Cicera insisted on climbing up last presumably because she didn't need anyone looking up her skirts, so Dresden was forced to grope around in the darkness for the latch to open the stiff wooden hatch at the top of the wooden steps. It occurred to Vica as she heard the dull thumps of his footsteps that the stairs must have been built fairly recently. They were neither rotted nor creaking despite having been in evident disuse for a while now.
"Quickly, all of you."
Right, because everyone was moving so slowly, she wanted to snipe back at the duchess. But instead, she swallowed back the retort and emerged into the fading evening light. They hadn't been walking nearly as long as she had thought if full night hadn't fallen yet, but judging by the condition of everyone in the group as they ga
