Page 125 of To Kill a King

Oh, right. She still looked like Malkov. Aliya relaxed, adjusting her body posture.

“Don’t worry. I’m in disguise.” She took a breath and waited until he met her gaze. “Can you handle a blade?”

“Yes,” he rasped.

“Excellent.” She kicked one of the guards’ abandoned swords to him. “Pick up the weapon. I need you to help me escort everyone to safety.” Her eyes drifted back to the iron door. “What’s behind that?”

“Don’t know, but it howls and gouges the door with its huge claws.” The man swallowed audibly. “You created it, the guards said. I mean—” he eyed her— “the king did. A monster.”

Fabulous. And she had almost opened the door. A problem for another day, if she survived tomorrow. She pocketed the keys.

“Come on. Let’s free the others. We need to be gone before anyone comes down to check on them.”

“Through the sewers?” A young woman ducked her head out of one of the cells.

Aliya resisted the urge to grind her teeth. “Unless you want to fight your way through the upper levels?”

Her eyes went round, and she shook her head.

Aliya pressed her lips together into a tight smile. “Smart girl.”

The last stall held another familiar face.

“Father!” The words passed her lips before she could stop it.

Baron Larimar stared up at her from where he sat in the corner of his cell. “Aliya?” His voice was a whisper.

She reached down and pulled him to his feet. He was so thin, she lifted him easily. “What are you doing here?”

He coughed. “Why do you think I’m here? This is all your fault, you know.”

She rolled her eyes. They didn’t have time for this. “You’re the one who sold me in marriage to that monster. I hope the money was worth it.” Especially since the crown had reclaimed the Larimar Barony. “Keep your mouth shut and come with me if you value your life.”

He coughed again. She pushed him in front of her, out into the hallway.

“Everyone, follow me.”

As her boots splashed into the fetid water in the catacombs, Aliya tugged her hood up to hide her face and smiled. Fifteen former prisoners followed behind her. Mission Number One was accomplished.

Not bad, all things considered.

The guard’s keys made quick work of the manacles. Aliya dropped the key ring in the murky water as the last set of handcuffs clicked open.

The final mage, the woman from the first cell, flashed Aliya a toothy grin.

Aliya smiled back and pointed over the woman’s shoulder.

“The exit is about two blocks that way. Leave the alley one at a time so you don’t draw attention.”

As the others headed in the direction she’d indicated, a hand clamped down over her arm. “Where do you think you’re going, young lady?”

She stared into her father’s eyes. Aliya jerked, ripping free from his grip.

“This is the thanks I get for breaking you and what’s left of your men out? Do you have any idea what fate awaited you if I’d left you?”

Baron Larimar slapped her.

Aliya stepped back, hand flying to her stinging cheek.