Rayne gave him a look that clearly said he wanted to smack Caelan but was restraining himself. “No, this information was not provided for the press. However, as you well know, Erya is not the kind of state that tries to control its journalists.”
Caelan waved a dismissive hand. Yeah, yeah, he knew that, but using the term “journalist” seemed a stretch for this nonsense. He didn’t appreciate being the focus of their more idle speculations. He turned his attention to Maris to find the girl ignoring him completely and staring up at Drayce as if he’d hung the moon just for her.
And Drayce appeared as if he wanted to crawl back into the storm sewer.
“Maris, we thank you for your assistance,” Caelan said.
She blinked large green eyes up at him, almost appearing to have forgotten that he was standing right in front of her. The wicked grin returned, and she laughed. “No big deal. I love causing those idiots problems.” She spun on her toes and skipped over to the pallet to drop off her magazine. “I mean, you guys were doing a great job of killing them, but you were outnumbered. There are way easier alternatives for getting into the city if that’s what you want to do.”
Rayne stepped around Caelan and moved a little closer to the girl as she returned to her perch on the table. “Maris, where are your parents?” His voice was incredibly gentle.
Maris looked away from him and shrugged her too-slender shoulders. “Dead, I guess.” Her voice was too matter of fact for Caelan. He simply couldn’t believe that she was completely unmoved by the death of her parents.
“What?” Drayce gasped. “How?”
Caelan definitely winced at that. How else but during the Empire’s attack?
“Mom worked in the kitchens at the Towers. She went to work the day of the explosion, and she’s never returned home,” Maris explain, her voice sounding tighter than it had been.
“And your father?” Eno prodded.
The shrug again. “Never came home after the attack.”
“Was he a soldier?” Caelan asked but received a derisive snort in return.
“No.” There was laughter in her voice as if the very suggestion was hilarious.
“Then what?” Her large green eyes jumped up to Caelan’s face and skittered away. She chewed on her bottom lip.
“Maris, you’re not going to get in trouble. We only want to help,” Rayne said.
Maris rolled her eyes and huffed loudly. “He was a smuggler. He left and didn’t come home. But that was before the attack.”
Caelan grinned at the girl. “That explains how you know these streets and the tunnels so well. Pretty smart.”
The girl immediately perked up and smiled at him, though there was still a hint of an embarrassed blush to her cheeks. “I can get anywhere in the city and in Stonehaven.” She paused and frowned. “I don’t know my way around Green Gate yet, but I will.”
“I believe it,” Caelan easily agreed. Despite her age and being left on her own, she’d adapted and figured out how to survive without an adult.
“Since the Empire attacked, have you been in the city proper? What have you seen the Empire doing?”
Maris’s eyes immediately lit up and it was as if her entire body started to vibrate with excitement. “I hang out with a bunch of other orphans in the city. We’ve been keeping an eye on stuff and passing news to the Erya soldiers who have gone underground. We got this whole place covered, and the Empire doesn’t have a freaking clue!”
“Excellent. What can you tell me?”
She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the ceiling. “Well, Green Gate is totally controlled by the Empire, and they’ve destroyed big chunks of Cabbage Port, so there’s no getting boats in or out unless they belong to the Empire. No one can get near King’s Square. Security is super tight there. Spirit Road between East Ward and Cabbage Port changes hands almost every day, so I don’t go that way.”
“What about East Ward and Uni Gardens themselves? Are they under Empire control?” Eno inquired.
Maris lifted one hand and rocked it back and forth. “We’ve been seeing way more soldiers in East Ward recently. Supposedly Uni Gardens has been left alone, but I swear I’ve seen spies in those streets. It’s all a really creepy feeling. I stay out of there.”
“Dang, kid! You got this!” Drayce praised with a stunned shake of his head. “You’re better than one of the queen’s guards.”
While Maris preened under the praise, Rayne threw Drayce a dirty look. Caelan happened to be in Rayne’s camp. While he greatly appreciated the intel, he didn’t like the idea of a kid putting herself in danger like this. Sure, she knew how to handle herself and escape, but she couldn’t be more than ten. She should have been somewhere protected and safe while trained soldiers hashed out this mess.