“I can’t believe I agreed to this,” Elethe said.

  Dowyr glanced at her from his seat by the window. He had been watching the courthouse from the second floor of an inn across the street. Elethe sat next to him, also watching. It had been simple getting the room without paying, making themselves invisible to the innkeeper as they entered and went upstairs. Thankfully none of the other patrons noticed their fraud, too wrapped up in dance and conversation with each other. Parastenians could be so unaware of their surroundings to the point of hardly noticing they were occupied by Kircans.

  “You could always change your mind,” Dowyr channeled, and he meant it. A part of him wished Garec had chosen another way, one where he didn’t feel so annoyingly self-conscious. At this late hour he probably could have done everything alone. How many people could possibly be in the courthouse? And it’s not like he needed Elethe to get the information from the Colonel. Garec wouldn’t accept that, though. Wandering the city was one thing, but infiltrating a building with few ways of escape was another.

  “So could you,” Elethe said.

  Dowyr rolled his eyes. “I bet you’d love that.”

  Elethe was silent for a moment, focused on the courthouse. “No. I wouldn’t love that.”

  “Oh. Well, I just farted.”

  Elethe sniffed then cleared her throat. “Yep.” She slowly stood up and walked a few paces away before taking a deep breath and coughing.

  Dowyr grinned to himself, keeping his eyes on the courthouse. The sun had been down for two hours at least, but there was plenty of commotion still, even in the cold. The noise from the common room was often loud enough to reach his ears. Torches and fires glowed across the whole city, and even a few lightstones.

  Movement in one of the courthouse windows caught his eye. The room beyond it brightened as someone was moving around inside. Two someones, though it was hard to tell if they were soldiers or otherwise at this distance. It wasn’t long before they exited the room and came out the front doors. Two soldiers, replacing the ones that had been standing guard for the evening.

  Finally.

  “Time to go,” Dowyr channeled.

  Elethe came back to the window and saw the new soldiers. “We should wait five more minutes, just in case.”

  He got up and started putting on his coat. “Five minutes isn’t going to change anything, let’s go!”

  She gave him a sharp look. “I’m not leaving until I feel good about it.”

  “Whatever, you do you. I can handle it myself anyways.”

  He marched for the door.

  “Dowyr, no!” She ran in front of the door to block his way. “Don’t be an idiot.”

  “Fine. I’ll just stare at the wall until you’re ready.”

  He went over to the actual door and stood in front of it for a moment, long enough for Elethe to look confused as to why he’d do such a thing. Then, to her perspective, he walked right through the wall. He stopped channeling and made his way down the hall.

  Elethe finally stormed out, absolutely fuming. Dowyr smiled and waved but didn’t slow. She caught up next to him, looking ready to slap his nose off.

  Nobody in the common room paid them any mind. The innkeeper was too busy with another patron to notice two faces he’d never seen before coming down the stairs. Just a couple of teenagers going out for a walk, that’s all they were.

  Stepping into the cold, Dowyr gave himself a second to breathe out and watch the vapor in front of his face. For the brief moment, he felt like his younger self, awed by the world and its mysteries. That awe had driven him to read everything in the library he could get his hands on. He had to know how the world worked.

  The vapor dissipated, followed by the next puff, and he came to himself, looking both ways down the Broadway. A wide street, still with plenty of activity between shops and spots where there were fires burning to eat and dance around. There was more light by fire than lightstone. Parastenians loved fire. None of the books had ever told him that. They had hardly said anything of people from Parasten or Arkonia or Kircany. What a waste of space all those words about Elyssanar were taking up. It made him wonder what the other nations were really like.

  “Are you going or not?” Elethe asked from behind with a touch of irritation.

  “Yes,” Dowyr channeled, starting his way toward the courthouse. “Just got caught up with how much I hate the cold.”

  He kept channeling a stream of Emogic for Elethe to Match and channel at the new guards at the courthouse, and everyone else on the street for that matter. There was no way to tell what she made them see, though. Dowyr did his best to avoid bumping into anyone passing by.

  For how colorful all the other buildings in Norwood were, the courthouse was strikingly painted white, making it stand out among all the hues of blue, green, and yellow surrounding it. Even the conical chimney covers were plain, at least as far as Dowyr could tell. It was too dark to be sure.

  They strode up and entered the courthouse without so much as blinking. It was warm inside, though there were no fires in sight. A dim amount of light came from lightstones hanging from the ceiling and wall-stands. Dowyr and Elethe moved slowly so as not to brighten them, looking in all directions for any signs of movement.

  “There’s a Ghost here,” Elethe channeled, a whisper in Dowyr’s head.

  “Is he astral projecting?” Dowyr channeled.

  “He was a second ago, but I think he was looking outside, not in here.”

  “Maybe you should channel at him just in case.”

  She gave him a level look. “Boredom doesn’t do anything if he’s astral projecting.”

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  He blinked. “How do you know?”

  “That book you read forever ago. I read your mind, remember? I know because you know.”

  He mentally slapped himself in the face. She was right. He must’ve been so distracted he couldn’t remember, and if the pounding in his chest was any indication, it was hard to think about anything except what they were doing. A Ghost might make things problematic unless they got the jump on him. Hopefully, wherever he or she was, it would be nowhere near the Colonel.

  “So, uh, I’ll follow you,” he channeled, slinking back behind Elethe.

  She rolled her eyes and pressed onward. The halls and rooms they passed were spacious, but with how little light there was, darkness made everything feel squeezed tightly together. Nobody else inside was stirring. They came to a stairway leading up to somewhere more well-lit. Elethe went up, Dowyr keeping at her heels as quietly as he could manage. Reaching the top, there were two hallways, one stretching forward and the other off to the right. Elethe went right.

  “Do you know where you’re going?” Dowyr channeled.

  “Of course not,” Elethe channeled. “But it’s away from the Ghost.”

  Coming to a set of two open doors, Elethe entered the door on her left. It led onto a balcony with rows of seats overlooking complete darkness. When they went into the other door, it also led to the balcony, though a separated section.

  “Must be the courtroom,” Dowyr channeled.

  They left and found more empty rooms and offices. Some of them looked like converted living spaces with a mattress and blankets stuffed into the corners. The fact they hadn’t run into anyone else in the building yet was starting to make Dowyr nervous. Where was everyone? Did the Colonel not have anyone else around with him?

  “Chill, dude,” Elethe channeled. “You’re starting to freak me out.”

  “Well excuse me, princess,” Dowyr channeled. “I’m just a simple Mind Intruder that can’t sense what people are feeling or channeling.”

  He grunted as he felt something invisible slap his face that made no sound. He had expected her to do as much.

  “If you can sense people’s emotions, couldn’t you tell where people are in the building?” he asked.

  Elethe gave him a look that accused him of being an idiot. “You realize that most of the time people aren’t feeling much of anything, right? And it’s hard to tell the distance from others unless the emotion is strong enough. The Parastenians also kind of drown out a lot. Buncha weirdos.”

  Dowyr nodded. “Maybe we should go find that Ghost. They might be with the Colonel.”

  “I guess that wouldn’t surprise me. Just stay quiet.”

  “Sure, just don’t use my Emogic to slap me.”

  Elethe ignored him and moved back towards where they’d come from. Coming to the top of the staircase again, they went down the other hall. It was brighter than the other, and Dowyr was grateful for the carpeted flooring keeping their footing silent. Any other time, he might have admired the beauty of the courthouse, from what he’d been able to see so far, but he didn’t give anything a second glance that didn’t look like the silhouette of a person.

  They checked every door they passed, first listening closely before cracking them open to check for anyone inside. Dowyr’s heart pounded each time, and he breathed a sigh of relief when they were found empty. He was surprised that none of the doors screeched or creaked, but then Parastenians seemed to be auditory purists. No unwanted sounds allowed in their cities and towns. All of their instruments were tuned to perfection, always.

  Then one of the rooms wasn’t empty. A Kircan slept inside, a single dim lightstone outlining his body.

  “Is that him?” Dowyr channeled.

  Elethe stepped into the room and channeled to the Kircan. After a moment she shook her head. “No, he’s a… uh oh.”

  A stream of Boredom surged from Elethe in random direction so quickly that Dowyr hardly saw it before Elethe dove at his chest, knocking him to the ground just before the room’s floor fell into darkness with a thunderous crash. He raised his head and looked back through the doorway, eyes wide. Now the room was just walls and a ceiling.

  “The Colonel is the Ghost, and he’s seen us,” Elethe channeled.

  Dowyr wanted to run, but she still pinned him down. “Are you channeling at him?”

  She nodded. “I know where the Tyrdens are now. Let’s get out of here.”

  She scrambled off him and pulled him up into a run. As they rushed down the hall, Dowyr glanced back and saw the Colonel coming out from another room. A balding, wretched looking man if he ever saw. The Colonel marched over to the doorway of the room with the missing floor and peered downward, then frowned.

  “You’re still alive, aren’t you?” he sneered loudly.

  “He’s astral projecting again,” Elethe channeled.

  “There you are!”

  Dowyr barely had enough time to stop in order to avoid plummeting to his death as the floor in front of them collapsed. Elethe had been able to slow down sooner, and she grabbed onto the back of his coat, pulling him away from the hole.

  We’re going to die, Dowyr thought with grave sincerity. He turned to the Colonel, who slowly walked towards them.

  “Nowhere to run now,” he said.

  Elethe put herself between Dowyr and the Colonel, her body trembling. Then the Colonel stopped, fear filling his eyes, and he began screaming, louder and louder. He flailed his arms, then fell to the ground and flailed his legs, convulsing. His screams were that of absolute horror and pain, as if he were being ripped apart. Dowyr covered his ears and shuddered as he realized that might be exactly what he was feeling. Elethe was crying. She looked ready to empty her stomach. An eternity seemed to pass until the Colonel’s arms and legs fell to the floor, unmoving. Was he dead? Dowyr couldn’t tell.

  With the immediate danger dealt with, they rushed back to find another way out. Dowyr heard soldiers shouting from downstairs, unsurprisingly. Anyone else in the building or even outside nearby would’ve heard that scream. He tried to focus on keeping his legs moving.

  They came across the room the Colonel had come out of and entered. It was a spacious office with part of it converted into a living space. Two glass balcony doors offered them some hope for escape. Before opening the nearest one he peeked out the window and spotted Kircans running to and from the building. It didn’t look like there was any way down from the balcony. Elethe opened the door and crouched down to avoid any eyes on the street.

  “There’s no way down,” Dowyr channeled.

  Elethe looked at him. “We’re not going down.”

  She stopped channeling his Emogic and a second later began floating in the air. Dowyr felt a sudden new sensation; he knew how to fly. There was no explaining it, it was just as if he could always do so, and so he did, floating closer to Elethe.

  “Let’s go,” she whispered, then froze, grabbing his shoulder and looking back into the room.

  Dowyr followed her gaze and saw what she was staring at. A small group of terrified young women, huddled together, hands bound, barely clothed. They stared right back at them.

  “Can you help us?” one of them breathed, desperation in her voice.

  Dowyr looked back to Elethe, his heart feeling like it was going to explode out of his chest any second. “What do we do?”

  “That… that man won’t hurt you anymore,” Elethe said, voice trembling. “But you… you have to help yourselves.”

  With that, she turned and launched into the night.

  Dowyr clenched his teeth and channeled to the women, “I’m sorry.”

  A pang of guilt coursed through him as he turned back and let himself follow after Elethe. They should have been able to do something for them, but soldiers were coming, they were trying to avoid notice, and… he hated that he thought of this question; could all of those women be trusted?

  The frigid air quickly distracted him from all other thought as he caught up to Elethe, but it wasn’t long before they landed behind The Blinking Weaver, and thankfully it was dark enough that it looked as if no one had seen them land.

  They came around the building and found Boughton waiting for them at the front. He ushered them inside and followed as they made their way to Garec’s room.

  “Thanks for the lift,” Elethe said.

  “Close call?” Boughton asked.

  Elethe didn’t answer.

  “We should probably leave tonight,” Dowyr channeled to them both.

  Elethe grimaced but nodded. Boughton merely hummed in response.

  They found Garec pacing in his room with Donnan and Gwyn sitting at the small table. All eyes turned to Elethe when she entered.

  “Did you learn where they are?” Garec asked, then, noticing her expression, strode up to her and took her by the shoulders. He looked her in the eye. “What happened?”

  Elethe completely broke down at the question. She embraced him and wailed into his chest.

  Garec held her gently and said, “Everybody out.”