Page 31 of Keeper of the Word

“High?”

At that moment, an abruptplonkcame from the wall. The end of a long rope snaking up the wall lay on the ground. Elanna peered up. Tolvar and Barrett stood above.

“You are not truly proposing?—”

“Fear not,” Hux cut her off. “Let us be on our way before those sluggish guards of yours catch on.” He winked, strode to the rope, lifted it, and waved it at her. “If you ever see Kyrie again, do thank her for the tip about this wall being unguarded.”

Ever see Kyrie again?

Elanna panted—her sisters. Leave without saying goodbye? Little Maristel would ne’er understand. None of them would. Only at this very moment, did the gravity of her plight fully hit her. She couldn’t leave. She couldn’t do it. She had to stay safe behind these walls. Her impulsive fleeing from Ashwin had been an affair that could not be repeated. The outside world was too much for her. ’Twas too much.

Hux placed his palm on her shoulder. “I shall be with you the entire time.” His dark eyes on hers gave her solace. “Besides, you cannot save the world if you dare not journey into it.”

Elanna nodded blankly, her focus up, up, up.

Hux tied the rope to her waist and instructed her to hold it tight and keep her feet toward the wall while Tolvar and Barrett towed her to the top.

“And most important.” Elanna turned wild eyes on him. “Do not forget we found you in a tree. This is merely a bit higher than that.”

“Stars help me,” she breathed.

“I imagine they will.” Hux waved up at Tolvar, who began yanking the rope.

Elanna lifted off the ground, clutching the rope in her hands as she was hauled up. At first, it was easier than expected, but ’twas not long before the rope burned into her palms. It slipped from her hands once, causing her body to jounce against the wall; both Hux and Tolvar swore. Her hands regripped the bristly rope.

She was almost to the top of the battlements when a dozen guards charged through the hedges toward the wall below.

“Hux!” Elanna yelled, searching for him in the shadowed garden. He wasn’t directly below her as he’d been moments ago. “Let me down! I must help him.”

“Not on your life!” Tolvar yelled. “Barrett, with haste!” The rope jerked to the top so fast, Elanna’s stomach lurched. The firm stone felt strange under her feet. Below, guards yelled as Captain Nathel directed orders. She couldn’t find Hux amongst the commotion below.

“With haste!” Tolvar said. “Guards will flood this wall any moment.” He scooped up Elanna as if she weighed nothing and moved her to the opposite side of the wall, where she spotted Joss and Gus below, holding the end of the pulley system they’d devised.

“Elanna!” Tara’s voice broke through the din of knights. “Elanna, cease!”

“Ignore her,” Tolvar said, but Elanna had already returned tothe garden side. Tara, Kyrie, and Casta stood there, Maristel in Casta’s arms.

“Elanna! What are you doing?” Casta called, adjusting the child on her hip. Maristel outstretched her arms to Elanna, her face wet with tears. “Come down. Let us speak together. We will help?—”

“Do not do this,” Tara interrupted. “The stars command we remain in Ashwin. You know this!”

Elanna caught a glimpse of movement behind the group below. Was that Hux?

“Elanna, we must go!” Tolvar shouted in the background.

“Stars command us?” Elanna asked. Something began to burn in her stomach. “As the stars command the Lucien Law, Tara?”

Tara was quiet, but Elanna could sense her comprehension of the words.

“The stars commandmeto go to Asalle. And I am aghast that any of you would pause to question me. I am fourth of our sisterhood!” Her voice shook and echoed off the castle wall. “An equal part of a framework of Five. My voice is no less significant than any of yours. Farewell, sisters. Until we meet again.”

She moved to Tolvar, out of their eyesight. Footsteps sounded from either side of the tower stairwells.

“Elanna! Do not do this!”

After ensuring the rope was still taut through the opening in the parapet they used, Tolvar verified the rope around her waist was still knotted securely, hunched over, and instructed her onto his back.

“Keep your arms tight around my neck,” he commanded, wrapping the slack of the rope around his fists and stepping to the edge. Barrett was already halfway down the wall.