Page 34 of The Ruby Dragon Prince
He started for the alley we’d used to make our way back to the courtyard, but by the look of the young beta who was shooing people away and gesturing for them to get out by some other means, my father’s guards were coming from that direction.
“There are several ways out,” I said, quickly glancing around at the half dozen other alleys up and down the long courtyard, not to mention the doors into the houses that lined the area. “Come on!”
I squeezed Rufus’s hand and took the lead, pulling him across the courtyard to a narrow alley where several farmers were helping each other to flee. I was concerned for all of the farmers, though, and before dashing down that narrow passage with the rest of them, I held back and turned to make certain the courtyard was clearing.
Nearly every one had scattered, but a few men hung back like me and Rufus, helping those younger or feebler than them to make it into the houses or down the alleys. A few of them were still there when the first of my father’s guards burst into the courtyard, led by Rottum.
“Round them up!” Rottum shouted. “Arrest anyone you can lay your hands on. They’ll spend the rest of the festival in the stocks, and tonight they’ll be thrown in the dungeon and forgotten.”
Anger washed through me, some of it from Rufus that carried through our bond. My father was the worst sort of tyrant I could imagine.
I had to protect the farmers, and I only knew one way to do that.
“Do you trust me?” I asked Rufus breathlessly.
“Do you even need to ask?” he answered.
I nodded, then called out, “Hey! Over here!”
The soldiers that had started after the last of the farmers trying to escape turned to me. Rufus was still cloaked in whatever magic made him hard to notice but not invisible, which seemed to make the guards believe I was alone.
“Prince Tovey?” Rottum shouted in surprise. His expression lit with hunger and delight, and he abandoned the farmer he’d been about to chase to rush toward me. “Are you the leader of this rebellious rabble?”
“Yes!” I shouted. I checked around the courtyard, and when I was certain the farmers would all be able to rush to freedom, I said, “You’ll never catch me!”
I squeezed Rufus’s hand again, and together, the two of us dashed down the alley and out to the street on the other side.
Rottum and the guards followed us, which was exactly as I’d intended. What I hadn’t intended was for a cluster of the farmers to be waiting at the other end of the alley, either to help us flee or to see what was going on. They made themselves too easy to catch.
“Run, run!” Rufus ordered them, gesturing for them to get out of our way.
They did, and within seconds, we were all running in a group together. There was safety in numbers sometimes, but in that moment, it made the lot of us look like a gang that was up to no good.
“Stop them!” Rottum called after us as we continued to flee.
The townspeople around us did exactly the opposite. They stepped back, clearing the way and allowing us to flee.
That didn’t stop Rottum and the guards from chasing us. It didn’t matter how many market stalls we dodged, how many corners we turned, or how fast they ran, they continued to pursue us.
We got far enough ahead at one point that we could turn and glance back.
“They’re not going to stop,” one of the farmers with us lamented. “We’re doomed.”
“We’re not,” Rufus insisted. He did something to remove the cloak of magic around him. The farmers we’d been running with blinked and started, as if they hadn’t realized Rufus was there, too. “We need to split up. Tovey, go with the farmers. They will keep you safe. I’ll draw the guards in the other direction.”
I could tell Rufus hated the idea of leaving me alone, but drawing the guards away was a good idea. I grabbed his tunic, lifted to my toes to kiss him, then let go and turned to the farmers.
“Follow me,” I told them, even though they likely knew the town better than I did.
“Hey, you!” Rufus shouted to the guards, waving his arms. “Just try and catch me!”
I ran along with the farmers in the opposite direction. They were good, strong men who did their best to protect me. I felt anxious moving farther apart from Rufus, but the fact that I could still feel him through our bond was reassuring.
Less reassuring was catching sight of a few of the guards still chasing us. We had split up, and so had they. At least with fewer of us in the chase, we were more agile and could hide more easily. We couldn’t outrun the guards forever, though.
“They won’t stop until they catch me,” I gasped to the others, beginning to run out of breath. “Keep going. I’ll distract them.”
“We can’t let you sacrifice yourself for us, Prince Tovey,” one of the farmers said.
