Page 90 of Sky Shielder
“He’s determined,” Tibby added, “and you’re…”
“My extreme beauty and allure are drawing him. I know.”
Tibby snorted.
“It would have been more flattering if you had nodded in agreement.”
“Sorry. Engineers are practical and realistic.”
“Don’t worry. I have a plan if he shows up again.” Syla delved into her pack and pulled out one of the big candles.
“You’ll beat him on the head with that? Or club him in his cock?” Her eyes lit with enthusiasm at the notions.
“You’ve a violent streak, my aunt.”
“Practical,” Tibby repeated.
Since she didn’t seem to recognize the significance of the candles, Syla opened her mouth to explain, but that feeling of being followed whispered over her again, and she looked out the window.
For the first time, someone else was visible on the road behind them. What looked like an armored carriage, accompanied by numerous horses with riders, was heading in the same direction as they.
“A coincidence?” Syla murmured but worried it wasn’t.
The rain and distance made it hard to make out details, but she thought that might be the same armored carriage that had been sent to collect Vorik. Would it now be used to collecther? To keep her from reaching the shielder?
She doubted anyone on the island, even Lord Ravoran, knew where exactly it was, but, like her aunt, they might have an idea. Most of the shielders were underground, where nobody would easily stumble across their chambers, but numerous people had probably guessed their approximate whereabouts over the years.
“We’ve got a carriage coming up from behind,” Fel called from the driver’s seat.
“Can you go faster?” Syla asked.
The carriage lurched sideways, caught in a rut.
“No,” Fel stated.
The horsesdidpull it out, but they soon came to a stop.
“The road ahead is washed out by the rain,” Fel said. “It’s going to be hard to go farther, but we’re in the foothills of this big craggy volcano anyway. I doubt the road goes on much farther.”
Tibby put away her book, and Syla opened the door. Rain pelted her shoulders, and water gushed past around the horses’ hooves.
Washed outwas an understatement. A river flowed down from the heights of the volcano, and crossing it would be treacherous, whether in the carriage or on foot or horseback. The road did continue on the other side of the rushing water, but reaching it would be a challenge.
“I think we can get across on foot,” Fel said, then eyed Syla and Tibby. “It’ll involve getting wet and fighting the current.”
“Nothing we haven’t done before,” Tibby said. “Recently.”
Not to mention the downpour was already soaking them. The only boon was that it was summer, so it wasn’t a chilling rain.
Syla looked back to check on the other carriage, but they’d gone around a bend, and a lumpy black lava-rock formation blocked the view. She climbed onto a wet boulder, water pooling in the divots on top, and crouched behind a pine tree to hide herself in case anyone from the other party was watching.
At first, she couldn’t see the armored carriage, but then it trundled into view, coming out from behind a more distant rock pile. Behind it, a half dozen men in gray uniforms with black piping rode on horses, axes and bows balanced across their laps. They’d come expecting a challenge. To have to fight.
“That’s enough people to force us to return.” Syla grimaced. “If they catch up with us.”
And they weren’t far behind. Fel was their only combatant, and would he even fight the enforcers? Like he, those men were presumably loyal to the crown. They were his allies. If she’d been crowned as her mother’s successor, the men might have obeyed her, but nothing was official yet, and as a mere princess… she doubted they would leave if she told them to.
“This way.” Fel pointed upstream to a spot where rocks protruding from the wash might make the crossing easier.
