Page 72 of Hymn of Breath and Bone

I shook my head. “The Stormcrow thinks you two are headed south, so he won’t waste guards on those exits.”

“Shame. I feel the need to punch something.”

I turned to Sereia, who had gone very pale at Astraios’ murderous tone. “I need you to stay here. Pretend to be me if any of the guards or my parents try to come in.”

“How will I do that?” Sereia balked, eyes widening.

“Wrap your hair up and lie under the covers.” I commanded. “Just pretend to be asleep. We’ll come back for you as soon as we can. Leave the window unlatched.”

“Seas, Marina, this is a terrible plan,” she moaned.

“I’m open to suggestions,” I hissed, feeling my patience fray. “But we’re running out of time, and I need to get to mymate.”

She flinched as I emphasized the word, eyes betraying her as they flicked to Astraios. His eyes did the same, but I didn’t have time to get into that drama and make them confess to each other. When this was all over, they could have a lavish handfasting for all I cared.

I gathered up anything in my room I thought might be useful: the empty water cup I kept by my bed, an extra seal skin for protection from the cold, a ribbon, a handful of hairpins, and the ornamental dagger I wore for ceremonial occasions. It was made of nacre and would likely shatter if I tried to stab anyone with it, but I felt better with a blade on me. I put themin a satchel and slung the bag over my shoulder, ready for battle as I bade farewell to my childhood bedroom.

I wouldn’t be coming back here.

“Let’s go,” I commanded, opening the window and barely stopping it from cracking against the stone as the shutters blew wide. I climbed out, already frozen to the bone as I let them have a moment for farewells. I heard the murmuring behind me, anxious to get going and rapidly losing patience with them. Was this how Zephyr felt about me and Cas?

There was no point in trying to block the wind or rain with my magic as I stood on the slippery roof—we needed their cover to fly unseen to the dungeons. Astraios grunted as he squeezed back through the window after me, clambering up next to me and spreading his wings wide.

“Hold tight,” he commanded, “and give me precise directions so I can fly as quickly as possible.”

I grabbed his neck as he launched skyward, pulling the clouds and mist toward us to shield us from sight as much as I could. No sounds of alarm went up from the keep, and within minutes we were hovering before the dungeon tower.

The windows were all dark, and I swore. “We’ll have to start from the bottom and check each one,” I hissed over the roar of the sea and the storm.

Astraios nodded, bringing us closer to the base of the tower. I assumed Caspian would be high up, but we’d need to check each level to be sure.

The first three floors appeared uninhabitable, filled with kelp and debris brought in by high tide. The next two appeared damp, but empty. Finally, on the sixth level, I caught a glimpse of blue-green shining from a corner of the cell.

Caspian’s sea dragon scale.

He saw me, amber eyes widening with shock as I motioned for him to remain quiet. I didn’t see any guards, and I prayed that they were stationed outside the iron door of the hall of cells.

“This one,” I hissed, pointing toward the floor below the slitted window. I recognized the grate on the outside of the wall that was used for debris, and I motioned to the nails embedded in the stone. “We need to loosen this.”

Astraios grunted, taking his dagger from his sheath and handing it to me. “Keep it until you’re out,” he commanded, as I went to work prying away the nails that held the grate in place.

I had never asked, but Caspian must have loosened all the grates as a backup plan when he first kidnapped me. This grate was barely attached to the wall, and it made a heavy thunk as it fell from the wall, hitting the rocks below.

“Can you fit?” Astraios asked skeptically. “Your hips—”

“I’ll be fine,” I snapped, glaring at Astraios who grinned back at me. “Give me a shove.”

Wriggling through the opening was not painless, and I wondered how Caspian had managed it with two broken wings and my dead weight in tow. It took a minute for me to get free of the stone, and I found Caspian staring at me with wide eyes, his lip twitching.

“Donotlaugh,” I hissed, throwing another shield of wind toward the end of the corridor to block any sound or entry.

Caspian’s wings were horribly mangled, bent again at unnaturally painful angles. “Seas,” I breathed, rushing forward and sticking my hands between the iron bars of his cell. “Your poor wings.”

“I’m alright,” Caspian grunted, face contorting in momentary pain as he shifted his body to press against the bars.

The cold iron sucked at my magic as I pressed against them from the outside, but I didn’t care as I cupped his face with my hands.

“Marina?” hissed a pained, female voice. I glanced over to the next cell and found Zephyr, looking less surprised to see me than Caspian. “About time you came to rescue us.”