Intermission 17 Page 11

————

Traveling at the fastest pace they can manage, Ricki and Amadeusz arrive back at the Capital just after midnight. Amadeusz is able to get them both past the outer wall with no difficulty; he seems to have the Guard patrols committed to memory, and they are able to simply slip past during a shift change. Ricki then follows him down countless side streets, far from the districts she’s familiar with.

“Are we lost? It feels like we’re going in circles.”

“We are avoiding detection. I can smell everything within half a mile, even with the wind against me.”

“My wolf is very… alert tonight. I would struggle to ignore the things he senses, but for now it’s more useful to us to make use of him.”

“Oh.”

“…How much farther do we have to go?”

“Not much farther at all.”

“We are very close indeed.”