The Outskirts: The Rogue Knight (Jace x OC) BOOK 2

The Rogue Knight: 13

We walked out of the mirror and back into the hall. Leona led the way.
"How did you know Gustus wanted you?" Cole asked Leona.
"A light flashed in the hall," she said. "A simple seeming."
We walked out through the fireplace, and Leona began a tour. We passed fountains of molten lava, tapestries that moved like television screens, and a pair of stone statues grunting and maneuvering in an endless wrestling match.
I couldn't really appreciate the impressive seemings or the beautiful grounds. I was watching for Dalton.
The servants quarters were set up like dormitories. Senior servants had their own rooms. Younger servants were two or even four to a room. I saw lots of people, young and old. None had slavemarks. None were Dalton.
We strolled through a cafeteria, then crossed a recreation area where clusters of people bowled wooden balls across a carefully manicured lawn.
The quarters for enchanters were much nicer than the servants dormitories. Each enchanter had multiple rooms, elegantly furnished. The enchanters all wore gray robes and slippers. Leona introduced Skye to a few people. Everyone was generally cordial.
"You've now seen most of the areas where you would live," Leona said as they exited the enchanters quarters to a verdant area filled with lush bushes and trees. "I can't show you around the lounge itself those secrets are only for those already employed here."
"I've been to this confidence lounge many times," Skye said.
"Not behind the walls," Leona corrected. "Shall we return to Gustus?"
"What about slaves who enchant?" Skye said.
"I understand the Silver Lining has some of the best."
"True," Leona said. "They have their own quarters that way." She pointed toward a low stone building partly obscured by shrubs and trees. "There's no reason for us to bother with them."
"I'd enjoy a demonstration from some of them," Skye said.
Leona eyed her warily. "We've seen enough. There will be plenty of time to meet everyone if you go under contract."
Skye sighed. "All right. Lead on."
As soon as Leona turned to lead the way, Skye grabbed her in a tight choke hold, one hand tight over her mouth. In a blink, they stood apart, conversing quietly.
"What is going-" Cole began.
"Illusion," Jace said. "Just stand here and look normal."
After a long moment conversing, Skye and Leona wandered over to a bush. They both crouched down behind the bush, out of sight. Then Leona came out, golden skin shimmering.
"All right," Leona said in Skye's voice. "I'll soon be a wanted criminal in Merriston as well. Mother will be so proud. We find Dalton now or never."
"You knocked her out?" I asked.
"I can't guarantee for how long," Skye said, starting toward the low building.
"I thought this place was full of scrubbers," I said, knots of worry tightening in my stomach.
"It is," Skye said. "I'll have to rebuild the illusion every time it washes away. I'm pretty fast with temporary stuff like this, but nobody is perfect. We don't want people to catch sight of us when my disguise flickers." We reached a doorway into the low stone building. "Doorways are the most likely places to put scrubbers," Skye said. "Make sure nobody is looking."
I opened the door and saw a clear hallway. "We're good."
Skye stepped inside. For an instant her golden skin and orange eyes completely vanished. She was herself. After less than a second, the disguise was back in place.
We followed the hall to a common room. A couple of teenage guys in gray robes were playing billiards. A woman in gray robes sat reading. I still didn't see Dalton.
The teens stopped playing when they noticed Skye. "Can we help you, Leona?" one of them asked, clearly uncomfortable to see her.
"I'm looking for Dalton," Skye said in Leona's voice.
"I think he's in his room," the other teen said.
"I don't recall which is his," Skye told them.
"Number twenty-three," the first teen said, pointing down one of the halls that branched from the common area.
"Thank you," Skye said, leading me, Cole, and Jace in the suggested direction.
My stomach fluttered with nervous anticipation as I read the numbers on the doors. Was I really about to finally find him? I had always meant to succeed, but I now realized how much I had also doubted.
They reached number twenty-three. Skye motioned for me to knock. I did. They waited. I knocked again, louder. They heard a lock disengage, and the door opened to reveal Dalton standing there with bleary eyes and messy hair.
The last time I had seen Dalton, he had looked like a dusty, sad clown. Now he wore gray robes, but otherwise looked normal.
Dalton's gaze first went up to Skye. Then his stare dropped to me and Cole. His eyes widened, and his hands covered his mouth. "No way," he whispered. "Is that really you?" I relished the stunned expression on that familiar face. For a moment, I couldn't speak. What was there to say?
"Surprise," I managed, tears in my eyes. "Can we come in?"
Dalton's eyes darted back up to Leona.
"It's not really her," Cole said.
Eyes shimmering with tears, Dalton backed away. "Come on in."
I paused in the doorway. Everything in my life had been ripped away from me-my home, my family, my school, my neighborhood, and my friends. I had even lost the other unlucky kids who had come here with us from Arizona, aside from Cole. The Outskirts was a huge place. I might never have found anyone from my former life.
But here was Dalton! An honest-to-goodness piece of home! Seeing my best friend forced me to recognize how truly isolated I had felt. I was a stranger in a foreign land, but the sight of Dalton made much of that recede into the background.
I stepped into the room. Cole and Skye followed, as did Jace, who closed the door.
Dalton tried to say something, stopped, then tried again. "It's really you?" He glanced at Skye. "It's not a trick?"
Skye dropped her disguise, looking like herself rather than Leona. "No trick," she promised.
Dalton's smile radiated joy. "I knew it!" he exclaimed, pumping his fist. "I knew you'd come, and I can't believe it! I knew you guys would come! It didn't seem possible, but I kept hoping" He ran to me and hugged me. I hugged him back, relief washing over me. Whatever else happened, at least we had found Dalton. In many ways, it was more than I truly expected to accomplish.
Dalton let go after a few moments and ran to Cole and hugged him to. Dalton had always been one of my best friends. Me, Cole, Jenna, and Dalton always did everything together. But right now it was different.
He felt like family.
"I worried you were dead," Dalton admitted. "You guys went to the Sky Raiders. Everyone said it was incredibly dangerous."
"It was," Cole said. "But we got free. Now I'm part of the resistance. We're going to get you out of here."
"How'd you guys get in here?" Dalton asked. "The security is amazing."
"Skye has connections," I said.
"Must be good connections," Dalton said. He centered his gaze on us. "You actually came for me. I knew you guys would try."
"You have to decide quickly if you're coming with us," I said. "We left the real Leona unconscious."
Dalton sucked in a terrified breath. "Really? Oh, man, she is going to be mad."
"Lots of people are going to be mad," Cole said. "We have to hurry. Now or never."
"You're coming, right?" I said.
Dalton hesitated. "This is really sudden."
"I know," I said. What if Dalton was like Jill? What the wanted to stay where he was? I tried not to panic. That wouldn't happen. This was Dalton.
"You're probably comfortable here. But you're working for the bad guys." Cole said.
"I get it," Dalton said. "It's just that the bad guys run everything. If you're on their side, they treat you all right. I'm a slave, guys. I'm marked "
"So were we," I said. Me and Cole held out our arms with the freemark.
"How'd you do that?" Dalton asked. "Seemings won't hold over slavemarks. At least not the way they reinforce them in Elloweer."
"The resistance is stronger than you know," Cole said. "There's a lot going on. We'll fill you in. But we have to go now."
Dalton took a steadying breath. He looked to Jace. "I'm Dalton."
"I'm Jace. We're wasting time." I bit back a grin at the response. Jace and Daltons relationship would definitely be interesting to see.
"Dalton," Skye said. "I'm a member of a secret resistance organization. We've helped hundreds of slaves find freedom. We can help you."
"You're one of the Unseen?" Dalton asked.
"Yes," Skye said.
"All right," Dalton said. "I'm with you. What's the plan?"
I grinned, then looked to Skye.
"Can you make yourself look like me? You too Kendal." she asked.
"Your an enchantress?" Dalton exclaimed.
I nodded. "I just learned how."
"Since when?" Cole asked. Jace just gawked at me.
"Since we went to Skye's moms house." Cole just shook his head, bewildered.
"Dalton?" Skye asked.
"Oh yeah. With a little time," Dalton said. "Pretty much all I do around here is make people look different all day. I get lots of practice."
She pointed at us, and suddenly Dalton could have been her twin. I looked down at myself and realized I had the same seeming. I went to stand by Dalton and looked in the mirror on the wall to study it.
"That was fast," Dalton said. It was weird to hear his voice coming from Skye's form. "Awesome work. You're good."
"Can you guys replicate it?" Skye asked. "Do you see how did it?"
"I think I can copy it," I said, and Dalton nodded.
Skye waved a hand, and we looked like ourselves again.
Dalton closed one eye and scrunched his face. Within a few seconds, he looked like Skye. I concentrated and pictured all the little details, and imagined it on me. A few seconds later I looked like Skye too.
"Whoa!" Cole exclaimed. Jace just stared at me in awe.
"Not bad," Skye said. "Can you do it faster?"
"Maybe two seconds," Dalton said. Though he looked like Skye, he still had his own voice.
"I only need one of you. It should probably be Dalton because he had more practice."
I nodded. "Dalton should do it."
"You want me to bring it back up after every scrubber?"
"That's the idea," Skye said.
"How are we getting out?" Dalton asked.
"The only way I know," Skye said. "The same way we came in."
"Not through the tunnel by the flamingos," Dalton said
"Why not?" Skye replied.
Dalton gave a nervous laugh and shook his head. "The security is unbeatable there. A whole section of that hall works like one big scrubber. Plus, the alley is a nightmare. We'd get caught for sure."
"Do you know another way?" Skye asked.
"There are lots of ways in and out of the Silver Lining," Dalton said. "The head people don't want to come and go through all the security. There was a really good way open until last week when they caught some slaves using it and shut it down. I know one other way some of the guys use to sneak out sometimes."
"Have you used it?" Skye asked.
"No," Dalton said. "A few slaves I know like to sneak into town. I didn't think it was worth the risk just to goof around."
"It's unguarded?" Skye asked.
"Just one guard station," Dalton said. "Somebody sabotaged the scrubber. It works, but they weakened it. If you concentrate hard enough, you can hold your seeming together. You just have to look like somebody with access, and you're through."
"Can we get there?" Skye asked. "Are there many scrubbers along the way?"
"Not many," Dalton said. "We'll get scrubbed when we leave this building and when we enter the museum. Then we just have to make it through the damaged scrubber by the guard."
"Who would have access?" Skye asked.
"Leona, for one," Dalton said. "I can show you which people the other slaves use." Dalton changed from Skye to a middle-aged man with a receding hairline. Then he became a woman with bluish skin and goat horns. Then a guy with orange skin. And finally an older woman with curly hair.
"Okay," Skye said. "I can do those. Kendal can do one too. Can you speak like any of them?"
"I'm no good with voices yet," Dalton said.
"Do you have a preference?" Skye asked.
"I'll be the guy," Dalton said.
"I'll be the blue skin one." I said
"That makes you two the other two." Skye said to Cole and Jace. "I have Leona's voice down, so I'll be her.  Leave the talking to me. Let's go."
Dalton darted around the room, stuffing items into a knapsack. "Okay," he said. "I'll show you the best way out?"
Without any seemings, we avoided heading back toward the common room. After passing around a corner, they exited the building. Once outside, Skye became Leona, Dalton became the guy with thinning hair, I became the woman with blue skin and horns, Jace became the old lady with curly hair, and Cole was the orange skin guy.
"Good job," Skye said to me and Dalton in Leona's voice.
"You two can take care of yourself?"
"I think so," I said.
"That leaves you with three seemings to replace and maintain. Can you make it through the guarded scrubber?" Dalton asked her.
"If it's weak enough for most enchanters to hold a seeming together, I can manage three."
"This way," Dalton said.
Several heads turned their way as the group walked across an open area. Our seemings were obviously recognizable people.
"Walk purposefully," Skye muttered.
I felt excruciatingly vulnerable. I could see the illusions covering the others, but I wish I could see my own seeming. What if somebody wanted to talk to one of them besides Skye? What if they ran into one of the people they were impersonating? If anybody caught on, it was all over.
Dalton led them onto a winding gravel path beneath some trees. Soon there were no other people in view.
"The museum isn't used much," Dalton said. "Mostly just VIP tours now and then. Shouldn't be crowded. There's a guard near the front doors. I don't know another way in."
"Scrubber at the doors?" Skye asked.
"Right," Dalton said.
"You open the doors," Skye said. "Then follow me
through. Get your seeming back up as fast as you can." The museum came into view up ahead. It looked like a squat, simplified castle, with crenellated battlements and two modest turrets. The extra-large front doors were composed of dark wood studded with iron. Nobody was coming in or out of the building, and the surrounding trees helped seclude it from other structures.
Anxiety gnawed at me as the doors drew near. What would they do if an alarm was raised?I supposed they would have to take out the guard before he could give them away. That must be why Skye wanted to go first.
Dalton rushed ahead, put a hand on the door, then paused. "It opens inward," he said.
Skye gave a nod. "All of you follow me." She pushed open the door and slipped inside.
Simultaneously, from deeper in the building, I  heard a low rumble. I made it through the door in time to see a blazing ball of fire the size of a tumbleweed bouncing from wall to wall down one of the hallways, shedding dark billows of smoke.
Skye's seeming went down for less than a second, then came back up. Jace and Coles were restored quickly as well. As soon as me and Dalton had our seemings back in place, the fireball vanished, leaving behind no smoke or damage.
In her Leona persona, Skye briskly walked toward the guard. "Why were your eyes down that hall?"
Flustered, he started to stammer. "Yes, well, there was a noise, and, um-"
"That was an illusion I made from the doorway," Skye said. "What if we were enemies trying to distract you? You would have an arrow in you by now."
"I'm sorry, Leona," he said.
"Sorry enough to protect this museum more effectively?" Skye asked. "Every guard is posted on these grounds for a reason."
"Lesson learned," the guard said. "I'll take greater care. Again, I apologize."
"Very well," Skye said. "I'll keep this between us for now. Don't be surprised if I test you again."
"Understood." The guard looked sheepishly at us.
Dalton led the way forward. When they entered the next room, various suits of armor began fighting each other. At first I was startled, then I realized it was part of the exhibit.
Dalton continued across the room, then through an art gallery with moving paintings and writhing sculptures. They turned down a hall, and Dalton stepped through a large painting of an island lagoon with a ship in the background.
When I followed him through, I found myself at the top of a musty, cramped stairway. They descended to a gloomy hall lined with doors. Dalton walked through one of the doors on the left, then waited for the others to catch up.
They stood together in a small, cluttered office.
"Okay," Dalton said. "Through here we'll come to a normal door. That's the one with the weak scrubber. Just past it is a metal door with a guard, then another metal door. After a long walk, we'll come out of a crypt in the Merriston Cemetery. The crypt door opens from the inside, but it's always locked from the outside. The guys prop it open for the return trip."
"Not necessary," Skye said. "We won't be returning."
Dalton slid a desk aside and crouched down to pass through the wall behind it. Using my  hands to probe the dimensions of the opening, I found that the concealed gap was low and narrow. I ducked through.
Single candles spaced along the walls lit the grimy passage. Dalton led them forward. There was only room to walk single file. I noticed that none of the candles dripped any wax. They were all the exact same length. They had to be seemings.
Dalton reached a wooden door and paused, looking back at Skye. "Don't you want to go first?" he whispered.
"That's right," Skye said. "I should be in front to talk to the guard."
Dalton leaned against the wall, and Skye squeezed by him. She opened the door and stepped through. Beyond the doorway, I saw a guard watching from behind a door made of iron bars. Skye's seeming didn't flicker. When Dalton stepped through, he grunted softly, but his fake persona held as well. I went after, concentrating as hard as I could. I made it through without dropping it. Cole went next, followed by Jace, who closed the door.
"Leona?" the guard asked.
"We're heading out," Skye said.
From above and behind, bells started wildly clanging The flames of the candles on the wall turned red. I tried not to react, but I knew the ruckus must be for them. Leona had awakened or had been found.
"Uh-oh," the guard said from beyond the door of bars. "That's the general alarm. Nobody in or out until we get the all clear."
"But we have to go out," Skye said calmly. "We're searching for an escaped slave. He may have sensitive information."
"That could be," the guard said. "But my orders come from the top. A lockdown is the surest way to keep anybody from escaping. I need an all clear before anyone passes."
The wooden door behind them opened, and my heart leaped when Gustus came through. The chameleon-eyed man looked taken aback. "What is this? Leona, I sent you ahead!"
"General alarm, sir," the guard said. "This passage is closed. Nobody has come through here in the last couple of hours."
"Well done," Gustus said. "But we need to quietly make an exception. We have strong reason to believe an escaped slave is already outside our perimeter. We're going out to bring him in. There isn't time to wait. Every moment counts. Open the way on my authority."
"You're in charge, sir," the guard said, opening the door.
Skye moved ahead, and the guard walked with her to a solid iron door, which he opened with a key. I passed the guard in silence. Behind me, Gustus paused beside the guard. "Though necessary on occasion, bending protocol like this sets a bad precedent," Gustus said. "Don't speak of it to anyone."
"Understood, sir."
"And don't let anyone else through. As far as I'm concerned, this never happened. I'll never admit to it."
"Understood, sir."
"Excellent. Keep a sharp watch."
They continued down the hall with Gustus at the rear. After finally turning a corner, Skye collapsed against a wall, panting. Her seeming vanished, as did Jace and Cole's . Gustus disappeared. Skye was bathed in sweat.
"You improvised that?" Dalton asked in astonishment. "You held together an unanchored seeming through a scrubber?"
"That was heavy lifting," Skye said, her eyes closed. "I almost lost my hold on everything at the end there."
"I don't know if any of the enchanters here could have done that," Dalton said. "Maybe the head enchanter on a good day. You even made it look like the door opened."
"The guard needed to see Gustus come through the scrubber," Skye said. "It put his authenticity beyond question."
"I can't believe we made it," Dalton said.
"We're not in the clear yet," Skye said, pushing away from the wall. "They've raised the alarm. They won't want us to get away." She started walking. "Come on."