“Go, Anna! Go!” shouted Heribert before the dust engulfed him.

Despite the brilliant web of sorcery, she could not see Thiemo and Matto through the haze. She saw the blur of movement, glimpsed a Oilman bow case and a Kerayit headdress, heard voices yell and shriek, but nothing more. Nothing more.

Far away, down that dark passageway lying behind her, Blessing called out impatiently. “Come! Come! Hurry!”

She ducked down, banging her head once on stone before getting the hang of the low ceiling. It was dark as the grave. No net of sorcery wove light to guide her footsteps. Twice she stumbled and bruised herself, and the third time she tumbled to hands and knees and yelped in pain.

A warm hand fastened on her shoulder. “Hurry! Where are the others?”

“They can’t cross, Your Highness.” She coughed. Dust had scoured her lungs. Grit abraded her palms. “They can’t carry Lord Thiemo and Matto across that wall. We’ve got to go back.”

“I can’t leave them behind!” cried Blessing, with a fury that caused her hand to tighten on Anna’s shoulder until it hurt. She should have been weak after her illness, but she wasn’t. “Papa says you never leave your companions behind. We have to rescue them.”

“I think there was a rockfall.” She coughed again. It hurt to cough. “We can’t go back the way we came. Ai, God. What if they’re all dead?”

The earth groaned and rumbled beneath them, around them, everywhere. They were trapped in a tomb and it was too late to save themselves. They would die here—

A body slammed into Anna, tripped over her, and went sprawling, knocking Blessing down.

“Highness!” Anna smelled the Kerayit healer, whose peculiar scent of sour milk and an unidentifiable musk always tickled her nose.

She sneezed. The others piled up behind them, trapped in the low tunnel. A cloud of dust blasted past them, choking the passage.

“Move! Move!” said Lord Berthold from out of the dust. “The whole place is collapsing.”

Anna scrambled forward, grabbing Blessing’s arm and pulling her along with her. They raced blind, tripping, stumbling, staggering, but the passage ran true, without turns or branches, until at length they stumbled onto stone steps, and climbed up them. Just as Anna realized that she could see through her stinging eyes, they emerged into a shallow cave carved out of a hillside by a massive collapse of dirt, as if half the side of the hill had fallen away. Dust puffed and billowed around them. Beyond, a sickly gray light bled color out of the air.

Anna crept to the opening. One by one the others joined her: Princess Blessing, Lord Berthold, his companion Jonas, the Kerayit healer, and last the young Quman soldier supporting Brother Heribert, who fell to his knees, hacking as though he meant to cough his lungs out. All of them wept blood from scrapes and cuts. All were covered with dust and dirt. Lord Berthold cursed and muttered, while Jonas tried to soothe him.