The Dragon Nimbus Novels: Volume II

escape route.
    Multiple footsteps echoed loudly around the tunnel walls. A shimmer of reddish orange light signaled the infiltration of sunlight, so different from the green flames of the torches.
    Sunlight, air, freedom. She longed to dash forward and experience life once more. She couldn’t. Not yet. Not until she knew she could take all three of her children with her.
    A side passage opened in the wall opposite her. She dashed across the widening tunnel and secreted herself in the unlit corridor.
    A merchant laden with bolts of fabric spilling from his arms staggered past her. A laughing guard walked beside him, picking up brightly colored silk that trailed behind the merchant. New clothes for Yaassima. Good, she would be occupied for several hours while making her selection from the fire-green, bay-blue, and blood-red cloth.
    Right on the heels of the merchant and his escort came three women. They wore ordinary sturdy gowns and kerchiefs over their hair. They must be part of the huge staff of servants Yaassima maintained. The Kaalipha never allowed a servant to perform the same chore in the same rooms as the day before, except for Haanna. Yaassima’s mute personal maid seemed to love her ruthless mistress blindly. Mealtimes and menus varied widely. No one had an opportunity to detect patterns and routines for laying traps against the only person in Hanassa who maintained any degree of power: Yaassima.
    Myri watched a continuous parade of people in and out of the main entrance for a few more moments. Servants, guards, merchants, and outlaws in search of favors all passed through the same portal. Would so many people come this way if there was any other way in or out of the palace?
    Her heart sank.
    Keep yourself safe from Televarn, Nimbulan. Please be careful. I can’t come to you yet. She checked the magical umbilical that connected her heart to her husband’s. It appeared stretched and thin, as if the distance between them had grown beyond the physical separation. The pulses of her heart and his counterbeat pushed strongly back and forth, though, with little delay. She wished she understood the nuances of the connection better. The strength of the cord and the heartbeats told her only that Nimbulan lived, and that he loved her.
    Was that enough to rebuild their marriage? She didn’t know. She’d answer that question when she saw him again, and gave vent to her anger at his leaving her alone and vulnerable. First, she had to find a way out of this horrible city of crime and death with her three children.
    She edged closer to the cave opening that formed the main entrance. If this truly were the only way in or out, she had to know what security measures Yaassima employed. She kept her eyes on the floor and her extra long fingers folded within her skirt. No one looked at her twice.
    Through her lowered lashes she watched as the black-uniformed guards stopped each person entering the palace. Two guards stood to the side of the portal, hands on their swords. They wore three or four other, shorter knives stuck into their belts, their boots, and protruding from their cuffs. Chains crossed their chests and slings dangled from their shoulders. Two other men carried metal tubes the length and thickness of one of Nimbulan’s small wands, in addition to the multitude of weapons.
    An outlaw swaggered up to the entrance. Myri recognized him as a cutthroat who had stood in line for a job yesterday in the Justice Hall. Yaassima had denied him any assignment, especially his request to waylay a caravan from SeLenicca bound for Rossemeyer.
    The cutthroat flashed a broad smile to the guards, revealing broken teeth beneath his drooping mustache. Myri knew a moment of recognition. Where had she seen him before yesterday?
    Casually he saluted the guards and stepped into the cave as if he had every right to enter without scrutiny.
    Before he had gone a second step, Yaassima’s trusted men clapped their strong hands around his arms.
    “You know the rules, Piedro,” one guard growled, not releasing his grip.
    The two men with wands placed themselves in front of and behind Piedro while the other two maintained their hold on the outlaw. They waved their wands over Piedro’s entire body.
    The wands blasted out an ear-piercing shriek. Myri clapped her hands over her ears. Every person within sight froze in place. They remained locked in position as if the shrill sound had numbed their will as well as their hearing.
    Sweat broke