As usual, nothing is easy.
“Artis it is,” I say.
We aren’t subtle when we reach the Wilds. We bang on doors, we shout, we throw rocks at walls. As people wake to discover the commotion, they help. Quint goes for the houses to the north while I head toward the south. I lose Saeth for a bit, and I know he’s gone to wake his family—but he’s back within minutes.
“Leah has them,” he calls to me before moving on to another house. “She’s running.”
My breathing is thin and reedy, because I’ve run way too far, but it’s Thorin who looks worse. I’m relieved when I see Alice wake, coming out of a house, taking hold of his arm.
“Stay with him!” I yell to her, and then I, too, move on.
All the while, my heart is surging in my chest. We’re not going to be fast enough. The army will have horses, while these people are on foot. I need to get to the stables myself if I’m going to have any hope to reach Beeching. He needs his people to be ready at the border.
In the back of my thoughts, I keep considering everything I realized about my parents, how perhaps they weren’t well loved at all.
How Consul Beeching might not care.
How he might stand on the steps of his manor and watch all of these people die, and gladly.
I swallow these worries away and head for the stables, hoping to find Quint along the way.
I don’t, but to my surprise, Saeth meets me there, and he begins saddling a horse beside me.
“No,” I say. “I need you to helpthem.”
His jaw is set, and he keeps buckling. “My duty is to—”
“Your duty is to follow orders.” I turn away from my horse and take hold of his arm. “I might not fight like a soldier, and I might not be able to run. But damn it, Adam, Iamthe king, and if there’s one thing I can do, andwell, it’s ride.”
He looks back at me for a long moment. If he truly insists on following me out of here, there’s not much I can do about it. I’m not going to waste time arguing.
“Please,” I say to him. “You’re strong and you’re armed and there are so many of them. We’ve almost lost. Right now, they need you more than I do.”
He gives a sharp nod. “Yes, Your Majesty. But take my crossbow. Keep your hood up. Watch the footing near the streams.”
Then he shoves the weapon into my hands, gives my horse a clap on the neck, and he’s gone.
I tighten two buckles, strap the crossbow to my back, and then I am, too.
Dozens of people are already running when we trot out of the barn. I take care not to trample them. I look for Quint among them, but he’s nowhere to be seen. I don’t have time to look either.
A shout goes up somewhere in the distance. “The army!” a man calls. “The army is coming!”
It’s even faster than I expected.
Please, Quint, I think.Please be safe.
“Run!” I shout. “Run toward Artis! Claim sanctuary from Consul Beeching!”
Then a path opens up in front of me, and the horse leaps forward.
It’s been a long time since I’ve ridden a full-out gallop like this, with the wind in my hair, burning my eyes. I’m crouched low to the horse’s neck, my fingers soft on the reins, trying to let the horse find the best path in the dark. Artis isn’t a wealthy sector, and it’s not even a gated one, what with the way the Queen’s River slices it in half. The horse tears down quiet streets toward the consul’s manor home, and I keep thinking that I could be making this ride for no reason other than to be leading everyone right to their death.
I keep expecting to find obstacles, but no one stops me. No one challenges me. Like the halls in the palace, there are few people even out and about. It’s eerily quiet.
When I reach the consul’s manor, the cobblestone path that leads to his home is gated, with a small guard station and one man attending. He’s smoking a pipe, and he sets it in a little dish on a table when he sees me.
My horse practically skids to a stop, breathing hard and dripping sweat, but the animal paws at the cobblestones, ready to run again if necessary.
