Scars of Gold

Chapter Six

 We had crossed into the third empty corridor when I pulled to an abrupt stop.

"Okay, cryptic answers aren't going to cut it. I'm grateful you got me out of that cell, but I need to know what's going on before we go any further."

The twins exchanged amused looks, their eyebrows raised. It was clear they thought I had my priorities wrong.

"They're getting you out of the city," Fari explained in a hushed tone.

"How?" None of this was possible. No one escaped the altorae. No one just walked out of a cell.

"We set off a distraction in the north of the city," sandpaper twin answered, his voice rasping over the words.

"The Lathrians are a little preoccupied at the moment," Smooth concluded, one side of his mouth pulled up in a smile.

Not an answer to my question. I needed to know how they were distracting the Lathrians and how long we had to get out.

I shook my head, biting back the urge to knock their heads together, and asked my next most pressing question.

"Where are we going?"

"Out of the city."

I rolled my eyes. Would it really be so hard to give me a straight answer?

"We're going to smuggle you to one of the smaller towns on the outskirts of the kingdom." Better.

"Why?" It didn't make any sense. There was no reason why they should be going to such an effort to rescue me, why they should care whether I lived or died.

"Etealia needs altorae." Smooth told me.

I flinched at the words.

"You're the only hope we have of regaining our kingdom."

"Save enough of you, give you space and safety to train and you'll have the skills to fight back against the Lathrians."

No pressure, Kacia. We'll save your life on the proviso that you restart a war. That was a problem to shelve for later though. I rubbed my hand across the mark on my cheek.

"What about my mother?" I asked instead. They were the ones who'd rescued her, I was sure of it. Was she like me, too?

"She's safe."

"Will I get to see her?"

"Yes, once we get you out of the city."

"What a lovely idea," a cold, granite voice rang out behind us. "Such a shame you won't have the chance to carry it out."

Evanthe.

My heart plummeted. Whatever havoc the twins were waging in the north of the city, the head altora hadn't fallen for it.

I turned back to the twins, to see if they had a master plan prepared for this too, but the corridor was empty.

They had left me. They were officially the worst rescuers ever.

I tensed my shoulders as I turned back to face Evanthe, but my attention snagged on something in the shadows behind her.

"Don't move." Smooth held a jagged kitchen knife to her neck. He'd pulled a crude, fabric buff over his mouth and nose, muffling his voice and leaving him unrecognisable.

"Altorae," Evanthe spat. "Is this city full of you?"

Smooth's answering laugh was low and dangerous.

"Picture your worst nightmare: an army of Etealian altorae preparing to murder Lathrians in their beds. Maybe there are hundreds of us. Maybe we've integrated ourselves in the heart of the Lathrian kingdom already. Or maybe there are only us three. Numbers don't matter: just know that our intent is as deadly as it is focused. The Etealian resurrection is coming: we will take back our kingdom with fire and blood."