Page 73 of Hymn of Breath and Bone

My laugh became a sob as I pressed my forehead to Caspian’s through the iron bars.

He shifted so his lips, dry from a lack of drinking water, were pressed to mine. The kiss was woefully inadequate, but the best we could manage with iron between us.

“How did you get here, Urchin?” he murmured when we finally broke apart. “Skies, you are a sight for sore eyes.”

“Astraios flew me,” I replied, still holding back tears.

“Astraios? How?”

“It’s a long story, but you can thank the kelpies.”

“I absolutely will not,” Caspian grumbled, and I stifled another sob-laugh as I pulled my arsenal of knickknacks out of my satchel.

I pulled water from the storm to fill the cup and held it to his lips. He drank deeply, pulling away only when the water was completely gone, and I refilled it for Zephyr. Her hands were bound before her, likely because my father and Vitulus underestimated her.

Good.

“Did Vitulus help you?” Caspian asked, making me blink in surprise as I pulled the ribbon and hair pins toward me.

“No. Why would he?” I coughed, and Caspian frowned.

“What happened to your medicine?”

“Vitulus smashed it on the ship,” I explained. “He thought you were drugging me.”

Caspian sighed dramatically, resting his head on the stone behind him. “I owe you ten gold coins, Zephyr. And I’ll likely have to kill the bastard.” When I looked expectantly at him, he added, “He was eavesdropping on our chat with the Stormcrow. I was hoping it might be enough to turn him.”

“He might have gone to my father,” I suggested as I began bending the hairpins. “I haven’t seen him since…seas, was it only this morning that everything happened? This day is endless.”

Caspian chuckled. “I don’t mean to criticize, my love, but how exactly are you going to rescue us with hairpins?”

I gave him a withering look. “Never doubt the effectiveness of hairpins.”

I moved to work on the padlock holding the cell door closed, both Zephyr and Caspian watching me interestedly as I worked. “It’s a shame you didn’t think to hide lock picks in all these cells when you came to kidnap me.”

“Next time,” Caspian grinned as the padlock clicked open. “Have I told you how sexy it is that you know how to pick a lock?”

“Spare me,” Zephyr grumbled, as I laughed and moved to Caspian’s back to pick his cuffs.

“I had a lot of practice breaking into the archives as a child,” I commented as the cuffs sprang free.

We were doing this. I was going to get them out.

Caspian hissed in pain as his magic filled him. I knew his wings would begin to heal, and I quickly moved to reset the bones.

“Wait,” Caspian rumbled, pulling me back to sit in his lap and clasping my face with his hands. His wrists were red from the iron, but I didn’t have time to inspect the damage as he pulled me into a searing embrace, his tongue chasing mine as he took a minute to relearn me after days of separation.

“As much as I hate to interrupt you,” Zephyr hissed next door, “I’m still chained up here.”

“And we’re going to stay chained up,” Caspian said, pulling away from me and putting his hands behind his back again. “Put the cuffs back, Urchin.”

“What? Have you gonemad?” I pressed my hand to his forehead and he shook me off with a wry laugh.

“No, I think I finally have some clarity.” He raised a hand to cup my cheek, stroking a thumb over my cheekbone. “If we run with you now, Marina—and that’s assuming that Astraios can somehow fly us all down and your kelpie friends can escape without us being spotted—then we solve nothing. The war will continue, we’ll be fugitives running both from your fatherandthe Stormcrow without a ship or crew to help us, and the peace and unity we promised will never come to be.”

“But we’ll be alive!” I argued. “I don’t care about peace and unity right now, Cas. I care about you keeping your head on your neck.”

“I’m going to side with Marina on this one,” Zephyr chimed in.