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“Our pursuers have horses too. They might even change horses. Two riders on one horse will slow us down too much. They’ll be guaranteed to catch us both. One rider has a chance to make it, though.”

“But we don’t have two riders. We have one useless princess and one rider.”

He frowned at her. “You’re hardly useless. If we’d gone with my approach, you’d be waffling helplessly on the horse while watching me get mauled to death by three hounds right now.”

She snorted. “Probably right before they leapt for me.”

“Thankfully, that didn’t come to pass. Yet, at least. Thanks to you.”

She tore her gaze away from his again and ducked her head. “My… I have a way with animals.” It was the most she’d ever openly said about it, and it was ridiculously vague.

Silence settled for a moment. “You need to go. I’ll make a second trail. It’ll throw them off. They won’t know which to follow, so they’ll have to sniff around, divide their forces.”

Her gaze snapped back up to meet his. “I’m not going without you. What if I run into more unfriendly creatures in the forest? Wolves? Bears?”

He shrugged. “You handled the dogs—why not those?”

Only the aching in her feet kept her from stomping a foot in irritation. “They will find you, and they will kill you.”

“Better than finding both of us.”

“What if I order you to come along?”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear.” He pushed her gently toward the horse. “I pledged to serve you and Nefrana, my princess. And this is how I choose to do it. Now, if you please, get on the Nefrana-blessed horse before I knock you out and tie you to it.”

Her eyes widened. “You wouldn’t.”

“Try me.”

She gritted her teeth. She would not let him sacrifice himself for her like this, no matter how determined he was. There had to be a way to convince him. “What if they pick my path and not yours? What if they do catch me? Or I run into other humans? I can’t charm them so easily.”

He faltered. Yes, this was a winning tactic. “You… Well, you should… Hmm.”

“See. You must come. Get on the horse yourself!”

“You first. Are you sure you couldn’t charm them? Perhaps you just need to be more diabolical.”

“Never!” She glared at him. “I would never.”

His eyes softened. “Sorry. I didn’t think that through.”

“Listen, it’s not just that. You have to come. I can’t protect myself from people, I’m totally unarmed, but worse than that—I’m terrified of horses, Jav.”

“You have a way with animals, don’t you?” he asked slowly.

She hesitated. “Well… yes.”

“Maybe you can reach out to the mare? Like the dogs?” His voice was gentler now.

“Maybe.” She was hardly certain. The last time she’d touched a horse’s mind—well, she never wanted to do it again. “Where’s your horse? This isn’t your usual steed, is it?” She raised an eyebrow.

“He’s in the stables. With my sword. Out of reach.” He shook his head. “Another mistake.”

“No.” She frowned. “What’s his name?”

“His name is Sky. What does it matter?”

“Maybe, if I can use my way with animals to get on this horse without fainting, I could also get your horse to follow us. Would you ride with me then? Until Sky catches up with us?”