Page 79 of The Queen

I looked to my mates, unsure if we should outright tell him. Everyone gave a silent nod of approval, and so I replied. “We’re at the old capital. Why?”

More shuffling, and Maddox was back. “If you leave now, you might live to see tomorrow. A pair of Imperatrix starfighters are headed that way. They’re an hour away, coming from the south.”

It took longer than that to get to the abandoned village and the cover of the trees. We’d never make it. My heart leapt to my throat, and panic screamed in my veins.

Shadow’s smokey voice broke through my scattered thoughts. “You didn’t send them, did you, Maddox?” His tone was so full of menace, my instincts urged me to run for cover.

Maddox sounded like he might have had that same inclination because even through the comms, I heard him choke on his words. “Of course not. We only have Verden’s best interests at heart. Better hurry, though. Not even we can save you from what’s coming now.”

It was time to go.

Ghost turned the transmitter off and shoved it in his bag. Then we were all running through the door.

Our steps were like death knells racing through the cold stone hallway as we rushed upward toward the exit. When we cleared the front entrance, our eyes were drawn to the sky. Dark clouds roiled, rushing closer on a frigid wind.

The horses were restless in the makeshift stalls, but they settled as we made short work of tacking up and securing our gear.

Lex held out a hand, giving me a leg up. “No matter what happens, you have to survive.” He put my toe in the stirrup iron, but he was gone before I could reply.

Ghost led the way out of the bailey, letting his horse find a path through the rubble. As soon as we were clear of the debris, he picked up the pace. Our horses’ hooves flew across the open farmland, but the storm was faster. Fat drops of rain pelted us. Lightning flashed in the distance, and the horse’s ears swiveled in agitation.

There was a noise on the wind, unnatural and terrifying. The sound was the unmistakable ring of a low-flying starfighter. I couldn’t see it through the rain, but I heard it scream past overhead.

I leaned low over my horse’s neck, praying to the Stars that our heat signatures would go unnoticed. At the front of the pack, Ghost glanced over his shoulder. I could barely make him out through the downpour. Everything must have been as he expected, because he faced forward and urged his horse to greater speed.

Grey was only a stride ahead, occasionally flopping one way or the other but getting the hang of it through sheer force of will and white knuckled determination.

Another craft shot past, heading in the direction we’d just come, but neither stopped nor even slowed. The rain and wind would obscure our tracks, if they even thought to look. There was nothing left to find at the ruins of the old capital. The shield was initiated and would stay that way as long as the queen lived.

I had to live.

They were too late to find us there.

The shadows of the forest’s edge loomed in the distance. Burned husks of farmhouses looked like black corpses between the sheets of rain passing in a blur as we galloped past.

Before I knew it, we were back under the cover of trees. Fat splatters of rain found their way through the thick canopy, scattering to the ground in noisy torrents. Ghost slowed to a walk and the rest of us followed. We were all breathing too heavily to talk. The horses’ sides heaved and their heads hung low, looking as pitiful as the rest of us, completely drenched and exhausted.

We dismounted and walked on shaking legs, leading the horses up the steep slope back toward the hot spring. The rain slowed and finally stopped, but a thick fog rose in its place, shrouding us and muffling the sound of our passage. Night was falling fast in the shadow of the mountain, but we were almost back to camp.

Chapter Fifty-One

Saphyra

“Iwas so stupid. How could I have trusted her?” I mumbled, and scrolled to the next screen on the gold datapad.

I barely heard Lex’s muttered agreement over the clip clop of the horses hooves. “It was right there in front of me the whole time.” Even though his words were soft the tick in his jaw screamed his frustration and anger.

“Why do you think that, little one?” Grey either didn’t hear Lex, or chose to ignore him, as we rode alongside one another up the dirt track to the hot springs we’d camped at the night before.

“Don’t worry about it. I was just thinking.” I swiped across the tablet screen again, bringing me to the next page. It was hard to believe that my whole world could change in a single day. After everything that had happened here in such a short period, it felt more like a lifetime.

“You’re not stupid. You want to see the best in people and that doesn’t make you any less intelligent, Saphyra.” Grey focused on my statement even though I’d brushed it off.

When I didn’t reply, he watched me for a few strides, our horses following behind the leaders quietly. “What are you reading?”

“I’m looking through my family history. My ancestors regularly had multiple mates, often Star-blessed, but that stopped a few generations ago.”

Lex looked over his shoulder from where he was leading his horse at the front of the group. “Does it say what changed?”

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