He frowns, and I realize I didn’t answer his question. I don’t knowhowto answer his question.
Because Jory simply got down from the horse and...walked up to them. Heedless of danger. Asher right by her side.
Daring. Chaotic. Admirable.
Sev tries a different tack. “We’re twenty feet back. The princess is—”
“Thirty feet,” says Roman.
“Thank you.Thirtyfeet back. The princess is unarmed. Defenseless.”
My eyes flick to Asher. I saw him take down my soldier.
I watched him slide under an assassin to take her place.
Then I saw the princess stab a Draeg soldier in the thigh while a knife was at her neck.
“She’s not defenseless,” I say.
Sev makes an aggrieved noise and keeps going. “You haveno ideawhat they’re telling her.”
That hits the mark. I look over at him.
His eyebrows go up. He knows he’s got me. “Are you just going to let her walk into Lastalorre like this?”
Let her. She almost took control of my soldiers right out from under me. I’m beginning to think there’s not a whole lot I can stop the princess from doing.
I turn and look at him. “No.”
He lets out a breath, clearly relieved. “Well, good, because—” He breaks off sharply as I swing down from the horse, midstride. “Ky! What are you—”
“Take my horse.” I toss him my reins. “I’m going to join her.”
IT DOESN’T FEELlike thirty feet. It feels like a mile. Once I’m on the ground, jogging out from the horses, the gap between my soldiers and my people seems like a chasm I don’t know how to cross. I’d lay down my life for Incendar, and I’ve watched thousands of soldiers do that very thing at the border with Draegonis. But my peopleherebelieve I’m harming them instead of helping them. They attacked without hesitation. Their fury—fury atme—was clear.
I knew it. Iexpectedit. I just didn’t expect it to be this bad.
Jory glances back, looking over her shoulder, and she seems surprised to see me on the ground, halfway between her and the rest of my soldiers.
Many of the others notice her reaction, because sudden tension flares among the people surrounding her. I immediately feel like I’ve made a misstep, and my steps slow. For an instant, I wonder if I’ve made all the wrong choices here, and they’re going to draw the few weapons they have and we’re going to have a battle anyway. My hand is automatically beginning to sketch a sigil, calling fire in case I need it.
But the princess leans down toward the little girl and says something quietly, and suddenly the child is sprinting across the distance toward me.
I shuffle to a stop, nonplussed.
The girl gives an exasperated huff when she reaches me. “Come on,” she says, grabbing my hand before I finish that sigil. “Princess Jory says that if you want to walk with us, you have to keep up.”
Her fingers are so tiny and cool against my own, and it’s almost jarring. I can’t remember the last time I was this close to a young child. “I...yes, Lady.”
She gives me a tug, so I jog by her side until we reach the group.
I can only imagine what Sev thinks ofthis.
If I expected a kind reception, I don’t get one. Every gaze is a bit cold, but there’s an undercurrent of fear, too. They know who I am—and they know what they just did.
There was a time when my peopleneverlooked at me this way.
“See, Mama?” says the little girl. She still hasn’t let go of my hand, but she’s looking up at the pregnant woman. “He didn’t hurt me.”
