Laia. The woman’s unpleasant—”
“She’s insane,” Keenan says. “They call her the Bitch of Blackcliff. You won’t survive the Commandant. The mission will fail.”
Mazen’s fist comes down on the table. Keenan doesn’t flinch.
“If you can’t keep your mouth shut,” the Resistance leader growls, “then leave.”
Tariq’s jaw drops as he looks between the two men. Sana, meanwhile, watches Keenan with a thoughtful expression. Others in the cavern stare too, and I get the feeling that Keenan and Mazen don’t disagree very often.Keenan scrapes his chair back and leaves the table, disappearing into the muttering crowd behind Mazen.
“You’re perfect for the job, Laia,” Mazen says. “You have all the skills the Commandant would expect from a house slave. She’ll assume you’re illiterate. And we have the means to get you in.”
“What happens if I’m caught?”
“You’re dead.” Mazen looks me straight in the eye, and I feel a bitter appreciation for his honesty. “Every spy we’ve sent to Blackcliff has been discovered and killed. This isn’t a mission for the fainthearted.”
I almost want to laugh. He couldn’t have picked a worse person for it. “You’re not doing a very good job selling it.”
“I don’t have to sell it,” Mazen says. “We can find your brother and break him out. You can be our eyes and ears in Blackcliff. A simple exchange.”
“You trust me to do this?” I ask. “You hardly know me.”
“I knew your parents. That’s enough for me.”
“Mazen.” Tariq speaks up. “She’s just a girl. Surely we don’t need to—”
“She invoked
Izzat
,” Mazen says. “But
Izzat
means more than freedom. It means more than honor. It means courage. It means proving yourself.”
“He’s right,” I say. If the Resistance is going to help me, I can’t have the fighters thinking I’m weak. A glimmer of red catches my eye, and I look across the cavern to where Keenan leans against a bunk watching me, his hair like fire in the torchlight
.
He doesn’t want me to take this mission because he doesn’t want to risk the men to save Darin. I put a hand to my armlet.
Be brave, Laia.
I turn to Mazen. “If I do this, you’ll find Darin? You’ll break him out of jail?”
“You have my word. It won’t be hard to locate him. He’s not a Resistanceleader, so it’s not as if they’ll send him to Kauf.” Mazen snorts, but mention of the infamous northern prison sends a chill across my skin. Kauf’s interrogators have one goal: to make inmates suffer as much as possible before they die.
My parents died in Kauf. My sister, only twelve at the time, died there too.
“By the time you make your first report,” Mazen says, “I’ll be able to tell you where Darin is. When your mission is complete, we’ll break him out.”
“And after?”
“We pry your slaves’ cuffs off and pull you out of the school. We can make it look like a suicide, so you’re not hunted. You can join us, if you like. Or we can arrange passage to Marinn for you both.”
Marinn. The free lands.
What I wouldn’t give to escape there with my brother, to live in a place with no Martials, no Masks, no Empire.
But first I have to survive a spy mission. I have to survive Blackcliff.
Across the cavern, Keenan shakes his head. But the fighters around me nod.
This is Izzat
,
they seem to say. I fall silent, as if considering, but my decision is made the second I realize that going to Blackcliff is the only way to get Darin back.
“I’ll do it.”
“Good.” Mazen doesn’t sound surprised, and I wonder if he knew all along that I would say yes. He raises his voice so it carries. “Keenan will be your handler.”
At this, the younger man’s face goes, if possible, even darker. He presses his lips together as if to keep from speaking.
“Her hands and feet are cut up,” Mazen says. “See to her injuries, Keenan, and tell her what she needs to know. She leaves for Blackcliff
“She’s insane,” Keenan says. “They call her the Bitch of Blackcliff. You won’t survive the Commandant. The mission will fail.”
Mazen’s fist comes down on the table. Keenan doesn’t flinch.
“If you can’t keep your mouth shut,” the Resistance leader growls, “then leave.”
Tariq’s jaw drops as he looks between the two men. Sana, meanwhile, watches Keenan with a thoughtful expression. Others in the cavern stare too, and I get the feeling that Keenan and Mazen don’t disagree very often.Keenan scrapes his chair back and leaves the table, disappearing into the muttering crowd behind Mazen.
“You’re perfect for the job, Laia,” Mazen says. “You have all the skills the Commandant would expect from a house slave. She’ll assume you’re illiterate. And we have the means to get you in.”
“What happens if I’m caught?”
“You’re dead.” Mazen looks me straight in the eye, and I feel a bitter appreciation for his honesty. “Every spy we’ve sent to Blackcliff has been discovered and killed. This isn’t a mission for the fainthearted.”
I almost want to laugh. He couldn’t have picked a worse person for it. “You’re not doing a very good job selling it.”
“I don’t have to sell it,” Mazen says. “We can find your brother and break him out. You can be our eyes and ears in Blackcliff. A simple exchange.”
“You trust me to do this?” I ask. “You hardly know me.”
“I knew your parents. That’s enough for me.”
“Mazen.” Tariq speaks up. “She’s just a girl. Surely we don’t need to—”
“She invoked
Izzat
,” Mazen says. “But
Izzat
means more than freedom. It means more than honor. It means courage. It means proving yourself.”
“He’s right,” I say. If the Resistance is going to help me, I can’t have the fighters thinking I’m weak. A glimmer of red catches my eye, and I look across the cavern to where Keenan leans against a bunk watching me, his hair like fire in the torchlight
.
He doesn’t want me to take this mission because he doesn’t want to risk the men to save Darin. I put a hand to my armlet.
Be brave, Laia.
I turn to Mazen. “If I do this, you’ll find Darin? You’ll break him out of jail?”
“You have my word. It won’t be hard to locate him. He’s not a Resistanceleader, so it’s not as if they’ll send him to Kauf.” Mazen snorts, but mention of the infamous northern prison sends a chill across my skin. Kauf’s interrogators have one goal: to make inmates suffer as much as possible before they die.
My parents died in Kauf. My sister, only twelve at the time, died there too.
“By the time you make your first report,” Mazen says, “I’ll be able to tell you where Darin is. When your mission is complete, we’ll break him out.”
“And after?”
“We pry your slaves’ cuffs off and pull you out of the school. We can make it look like a suicide, so you’re not hunted. You can join us, if you like. Or we can arrange passage to Marinn for you both.”
Marinn. The free lands.
What I wouldn’t give to escape there with my brother, to live in a place with no Martials, no Masks, no Empire.
But first I have to survive a spy mission. I have to survive Blackcliff.
Across the cavern, Keenan shakes his head. But the fighters around me nod.
This is Izzat
,
they seem to say. I fall silent, as if considering, but my decision is made the second I realize that going to Blackcliff is the only way to get Darin back.
“I’ll do it.”
“Good.” Mazen doesn’t sound surprised, and I wonder if he knew all along that I would say yes. He raises his voice so it carries. “Keenan will be your handler.”
At this, the younger man’s face goes, if possible, even darker. He presses his lips together as if to keep from speaking.
“Her hands and feet are cut up,” Mazen says. “See to her injuries, Keenan, and tell her what she needs to know. She leaves for Blackcliff
Similar Books
