CHAPTER 62

There would never be a better moment.

Dej stayed stock-still when Sadakh left, in case he did something useful like call one of the guards away, but she heard him tell them both to stay put before he strode off.Despite the weight of the life inside her she felt oddly light. She’d shared Jat’s burden. Let this churchman, this half-seer, deal with knowing just what a terrible world they lived in, and that they were all doomed.

“Except you and I aren’t doomed just yet,” she whispered, “are we girl?”

She felt more warmly towards the eparch now; they’d shared unspeakable secrets. But that didn’t mean she trusted him. And it didn’t mean she was happy to remain at his mercy.

She crawled over to the side wall and pulled away the blankets she’d shoved back to hide the hole. She’d started by scoring the wall with one claw-like nail in a criss-cross pattern; then she’d pressed on the weakened plaster with her palm until it cracked and broke. After that it had been a case of widening the hole and pulling out the dried mud and straw from the core of the wall. She’d trickled it into various boxes; the housekeepers would curse her.

Being discovered was a constant worry, as was finding that the wall’s supports were too close together, or that there was something solid against the far side. She’d had to widen her initial hole to allow for a diagonal wooden batten that looked structural. Then, just before Sadakh’s arrival, she’d reached the thin membrane of plaster on the far side, and it’d given way under her hand, revealing a dim but empty space.

Now she sat down, reached in, and began pulling at the plaster to widen the hole. She paused every now and then to listen, but didn’t hear anything from the next room. She’d planned to break out late tonight, when no one was around and the guards wouldn’t be paying as much attention, but that might be too late.

She wasn’t sure what was important enough to make the eparch abandon their conversation, but she was sure he’d be back as soon as he was done. And now she’d changed the game, and revealed how unique her child was, he’d be more interested in her than ever.

A large hunk of plaster cracked, the sound painfully loud. Dej paused, hand in the wall. She stared at the door, willing it not to open.

It stayed closed. She breathed again, and poked at the cracked plaster. It crumbled. The hole looked big enough now. She shoved a tunic she’d filched from a box through, then shifted onto all fours. She paused. Her belly hung down, pulling at her spine, the child inside shifting. Was this wise? Perhaps not, but she wasn’t going to wait meekly on Sadakh’s pleasure. Worst case, if she was recaptured he’d just find somewhere else, more secure, to put her. He used people, but he wasn’t a total bastard like Cal.

She put her head into the hole. Straw pattered down. But the wall was only a couple of handbreadths wide. She pushed through, then raised her head when it was out the far side.

Ouch. Her head hit something solid overhead. A table? She cursed and crouched lower, then eased forward, keeping her head down. Her shoulders clipped the gap; more plaster fell. The baby kicked again. But she kept going, pushing through. On the far side she went down onto her forearms and crawled, backside in the air and belly bumping the floorboards, until she was out from under whatever she’d banged her head on.

She rolled over onto her back and used the tunic to wipe the plaster dust out of her eyes. She’d come out from under a bed. She levered herself onto her elbows and looked around. She was in a deserted dormitory.

She pulled herself up to stand, wobbled to get her balance, then slipped the tunic over her head; she’d stand out a bit less to a casual glance now. As she smoothed the fabric over her belly she murmured, “Try and hold off a little longer, hey?”

The nearest window was full-sized, so she walked over and looked out. What she saw stunned her. It was a city, as she’d thought, but nothing like Shen or Foam-cast-north. It was built in the water, or rather on islands in the water. Every island was covered in sprawling, gold-coloured buildings of reed and straw. Most had just the one storey, and from here she had a clear view across an expanse of rooftops and gables adorned with carved and brightly-painted wood, broken up by the odd brick chimney.

She looked down, at what was immediately below the window. A couple of wooden platforms extended from the base of the building; one of them had what must be a boat up against it. She’d need a boat to get away, but this one was already occupied by a man in a tunic at the back and sitting in front of him–

No. It couldn’t be.

“Etyan!” His name escaped before she could catch it. Surprise had stolen her voice; it was more a gasp than a shout.

Even so, he looked up. Yes, it was him! Her heart did a crazy double-beat.

“Dej? It’s really you!”

“It is.”

“But how–”

“Keep your voice down! I have to get out of here.” Improbably, the other man appeared to be ignoring them. She had a sudden thought. “Etyan, can you shout at the window to my right, say that someone’s climbing down.”

“So… you’re not going to climb down then.”

“I can’t in this…” No, that wasn’t a conversation to have now, “No, I’ll have to use the stairs.”

“I’ll come in and find you!”

“That’s not a good idea.”

“I can’t just sit here! I never thought I’d see–”

“I need you to make a diversion for me. Please, Etyan.”

“All right. Are you ready?”

“Let me get to the door.”

“I missed you so much.”

“Escape now, talk later.” But despite her last words to him, despite what he’d done and what she’d experienced since, she was glad to see him. “Count to ten, then shout.”

“All right.” He turned in his seat.

She scuttled over to the door.

She heard him shout, “Hey, there’s someone climbing out the window here!”

Dej listened and heard an opening door. She eased her own door open a crack and looked out. The woman guard stood with her back to her, looking into the storeroom. From inside the other guard called something about needing a boost up.

She slipped out the dorm and ran in the opposite direction. Stairs just ahead. She was about to turn down them when she heard voices, coming up. Two men saying something about a “poliarch”. She dashed past.

Corner ahead. She went round it, but slowed as she did so, unsure what she’d find. Just a long, empty corridor.

More voices ahead, distant but many. A large group of boys and girls, talking loudly, rounded the corner at the far end of the corridor. Dej opened the nearest door and slid through. It was another dorm.

“What…?”

A girl about the age she’d been when she left the crèche was lying on one of the beds. She sat up at seeing Dej, eyes wide.

“Don’t be alarmed,” Dej held out a hand. “I’m the eparch’s guest but I got lost. Where are the nearest stairs from here please?”

The girl looked puzzled and a little afraid, but pointed back the way Dej had come. Outside, the voices were getting closer.

“Uh, I’m just gonna catch my breath.”

The girl stared at her. “Are you a skykin?”

“Yep.” The youths would reach the door soon. They’d better not be coming in here.

“And you’re pregnant.”

“Right again.” The voices were passing, someone laughing about someone else’s voice breaking during the morning service.

“Shouldn’t you be at a crèche?”

“Probably.”

The youths went past, their voices receding.

Dej smiled at the bemused girl. “Probably best not mention you saw me, eh?”

“All right.”

Dej opened the door a crack. The corridor was empty.

The nearest stairs weren’t an option: the guards would’ve worked out she wasn’t outside by now, and be looking for her. She had to carry on this way.

Another set of voices had her ducking into another, empty, dorm. This was why she’d planned to escape at night.

She reached the far end of the corridor, listened at the corner and, when she heard nothing, crept round. As she’d hoped, the layout was symmetrical: there were stairs here too. She listened before descending.

The ground floor layout was more complex, with a couple of side-turnings straight off. But she knew which direction she needed to go. She took the turning leading back towards where she’d seen Etyan. These shorter corridors meant less chance of being spotted from a distance but more chance of someone discovering her unawares. When she heard a pair of female voices ahead she picked another random room to hide in; some sort of assembly-room, currently unused. The two women took an age to walk past.

Back outside, this corridor ended at an intersection. She needed to go left. She checked both ways. There was a figure to the left, advancing slowly… and wearing familiar clothes. He had one hand on his jerkin, as though holding something there. She called his name as she rounded the corner.

Etyan’s face went from fear to joy in a moment. Then his gaze fell on her belly. “Dej, you’re–”

“Why didn’t you stay with the boat?”

“When you didn’t come out I had to come in for you. Dej, you’re pregnant.”

“Yes, very. We need to get out of here. Now.”

“I can’t leave. Ree’s here.”

Of course she was. “Yes, but I’m guessing she wanted you to stay with the boat?”

“She did, but when I saw you… That’s my child isn’t it? You’re having my child!”

“Mine actually. But not here. Hopefully. Let’s go back the way you came.”

He grimaced. “I’m not sure which way I came. These corridors all look the same.”

He hadn’t changed. Or perhaps he had. Etyan had an air of purpose, and a sadness that even his elation at seeing her hadn’t driven off. “We’ll just go slowly. I’m good with direction, remember?”

“Yes. Of course. So much has happened, I don’t know where to start.”

“Start by getting back to the boat. Then we’ll talk.”

“Yes. All right.”

They turned round. Etyan said he’d come up a side passage but he wasn’t sure which one. Dej inclined her head at the first one they passed.

“No, the next, I think.”

Dej nodded. She was half a step ahead, in order to check down the passage as soon as her eyeline was clear.

She stopped, Etyan coming up behind her. When he saw what was in the passage ahead he breathed, “Oh no.”