Once Belshun and the rest of the Mesdi deemed the palace secure, Ahsan’s spirits felt more at ease. Though the threat wasn’t gone, at least he could breathe easily enough to plot how he and Nirah would go on their outing. It took some prying, more swearing to her up and down that he would not escape, but a few days later, they had at last concocted their scheme and worked up the nerve to put it into action. They were not committing treason, not killing anyone, but the act felt so devious that the mere mention of it set his skin tingling.
To slip out of the palace without being noticed though, they needed inside help.
Ahsan had thought to borrow clothes from the kitchen workers and slip both himself and Nirah out as the staff went home for the evening, but they had refused, shriveling at
