Page 191 of Keeper of the Word

Tolvar lifted his spyglass. Through the smallest crack that had been opened in the gate, a woman was pushed out. The gate immediately shut behind her. She stood motionless for a moment and then strode onto the road, appearing like the royal figure she was: Queen Ferika.

Tolvar’s knight’s senses immediately heightened. “She’s unguarded.” He had a thought. “She’s been cast out.”

He and Ghlee exchanged a knowing glance.

As if Ferika’s banishment was a battle horn, the air shifted, and Tolvar perceived its transformation scorch from one army to the next. A rumble started. The tell-tale sign.

Tolvar had experienced war before. And the rumble that shook through the whole of the countryside leveled his senses.

“War.”

Tolvar hesitated. He was bound to the StarSeers. He was a knight of the realm, sworn to protect the House of Sidra. To whom did his loyalties lie?

“Your destiny awaits, Sir Tolvar.” Elanna stood behind them. She inclined her head at the queen in the distance. “But be ready. For anything.”

“I cannot leave you.”

“We are not yet through.”

Ghlee anticipated Tolvar’s move, and the two saddled theirmounts. Tolvar did not ask Ghlee to come and did not request that he stay. Stars, ’twas good to have Ghlee by his side again.

Alvie jumped up from his spot, causing Joss, Barrett, and a half-dozen Order knights to do the same and saddle theirs as well.

“Where are we goin’?” Alvie asked.

Tolvar paused.

“Your path is to the Edan Stone,” Elanna supplied. “Ours lies in the key.”

Tolvar would have to trust his faith.

He mounted Valko, gazing down at the StarSeers, Hux, and what was left of the Order knights.

Hux squinted up at Tolvar. “Glad I am that we’ve had this adventure, Lord Wolf.”

“Adventure. I suppose you received your wish after all.” He flicked Valko’s reins and galloped across the long, wide bridge to save his queen.

They didn’t reachFerika until midmorning. How she’d managed to stay alive was beyond Tolvar. But through scores of men fighting, he led them to her whereabouts, frantically searching the masses.

Thunder. The twang of bows. The clash of steel. The howls of men. These were the sounds of the world now.

Tolvar tightened his grip on Valko’s reins and raced toward Ferika. A handful of Asalle’s knights circled her in defense. No one attacked her—yet—but the terror on her face was plain.

“Come, Your Highness, I shall take you to safety.” He lifted an arm down to her.

At first, the knights did not wish to relinquish their service of the queen to him, but as the battle thickened around them, and since they had no horses, they assisted Ferika onto Valko’s back.

Tolvar steered Valko backward, only to realize the battles would ne’er allow for an escape back to their camp.

Stars.

Instead, they rode in the opposite direction from where the majority of the citizens had erected their camps.

Once there, Ferika slid off the horse. “A hero until the end.”

“’Tis not yet the end, Your Highness.” He scanned the area, the battles flaring up like wildfires. The heat of hatred and greed was palpable. He wanted no part of it. Mayhap he could be of other use. “We need to gather these people and flee. They will all die.”

Ferika nodded. “Aye.”