Kate had never been one to sit idle. As a little girl, she had sailed the world on board her father’s ship, calling no one place home. Each new day had brought her a fresh adventure.
After her father’s death, Kate’s life as a wrecker in the Aligoes had been difficult and dangerous, but it had suited her restless nature. When she was not salvaging wrecked cargo, she was flying with Dalgren or refitting her ship, serving drinks at the Perky Parrot or dodging Greenstreet’s henchmen.
During rare moments of peace and quiet, she had dreamed of joining the Dragon Brigade or making her fortune as a privateer and restoring her childhood home, Barwich Manor, to its former glory. She had eagerly risen from her bed every morning with myriad dreams and schemes in her head.
This morning she rose from her bed in Amelia’s house with her head filled with plans and schemes to free Phillip and rescue Thomas. Or rather, she was filled with hopes of freeing Phillip and rescuing Thomas. As yet, she and Sophia had not formed a viable plan.
Amelia had tried without success to find out what had become of Sir Henry. She had contacted her underworld sources, made the rounds of the hospitals, and even been so bold as to inquire at his house.
He had apparently vanished.
“We have no choice,” Amelia said to Kate and Sophia. “We must let His Majesty know that we have abandoned the plan to sneak into the palace.”
Kate and Sophia exchanged glances.
“You promised us to wait until tomorrow morning, Miss Amelia,” said Kate.
Amelia eyed the two of them. “You young ladies are up to something. Very well. A promise is words engraved upon the soul, as Mrs. Ridgeway often taught us.”
That morning, when Amelia shut herself up in her office to write, Kate and Sophia sat down at the kitchen table to work on their plan, disappointing Bandit, who had thought they were going to eat.
“We know how to sneak into the palace,” said Kate. “We know the secret door to the secret passage.”
“But I am not sure we could find our way around once we are inside the passages,” said Sophia. “We took an awful lot of twists and turns.”
“I have been thinking. Perhaps we won’t need to use the passages,” said Kate. “We still have the maids’ uniforms. The palace employs hundreds of maids. Odds are no one would notice us. Once we are inside, you know where to find the Rose Room.”
Sophia was dubious. “I’m not certain—”
Kate ignored her protest. “You know. So here’s my plan. I came up with it last night. We will send a message in Amelia’s next story to Thomas, telling him we will meet him in the Rose Room. He will take us to Offdom Tower where we will set Pip free. We will meet Dalgren on the palace grounds and he will fly all four of us to Barwich Manor. We will be safe there until we can find a way to leave Freya.”
“Oh, Kate,” said Sophia, regarding her unhappily.
Kate sighed and ran her hand through her curls. “You think I am being silly and impractical, although you are too polite to tell me. None of this will work. It’s nothing but a dream.”
“Fight for your dreams,” said Sophia unexpectedly.
Kate looked at her, startled.
“You told me that Stephano de Guichen said that to you when you were a little girl,” Sophia explained. “Maybe we should fight, find a way to make this work—”
They were interrupted by Bandit, who let out a yelp, leaped to his feet, and raced out of the kitchen. They could hear him in the entry hall, barking wildly. The next moment, a knock sounded on the door.
“Sir Henry!” Kate exclaimed.
She jumped up so fast, her skirt caught in the chair and swept it over. Sophia hurried out into the hall, calling for Amelia, who had also heard Bandit and was running out of her office.
The person was still knocking. Bandit was jumping at the door, scratching at it with his paws. Kate was about to yank it open, when she remembered that they were housing a fugitive.
“Sophia! Bandit! Kitchen!” Kate ordered.
Sophia caught hold of the dog and ran back to the kitchen.
“Look out the window first,” said Amelia, arriving breathlessly.
Kate went to one of the two narrow windows that stood on either side of the door. She parted the curtain to peep outside.
“Oh, my God. It’s a Freyan army officer! Warn Sophia—” Kate stopped, looked more closely, then gave a relieved sigh. “No! Wait! I know this man. It’s Corporal Jennings!”
She flung open the door.
“Corporal! Thank God, you are alive! Please, come inside.”
“I am very much alive,” said Jennings, mystified. “Did you think I was dead?”
“We heard a pistol shot after you helped us escape and we feared the worst,” Kate explained.
Jennings smiled. “Fortunately, I managed to survive my encounter with the notorious Captain Kate, though I fear I did make the false claim that you shot me, Captain.”
Kate laughed and introduced Amelia, who advanced to shake hands.
“Welcome, sir,” said Amelia. “I want to add my thanks for saving Kate and Sophia. They are both very dear to me. Come into the kitchen, have some tea.”
“Thank you, no, ma’am,” said the corporal. “This is not a social call. My time is limited. His Majesty sent me with a message for Sir Henry Wallace. Can you tell me where to find him? The matter is of extreme urgency.”
Kate and Amelia looked at each other in concern.
“We would be glad to, sir, but we ourselves do not know where to find Sir Henry,” Amelia replied. “The day before yesterday, his secretary, Mr. Sloan, came to tell us that His Lordship had met with an accident.”
Jennings was dismayed. “You have no idea how to reach Sir Henry?”
“I have no idea if Sir Henry is even still alive,” said Amelia gravely. “What message do you carry from the king?”
Jennings appeared uncertain about delivering it, but he didn’t seem to know what else to do. “His Majesty has discovered that an agent of King Ullr’s, Baron Rupert Grimm, is planning to murder King Thomas’s friend, Phillip Masterson. King Ullr also intends—”
Sophia gasped. “Phillip! Oh, dear God! No!” She had heard Kate say Jennings’ name and come out to see what was going on. Hearing the news, she paled and dropped Bandit, who landed on the floor with an indignant yelp. Jennings was distressed.
“Forgive me, Your Highness,” he said, bowing. “I did not mean for you to overhear.”
“Do not worry, my dear,” said Amelia, giving Sophia a reassuring pat on her shoulder. “I know you and Kate have been plotting. I am sure you will think of something. And now, carry on, sir. What else do you know?”
“His Majesty has acquired the information Sir Henry requested regarding King Ullr and his designs upon our country. His Majesty needs to speak to His Lordship urgently.”
Amelia sighed and shook her head.
“We cannot let them murder Phillip!” Sophia said, recovering from her momentary weakness. “Corporal Jennings, you saved our lives. Can’t you do something to free Phillip from prison?”
“I am sorry, I cannot, ma’am,” said Jennings. “His Majesty has ordered me to travel to Rosia to report what he has learned to the countess. She must speak to King Renaud, do all she can to try to prevent this disastrous war.”
“And we must do all we can,” said Kate decisively. “How was Sir Henry going to communicate with the king?”
“An advertisement in the Agony column, Captain,” Jennings replied. “A single word: ‘Yes.’ Sir Henry was to convey his instructions to His Majesty in one of Miss Nettleship’s stories.”
Kate and Sophia exchanged glances. Kate picked up Bandit, who had been sniffing the corporal’s boots. Sophia gave Jennings her hand.
“Thank you for coming, Corporal,” she said. “I hope you have a safe journey. Please give the countess my love.”
Amelia opened the door. “Good-bye, Corporal.”
“Godspeed,” said Kate.
Jennings understood perfectly well what they contemplated, and he was appalled. “Your Highness, Captain Kate, I beg of you! Please do not consider taking any action yourselves. Smythe is searching for you! If you return to the palace, you will be in great danger!”
“You need have no fear for me, sir,” said Sophia. “I was raised by the Countess de Marjolaine.”
Jennings looked to Amelia for help, but she only shook her head. “You had best be on your way, young man. The journey to Rosia is a long one.”
Jennings still hesitated, unwilling to leave.
“You are dismissed, Corporal,” said Sophia with a smile.
Jennings was forced to retreat. He bowed and Amelia shut the door on him.
“I will place the ad in the Gazette,” she said. “You two make a fresh pot of tea. We’re going to need it.”
By that afternoon, they had devised a plan.
Kate rose early the next morning and went to visit the palace, armed with a sketchbook and a box of pencils. The palace was a popular subject for artists, and no one paid attention to her.
She approached one of the gardeners, who was wrapping the ornamental fir trees in burlap to stop the deer from eating them.
“Which of these buildings is Offdom Tower?” Kate asked. “My art teacher has assigned us to do studies of the architecture.”
The gardener pointed out a building in the interior of the palace compound that stood some distance from the palace itself and looked very dark and forbidding.
“I am afraid you can’t see much of it from this side of the palace walls, miss,” said the gardener.
“Is there any way I can get closer?” Kate asked.
“By getting yourself arrested, miss,” said the gardener with a smirk.
Kate looked up into the sky. “What a delightful little boat. Is that used for sightseeing?”
“No, miss,” said the gardener, rolling his eyes. “That there is a patrol boat, keeping watch for Rosian scum.”
“Rosians!” Kate gasped. “Oh, dear! I hope His Majesty is safe from those fiends! How does the boat protect the king when it’s so far away from him?”
The gardener was pleased to show off his knowledge and happy to take a break from his work. Kate heard all she wanted about the patrol boats, most of which she already knew, for she had investigated them when she had thought she and Dalgren might encounter them.
She thanked the gardener and left him to go back to his work, then walked about the grounds until she found a vantage point that provided her with a view of the top of the tower. She made a few drawings of the exterior. Noting several windows at the very top, she wondered if those belonged to Phillip’s cell.
Having seen all she could of Offdom Tower, she noted the numbers of guards placed at the various entrances to the palace and again observed the rounds made by the patrol boats, to make sure nothing in their routine had changed. Kate closed her sketchbook and returned to Amelia’s house to report.
“There are two boats that take turns guarding the palace. The boat on duty sails in a figure eight formation above the palace grounds. It takes about an hour to make a full sweep of the grounds. Each boat is armed with two eighteen-pound carronades and six swivel guns. The only time the boat lands is when the crew changes shifts, and that is every twelve hours. The boat lands on the roof of the palace.”
“I feel sorry for those poor sailors,” said Sophia. “I cannot imagine anything more boring, doing the same thing over and over, day and night.”
“Which means they will be lax in their duties,” said Amelia.
“Especially at night when they can’t see much,” Kate added. “The lookouts will be half-asleep. We will wait until the boat is at the opposite end of the palace grounds, then Dalgren will fly us over the wall as Sir Henry had planned. If for some reason the patrol boat does see us, they’ll only see a dragon.”
“Freyans are terrified of dragons. What if they fire at him?” Amelia asked.
“A little ball like an eighteen pounder won’t hurt him,” said Kate.
Sophia raised an eyebrow, as if she wondered what Dalgren would say to that. She knew better than to argue, though. She had drawn a map of the palace interior as best she could remember, and she and Kate tried to re-create the route they had taken through the secret passages. They soon gave up.
“Maybe Bandit remembers,” said Kate, throwing down her pencil in frustration.
The spaniel wagged his tail, indicating he would be helpful if he could. Sophia rewarded him with a tea cake.
“What did you find out about Offdom Tower, Miss Amelia?” Kate asked.
Amelia had spent the day at the library, doing research. She referred to her notes.
“No prisoner has ever successfully escaped from the tower, which is reputed to be the most secure fortress in the world.”
Kate and Sophia regarded her in dismay. Amelia shook her head and continued.
“The tower is four stories tall with cellblocks on three levels. A staircase tower attached to the main building provides access to these levels. The warden and his staff live in rooms on the ground floor. The cellblocks on levels two and three are no longer in use, since the construction of the prison at Hampstead. The upper level contains only four cells, which historically have housed prisoners of noble blood, such as King Frederick. He was the most famous prisoner at Offdom Tower, though there have been others. I will not bore you with their names.”
She flipped a page. “The staircase tower provides the only access to the cellblocks. Each cellblock is secured by a door leading off the staircase. Soldiers guard the entrance to the tower, as well as the doors to each cellblock. The staircase has no windows and is protected by warding magicks, although these were allowed to lapse when the cellblocks were closed down. If a prisoner does manage to escape his cell, he can make his way to freedom only by means of the staircase, and it can be sealed off from the rest of the prison, so that the prisoner is trapped inside.”
“Bloody hell!” Kate said.
“I fear I must relate worse,” said Amelia. “The magical warding constructs on the cell door are notorious for being extremely complex, requiring a magical key to open them. If a crafter attempts to dismantle them without the key and makes even a single miscalculation, the magic resets and locks the door for twenty-four hours, during which time no one can enter, not even with the key.
“I endeavored to find more information on the constructs. I searched for a diagram or even the name of the original crafter, thinking that I could study his or her workmanship. I found nothing.”
“Oh, dear,” said Sophia.
“Sophia, you are a savant,” said Kate. “You’re the best crafter I’ve ever seen.”
Sophia shook her head. “I am familiar with warding constructs like these on the door to the Jewel Tower in the palace at Everux. Picture this table covered with a myriad of magical sigils that make up myriad constructs. In order to work, each construct is dependent on the constructs before it as well as those that come after it. Not only that, they are designed to work in a certain order. Hidden within the constructs is a magical ‘keyhole’—a single construct that causes a cascade of magic when it is activated with the key. Only then will the door open.
“As a savant, I could see the magical constructs. Given enough time, I might be able to solve the puzzle. But that could take days. And if I were to guess and make a mistake—”
“The door would lock for twenty-four hours,” said Kate. “There must be a way! We are so close! We can’t let Pip die!”
“I will continue my research tomorrow,” Amelia offered. “We should not yet relinquish hope.”
But she didn’t sound hopeful. Sophia picked up Bandit and buried her face in his fur.
“Don’t give up, Sophia,” said Kate. “If I have to, I’ll force the guards at gunpoint to open the damn door!”
Sophia raised her head. “Not even that will work. All the guard has to do is touch the wrong construct and the door will lock.”
“And once that happens not even the guard could open it,” said Amelia. “No matter how many guns you have aimed at his head. There’s a reason no one has ever escaped.”
The next day, Amelia left for the library to continue her research. Sophia tried to recall as much as she could about the warding constructs on the door to the Jewel Tower. Kate left to go talk to Dalgren.
The dragon had moved to a different cave after the incident with Trubgek and he had laid magical traps around the cave to alert him if anyone was trying to sneak up on him.
He had told Kate how to find the cave and she had to remember where he had placed the traps in order to avoid them. That wasn’t easy, for dragons have the ability to manipulate their surroundings with their magic. Dalgren had left marks on the stones to warn her when she was nearing a trap and she had to keep careful watch as she climbed among the rocks. What appeared to her to be solid ground could be an illusion concealing a deep pit, while touching the wrong boulder to steady herself could trigger a rock slide.
She navigated her way safely through the traps and found Dalgren resting on sun-warmed rocks, napping after his midday meal. She tickled his snout with a weed until he snorted and woke up.
Several days ago she had explained their predicament to him, how they could not find Sir Henry and were thus forced to scrap their original plan. She had told him she and Sophia were devising a new plan, which caused him to gloomily shake his head. He had too much experience with Kate’s plans.
The first thing he said when he saw her glum face was, “I knew something would go wrong.”
Kate explained the intricacies of the warding magic as Sophia had described them. As Dalgren listened, Kate saw his nostrils twitch and his eyes crinkle in a grin that caused smoke to puff out from between his fangs.
Kate stopped her explanation to glare at him. “This is not funny, Dalgren! They’re going to kill Phillip unless we can free him!”
“It is funny,” said Dalgren smugly. “All your talk about sneaking into towers and secret passages and silencing guards and magical keys. You don’t need any of that.”
He lifted his head, preening himself, and said loftily, “You have me.”
Kate didn’t know what he meant at first and then she understood.
“I do have you!” she said, affectionately rubbing his snout. “And what would I ever do without you.”