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Dagmara was supposed to be fluent.

She stared blankly at him, both surprised he was there and struck with fear that her secret would be exposed. Then Claude glanced in her direction, confused why she wasn’t returning the greeting. “Princess?” he inquired under his breath.

There was no doubt suspicion lined his voice. This could be the moment he saw right through her.

CHAPTER 33

Magdalena

“Iknow a guardian when I see one” Ishani had said.

Magda’s breath caught in her throat. Had she been too obvious? Did Ishani suspect that she had powers or was royalty?

Ishani continued, “You need to lay low. I can’t lie to the other guild leaders forever.”

“I’m not a guardian,” said Magda strongly, but her thoughts ran wild. Did others suspect she had powers as well? And why was Ishani protecting her?

Ishani looked down at the glass Magda was holding, realizing it contained the truth serum. Then she scrutinized Magda suspiciously, as if she wasn’t sure what to believe. Luckily, Magda hadn’t taken a single sip of the intoxicating drink.

A bell rang from the other side of the ring, signaling that the next match had started.

Magda’s eyes snapped to the ring. She cursed under her breath once more, for she hadn’t seen where they had brought out the new animal to challenge the winner. The dogs were already going at each other, their bites scraping the other’s skin. Already, the larger mutt had drawn blood.

When she turned to speak to Ishani again, the young captain had disappeared into the crowd.

Magda shuddered at the thought of a guild captain possibly knowing her true identity as a guardian. Had one of Ishani’s men seen the apparent display of earth magic in the city? She knew that she had to be more careful than ever. Quickly, she walked away from the center ring, placing the glass down on one of the side tables.

A hand graced Magda’s left shoulder, and she snapped her head around.

“Ravi,” she let out a sigh of relief.

“This way,” said Ravi, “They bring the animals from the warehouse. Through that curtain.”

Magda and Ravi pushed their way through the crowd, squeezing between the various guild members as they shoved away from the fighting ring. They headed in the opposite direction of the crowd’s flow, forcing them to push against the audience.

When they reached the curtain, they waited until the officer went to retrieve the next animal and the crowd was engaged in the match, before slipping through at the perfect moment.

Ravi pointed to a doorway toward the back of the warehouse.

“There,” he said.

Magda could barely make out a doorway with a small sign. Four men guarded it, carrying hatchets. A maze of crates and cargo scattered the warehouse, providing some shelter from the officer’s viewpoint. They could get close by maneuvering through the boxes, but it wouldn’t be enough to run past the guards and through the door.

“Let’s get closer,” said Magda. She grabbed Ravi’s hand and pulled him along, ducking between a set of boxes until they were within a table’s length of the four officers. They pressed their backs up against the large crates and peeked their heads around the corner as they watched the four men lounge around the outside of the door.

Suddenly the door opened, and Magda let out a gasp.

One of the men led a dog. It was bloody and bruised, with a brown and black fur coat. He limped along miserably as it was led to the fighting ring. It wouldn’t stand a chance against the murderous dog in the fight that Magda and Ishani had just witnessed.

“Shh...,” said Ravi, putting his hand over Magda’s mouth and pulling her further back into the darkness. As the man passed directly behind their hiding place, the dog paused, letting out a bark. One turn of the officer’s head, and they would be seen.

Magda stood perfectly still as the man and dog stopped short only paces from them. She was pressed closely up against Ravi’s chest, and even though he held his breath, she could feel the rapid beating of his heart against hers. He kept his hand over her mouth, holding her close in the darkness.

“Randal, what’s taking so long to bring the next dog?!” a loud voice yelled from the fighting ring.

Vex.

The man and the dog picked up the pace, heading out of sight.