“We’ll never outpace them on foot,” I hissed.
“Luckily, we don’t have to,” Eleos whispered back. “Come. Not much further.”
Darting out from behind cover, we fled deeper into the marsh, listening intently for activity. Wandering west would lead us toward the world’s borders and into the Empty. We’d have to wind back around to the main road, where the guards would await us.
A knoll rose from the marsh in the center of a copse, granting respite from the muck. Three horses gathered around a rather unhappy-looking older man.
Seraphim tossed the man a sack of coins. “Thank you. Take care heading back.”
The old man grunted, stuffing the sack into his pack. His eyes skimmed over us before he trudged through the marsh. “You’ll never hear from me again.” He promised.
“Percy,” Seraphim ordered. “Lay a false trail. Make them think we’re heading east.”
“Must I? In my finest?”
His finest? I shuddered to think what the rest of his wardrobe looked like.
Seraphim slapped his back, pushing him in the direction the soldiers had ridden. “You two. C’mere.”
Resigned to his fate, Percy grabbed his horse and led it away. I watched him go, startled by a bundle of rags that struck my chest. Catching it clumsily, I turned the tattered thing over, realizing it was a patchwork bag.
“Carry that,” Seraphim ordered. “Make yourself useful.”
“I’m good at nothing if not being useful,” I murmured.
Satisfied, she turned around and grabbed a horse, tightening its saddle bags. Glancing between the horses, I counted them again. Only two remained.
“Hm.” Seraphim glanced at me with a smirk. “Seems our man miscounted. I asked for four steeds. You’ll have to ride with Eleos.”
Wandering over to the green-eyed man, I tugged on the knapsack’s strings. “What’s in this?”
“I’m, ah, not sure,” Eleos admitted, untying the other horse. “Percy’s effects, most likely.”
As I pulled the bag open to peer inside, he grabbed the strings and fastened them closed.
“Better not to look, in that case,” he warned.
“Well, now I’m curious,” I said, throwing the pack around my shoulder.
An enormous horse dappled with spots of white and brown sloshed through the muck to Eleos’ side. I swallowed, trying to figure out how I would mount it. Ainwir had always hailed carriages. I had never ridden a horse by myself before.
Eleos always knew what I was thinking. “Don’t worry,” he said, grabbing the reins. “I’m experienced. You’ll be safe with me.”
“If you say so.” I chewed my lip nervously as he knelt and made a step out of his knitted hands. Hesitating, I cautiously stepped up and floundered when he boosted me. Grabbing the saddle, I gracelessly pulled myself onto its back.
Mounting effortlessly, Eleos sat in front of me, glancing back to ensure I hadn’t fallen off. “Hold on tight. You’ll get the hang of it.”
Sloshing water drew my attention east, as Percy rode back to the knoll. “Our pursuers have been taken care of,” he announced. “If they don’t hearthat, they’re idiots who won’t catch us anyway.”
“Hear what?” I asked, realizing I hadn’t given Seraphim’s order to ‘leave a false trail’ much thought.
“Magic, my dear.” Percy smiled.
“Let’s go,” Seraphim said, riding north.
The dappled horse took off, and I lunged forward, grabbing Eleos’s waist tightly as the horse bucked back and forth, lifting its hooves to escape the piles of mud.
The scholarly-looking man feltfirmerthan expected. Though his build was lithe, I could feel taut muscles in his arms and core. His brown hair brushed against my neck, luxuriously soft and smelling of parchment and sandalwood. An image nestled in my head of an armchair resting before the fire, warm and inviting.
