The man paused for a moment, and then turned and pulled out a sack from behind a counter.
“Here—take these.”
The Prince was loaded down with a leather jerkin, metal bracers and greaves, a helm that would come down to cover the back of his neck as well as the bridge of his nose, and what looked like a discarded general’s breastplate with attached cape. All of it was black.
“Black?” the Prince asked.
“An officer commissioned it and then changed his mind, so I never finished gilding it. Just be thankful I had it lying around. Next! Who’s next!”
The Prince did his best to strap all of the armor into place while making his way out into the street and toward the north-western entrance to the valley. The entire city was moving, like some enormous anthill disturbed by a child’s insistent prodding. Men and women hurriedly exchanged goodbyes; most of the children wore expressions of fear, and more than one was crying in the middle of the street as their parents loaded wagons, carts, and anything that could carry their possessions. Soldiers dressed in green-and-silver uniforms rushed back and forth, organizing the evacuation and assisting with broken carts and wagons. Carpenters worked on last-minute repairs to wheels and axles, while oxen and horses, caught in a heightened state of emotion, shied fearfully.
By the time the Prince made it to the valley entrance, a large portion of the ambush force had already gathered. Two-thirds of those assembled were men and women with bows strapped to their backs and short swords sheathed at their waists. They all wore thick leather armor with thin, rectangular pieces of metal sewn onto it to provide defense against light weaponry. The other third were Rogues and Rangers, dressed in black-and-green uniforms with swords and daggers sewn into their high collars. Some had silver accents on their armor, while others had gold, and the style varied wildly, from one slight woman who wore nothing more than embroidered leather bracers, to a large, dark-skinned man who was clad in almost a full suit of armor. The Prince located Leah and quickly made his way toward her. As he came closer, he saw that she was talking quite animatedly with a man mounted on a white horse.
“Just in time!” Leah cried, noticing him. She was dressed in the same armor as Davydd, though her accents were silver, and the individual pieces seemed design for dexterity more than strength. She too had a golden knot of rank on her chest.
“Who’s this? You’re a captain?” asked the man on the horse. He was dark-skinned, with a helm like the one the Prince wore and a similar breastplate and cape, but gilded in red.
“No,” the Prince explained quickly, “this was the only armor they had. I am Leah’s companion.” The man took this in stride and nodded.
“Right, the fifth one tied to the tracking spell. You two stay with the other three.”
He motioned to one of the groups on their right-hand side, and the Prince saw that Tomaz, Davydd, and Lorna were there readying their mounts. The Prince and Leah made their way over—Tomaz was holding the reins of the horses they’d taken from the Defenders.
“Going to a funeral, princeling?” Tomaz asked, noticing the Prince’s black armor.
“I certainly hope not,” he said, mounting his horse. He was surprised to find that it was fairly easy to move in the armor.
“Let’s go!” cried the man in the red cape and armor. “Pass the word for anyone left behind to meet us on the road!”
The captain turned and rode out of the gate, a pair of Rogues that the Prince didn’t know flanking him. The force of Rogues, Rangers, and Scouts, over a thousand strong even without those not yet there, rode after him.
“We should make it in time!” the Prince called to the others over the noise.
“What?”
“We should make it in time! Ramael will follow us! The plan might work!”
“Scared, princeling?” Leah asked.
“Oh, I think he’s properly terrified!” Davydd shouted over the thunder of the horses’ hooves. The Prince saw again the manic glint in the young man’s eye, a look of demented excitement.
“You’re insane not to be!” the Princecalled back.
“We’re about to ambush the Prince of Oxen!” Tomaz boomed. “We have a bare fraction of his force, we have had no time to prepare or properly outfit the majority of our force, and we’re racing blindly. At this point, I think we’re all insane!”
“Exciting, isn’t it!” Davydd shouted, grinning widely.
Chapter Twenty: The Pass of Cartuom
The first part of the ruse worked: as night fell, it became clear that the Prince of Oxen had veered from his original course and was moving after the decoy force.
“It looks like you were right,” Captain Autmaran said, the man in the red cape, when he checked in with the Prince the hour of sunset. “That tracking spell is leading him right to you.”
“A good plan so far,” Tomaz rumbled in agreement. The Captain spurred his horse forward once more to join the leadingashandelandeshendaiat the head of the column.
“Oh, a great plan,” the Prince responded with quiet sarcasm, “let’s just stay together and lure the Prince of Oxen, only the most ruthless, terrifying, and unmerciful of my brothers and sisters straight toward us. A great plan. Asuperb plan.”
There was a slight movement ahead of him, and, even though he couldn’t see more than her silhouette in the falling darkness, the Prince was fairly certain Leah had just rolled her eyes at him.
