Split up? Was Vojvo mad?
Liam furrowed his brow at the captain. “Why?” He didn’t know where he was going in the palace. He couldn’t just wander around hoping he found the right place before he was caught walking into the wrong woman’s chambers and recaptured.
“Did you not just see the king pass with the duke and duchess?” Vojvo’s brows furrowed as he threw his hands out. “If we’re caught together and either one of us is recognized, it will bring it back to Duchess Margaret.” He shook his head. “Neither of us want that.”
It was fair enough—Liam had already done enough to bring harm to Margaret, and he didn’t want to do it again. Even if she was the one who had orchestrated his jail break. “I don’t know where her chambers are now,” Liam said.
Vojvo paused, pulling his lips between his teeth before releasing them. “They’re on the other side of the palace…in the west wing, two corridors farther down from the room you went to on her wedding day.”
Liam frowned. “That still doesn’t help.” Not to mention, with the size of the palace, that was at least a quarter-mile from where they were now, if not further. It was plenty of time for him to get caught. “I can’t knock on each door hoping it’s the right one.”
“I’ll stand outside on guard duty as I would have before I was sent to the dungeons.” Vojvo looked around before pulling out a knife from one of his pockets. “Find a place to shave. You’ll stand out with your scruff if you’re walking in the open.”
Liam hadn’t shaved without a mirror since his days in the field as a soldier. He’d be lucky if he wasn’t a bloody mess by the end of it. “I’ll do my best.”
“You’ll have to take the outside entrance—Corporal Lane will know you’re not one of his.” Vojvo inhaled deeply, his brows furrowing. “I don’t know how long the king will take at your cell, and if you’ll be reported missing just yet.”
Liam nodded. They didn’t have any time to waste. “I’ll see you there.” He didn’t feel so confident he would make it, but if he could escape on his own through the sewers, he could do this.
Vojvo clapped him on the shoulders. “May Theotes guide you,” he said before leaving Liam in the darkened row of cells.
Liam backed further into the cell block, looking round for anyone else. Several of the locks had rusted through on the cells—there must have been something that happened on this row for them to be abandoned like this.
Using his fingers as guide, Liam used the knife to shave. He’d be lucky if he didn’t knick his fingers or his face—or both. He took the time he knew he didn’t have to be careful. Liam didn’t want to make himself look like anything other than an ordinary palace guard. When he finished, he tucked the knife away and headed toward the end of the row.
He stopped short at the intersection of corridors, bowing his head deeply and taking a step further back.
It was the king, his angry footsteps pounding against the stone floor.
“...make a fool of me…” was all Liam could hear as the king passed.
There was no question now. He’d been discovered missing. Liam’s stomach clenched. From here on out, it would be a fight for his life at every turn.
Liam waited until he could no longer hear the angry steps of the king before leaving the corridor.
He tried to remember the layout of the palace grounds and the dungeon from his days living in the barracks and working in the city guard. It had been so long ago—fifteen years to the month since he’d left the palace to go to war with Salatia. Liam made his way to the entrance to the dungeon, scanning the area for the outside exit. Vojvo was right—he couldn’t chance going straight through the palace.
Spotting it, he tested the door. It was unlocked. Furrowing his brow, Liam couldn’t remember if it was always unlocked so guards could come in from the barracks or not. He slowly pushed it open, looking to see if anyone was there.
No one.
His shoulders relaxed as he stepped fully outside, breathing in the night air. It was the freshest he’d smelled since the last time he escaped from these dungeons. At least this time, it wasn’t tinged with sewage and salt water.
Liam couldn’t let this small spot of luck lower his guard. He still had a long way to go before he was safe again. And that wouldn’t be until they were in Margaret’s lands—either her old or her new as the Duchess of Fradure.
Liam walked further away from the palace so he could orient himself. Things looked vaguely familiar to him. All of the buildings on the property were left mostly unadorned so as to not detract from the grandeur of the palace. The barracks with its plain design and its crenulated roof were behind him to the east, so the west wing would be in front of him. He rolled his shoulders back, standing up straighter. All he had to do was walk with confidence like he was meant to be there, and people would believe he should be.
He kept careful watch of anyone who was outdoors as he passed, nodding to them as he would have when he lived in the barracks. So far, he’d seen no other guards, only people who would barely notice his presence as the help. He could see the center of the palace, its great staircase leading to a balcony and to the interior. With as easily as things were going for him, he thought of chancing using that entrance.
But it was only a matter of time before his luck would run out on him, and he didn’t want it to be this soon.
Liam walked past the grand staircase, scanning the exterior for any entrances he could use without raising suspicion.
“Ho to the guard!”
Stomach clenching, Liam froze. He slowly turned around. It was another guard.
“What are you doing out here?”
“I got a little turned around,” Liam said, giving him a shy grin. “I’ve only been on the guard for a few days.”
“Where were you trying to go?” The other guard crossed his arms over his chest, frowning.
“The royal barracks.” Liam tried to stay calm while his stomach churned. If this guard would just give him directions back, he could shake him quick enough.
The guard nodded with a small laugh. “That’s an easy enough mistake to make—especially when it’s dark out.” He stepped closer to Liam. “You went west instead of east—let me show you where they are.”
Ice trickled down his spine while he smiled. “That would be greatly appreciated.”