Page 14

Fourteen

L ily snapped awake when a hand clamped over her mouth. She started kicking and grabbed the wrist of the stranger holding her.

“It’s Takai,” he whispered in her ear. He let go and she could only see the glint of his eyes in the pale moonlight.

She sat up. “How did you get in?”

“I’ve heard the password a hundred times. But that doesn’t matter. We have to get Asher out now. Prince Liam has turned on us.”

“He told me I would be arrested for treason,” she whispered back. She didn’t hesitate to climb out of bed and slipped on her apprentice robes.

“He said as much to me. But he also said they would be executed as an example to their people.”

“What?” Lily spun around to face him. It was one thing for Liam to threaten to execute her for treason, but it was completely wrong to execute Asher and his father simply because they were from another kingdom, royalty or not.

Takai nodded.

Percy stood on her bed, wagging his tail.

“Shh,” she whispered to him. “Stay.” She walked to the experiment room and tested the door. It was still locked. Percy scratched the bottom of the door and she scooped him up into one arm. “You’re naughty.” She handed him to Takai.

The man held the puppy out at arm’s length.

Lily took a deep breath, focused on her energy and that in the room around her, reaching out to the plants on the mantle of the fireplace. The lock clicked open, and she entered the room with Takai following behind.

Moonlight spilled into the room, offering enough light to show Asher lying on his bed.

“Asher?” she whispered when she got near enough.

His eyes opened. “I thought you were the wizard.” He sat up, only to immediately tense when he spotted Takai.

“We’re getting you out of here,” Takai said. He set Percy on the ground and drew a pack from his back and held it out. “There are some clothes in there. Hurry and dress.”

Asher stood and looked at Lily. “You’re helping?”

“Yes. Hurry.” She went to the door and looked at Wester’s door, keeping an eye—and both ears—focused for any sound or sight that he woke. She glanced over her shoulder to see Asher completely naked, his back to her, pulling on the pants. She immediately blushed and looked back through the crack in the door.

“I’ve got a horse for you, and Lily has the food ready. Your father and Sand are already waiting for you.” Takai’s footsteps came up behind her. “Lily, can you lead us through the servants’ hallways?”

“Yes.” She glanced back over her shoulder.

Asher was fully dressed now and stood just behind her. She hadn’t been so close to him standing, and he was taller than Wester by at least an inch or two, making him over six feet. He looked down at her, waiting.

She cleared her throat softly and motioned for them to follow her down the stairs. Asher followed behind and Takai took up the rear.

She breathed a little easier once they made it out of the wizard’s tower and Lily guided them up the hallway to a hidden door between two pillars. The servants’ hallways were hidden so they could move about the castle without being seen by the royal family or their guests.

In spite of Liam’s threat, getting Asher and his father back home was the right thing to do. Besides, she didn’t think Liam would be allowed to execute her anyway. Wester wouldn’t allow it, even if Liam hated her forever.

Finally, they reached the kitchen and Lily pushed the door open a crack to look around and ensure it was clear before she motioned for them to follow. She crossed the kitchen to the pantry and dug out the packs. It took a few minutes to pack them. She hadn’t expected them to be escaping that very night. She handed off each pack to Takai as she finished packing them. He gave one to Asher and held onto the other two.

“This way,” Takai whispered and nudged his head for Asher to follow him out the kitchen door.

Lily hesitated, unsure if this was where she left them or if she should follow until Asher was safe. What if they needed her magic in the escape?

“Stay here,” she whispered to Percy and rushed after them, following Takai to the only tree along the inner wall. It was a willow tree with sleepy branches that drooped on either side of the wall, creating the perfect hiding spot from prying eyes.

“There is a secret entrance,” Takai whispered. “I shouldn’t reveal it, because it is the escape route of the royal family should the castle ever fall under attack, but it is the only way I know of that will provide you safe passage through the outer wall without you being seen.”

Asher put one pack on both shoulders and adjusted it with a bit of a grimace. His shoulder must have been aching still. He accepted the other two heavy packs from Takai and nodded. “I cannot express my gratitude enough. Should you need safety, you are welcome in our land.” He held his hand out to Takai.

The soldier accepted his hand and gripped it firmly. “Your horse and father wait beyond. Good luck to you.”

“May the light go with you,” Asher replied. He turned to Lily and hesitated.

“I’m glad my life could be exciting for a couple of days with you here,” she said. “I’m sorry about what happened to you. And...that I couldn’t keep my promise.”

He turned to face the wall.

Lily felt a pit growing in her stomach. It wasn’t her fault she couldn’t stop Wester, but she still felt horrible.

Takai reached into the darkness and must have touched a hidden stone or switch somewhere, because there was a soft grinding noise before a puff of dusty air pushed outward through several crevasses. An entire section of the stone wall slowly moved back into the wall and then to one side, revealing a passage that disappeared downward.

Asher took a step into the darkness before he whipped his head around.

Not a second later, Lily heard it too.

Voices.

Dozens of them.

And then an alarm.

“Hurry!” Takai urged. “Run!” Without warning, he pushed Lily toward the black hole.

“What? Me? But I can’t leave!” she exclaimed. “That wasn’t the plan.”

Takai’s eyes were wide. “Look, I know that the price of treason is death. The alarm shouldn’t have been sounded until tomorrow when Wester found him missing. Prince Liam must have suspected this would happen. You must go or you’ll be killed.”

“But...Percy. My potion books,” she blurted. “I can’t go with them. This is my home.”

“Take the dog.”

“Lily is added weight,” Asher argued. “And we can’t afford a dog either.”

Takai looked at him. “He’ll execute her.”

“I’m Wester’s apprentice! The worst that will happen is some kind of punishment,” she protested and started back toward the castle.

Takai snatched her wrist. “You have to go. Now.”

Lily looked at Asher, who was already walking down the dark path beyond the wall.

“Go,” Takai urged. He dragged her to the tunnel and pushed her.

She stumbled, but looked at him, then the castle she’d grown in. “What about you, Takai?”

“I’ll be fine.” He reached into the darkness and did something. The tunnel began to close.

Lily’s throat squeezed tight and her hands immediately went clammy. She turned and blindly began walking in the darkness.

“You wanted an adventure, and you got one,” Asher said ahead of her.

“I don’t want to go with you. I know you don’t trust me, you don’t want me going, and I don’t want to be here either. I want to go back to bed.” She placed her free hand on the wall to blindly guide herself forward. “There’s just so much...I’m leaving everything behind.”

“I know.”

Tears stung her eyes and she was grateful Asher couldn’t see her.

What little light filled the tunnel through the open doorway disappeared quickly. Soon, the grinding stopped, but then there was a bark and scampering feet.

“Percy?” Lily asked, turning around. She blindly crouched and felt the puppy slam into her chest and begin licking her face. She laughed a little. Even though she had nothing else, at least she had him. She straightened and sniffled, wiping away both tears and his kisses.

“Can you do anything to give us light so we can be quicker?” Asher asked.

“Oh. Yes, I can.” This time finding the green energy of plants all around her wasn’t difficult. She pulled from that energy and created an orb of light that floated above her palm. The light would have been small in the wide experiment room, but in the cramped space of the tunnel, it felt as bright as the afternoon sun.

“Give me one of those packs,” she demanded. She set Percy down and took one of the packs from Asher, put it on her own back, and began running.

Asher kept up with Percy at his heels, hopping and nipping like it was a game.

They quickly reached a second door, which had a parchment pointing to the lever required to open it. Lily banished the light before they reached the surface so as not to draw attention to their location, and they exited the tunnel.

A man sat atop a horse with a young boy in front of him. She recognized him as Sand, the servant boy who had been working around the castle. A second horse stood saddled and waiting at his side.

“Asher!” the man greeted immediately.

“Father.” Asher stole a moment to run to his father’s side and grasp his arms. “The humans have sounded the alarm. We must go immediately.”

“I heard. Get on your horse and . . . who is this?”

Lily cleared her throat. “My name is Lily. I am the apprentice to the wizard.”

Asher opened the flap of a saddlebag on his father’s horse and dropped the spare pack into it. “Have you ever ridden a horse, Lily?”

“Ah, no,” she confessed. “I’ve never even sat on one, to be honest.”

“Let me help you up.” He walked to her side, laced his fingers together, and crouched. “Put your foot in my hand and swing your other leg up and over the horse. I’ll give you a boost, so be careful not to go over the horse’s back.” He spoke quickly and Lily almost didn’t comprehend the instructions.

Luckily, the fear driving her motions took over and she followed his command. With a little grunt, she found herself on the back of the horse. Asher handed her Percy before he hopped up behind her and grabbed the reins.

His father kicked his horse forward into a full gallop before saying, “Takai gave me instructions. Follow us.”

Asher snapped the reins and Lily sucked in a gasp before grasping the saddle horn with one hand.

Lily looked back at the wall and the soldiers running across the parapets. They began to shoot flaming arrows into the darkness to illuminate the surrounding area.

“We travel down this hill and then cross the bridge,” Asher’s father continued. “From there, we follow the trail back to Vasha. It’s simple, fortunately.”

“When we return home, the first thing we must do is prepare for the humans to return to Vasha. They...they got the location from my memories.”

King Mardai glanced over his shoulder. “It is not your fault. They would have found their answer somehow.”

Lily’s body shifted roughly on the horse, making her most uncomfortable. This was quite a rude way to have a first lesson.

Behind them, the shouts of the guards and the flaming arrows to light known paths began to fade.

Lily had dreamed every night of adventures—battling dragons, training to be a knight, or even just wandering the woods to meet different animals. Sprinting through a nighttime world with soldiers she knew chasing her was not something she’d ever dreamed. Liam could be getting his own horse ready. Surely the humans would know of their path. It couldn't be secret. And the soldier’s horses would be trained and would likely catch up within a couple of hours. How could any of them hope to get away?

“Maybe you should leave me,” she suddenly said. “I can cause a diversion. I could stop the army, and if Liam captures me it will slow them down.”

“That’s a great idea,” Asher replied, looking forward.

“Then stop the horse.”

He glanced at her. “You were being serious? Lily, if I stop, you’ll be dead.”

The horse’s hooves clattered across the bridge, and as soon as they reached the other side, Asher jumped off the horse and began sawing at the ropes with a dagger Takai must have given him. Lily understood what he was doing. This was the only bridge across the Elluriah River until far south, in the elven city. Unless one had recently been built by the Swiftwater Inn.

He was too slow. Lily could help, but then there wouldn’t be any way back for her.

She bit her lip and held out one of her hands. A nearby bush grew brown and withered away as the knots fell free and the bridge slammed down into the raging river.

“Thank you,” Asher said, hopping back up on the horse. “That should give us at least a couple of days. Where is the next crossing?” he asked.

“It’s south, if I remember the map correctly,” Lily said.

“There is also one to the north,” Mardai said. “Though the barbarians have been monitoring that passage, so it will still take some time for the humans to get to us.”

“And how many days back to Vasha?” Lily asked.

“It took us four days to travel to Rencheston,” Asher said. “That was on foot. Horses will shorten that by hopefully an entire day.”

Lily looked back over her shoulder, back at the only life she knew.

She swallowed.

“I must warn you, this will be an uncomfortable journey for you,” Asher said.

“Why do you think that?” she asked, adjusting herself.

“You’re going to get saddle sore.”

She glanced back at him. “Saddle sore?”

“Your butt and legs are going to ache, even your back. Riding a horse causes your body to move in ways it isn’t used to. Do you have pants on or leggings?”

She shook her head. “Just my nightgown and robes.”

“I hope Takai packed some extra clothes, because you’re going to get a rash between your legs if not,” he mumbled.

“I do know he packed a blanket or two,” Mardai said. “If worse comes to worse, she could sit on one.”

Lily frowned at the thought.

Percy stood in front of her, his tongue out as his little ears flapped in the wind.

They rode in silence for a little while until Asher’s father cleared his throat. “We were never introduced. I am Mardai Tiadon. You’ve clearly met my son, Asher.”

“I did. I helped heal him,” she replied. “My name is Lily, though I don’t have a last name, as far as I know.”

Mardai leaned to the side enough to reveal the boy in front of him and patted the boy’s head. “This is Sand. He has been acting as Prince Liam’s slave for several weeks.”

“He is a viper,” Asher said. “How did he end up Liam’s slave?”

Lily didn’t understand the look that passed between Asher or Mardai, but there was some secret she didn’t know.

Mardai returned his attention forward. “We will travel at a brisk pace until the horses tell us they are ready to stop. If we maintain the horse’s energy, they can last longer. We don’t want to push them too hard too long right now and then have them be too weary should we need to escape quickly. And walking will be good for us.”

Lily knew he actually meant for her , but she chose to keep that thought to herself.

“When you ride a horse, it’s easiest if your hips move with the horse’s movements. Don’t fight them,” Asher said to her softly. “Mind if I help?”

“I would rather learn than be in pain.”

He placed his hands on her hips. “Feel how his shoulders move? Your body wants to sway side to side, but when we move fast, you want to move front to back. Let your torso rock but remain still while your hips do all of the work.”

His hands were large and warm, and Lily found it difficult with all of the jolting to do what Asher said. His hands put some pressure on her hips, guiding them to move with the horse, and she changed the way she moved while simultaneously blushing as red as a tomato, she was sure.

“There you go,” he praised. “Like that.” His hands relaxed, but his chest was right against her back.

“Thank you,” she quickly said. Her belly did flips. Liam had made her feel this way, but this was far more intense.

“When we slow, you’ll want to go more side to side again, but it’s easier on your body if you move with the horse. You’ll still be sore, but not as much as if you fight it.” Asher put his hands back on the horse’s reins.

She nodded softly.

Percy rested both paws on the saddle horn.

“So...the puppy?” Asher said. “Why did you want to bring him?”

“I don’t know if you noticed or not, but being an apprentice is very lonely,” she replied, looking around at the dark forest surrounding them. “He’s been a fun companion, and I’ve grown fond of him. I was scared to leave him behind.”

“No one should ever be lonely,” Asher replied.

She looked up at him. “Some of us aren’t as lucky as you to be raised in a family.”

“If you were an outcast because of your magic, do you think your life would have been different if you’d been raised by a family?”

“Probably not,” she admitted and focused on the dark shapes. She wished it were lighter and she could take in the forest. The smell alone was wonderful, and she couldn’t imagine what it looked like when they were only being guided by the moonlight.

Lily had no idea what was going to happen in her adventure, but she couldn’t wait to see the world she had never experienced.