The Art of Blood and Power (Book 2 in The Gifted Trilogy)

35- A Guiding Force

We slipped through the door under the cover of night, no lamplights on this far away from the palace to alert any passerbys of our presence, if there even were any passerbys. Something told me no one really ventured out of their houses at night in the Shadow Court. Unlike the Ember Court, which put up lanterns and candlelight the moment it got dark, it seemed that the Shadow Court decided that night ought to remain night, undisturbed by artificial light fashioned by men.

We separated into three groups, each walking down a separate neighboring street to draw less attention to ourselves. I was with June and Ash, Cicero and Kess on my right and Donovan and his friend on our left.

We walked in silence, not wanting to alert anyone to our presence. Although we had a cover story if someone were to ask us, none of us felt too keen to use it. After winding down a series of streets and corners, we stopped several buildings away from the gates of the palace, crouching, while keeping our eyes trained on the Shadow Soldiers standing guard at the locked entrance in front of us.

We waited a few minutes before hearing the raucous singing of an old drinking song. Laughter erupted through the mouths of two men, which happened to be Donovan and his friend pretending to be well into their drinks, as they stepped into the middle of the street, illuminated by the lamplights that littered this part of the city so that the Soldiers could see the faces of anyone approaching.

One of the soldiers nudged their partner and pointed towards the two drunken men, shaking his head in disapproval. While the singing drunks were obnoxious enough to gain an audience, it wasn't quite enough yet to get the Shadow Soldiers involved.

"Oy!" Donovan bursted out, gripping the side of his pant leg almost comically. "My pouch of silvers is gone!"

His friend shrugged, stepping back as if trying to maintain his balance. These two were marvelous actors when it came to playing drunks. "Must've dropped it somewhere" the friend said, slurring his speech.

"You bastard!" Donovan roared, shoving at his friend and causing both of them to stumble so hard they almost fell. "I knew yer' the one who took it, you two-timin' weasel!"

Donovan's friend shoved him back roughly and as Donovan landed a punch to his friend's jaw, the Shadow Soldiers moved forward to break the two men up. I just prayed they wouldn't be arrested for this stunt.

It was our cue. Immediately, we rushed forward as silently as possible. I pulled the rope from the inside of my jacket and began preparing to throw it by the metal clamp side as soon as we were close enough to the wall. I didn't dare look back to see if the Soldiers had turned away from the two drunks and spotted us.

Reaching the wall close to the gate, so as not to alert the neighboring gate's guards of our presence, I swung the rope upwards as high as possible, its arc assisted by June who shot a stream of water upwards to straighten its trajectory.

I released a breath of relief as the clamp stuck into the top of the wall and stayed there. Immediately, I was climbing up the rope, using my legs against the wall to quicken my pace. I felt the rope tug behind me and knew June and Ash had begun climbing as well. I climbed as quickly as possible, knowing that at any moment, the Shadow Soldiers could turn around and spot us already halfway up the wall.

I reached the top of the wall and straddled each side, pressing my chest to the stone and making myself as small as possible as June and Ash finished their climb. Then, with each of us securely on the top, I shifted the metal clamp of the stone to the opposite side of the wall and threw the rope down towards the other side of the wall.

Grabbing the rope, I shimmied myself as quickly down the other side as possible before dropping to the ground into a crouch. June was the last to touch the ground and swiftly dislodged the rope, ripping the metal clamp from the rope and shoving the rope into the inner pocket of her Royal Guard uniform, leaving the clamp resting in the shadows of the wall. It was unlikely that someone would notice it before morning and by then, we'd be long gone.