I squeezed my heels into Tilly’s flanks, driving her forwards, then pulled the handlebars back. We pulled over in a perfect Immelmann turn, then dove towards the ground, speeding terrifyingly towards the Royal Palace walls. I knew those walls bristled with heavy weapons and skilled soldiers, but they would not expect us to return so soon, and their sensors would be searching for invasion fleets and stealthy infiltrators, not a half-mad disgraced ex-soldier and his insane combat steed.
I saw the guards before they saw me. I saw the soldier who spotted me, saw her eyes go wide as she processed ourreckless charge. I looped Tilly into a barrel roll over the wall, my head clearing it by centimeters as the wailing alarm went up. I looked at the Queen’s Tower in the palace’s center, and I fancied I could see Her Majesty peering inquisitively at me. I snapped off a salute, one last symbol of loyalty and respect, then Tilly dove through the portal.
Tilly reacted faster than I could, skidding sideways to stop our motion with her repulsor plate, then blasting forwards with a roar. The soldiers who had brought me to the portal dove for safety a second time before Tilly and I were past them and in the corridors. We twisted and jinked, moving with reckless swiftness, banging into walls and shearing off decorations in blinding flashes as our shields absorbed the blows.
I had to decide – how would we escape the palace? The front gates were the obvious way, but the alarm was already howling. The doors would be shut, and it would take a siege lancer to break them down. The courtyard was out, since it would be swarming with armed Imps. I didn’t like my chances against that many lancers, which left one choice.
A moment later, Tilly and I blew a half-closed door off its hinges as we blasted into the Great Hall. Boleslaw was still there, as was Prince Aureli.
“Boylan? What the Fall are you doing here?” the prince demanded.
I revved Tilly’s engine, filling the hall with wondrously intimidating echoes. “Saving the Commonwealth, sir!”
Boleslaw followed Tilly’s trajectory and divined our intention. For once, the implacable colonel lost her cool. “You can’t! The windows are shielded,” she squeaked.
“Only from the outside,” I replied, then pressed my feet to Tilly’s sides. We shot forwards, smashing through a full-length plate window in a glittering shower of vaporizing glass, escaping into the free air.
SCRAMBLING FOR PURCHASE
THE DISSIDENTS’ COUPhad thinned the ranks of Imperial guards. My departure was showy enough to ensure enemy eyes watched Tilly and me disappear into the woods, but after several squads of demon troops pursued me in a futile search, Tilly and I sneaked unseen back onto the grounds. The palace towers were tall and numerous, easy enough to hide amongst if one kept their head on a swivel and eyes on the ground. Thus, as night fell and the aurora shimmered under glittering planetary rings and winking stars, nothing stood between us and Princess Marie’s chambers.
If only I knew where they were.
I couldn’t simply fly around the towers, peering into windows and hoping to see the right one. The palace was too large to search in one night. Besides, somebody would spot me. For the same reason, I couldn’t dismount and lookaround for a map. No, I needed a guide, which left one risky choice for me to make.
I brought Tilly up to a balcony, hidden from the gaze of rooftop guards, and said, “Ingvar, are you there?”
Silence. I waited, hopeful, but there was no response. The hordling had not come. Maybe he couldn’t come. Maybe he was loyal to the dissidents. Maybe he was imprisoned or serving another demon lord at the moment. Or maybe he simply couldn’t hear me.
I spoke louder. “Ingvar, if you’re there, I need you.”
“I would lower my voice if I were you, sir. We wouldn’t want any unwelcome additions to our little party, would we?”
I had never thought I would be so relieved to see an Imperial, but the hordling’s soft, susurrating voice brought immediate joy to my face. I twisted about on Tilly’s back to look at the Imperial servant. “How is it you always arrive right behind me?”
“Trade secret, sir. Now, if you’ll excuse my rudeness, we should get on with our business quickly before somebody spots us.”
“And what business do you think that is?” I asked.
Ingvar raised one bushy eyebrow in a perfectly servile manner, nevertheless implying even I should know such a simple answer. “Rescuing the Emperor, sir.”
I wanted to believe him, but my recent experience made me wary. “How do I know you mean us no harm? I thought Count Zukov was trustworthy, and look what happened.”
“I have concerns about Prince Selnikov as the next Emperor,” Ingvar answered. “The lives of hordlings and other civilians were better under Emperor Astrid’s reign. I would rather serve her than him.”
“A fine story, but why wait until now to act? You could have done something when Selnikov threw his coup,” I countered.
Ingvar pointed at Tilly. “I did do something, sir. I released your steed.”
I looked down at Tilly in surprise. “Tilly?”
Tilly whistled affirmatively, and Ingvar spoke. “Indeed, sir. She nearly took my head off as she sprinted from the stables.”
“But, you’re Imperial. I thought all Imperials hated SI,” I said.
Ingvar’s nose wrinkled, like he had just smelled a particularly noxious turd. “I’m not comfortable with them as a whole, but I trust this one will listen to you, sir, and I thought you would need all the help you could get to save the Emperor.”
I patted Tilly’s chassis. “You’re not wrong. It’s why I came back.” I drifted closer to the hordling on the balcony. “Can you tell me how to get to Princess Marie-Christina’s chambers? She’s the Stelsylvanian representative.”
