The traveling L'avan came to a small patch of trees just large enough to hide their group. There were still a few hours before dawn, for they had taken to traveling at night to hide their presence from any onlookers, but Adesina ordered them to stop and set up camp early. She did not explain her reasoning until they had all gathered around the small campfirea"which had been built in a hole they had dug, so as to hide the light from any strangers that might pa.s.s by.

"We are less than a day away from the fortress now."

The tension in the air was palpable. The strain on each face was exaggerated by the flickering light of the fire, but it seemed appropriate for how they all felt.

"We are going to have to split up from here, so I will go over what will be needed in order for us to succeed."

Everyone in the group looked alarmed.

"We are splitting up?" asked E'nes.

"I do not think that is a good idea, Adesina," added L'iam.

She held up a hand to quiet their protests. "It is necessary."

Without further explanation, she held out a small bag and indicated that they were to draw something out of it. She offered it first to E'nes, who pulled out a black pebble; then to Sa'jan, who pulled out another black pebble; and finally to L'iam, who pulled out a white pebble.

"What about me?" asked L'era.

"And me?" included Aleron.

Adesina looked at both of them sternly. "You two are going to stay here while we enter the fortress."

They both stared at her in disbelief.

"What!"

She cut them off before they had a chance to really argue. "This is not a discussion. Neither of you are trained for what is ahead, and we need someone to protect our means of escape."

"Adesina-" began L'era.

"You promised to obey the orders given to you," she reminded her sharply.

L'era looked around the circle, trying to find a sympathetic eye. When she found none, she folded her arms and scowled into the campfire. It was clear that Aleron didn't like being left behind either, but he kept his peace.

Adesina turned back to the others and indicated to the pebbles in their hands. "E'nes and Sa'jan will be in one group, L'iam and I will be in another. With Ravi, of course," she added, glancing at her guardian.

E'nes was already shaking his head. "I am not leaving you alone, Adesina."

Her expression was stubbornly set. "I will not be alone. L'iam will be with me."

"But-"

"Please, do not argue with me anymore," she said, her voice tight with tension. "I have given this a lot of thought, and you all need to trust me."

When she saw that there were no more protests, she picked up a stick and began drawing in the dirt next to the fire. "There are only two entrances to the fortress: the main entrance, which is heavily guarded, and the coastal entrance, which is primarily only used by the merchant ships who resupply the fortress, but is also guarded. Other than these two entrances, there is no way into the fortress. L'iam, Ravi and I will go by the main gate, while E'nes and Sa'jan will go by the coastal entrance."

There were dozens of unasked questions gleaming in the eyes of her companions, so she hurried to continue with her explanation. She drew a line along the far side of her sketches in the dirt.

"From our camp you must ride directly east until you reach the ocean. Then you can follow the coast southward, which will gradually turn into cliffs. Among those cliffs, about a league to the south of the fortress, you will find a small cave that actually leads to the lower levels. It is well hidden, and easy to overlook," she warned.

"You said it was guarded?" asked Sa'jan.

She nodded. "Yes. There were two Shimat stationed there when I went through. That was about a year ago, though, so things may have changed." After casting a thoughtful glance at the sky, she added, "We will enter the fortress at midnight, and that will give us five hours to search for the prisoners before the morning bell tolls."

Adesina continued drawing in the dirt, ill.u.s.trating as she explained their portion of the mission. "There are two possibilities of where the L'avan could be held: the lower levels or the towers. E'nes and Sa'jan, you are to search the lower levels. You will take whomever you find to the stables located here," she pointed to the section of her map that led back to the coast. "That is where we will all meet up and make our escape."

She continued to detail all of the information that her mother had helped her to gather on the layout of the fortress. She created an intricate map, showing them the most likely places that they were to search, quick escapes in case of discovery, and so forth. She also gave them a mult.i.tude of tips on what to do in various situationsa"certain gestures that would send servants scurrying, the best tactics for self-defense, how to react if they were discovered, when to fight and when to run, and so forth.

"Wear your cloaks with the cowls up around your face, and do not make any noise unless it cannot be avoided."

E'nes frowned unhappily, cutting of her stream of advice. "What will you be doing while we search the lower levels?"

His sister took a breath. "We will start from the top and work our way down. I doubt that any L'avan are kept in the towers, but I must check to make sure."

His expression became suspicious. "Will there not be large groups of Shimat walking around the upper levels?"

"Yes." She braced herself for the outbreak of protests, and was not disappointed.

"You cannot be serious!"

"That is madness!"

"It is absolutely out of the question!"

"How do you expect us to pull this off?" asked L'iam.

Adesina tried to appear as confident as possible. "I can still pa.s.s myself off as a Shimat, and Ravi has the ability to become invisible."

"What about me?" he asked quietly.

She hesitated a bit. "That will be a little more tricky. We will have to try and pa.s.s you off as my servant."

Ravi cleared his throat. "There are a lot of risks in this plan, Ma'eve."

"I know," she admitted, "but it is our best chance to succeed. The more complicated we make the plan, the more possibilities there are of something going wrong. I wanted to keep it simple and clear. If the Shimat are expecting us, they will not antic.i.p.ate such a bold approach."

A heavy silence followed this statement. None of them were feeling very hopeful of success.

"What are we to do?" inquired Aleron, gesturing to himself and the sulking princess.

"You two are to stay here, hidden in the trees. We will get some horses for the rescued L'avan from the Shimat stables and ride back here as quickly as possible. From here we will have to go as fast as we can to get away from pursuing Shimat."

L'era was still scowling into the flames. "Are you so sure that you will be followed?"

Adesina's face was grim. "I will be very surprised if we are not."

Several minutes pa.s.sed while they all stared either into the campfire or the darkness of night that surrounded them.

Finally Sa'jan shifted in his seat. "Well, I suppose we should get what sleep we can before tomorrow night."

The others agreed and rolled up in their blankets, all except for Adesina and Ravi. It was Adesina's turn to keep watch, and Ravi always insisted on keeping her company. For a long time neither of them spoke. Ravi hummed softly, calming the general anxiety and helping the others to drift off to sleep.

The deep, even breathing of her comrades indicated that Adesina was finally free to speak to her guardian. She switched to the language of the Shimat, just in case someone was still awake.

"Well?"

Ravi turned his golden eyes on her purple ones. "Well what, Ma'eve?"

"I want to know what you think."

"Of?"

She made a noise of exasperation. "Of the plan, Ravi. What do you think of the mission we are about to embark upon?"

He sighed. "It is difficult to see, even when my Dreams are not clouded as they have been these past weeks."

This comment brought something else to the forefront of her mind.

"The Dream, Ravi," she whispered in a tortured voice. "The Dream of the destruction of all we love. What if I am bringing it to pa.s.s?"

There was a pregnant pause. "I do not know, dear one. You are standing at a fork in the road of your destiny, and only you can choose which path to take."

"What if I choose wrong?" she wondered, her voice weighed down with despair.

He laid his velvety head in her lap, trying to comfort her. "Then you will live with that decision. Whether you choose to take this risk and try to find your father, or if you choose to return to Pevothema"either way you will have to live with that choice. Choose the one you can live with most easily."

Adesina shook her head. "I cannot abandon him now. Not after all I have done."

Her guardian remained silent, letting her battle through this dilemma on her own. Deep down, she knew that she could not live with herself if she turned back now, but she knew the odds of success were small. She hated the idea of putting others at risk, and a part of her knew that not all of them would come out of this alive.

He sat up and looked at her directly, repeating the question she had given him. "Well?"

"Well what?" she gave a brief smile at the role reversal.

"What have you decided?"

Adesina set her jaw and took a deep breath.

"We go forward."

Chapter Forty-five: Midnight.

L'era opened her eyes to see that it was late afternoon. She sat up and glanced around, seeing that she was the last to rise. The others were either helping prepare the cold meal of bread and dried meat or speaking to each other in quiet voices.

There was a fresh determination that buoyed up her youthful spirit, but she did her best to keep it from her face. She knew that her brother would be suspicious if she showed anything but disappointment.

"Good afternoon, Adesina," she said to the young woman she had come to greatly respect.

Adesina was sitting next to L'iam, giving him instructions on how to pa.s.s himself off without rousing suspicion. She looked up in surprise and then glanced towards the sky. "It will be evening soon."

She smiled. "Well, good evening, then."

L'era met the intent gaze of their leader and saw her purple eyes narrow slightly. "You seem to be in better spirits," Adesina remarked.

She hurried to cast a bit of gloom over her naturally sunny features. "Not really."

L'iam also gave her a searching look. "I hope you are not planning anything foolish, L'era. This mission is too important and too dangerous for you to dash off some half-formed scheme that will get you and the rest of us into serious trouble."

She gave him the most scathing glare she could muster. "I know, L'iam. Stop treating me like a child."

Adesina's expression became carefully neutral, which usually meant that she had some sort of scheme of her own. She got to her feet and casually walked away from the brother and sister. L'era wanted to keep an eye on her, but couldn't watch too carefully because she herself was being watched by L'iam.

She crouched down by Sa'jan, who was attempting to make the simple meal more interesting. Their supplies were limited, but he had a knowledge of herbs and spices that made the most redundant of foods bearable.

Out of the corner of her eye, L'era could see Adesina speaking to Aleron in a quiet voice. She felt her stomach clench in anxiety. What was she telling him?

They ate their meal as the sun began to set. The conversation was limited and the tension was high. Who knew if they would ever share a meal together again?

Afterwards, Adesina pulled out her pack of apothecary supplies and began mixing a bit of this and that. Her focus was completely on her work, and no one disturbed her.

L'era sat next to her brother, who finally spoke in a hushed voice. "You know, I hate leaving you here all alone. It is still too close to danger."

She gave him a hopeful glance. "Then take me with you! At least you can protect me, then."

He was shaking his head before she finished. "That is out of the question, and you know it is." He sighed, "I should have left you back in the old forest. At least the vyala there offers some measure of protection."

"Hmph!" she snorted. "I would not have stayed."

L'iam smiled sadly. "Yes, I know."

The last tendrils of light were fading into dark, and the feeling of finality was upon them. The L'avan prince looked first at the sky, and then to his little sister.

"I love you, L'era, and I want you to be safe when I come back."

Tears welled up in her eyes when she felt the goodbye in his words. "You had better come back," she said fiercely, "or I will be so angry with you!"

He laughed softly. "Of course I will come back. I have a Shimat and a Rashad with me, so what could go wrong?"