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Ria had to come up with a plan, and fast. Her captor kept eyeing a spot on the wall, probably where the tunnel emerged, and then frowning down at her. It was only a matter of time before Tes decided to make Ria try to walk. So what would be her best option?

When the other woman glanced away again, Ria tested the bonds around her wrists. The rough bite of rope scratched at her skin, but there wasn’t much give. There didn’t have to be. With a little magic, she could alter the threads, either stretching or fraying them. The trick was getting Tes away so she didn’t pick up on it.

“Can you at least bandage my head?” Ria asked. “I can’t tell if it’s still bleeding, but it feels uncomfortable, regardless.”

A lie—Ria was reasonably certain from past experience that the wound had clotted. Fortunately, her captor appeared less knowledgeable about the aftermath of violence, considering the worried frown crossing her brow.

Tes leaned down, holding her tiny spark of light lower. “It doesn’t look like there’s more blood.”

“Maybe clean it off?” Ria sighed at her captor’s blank look. “You could tear a strip of fabric from the petticoat of your dr—”

“I’ll not ruin this poor servant’s dress!” Tes exclaimed in horror. “As I am not a thief, I have every intention of seeing it returned in one piece. That is not an acceptable solution.”

Ria stared at the daft woman. Tes had no trouble stealingherfrom the castle, but a pilfered dress was too much? “You’re not a thief, huh?”

“You know nothing about me,” Tes said, flushing once more.

“I don’t think I care to,” Ria snapped, and her captor flinched. Why did the hurt on the woman’s face make her feel a little guilty? It was probably all feigned, anyway. “Look, maybe search the room for some kind of cloth? It’s a storage area, so it shouldn’t be too hard.”

Lips thinning, Tes spun away and stomped toward the nearest pile, taking her light with her. Ria smiled into the sudden darkness, but her satisfaction didn’t last long. Her head pounded and spun as she reached for her magic. Had she thought doing a spell when dizzy was bad? Adding pain to the mix wasn’t precisely a help.

Desperation, though…that worked. Although her stomach heaved and rolled, Ria managed to weaken the rope by the time Tes returned with a dusty scrap of fabric. But she didn’t free herself yet. It really would be a good idea to ensure that her head had stopped bleeding before she attempted to make a run for it.

“That’s covered in dirt,” Ria couldn’t help but point out as her captor leaned close with the cloth.

“By all the gods,” Tes muttered between clenched teeth. “If I’d had any inkling this rescue would be such a pain in the—”

“Rescue?” Ria laughed. “I could be in bed with two gorgeous kings right now having my every need met. Instead, I’m tied up in a storage room that probably hasn’t been visited since Toren was a baby, and I have a raging headache. I’m not sure why you expect friendly cooperation.”

Tes’s nose wrinkled. “You could meet your death in that bed. King Toren is dangerous.”

She could meet her death, all right, but not in the way her captor seemed to believe. “So is grinding dirt into a wound.”

Tes let out a low growl and held the bit of fabric in front of her face. A hint of magic shimmered on the air before the cloth went pale in the thin light. Then the scowling woman bent over Ria and began to poke at the back of her head. Ria had to admit her captor used a lighter touch than her expression had suggested she would, but pain still spiked through her skull with each dab.

After straightening, Tes squinted down at the scrap. “A little red from your hair. But it didn’t look like there was fresh bleeding when I examined your scalp.”

That prognosis was probably as good as it was going to get. At this point, it would be better to risk fainting than to trust her inept “rescuer” with more wound care. As far as she was concerned, whatever cleverness had seen Tes through to finding Ria was gone now.

“Fine,” Ria said. “Then let’s get on with it.”

Getting to her feet was easier said than done, though, especially without breaking the frayed rope before she was ready. But with help from Tes, no small amount of cursing, and a great deal of awkward shifting, Ria finally managed it. Sort of. She couldn’t help but sway on her feet a little.

Getting away might prove…difficult. She would do it, though. She’d worked entire days in the shop after beatings, hadn’t she? A head injury might be a bit trickier than the hidden wounds her father had inflicted, but disconnecting from the pain was much the same.

Tes’s arm wrapped around her waist for extra balance, but no matter how much she wanted to, Ria didn’t shrug her off. Not yet. It kept them side-by-side, and that might make it easier to slip away than if her captor was behind her. Besides, it took her several steps for the dizziness to ease.

After setting the tiny sphere of mage light on a dusty side table, her captor pressed a series of spots on the wall, and a small door opened. Instinctively, Ria dug in her heels, forcing Tes to a halt. There was nothing but darkness beyond that door. If she stepped through, what would happen? Her captor tugged, but Ria couldn’t move.

“Dizzy,” Ria whispered, though it wasn’t the reason for her hesitation.

How could she stay out of that darkness?

The door had opened toward them, and the thick stone was almost within touching distance—provided Ria’s hands were free. If she could get Tes to go first, maybe she could finish breaking the rope, close the woman in the tunnel, and run for it? Tes obviously knew how to open the secret entrance, so it wouldn’t be much of a head start.

Unless…Ria lowered her head as though trying to ease her dizziness, but she used the opportunity to study Tes’s skirts. Ria could spell-alter dresses in her sleep. Why not make this one unexpectedly small? Her captor would have to fight her way free of shrunken fabric before attempting a pursuit.

“You’re just going to have to manage,” Tes said. “We can’t stand here all night.”