The Hidden City

to sneak up through the palace, but if we’re discovered, we’d have to fight, and that’d put Ehlana and Alcan in immediate danger.’
    Sparhawk nodded bleakly. ‘It’s just too dangerous to risk,’ he agreed.
    ‘All right, then. If we can’t go through the palace, we’ll have to go up the outside.’
    ‘You mean climb the tower?’ Kalten asked incredulously.
    ‘It’s not as difficult as it sounds, Kalten. Those walls aren’t built of marble, so they aren’t smooth. They’re rough stone blocks, and there are plenty of hand-holds and places to put your feet. I could climb that back wall like a ladder, if I had to.’
    ‘I’m not really very graceful, Mirtai,’ he said dubiously. ‘I’ll do anything at all to rescue Alcan, but I won’t be much good to her if I make a misstep and fall five hundred feet into the lower city.’
    ‘We have ropes, Kalten. I’ll keep you from falling. Talen can scamper up a wall like a squirrel, and I can climb almost as well. If we had Stragen and Caalador along, they’d be halfway up the side of that tower by now.’
    ‘Mirtai,’ Bevier said in a pained voice, ‘we’re wearing mailshirts. Climbing a sheer wall with seventy pounds of steel hanging from your shoulders might be a little challenging.’
    ‘Then take the mail-shirt off, Bevier.’
    ‘I might need it when I get up on top.’
    ‘No problem,’ Talen assured him. ‘We’ll bundle them all together and pull them up behind us. I do sort of like it, Sparhawk. It’s quiet, it’s fairly fast, and there probably won’t be any guards going hand-over-hand around the outside of the tower looking for intruders. Mirtai’s had training from Stragen and Caalador, and I was born for burglary. She and I can do the real climbing. We’ll drop ropes down to the rest of you at various stages along the way, and you can haul up the mail-shirts and swords behind you. We can get to the top of that tower in no time at all. We can do it, Sparhawk. It’ll be easy.’
    ‘I can’t really think of any alternatives,’ Sparhawk conceded dubiously.
    ‘Let’s do it then,’ Mirtai said abruptly. ‘Let’s get Ehlana and Alcan out of there, and once they’re safe, we can start to take this place apart.’
    ‘After I get my real face back,’ Kalten added adamantly. ‘Alcan’s entitled to that much consideration.’
    ‘Let’s do that right now, Xanetia,’ Aphrael said. ‘Kalten will nag us about it all night if we don’t.’
    ‘Nag?’ Kalten objected.
    ‘What color was your hair again, Kalten? Purple, wasn’t it?’ she asked him with an impish little smile.’

Chapter 31
    There were deep shadows along the western side of the Women’s Palace when Elysoun, Liatris and Gahennas emerged through the little-used door and moved quickly through the darkness to take cover in a nearby grove of ornamental evergreens.
    ‘This is going to be the dangerous part,’ Liatris cautioned in a low voice. ‘Chacole knows by now that her assassins weren’t able to find Gahennas, and she’s certain to have her people out to try to prevent us from reaching Ehlana’s castle.’
    Elysoun looked out at the moon-drenched lawn. ‘That’s impossible,’ she said. ‘It’s just too bright. There’s a path that goes on through this grove. It comes out near the Ministry of the Interior.’
    ‘That’s the wrong direction, Elysoun,’ Gahennas protested. ‘The Elene castle’s the other way.’
    ‘Yes, I know, but there’s no cover. There’s nothing between here and the castle but open lawn. We’d better stick to the shadows. If we go around on the other side of Interior, we’ll be able to go through the grounds of the Foreign Ministry. It’s only about fifty yards from there to the drawbridge of the castle.’
    ‘What if the drawbridge has been raised?’
    ‘We’ll worry about that when we get there, Gahennas. But we have to get into the gardens around the Foreign Ministry first.’
    ‘Let’s go then, ladies,’ Liatris said abruptly. ‘We’re not accomplishing anything by standing around talking. Let’s go find out what we’re up against.’
    ‘Back here,’ Talen whispered to them, coming out of a narrow alleyway. ‘The palace wall runs back to the place where it joins the outer fortifications at the end of this alley. The right angle where the two walls meet is perfect for climbing.’
    ‘Will you need this?’ Mirtai asked, holding her grappling hook out to him.
    ‘No. I can make it to the top without