Peering over the balcony as they went, Aina noticed something shining far below, a crystalline surface in the prison’s courtyard with several guards walking across it. It offered a shred of light in the prison’s overwhelming darkness.

Noticing her gaze, Ryuu whispered, “Do you see the courtyard floor? It’s made out of rough diamonds confiscated from magic users during the war. There’s thousands of diamonds under that glass floor. The Tower has a lot of floors like this, but General Bautix insisted on keeping one here too, to remind inmates why so many of them are here.”

Aina’s first thought was how much money she could get for selling all those diamonds, but then the floodlight positions switched, and a bright circle illuminated the cell door inches from where she crouched. Jerking away, she nearly bumped into Ryuu, who grabbed her shoulder to pull her back from the light.

The lights switched again. They continued along the next wall, Aina trying to calm her nerves. Though this was the only way to proceed, she still hated being in the dark. Her throat began to close, and her breaths turned shallow like she was inhaling glue again, but she kept going.

Halfway down the balcony, she paused, then beckoned Ryuu and Raurie closer.

“Two guards are there. See them together near the door at the corner?” When they nodded, she took a dagger from inside her jacket. “I’ll be right back.”

28

Before they could try to stop her, she continued down the walkway, keeping her footsteps quiet. The guards faced away from her, chatting casually, but as she approached, one of them stopped talking. He turned and raised his gun when she stepped out into the center of the balcony.

“Stop where you are!” he said, then blew on his whistle sharply.

Leaping out of the way, she threw a knife into the man’s throat at the same time that he fired the gun. She slammed into the railing of the walkway, inches from sliding off to fall two stories down. Her heart pounded in her chest. The bullet had banged into the bars of a cell.

The inmate inside yelled out, and other prisoners rushed to the doors of their cells to see what was happening, all of them shouting out taunts to the guards. The floodlight shifted and landed near her. She scrambled away from it and clung to the edge of the balcony.

The other guard lifted his gun. The light moved again. In the chaos of the shouting prisoners, footsteps rushing nearby and whistles blaring above, Raurie had sneaked up behind the second guard and stopped him in place with her dagger at his throat.

In seconds, Aina retrieved her knife from the other guard’s body and took Raurie’s position, allowing Raurie to bind his hands.

“Thanks,” she said as Raurie finished and stood back with Ryuu.

“I grew up in the Stacks,” Raurie said, her hands trembling a little, but her voice steady. “Cowering and letting other people do the hard work are not among the skills you learn there.”