The crowd cheers again, a deafening rally, and I stiffen. A group of fae next to me takes notice of my presence, and they whisper and point. Soon, dozens of eyes are looking my way. I bristle under their scrutinizing gaze. Krantz stands on the podium with a victorious look that tells me he knew exactly what he was doing by alerting these people to my presence.

Several other fae appear near Krantz, barking orders to organize the crowd into groups for aerstepping. Silene, Fionn, and I are directed to a group that includes Krantz. “We’re going to aerstep into the merchant district first, then we’ll make our way discreetly to the thayar tower,” Krantz tells me.

I nod. “I’d like to leave my advisors, Fionn and Silene, with the group attacking the merchants. They’re both excellent fighters with strong magic. We won’t need them in our small group.”

“An excellent idea, Your Highness.”

We arrive on a bustling street in Arberly I recognize, lined with shops selling all kinds of goods. My gut churns with anticipation and guilt at what’s about to happen, but I have to trust that Fionn and Silene can do more good than if we hadn’t been here. Our group immediately breaks apart and walks off in pointed directions.

“Stick with me for now,” Krantz says. “Once we get going, our people will know what to do, and we’ll slip off. The others going with us know where to meet.” With that, Krantz heads farther into the heart of the district. We slip into an alleyway, where a pile of something sits, hidden under a cloth. Krantz rips the tarp off, revealing a large pile of wood stuffed with small vials containing a deep red liquid.

“Concentrated thayar,” Silene whispers, eyes wide.

Krantz grins and gives her a nod. “Smart girl. As soon as I throw this match, we need to run to the main road,” Krantz says, letting the flame burn high. “If you run fast enough, you should make it before it explodes.” His smile widens. “Bombs just like this one are being lit all over the district. Once we get everyone into the main square, we’ll start phase two of the attack.”

“But why are you using thayar to create bombs when you’re also trying to steal more thayar? Isn’t that defeating the purpose of the whole mission?” Silene asks, expression shocked and confused.

Krantz bares his teeth, clearly disliking being questioned by her. “Not that it’s any of your business, but this bomb barely even uses one flower, and we’re going to steal hundreds of thousands. Now, are you all ready?” He doesn’t wait for a response, just throws the match onto the mound. We all run, and just as we reach the main street that runs through the middle of Arberly, chaos erupts around us.