At last, Lena shouldered through a gap at the front—she was close now, up against the portcullis, but a way inside was as elusive as it had been at the back. Green-cloaked guards with drawn swords blocked the narrow staircase leading into the gatehouse beside the portcullis—and more were stationed on the battlements above, bows trained on the crowd. The walls were slick with storm vapor and impossibly tall.

The Justice raised his hand, which glinted in the half-light, and let out a bellowed command. As she watched, an arrow was loosed. She followed its trajectory—it fell dangerously near. A dull thud of iron into flesh—a woman’s scream. The metallic stench of blood filled Lena’s nose.

The crowd roared and heaved in panic as a volley of arrows whistled overhead—but instead of driving them back, it made the townsfolk surge forward. An elbow rammed into Lena’s back, knocking her onto her hands and knees right under the feet of a guard. The guard pointed his sword at her throat—he was standing in the small doorway in the shadows of the gatehouse.

But although he drew his blade back, the blow never came. He didn’t kill her. Thank the Ancestors, he didn’t.

She stared up at his peaked helmet, his young, pale face. His mouth opened and shut—his eyes widened in recognition.

“Wait…” He grabbed her arm, pulled her up and toward him. No one in the crowd appeared to notice how she vanished into the structure of the castle’s walls.

“What do you think you’re doing?” barked his older comrade from farther up the spiral staircase. His dark-green cloak was edged in black, his helmet taller.

“This is the cryptling mage who escaped the hounds last week,” said the young man grasping Lena’s arm. “I’d recognize that face anywhere—the Justice has had us tearing the city apart searching for her. Shall I take her to the dungeons, sir?”

Lena’s heart raced in excitement. Constance was in the dungeons. If they imprisoned her there, they might be delivering her to the very place she wanted to go.

The older guard narrowed his eyes at her, lip curled in disgust, and shook his head curtly. “No, best report to the Justice. He’ll be glad of some good news. But come back quick—we need every man we can get.”