Outside on the corridor, Robles set off, the girl in his arms, in the opposite direction from which they had arrived. This was hardly the time to ask questions. Instead, Kaddie had to be content with silently puzzling over how he knew where he was going in such a vast building.

  There were more door latches to fumble with, and endless flights of poky, narrow stairs to descend. These were the servants’ stairwells and corridors and they ran in all directions behind their grander counterparts.

  Eventually, they arrived at a wide, forbidding door that lay partially open. Beyond it, Kaddie heard strident voices accompanied by the smashing of crockery. She risked a peek. They’d reached the kitchen and the laundry. Draped linens were suspended from ropes in the ceiling, hanging there to dry, and partially obscuring her view.

  Through narrow gaps in the fabric she caught a glimpse of three men at the far end of the kitchen, one of whom was in the midst of sweeping piles of dinner plates from one of the kitchen tables and onto the floor. One of the other men, taller than the others, his hair swept back and braided, wore a sword at his hip.

  Moments later, a broad-shouldered figure appeared directly in front of her and she almost yelled in fright. It was Groach. It was so dark she barely saw him place a finger against his lips before beckoning. Kaddie leaned against the door, allowing Robles and his precious burden to sneak by.

  Nianne had remained silent during their precarious journey along the back corridors of the palace, and thus far they had remained undetected. But how were they ever going to escape through the kitchen?

  Despite Kaddie’s crouched gait and hunched shoulders, she felt conspicuous carrying the bulky bundle over her shoulder. All this skulking around was doing nothing to quell her temper, either, and she wanted nothing more than to give the man who was destroying perfectly good plates a piece of her mind.

  But, in the end there was nothing to be done but follow the others. Along a line of cupboards where shiny copper pans hung from a suspended rack. Around a corner and through a narrow gap between baker’s cooling racks, and toward the sound of falling water. Through a barred gate where the stone-slab floor became cobbled and uneven. To the brink of yet another flight of narrow stairs that led down into darkness.

  Here, Robles and Groach paused and began whispering. Kaddie’s fear had gone, swept aside by her irritability. She was also worried about the girl, limp as a child’s doll as she was plucked from her employer’s arms.

  Groach now bore her burden as they continued their flight, down the stone steps, on and on, stumbling in the dark until Kaddie realized they were way below street level and had reached the deeper levels of the second city. She saw light at the base of the stairwell.

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  Waiting for them was Torrell.

  He narrowed his eyes upward and attempted to pull the bundle from her shoulders. “Are you being followed?”

  Kaddie pushed him away and hid her surprise at seeing him. “Be careful with that. We think it’s poisonous.” She handed him the empty potion box instead.

  They resumed their journey, and thankfully there were no more stairs. Instead, they hurried along a gloomy succession of narrow tunnels, occasionally following channels of water that carried scents of refuse and rot. The water’s flow suggested it ran deep, and despite the scarcity of light its surface glittered, drawing her eye until her body threatened to follow, whereupon she’d no doubt fall in and drown.

  Above her head, tiny conorum lanterns spilled weak tendrils of light. They lay thirty paces apart and the spaces in between were terrifyingly dark. Strange whispers began inside her head. Same as before, they ebbed and flowed and she couldn’t understand a word.

  Kaddie kept to the wall as much as she could. Occasionally, the roughly hammered stone veered off at a hidden junction, leaving her anchorless, giving her no choice to but to rely on the shadows dancing between the others ahead. It was unnerving, exhilarating.

  Thoughts of pursuers kept her moving, especially the man she had glimpsed in the kitchen, the one with the sword strapped to his hip. He became a specter at her rear, chasing her on.

  Finally, they arrived at a larger junction in the tunnel. To their right, light shone in the distance.

  “This is where I leave you,” Groach said. “I still have people up there to take care of, and I don’t want anyone getting suspicious.”

  “We’ll manage.” Robles re-assumed the burden of the girl with a grunt. Even with the light so dim, Kaddie could tell he was exhausted.

  As soon as Groach disappeared into the gloom, Kaddie stepped closer and saw Nianne’s eyes were open. “Can you walk?” she demanded.

  “I’ll take her,” Torrell said.

  “No.” Robles lifted the girl higher onto his shoulder. “Torrell, remove your jacket, place it over the girl’s head in case we’re spotted, and lead the way. Mother forbid we get lost in this rat warren.”

  Kaddie brought up the rear as they continued on. Now the lighting was better she caught sight of the strange carved blocks at the base of the walls, while beneath her feet she felt something vast, hollowed out and hungry. Thankfully, another twenty paces and the whispers faded completely. It was a burden lifted, and it allowed her to put a spring in her step.

  When it was time to ascend the inevitable stairs in order to reach street level, Robles had no choice but to let the younger man take over. Torrell’s jacket was once again thrown over Nianne’s head as they set off.

  “If anyone asks, this is a second city girl in need of our charity.” Robles was brushing his sleeves and rolling his shoulders as they climbed. “No furtive body language, understand?”

  Kaddie pulled her bundle forward and removed Robles’ stick. She handed it to him without a word and he acknowledged her with a nod. Consequently she held onto the knot, slung the bundle over her shoulder, and bore the sheet-wrapped wedding dress as if it was nothing more than a collection of harmless rags.