle closer to the apartment precinct…' He shook his head. 'Who knows what we will find in the city and we'd lose the advantage of your reconnaissance.'
'Through the gardens then,' Solly said, nodding in the direction of the Emerald Ring.
'Did your men see a break in the lines anywhere?'
Solly shrugged. 'Not so much a break. More a thinner spread of men. At the gate in the west.
It was still being held by the Imperial guard when you went into the hall.'
Ryko grunted. 'The Gate of Good Service. That's our entry point, then. Lord Eon and I will ride up as close as we can. But we'll need a diversion.'
Solly grinned. 'We've got a few ideas in mind.'
Ryko gave a grim laugh. 'I know your diversions.' He gripped Solly's shoulder. 'We have to get Lord Eon into the palace. At all costs.'
Solly ducked his head, sending me a reassuring smile. 'Don't worry, my lord. We'll get you in there.'
A murmur of agreement rose from the men standing nearby
I nodded, such undeserved loyalty constricting my throat. Some of these men would die.
Perhaps all. May the gods give me as much courage and honour.
'Let's move,' Ryko said. He pushed the horse's head around, leading the animal towards the road.
Solly's hands moved in a series of quick signals, sending his men into various directions around us. I followed Ryko, my dread suddenly overlaid by a frisson of excitement.
Ryko was standing next to the horse in the last heavy cover of undergrowth, surveying the gardens. Directly across from us was a pathway lit by lanterns that hung from ropes strung between poles along one edge. My breath caught as the distant figures of soldiers crossed into the light and out again. Then, like shadows, I saw two of Solly's men rise from the ground and run into the dark foliage.
'We'll avoid the pathways as much as possible,' Ryko said softly, 'but at some point we are going to hit the road that leads up to the gate, and it will be as well lit as that pathway ahead.'
He drew his sword from its scabbard, the metal sliding soundlessly past the metal mouth.
Greased for silent death. 'Do you think you can use this and still keep your seat?' He held it out, grip first.
The weight caught me off guard. It was twice as heavy as my ceremonial swords.
I readjusted my hands on the hill, 'I have no battle (raining.'
Ryko smiled. 'I know. I wanl yon to cut the lantern topes as we pass so the lanterns drop.
Otherwise we might as well cany our own torch to give the bowmen a better chance of hit ting us.'
'Cut them as we pass?' It was hard enough to stay on the beast, let alone swing a full-sized sword at the same time. 'Yes, I can do that,' I said, but even I heard the doubt in my voice.
'We have a good chance of making it through,' Ryko said encouragingly. He held out his hand and I returned the sword, watching him twist and resheathe it effortlessly. 'The concentration of soldiers will be at the palace wall and gates,' he continued. 'There will still be a rear guard but I have worked with Solly and his men before. They have a few tricks that will startle even the best of Sethon's men.' He nodded to me. 'Ready?'
'Ready.'
He stroked the horse's neck and gripped its shoulders, springing up and straddling it with a soft grunt of effort. Settling himself and the horse, he held out his hand. I grabbed it and was hoisted up behind him, the sinews in my shoulder burning with the sudden pull.
I found my seat and my grip around Ryko's waist, then there was a lurch and a dizzy moment of fear as we broke out of cover onto the road. Ryko urged the horse onto the lower servants'
track, kicking it into a canter.
'Watch ahead,' he ordered, his own attention on the gardens to our right. I peered over his shoulder, scanning the road, breathless from the smooth speed of the horse. We were backtracking towards the Ox Dragon Hall. I eyed the gardens dashing past us. Lots of cover.
Solly had said the Emerald Ring was crawling with soldiers, but surely it would be better than being out in the open like this? I felt Ryko pull up on the reins as we approached a curve in the road. Parts of the walls and the top
of the hall were already visible. We both stiffened as a terrible keening rose in the air, like some demon call from the Other world.
'What is it?' I gasped.
Ryko yanked the horse across the rough servants' track and plunged us into the bushes, reining the animal into a toey standstill. I could feel Ryko's breath coming as hard as my own.
I slid to the ground, a terrible intuition driving me forwards.
'What are you doing?' Ryko demanded.
But I was already on my hands and knees, crawling through the undergrowth towards the sound. I had to see them. I scrabbled up an incline, my robe catching under my knees and dragging at my throat. Under my sleeve, the pearls tightened protectively around the red folio.
A misjudged handhold jabbed a stone into the bandaged gash on my hand. I stifled a yelp. Not that anyone could have heard me over the piercing wail from the roadside.
One last push through a line of bushes and I was into open air. And then I saw them. Straight ahead, dark shapes on the ground, grotesquely truncated. And people — three servant women
— kneeling beside them, wailing for the dead. I flattened myself, my eyes drawn inexorably to the separated
