Page 97 of The Queen

“Flap your cloak,” I shouted over my shoulder at Grey.

“W-What?” Grey’s eyes were wide with panic. No doubt his knuckles were bleached white, gripping the mane of his horse.

Poor bastard. He had no idea what he’d signed himself up for coming with me. If Grey tried to do what I asked, I had a suspicion he may fall right off. Honestly, I should’ve counted myself lucky he hadn’t already. I let the order drop. If the searchers were going to see us, flapping his cloak wouldn’t make much difference.

When—I paused, mentally correcting myself—if we got out of this fucked up mess, I was getting him riding lessons.

“Nothing. Never mind. Keep your heels down and eyes on me.” I called my advice to him with little hope he’d hear it over the rumble of hooves and fast approaching ships.

Just a few more yards and we’d be through the open field and back under the trees, with our pursuers trailing behind. I was betting our lives on the assumption that they’d had been ordered not to kill Saphyra.

Once we were out of visual, one heat signature would be indistinguishable from the other. Surely, they wouldn’t risk firing blindly into the forest where they might hit the queen.

The smaller figure of Grey in his cloak seemed to be tricking them well enough. They were closing quickly and had yet to take a shot. Thank the Stars. Now that we had their attention, we only needed to get back out of sight.

No sooner had I considered our good luck than a plasma missile screamed past my head, landing off to the left of the overgrown trail. The round exploded, sending a shower of rock and dirt flying, bouncing off my horse’s lathered chest.

“Fuck.” That barely missed me. It landed well away from Grey, though. The ruse might still be working. My gelding shied sideways, but I urged him forward through the debris.

Just a few more feet.

We were so close. I couldn’t let Grey die. I had to get him to safety. Promises were made, and I intended to keep them.

I glanced over my shoulder. Grey and Saphyra’s mount followed tight on my heels. Almost there.

Two more strides.

Shadows washed over us and cool air surged into my lungs as we sped into the cover of the trees. Grey was still holding on with the other horse galloping behind him. I decreased our pace to a more sedate canter, letting the group catch its breath. Grey moved up to ride at my side.

Now was the time to explain my plan to save his ass. “We can’t risk slowing down too much. Do your best to keep up. I’m taking you to a bolt hole that’ll lead you into the city. You’ll have to jump off when we get there. Once you’re clear, I’ll lure them away.”

I held on to the hope that they still wouldn’t take the chance of firing on us here as we slowed. There was no guarantee. This was a gamble. I was making assumptions based on what had happened so far. I prayed I was right.

The sound of the starfighters’ engines was loud overhead, but no sign of weapons fire now that we’d made it into the woods. Our luck was holding for the moment.

We had time to breathe before the ground troops arrived. I planned to be miles from Grey before they found me.

“Jump off? I thought the whole point was to stay on!” Grey shouted over the pounding of hooves.

He was putting on a brave mask, but the quaver in his voice gave away his uncertainty. That lack of conviction might get him killed if he wasn’t careful.

“Yes, jump off. We can’t give them any indication of where you went or they’ll double back to search the area and find the cave.” I slowed my horse to a trot and turned off the cart path for a smaller game trail.

Grey followed, jostling in his saddle. “No. That’s no good. Saphyra will not be pleased if I leave you behind. You have to come with me. Send the horses ahead as a decoy.”

“Can’t. I won’t fit through the tunnel. We had to stop using it once we hit puberty.” I wasn’t trying to be an asshole. The smallest alpha I knew had at least one hundred pounds on Grey. “It’s going to be tight, even for you, but you’ll make it. The passage hugs the base of a support column, but that area was never properly sealed. It leads into a corridor near where the omega baby is housed. You can find your way from there.”

“This sounds like another bad idea.” Grey’s voice was choppy as he bounced around in his saddle.

“Listen. I promised Saphyra you’d live to see her again. This is how that happens. Don’t turn me into a liar.” I fished through my equipment and held out an electric torch. “We’re almost there. Take this. You’ll need it. There’s a communicator in your supply bag with an encrypted frequency programmed in. Only use it in an emergency because if they’re looking, they’ll be able to track its location while it’s powered on.”

Grey was silent, concentrating on not falling off while taking the torch from my hand. He seemed to understand the instructions, though.

I caught his eye and held it for as long as I could manage. “Saphyra needs you by her side. We need you there. You can do this for her.” Didn’t he know how important he was to all of us? “After everything you’ve done, it’s clear why the Stars put you in our path. I’d never have found Saphyra without your help. We wouldn’t have made it home without you. Valyx and Axion have a family because of you. You gave us back something worth living for. Let me do this for you.”

“You may save me, but what about you? How will you save yourself?” he asked.

I shook my head.

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