Page 57 of The Prince's Curse

Rough hands grabbed Haldric, hauling him to his knees. Glancing up, he saw that two more bandits, one woman and another man, had him pinned between them.

The soulflame warrior stepped up until he stood right above Haldric, looming over him. An aura of soulflame still blazed about him as he pressed the tip of his sword to Haldric’s throat.

“Haldric Demeroux! By the authority granted me by the downtrodden and neglected people of Ilthabard, I hereby sentence you to death! No more shall tyrants like you be allowed to rule!”

The world seemed to shrink around Haldric, everything slowing and coming into greater focus as the warrior drew his sword back for the killing blow.

Distant shouts rang out. No doubt Fendrel and the surviving guards were attempting to reach him, but there were too many foes in the way. They’d never arrive in time.

I’m sorry, Benjin. I never meant for things to end this way. I wish I could have spoken to you one last time.

The soulflame warrior’s sword had almost reached Haldric’s neck when the ground beneath their feet suddenly shook. The warrior stumbled, his strike veering off-center. Haldric felt theother bandits’ grips on his arms loosen as they struggled to keep their own balance.

Now’s my chance!

Ripping his arms free, Haldric hurled himself at the warrior, trapping his sword arm between them as he knocked the blade aside and rammed a shoulder into the man’s gut. Even with soulflame bolstering him, the warrior grunted and fell back with awhooshof expelled breath.

Haldric turned to dart toward the woods, intending to seek refuge there. That’s when he saw him. There, rising from the ruined wreckage of the wagon in a ditch that ran along the edge of the road, stood a figure ablaze with blue and silver flames. A thrill seized Haldric’s heart.

Benjin had come to save him.

twenty-one

Benjin

Benjin rose from hiscrouch in the ditch by the side of the road. His pounding heart slowed as he watched Haldric break free of his captors. Benjin’s crude Evocation had worked like a charm, rippling through the ground in a sudden tremor that sowed enough confusion up on the road for the prince to escape.

Haldric turned, his green eyes widening when they locked onto Benjin. Benjin sucked in a breath. It had been bad enough waking up in his quarters at the Galax estate alone. A part of him had expected as much no matter what he and Haldric had whispered beneath the sheets, or how prodigiously they’d mapped each other’s bodies and hearts the night before.

But when he’d met Haldric in the halls afterward, the prince had barely been able to look at him, and little had changed since. That’s why Benjin had taken the hint and stayed away. If Haldric wanted to avoid him, he wouldn’t force the issue. A week of forced bonding followed by one night of misplaced tendernessdidn’t change the fact that he was a stuck-up noble with a pretentious air and a bride-to-be.

Yet in that moment as their gazes met, all the strained awkwardness of the past few days on the road seemed to seep away.Stay safe,Benjin mouthed, hoping Haldric could make it out, or at least read the plea written on his face.

Shouts rang out nearby. “Another mage! There!”

Reluctantly turning away from Haldric, Benjin spotted a trio of thugs breaking off from the rest of the fighting to move his way. Blue and silver bands of runeflame wound about Benjin’s fingers as he channeled fresh runeflame. Pain flared in his side where he’d landed when the wagon overturned during the initial ambush, but he ignored it. A hasty Protection had ensured he suffered nothing worse than a few nasty bruises instead of broken bones. That was good enough for now.

The instant his three foes were close enough, Benjin unleashed his runeflame, battering the nearest man aside with a barrage of force. When another tried to slip in with a sword, Benjin ripped her legs out from under her and sent her sprawling.

The last he hit with a crude Compulsion. He hadn’t had time to shape the command beyond an order to stop, and while the thug quickly shook it off, Benjin used the opening to scurry around him toward Haldric.

His stomach fell when he realized he’s lost sight of the prince, though he let out a silent cheer when he spied one of the men that had captured Haldric lying motionless by the carriage.Way to go, Haldric!

A crossbow bolt whizzed past Benjin’s ear. He managed an Evocation to knock aside a second bolt with a gust of wind an instant before it embedded itself in his skull. Focusing on the crossbow wielder, Benjin recalled the spell the Grand Magus had taught him to heat up the burner in his lab. Within moments,flames crackled over the wooden weapon. The thug discarded the burning crossbow with a yelp.

The nearer enemies regrouped, barring Benjin’s way. Frustration squeezed his chest. He didn’t have time for this. He had to get to Haldric!

Roaring a wordless battlecry, Benjin unleashed a raw wave of force that hurled the attackers back. The unshaped Evocation was far from a proper spell and wasted a good chunk of his remaining runeflame. But sometimes, the simplest solutions were the best.

Not wanting to give his foes a chance to recover, Benjin rushed past them, clambering up the rest of the incline to the road. His breath caught as he took in the scene. Corpses of men and horses littered the road. Marshal Fendrel and a handful of royal guards remained standing, but they were outnumbered.

Benjin’s heart stuttered when he realized there was still no sign of Haldric, nor the soulflame warrior who’d attacked him. They must be on the other side of the carriage. Benjin started toward the carriage, but before he could reach it, fire erupted against his chest.

The force of the blast knocked him to the ground and left his singed robes smoldering. Searing pain ratcheted through him from his charred flesh, and he struggled to think through the haze of agony.

The enemy must have their own mage.It was the only explanation that made sense. And that meant that, if he stayed here in the open like this, he was dead.

With a shaking hand, he tried to work his runeflame into a basic Restoration to relieve his burns, but he struggled with that kind of magic at his best, and he certainly wasn’t at his best right now. The spell fizzled without any effect.

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