Angelique stared at the ground, but she raised a hand to signal she hadheard.
“Where’s Briar?” Sir Isaia twisted in his saddle and scanned thebattlefield.
“I heard her calling for her horse after she dropped your legendary weapon on you,” Firrasaid.
Sir Isaia’s mare threw her head, expressing the nerves her rider wouldn’t show. “Did she go back into the village?” heasked.
“Probably.” Firra glanced up at the knight. “I’ll sweep the southern half if you check the northernhalf.”
Sir Isaia nodded and nudged his horse, who pounded toward thevillage.
Angelique finally raised her eyes and scanned the battlefield. “I don’t see Carabosso, and he didn’t flee with Suzu and the others. Either he slipped away when we weren’t watching,or…”
“I’ll hurry.” Firra ran for Tavo, jumping a dead chimera on herway.
Angelique rubbed at a streak of grime on her hands. “Call me if you needassistance.”
“Surething!”
Angelique sighed and stared at the nearly set sun. She wanted to sound happy like the others, but she couldn’t quite muster it with Suzu’s exit fresh in her mind. Though she ached with the sight of Evariste’s magic and was frustrated with the sorceress’ escape, she was still able to gather a flickering flame ofhope.
She used Evariste’s transportation magic. Magic can’t be stolen or ripped from a person if they’re dead, which means hemustbealive!
Her eyes glazed with tears, and she blinked only when someone stepped between her and thesun.
It took a few moments before Angelique realized it was Odette.That’s right. I can’t just sit and sulk.She inhaled, and she mustered every ounce of her will to smile up at the Swan Queen. “Sorry, I stared at the sun too long. Thank you for retrieving and delivering the LegendaryWeapon.”
Odette studied Angelique for a long moment, then shrugged. “You paid us well,” she remindedher.
Angelique snorted as she stood, her legs a little shaky from both the sheer emotion and the riptide of the day’s events. “It was a far riskier job than the one I originally hired youfor.”
“I can see why it wasnecessary.”
“How bad was Ciane when you left?” Angeliqueasked.
Misha laughed. “It was a total uproar. The King is hopping mad—I don’t think he expected his precious granddaughter to be even half the firecracker sheis.”
Angelique tiredly rubbed her face. “I imagine so. He’s grown distinctly crotchetier every time I’ve seen him. You brought the transcribed pages aboutFoedus?”
Odette nodded. “Nadia has thecopies.”
“Excellent. I’d like you to take them to Prince Severin of Loire. By now he should have returned to his home at Chanceux Chateau,” Angeliquesaid.
Odette balanced a dagger on her finger as she watched the knights sweep the battlefield, slaying the last chimera and killing the few remaining goblins. “You don’t wish to show himyourself?”
Angelique bleakly stared at the smashed earth she had dragged up. “No. That magic Suzu used belongs to the Lord Enchanter who is my master. That she had such a spell means she and her cronies are the ones who captured him. I have to findher.”
“She seemed to be working with Carabosso,” Misha said. “If we can track Carabosso, I imagine he’ll have usefulinformation.”
Angelique perked. “That’s true. And unless he has a teleportation spell of his own, he can’t have gotten far. Thankfully, I happen to be abnormally skilled in tracking spells.” Angelique fanned her fingers open, and just as her magic started to wind across her fingers, three fireballs shot straight up from Tavo anddisappeared.
“The fire mage?” Odetteguessed.
“Yes.” Angelique scrambled across the mess of the battlefield and into the still-smoking village—the smell of ash was so overpowering, it made her eyeswater.
Odette, Misha, and Nadia hurtled after her, exchanging murmured bits of conversation as they fell into a Vformation.
“Firra?” Angelique yelled when she thought she was near the street from which the fireballs haderupted.
