Zhira nodded. His dark eyes were intense. She wished for a moment that she understood everything that he said, and that she could stay in the shadows with him. Because something
was about to change. She could feel the energy lacing the air, and was afraid, a tight knot of fear burning a hole in her stomach.
‘Wish me luck,’ she murmured, and was rewarded with a brief smile.
‘Spirits guide you.’ He pushed the door wide open before stepping aside into the darkness and vanishing from sight. Zhira stood alone at the causeway. Graidon, in the centre of the ruins, watched her. She felt like a mouse, watched by a cat.
He’d gathered witnesses as promised. Armed guards swarmed around the raised platform. Behind the ring of bared weapons, she saw the captain gathering his troops to line the wal
