“Oi! Who’s there?” A loud voice called out from behind us.

  I spun, cursing quietly.

  Cael had led me through a warren of old basements and storerooms, seemingly taking turns at random. We had done our best to move quietly, but we must not have been quiet enough. I pulled the knife I had taken from Whiny and prepared to fight.

  Wearing a look of panicky determination, Cael grabbed my arm, covered my mouth with his hand to muffle my shout of surprise, and tossed me behind a stack of old crates.

  I froze as the footsteps got closer.

  “Oh. S’just you.” The older man’s rough voice lightened, swinging from suspicion to mild annoyance. “Hells you doing down here, kid?”

  Oh. Well fuck me.

  “Figured I’d see what’s still down here that we need,” Cael replied casually. “Gotta earn my share, after all.”

  Old guy grunted. “Didn’t know you were in on on it too.”

  “What can I say? Couldn’t say no to that kinda payday.”

  “Whatever. Don’t waste your time on this crap; we’re dumping whatever’s left. We’re out of here once our two ‘special orders’ are taken care of.”

  “How much longer we waiting?”

  “The kid’ll be gone in the next hour, and we’re dropping off the nob on our way out.” Old guy snorted. “Personally, I’d dump the pair with the rest of ‘em, but the boss says the kid fucker’s got connections we can use, and what we’re getting paid for the pretty bitch’ll be enough to get us started up somewhere else, and then some.”

  The old man began to walk away, his footsteps heavy. “Not that ‘nyone ever asks my fucking opinion…” he muttered sullenly under his breath as he left.

  Ice cold fury crawled through my veins.

  Cael stepped behind the stack of crates and held out a hand to help me up. “Sorry about that, Princess,” he said with an apologetic smile. “Didn’t mean to be so rough, but I didn’t have time–!!”

  I grabbed his hand and pulled, knocking his front foot out from beneath him with a swift kick. As he fell, I twisted, forcing his hand up and behind him. Before he could react, he was on the ground, face down. I was sitting astride his back, his arm locked between his shoulder blades and my stolen knife at his throat. Ser would have been so proud of me. Once she stopped berating me for getting myself captured in the first place.

  “Listen to me very carefully, slaver.” I spat the word in disgust, staring into his warm chocolate eyes. Cael flinched. “Do not scream or try to call your buddies. If you try anything, I promise you, I will end you if it’s the last thing I do. Do you understand?”

  Cael swallowed, his throat bobbing against the edge of my knife. His eyes flicked down to the blade then back up to mine, pleading.

  I relaxed my grip a tiny bit. “You can nod, but I’d be very careful about it, if I were you.”

  He gave the tiniest nod.

  “Where were you leading me?” I asked quietly, every syllable dripping with menace. A spark of Shadow crawled across the blade like a bolt of plasma, and I fought to regain control.

  “I was leading you to the slaves. I swear,” he whispered, his voice ragged.

  I scoffed. “Why should I trust you, slaver?”

  “Please. You’ve got to,” he insisted desperately. “I thought we were smuggling stolen shit, or maybe drugs. Not… this.” He shuddered in revulsion. “I didn’t know. It was just a job. All I wanted was to take care of Lily.” Tears filled his eyes as he stared pleadingly at me, his body slumped in defeat.

  I slowly removed the knife and got off his back, allowing him to scramble upright and away from me. As angry as I was that he had withheld such important information from me, my gut said he was telling me the truth. Still…

  “If you didn’t know what was going on, how do you know where the others are being held?” I asked.

  Cael’s expression morphed from frightened to terrified, but he slowly reached into his worn coat and held something out to me. His fingers trembled and he refused to meet my eyes.

  It was an old, dented compact case, with a chipped and tarnished mirror made of silvered glass inside. I examined it in confusion. “What does… Oh.” It hit me. “You can See.”

  He nodded miserably.

  ‘Sight’ wasn’t an actual talent, but referred to a group of about a dozen related Water talents. Some Seers could scry anywhere in the world, or find anyone or anything, no matter how well hidden or warded. Others received visions of the distant past, anywhere, anywhen. Some even saw glimpses of things yet to be. Unfortunately, this meant Seers were just as hunted as Hexbreakers, and by the same people.

  “My Sight showed me Lily was in trouble,” he explained softly. “Was surprised as hell when I ended up here. Didn’t know about the others until you told me. Please.” He begged. “You can’t tell anyone.”

  I held his mirror out to him. “Your secret is safe,” I swore solemnly. I understood his fear better than he knew. “On my life and my honour, no one will learn of it from me. I’m sorry I forced your secret from you.”

  He nodded and hesitantly as he took the case from me, carefully tucking it back in his pocket. “I get it,” he said with a wobbly sigh. “I wouldn’t have trusted me either.”

  --------------------------------------------------------------

  The air grew colder. Distantly, I could hear the rushing waters of the Briandgrave, the massive river that cut through the capital. It was the lifeblood of Illestria, and the docks that ran along it were always crowded with ships and boats.

  Cael motioned for me to stop, peering out a large hole someone had knocked through a heavy stone wall. The freezing wind blew in through the opening and snow drifts lined the sides of the hallway.

  “We’re under the docks,” Cael whispered, “near an old pier. Part of it collapsed a while back, and they built up on top of it instead of fixing it. It’s been forgotten about for years. There’s a sort of bridge that runs along the river wall to what’s left of it, but once we’re on it, whoever's on guard'll spot us.”

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  “Did you See any other way to get there?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “They wanted somewhere hard to escape from, I guess. If the slaves get out, they can knock the bridge down and strand 'em.”

  Damn. Rushing the prison would be suicidal.

  Cael eyed me speculatively. “I think I can get us across. If… Can you trust me?” He asked hesitantly.

  Did I? If I was wrong, I would be walking into a trap.

  “… I trust you.”

  A weight seemed to drop from his shoulders, and he grinned at me with his charming, impish smile. “Hold your hands behind you like you’re still tied up,” he ordered. “Once we’re on the bridge, go kinda limp and woozy.”

  I tucked my stolen knife into the back of my pants where it would be hidden and did as he asked. He put an arm around my waist, and I let myself lean against him, my eyes half closed. We stepped through the hole and onto a narrow wooden walkway that ran along the cracked stone retaining wall above the dark river waters.

  It was still too soon for the river to freeze, but small ice rafts had formed around the dock pilings and pushed against the river wall, and the bridge was icy from the spray.

  I closed my eyes and let my face go slack.

  “The hells’ this?!” An angry voice yelled at us from somewhere ahead.

  “Special order!” Cael yelled back as we slowly edged our way forward. “The slippery little bastard tried to get away. Boss said to stow ‘im here until we leave.”

  “‘Course she did,” the slaver grumbled. “Cold as a witch’s fucking tit, and do they send me a little sumthin’ to take the chill off? Nooo. They send me a poncy nob to watch while I freeze my fucking balls off.”

  The boards creaked, and I tensed. If Cael was playing me, I was about to find out.

  Cael gave me a reassuring squeeze. I calmed and took another step forward, trusting my friend.

  My foot came down on a slick patch of ice.

  It slid out from beneath me and I fell with a squawk. My flailing foot solidly nailed the approaching guard in the groin. I slammed down on the walkway hard, sliding and nearly falling into the freezing water below. Scrabbling desperately at the bridge, I managed to catch myself at the last moment by grabbing onto a crack between two boards… and Cael’s leg. Cael stumbled forwards. He collided hard with the wheezing, hunched over slaver desperately holding himself, knocking him off the bridge and into the river.

  We stared at the dark hole he left behind in the thin ice sheet.

  “‘Shit!’” We yelled simultaneously.

  “He had the keys!” Cael yelled.

  “I didn’t mean to kill him!” I wailed at the same time.

  Cael dragged me back up onto the bridge, staring at me like I was insane. “Princess, you kicked that bitch in the head. Now you’re worried about killing someone?!”

  “That was self defence!” I protested as he helped me to my feet. “Mostly self defence, at least.”

  He stared at me in surprise for a moment, then broke into laughter. “Fuck, you’re a crazy little shit, aren’t you.”

  I grinned ruefully.

  A fresh burst of wind sent a surge of frozen spray in our direction, and we scrambled to get off the rickety walkway.

  The old stone quay was a pile of rubble, but a small section of the docks along the river wall was still mostly intact, along with part of an old storeroom. The way the structure had twisted when it fell hid the area from the river and formed a small, sheltered cove. The salvers had built a small wooden jetty. The storeroom door had been heavily reinforced, and metal bars were jammed into the collapsed storeroom wall to form a prison. A single hooded lantern lit the jetty and the bit of cleared causeway in front of the heavy door.

  We ran off the exposed walkway and huddled beneath the lantern.

  Cael wrapped his arms around himself and shivered. “Shit, it’s cold down here. I think my balls are freezing off. Why the hells would they ever keep anyone here?!”

  “Likely because it’s freezing,” I replied, peering through the barred hole. “People who are cold and hungry tend to be bad at fighting back.”

  He gaped at me. “And why the hells aren't you freezing too?!” He demanded, his tone accusing.

  I shrugged. “An effect of my magic, I think. I suppose I happen to be more tolerant of the cold than you.”

  He grunted sourly in reply, rubbing his arms.

  Some movement inside the dark storeroom caught my eye, resolving itself into a huddled group of people fearfully staring back at me. “Hello?” I called out softly. “Are you alright? We came to rescue you.”

  “Wait. You’re master Wren’s apprentice,” a surprised voice said. “Thank the gods.”

  One of the figures stood and moved closer, trailing a clanking length of chain. Their tanned fingers grasped the bars, their manacles rattling.

  “…. Emily?!” I asked in shock. I recognized the tall, muscular girl. Her father ran the livery where Wren stabled his horse. “What are you doing here?” I asked, covering her frozen hands with mine.

  “I was nabbed while I was out doing the shopping this afternoon.” she said, smiling a little in relief despite our grim surroundings. “Da must be frantic if he hired that old drunk to find me. Can’t believe you managed it so fast. I owe your master an apology.”

  I cringed. “Your father didn’t hire us,” I admitted shamefacedly. “I got captured as well. This is a jailbreak of sorts.”

  she shook her head. “You came for us, and that’s all that matters.”

  “Sit tight. We’ll have you out soon,” I promised, releasing her hands.

  I joined Cael at the door, where he was scowling angrily at the lock. “Problem?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” he said with a bitter sigh. “This demon-fucked thing’s enchanted so you can only open it with a key. Which is at the bottom of the river, thanks to us.”

  I ran a finger over the lock pensively. “If I can take care of the enchantment,” I asked, careful not to look in his direction, “could you open it?”

  He stared at me suspiciously.

  I fought to keep my expression neutral.

  “Yeah, I think I could,” he replied slowly after a long pause. “What you got in mind, Princess?”

  Tempest and Theodora were going to wring my neck for this. If I survived.

  I ignored him and closed my eyes. Focusing every iota of my attention on the lock, I tried to get a ‘feel’ for the magic imbued within it.

  Earth magic. Stubborn, excellent for castings that had to be durable, but not known for flexibility.

  I carefully felt along the enchantment for cracks I could exploit, lightly scratching a few runes onto the lock’s face with my knife and connecting them in a single line. Then, I called upon my gift of Fire.

  Under normal circumstances, Fire magic was crap for enchanting. It flickered and died instantly, like a candle deprived of oxygen. But it did have a single, useful trait that made it perfect for a Hexbreaker.

  My runes flared to life, burning brilliantly. Before my Fire magic burned out, my runes melted into the lock’s enchantment, widening the cracks just enough. The final rune flickered into place and opened a link between the enchantment’s magic and mine.

  Cael inhaled sharply. “Hexbreaker,” he breathed.

  “Seer,” I replied evenly.

  I could see his grin out of the corner of my eye. “You’re just full of surprises,” he said.

  I smiled and focused on my work.

  In theory, I had full control over the enchantment. I could make it do whatever I wanted, including unlocking to door by will alone. In practice, it wasn’t that simple. My only choice was to drain the spell’s magic and hope I didn’t get myself killed in the process. Ever so carefully, I teased the first threads of the enchantment free and began to siphon the power into myself. The Earth magic mixed unpleasantly with my own, tying my stomach in knots and stabbing at my magical core.

  My knees buckled. I fought back a pained groan as I sagged against the door.

  “Princess?” Cael asked, sounding concerned.

  “I’ll be fine,” I managed through gritted teeth. “Almost done.”

  The enchantment slowly flickered and faded.

  I breathed a sigh of relief and let myself slide to the floor. Cael caught my arm, radiating worry, and helped me sit. I leaned my head back against the door, closed my eyes, and waited for the world to stop spinning.

  “Sorry,” I said with a shaky smile, which he seemed not to find as reassuring as I had hoped. “That was… a lot rougher than I’d expected.”

  He glanced at the cage and shuffled closer, lowering his voice. “Don’t tell me that was your first time trying that.”

  I nodded.

  “You’re a crazy idiot,” he informed me acerbically, pulling off his coat and dropping it over my head.

  I squawked in surprise, pulling it off. “You’ll get cold!” I protested, trying to hand it back to him.

  He snorted. “I’ll survive,” he tossed back, shivering lightly. “You, however, look like you’re about to puke and pass out. Keep it until you’re done dying.”

  Ignoring the proffered coat, he knelt to examine the disenchanted lock.

  I gratefully wrapped it around my shoulders and let my head rest on my knees.

  “You’re safe too, you know.”

  I turned my head and looked over at Cael. His profile was creased in concentration as he skillfully manipulated the lock. He paused and glanced over. “Your secret. I won’t tell anyone either.” He murmured quietly.

  I smiled. “I know. I trust you.”