Page 15

KARL’S INNER SENSES , far too attuned to someone leaning over him in his sleep, jolted him awake. He gasped, trying to stem the instinctive panic, and sat up.

“Sorry, kid!” Ralph said, his tone slow and soothing. “I forgot. It’s just me. You’re safe.”

Karl wiped sweat off his forehead and purposely slowed his panting, breathing in through his nose and out his mouth the way he knew worked to get his heart to stop thudding frantically in his chest. He didn’t honestly remember what had happened when he was a kid that now caused him to absolutely freak out whenever someone leaned over him like Ralph had just accidentally done.

The circumstances of his birth were a massive question mark.

Karl was pretty certain who his father was but had zero idea about his mother.

Soon after his birth, he had been sent to a special home meant to house and hide away bastard children of Toval’s nobility.

He had met his adoptive brother Shan there, and a few years later, Emily joined them.

And then one of the local gangs got too interested in how a peasant family always seemed to have extra money for food and such when the man and woman who ran the facility never seemed to work.

The gang had attacked, hoping to get their hands on some of that money, but instead destroyed the house and sent the inhabitants scattering to safety.

Karl didn’t know where anyone else had ended up, nor whether the adults had survived.

In the end, he, Shan, and Emily had found a hidey-hole for themselves up until the day Karl had gotten caught trying to pickpocket Jensen, one of the leaders of the Royal Forces.

Karl firmly believed his life had actually started the day he walked into the barracks where the Royal Forces were housed.

Everything before that was just a hiccup—except when someone leaned over him and his body reacted without any input from his brain.

“Horses are awake and eating, so we’re packing. It’s about one in the morning,” Ralph continued, knowing that talking to Karl was the best way to bring him out of that instinctive panic. “I’m hoping to get Ama to drink some more before we have to hide him away again, if you want to help?”

Focusing on Ama was enough to fight off the last dregs of panic.

Karl climbed out of his bedroll and grabbed a nearby water skin.

While Ralph held Ama upright, his head high, Karl carefully trickled water into Ama’s mouth.

Ama did swallow some of it, but most of the water trickled back out, sliding between his lips to splash on the ground.

“We’re almost there,” Karl whispered into Ama’s ear, hoping Ama could hear and understand. “Just hang on a little longer.”

They got Ama tucked back into his hiding spot and the horses hooked to the wagon, and they were off.

Karl walked to the side of the wagon, close to the hatch, not that he could do anything for Ama when they were moving like this, but it made him feel better all the same.

He only hoped Ama might sense him out here and find some comfort.

Hours went by as the miles passed under Karl’s feet.

The moon set long before the sun rose, but the path was clear even in the darkness, the wagon’s wheels firm in the ruts.

The horses didn’t seem to be particularly pleased about moving in the dark, grunting and biting at the bits in their mouths, but under Tilly’s urging, they kept walking.

Finally, the barest hints of light began to grow on the horizon to their left.

They were able to move faster then, picking up their pace as the first sliver of sun crested over the prairie grass, lighting their way.

Once the sun was fully visible, around what Karl estimated to be six o’clock, Ralph called a halt.

“Let’s have a quick breakfast,” Ralph called, and Marc scrambled to the back of the wagon to go dig out the jerky and some oats for the horses.

Karl headed to Ama’s hatch, but something made him pause, his fingers on the release button.

The hairs on the back of his neck were standing up.

He stepped away, looking around into the grass.

The sunlight burnished the prairie to a beautiful shade of gold, glittering as the morning dew began to evaporate. Everything looked peaceful, and yet his instincts, honed by his years on the streets and sharpened by his time with the Royal Forces, said otherwise.

“What is it?” Ralph asked, stopping at Karl’s side. His hand drifted to his side, but he grimaced when he only found his belt knife. In his role as a merchant, he couldn’t openly wear his sword, but Karl had a feeling it was hidden somewhere on the wagon within easy reach.

“I don’t—” Something flashed out of the corner of Karl’s eye, and he spun to look. High, up in the sky, something shiny reflected against the sun, like metal soaring through the air.

Karl squinted, trying to figure out what the heck was up there.

Whatever it was turned and banked like a raptor, but no bird Karl had ever heard of came in metallic colors.

Karl also thought it was far too large to be a mere bird.

Maybe someone was flying a kite…out in the middle of nowhere in Yaroi.

Not likely. He used one hand to shade his eyes from the rising sun, but that didn’t help either.

If Karl wasn’t mistaken, whatever it was, it was getting closer. And bigger.

“Shit,” Ralph swore.

Karl glanced at Ralph briefly, unwilling to take his eyes off the incoming thing. Ralph’s face had gone pale, and he hurried past Karl to the wagon, from which he opened a small door and pulled out a sword.

“What is it?” Karl asked, looking back to the sky.

He could make out some details now. It was silver, with a pair of long wings and a long neck.

Possibly there were some spikes on its head and along its back, or it was wearing some sort or armor.

Actually, now that Karl thought about it, maybe it was a type of raptor wearing armor.

Yaroi probably had bird shapeshifters, so giving them protection while in flight wouldn’t be too strange.

“That,” Ralph forced out, sounding like he was being strangled by the words, “is one of the dragons of Yaroi.”

“A dragon?” Karl gasped out. “Aren’t those just in fairy tales?”

Ralph opened his mouth to respond, but before he could say anything a thump came from over their heads, from the roof of the wagon.

“Let me out! Let me out right now!” Lady Ettine demanded, thumping on the wagon again.

“My lady, it’s dangerous right now,” Ralph called back, his gaze still focused on the incoming dragon.

“I said, let me out!”

Ralph grimaced, but still reached up to press the hidden lever that opened Lady Ettine’s compartment door.

She tumbled gracelessly into the path below and sprang to her feet, dashing out from under the wagon overhang to look at the dragon swooping in from above.

Suddenly, she lifted one hand into the air and waved.

“What the—” Ralph cut himself off before he could swear again. He stomped in her direction, but then froze in place when she cupped her hands over her mouth and yelled.

“Brother! Brother, I’m here!”

“Weren’t we helping her run away from her family?

” Marc muttered as he abandoned the back of the wagon to join Ralph and Karl in staring incredulously at her.

Emily came over as well, scowling fiercely at Lady Ettine in the first break of her established character she had allowed the entire trip.

No one would mistake her for the happy-go-lucky child she had been pretending to be with an expression like that on her face—as if she could easily kill Lady Ettine, hide her body, and not lose any sleep over it.

Tilly was over by the horses, but kept looking over at Ralph, awaiting further instructions.

“I’m more curious about why she’s yelling “brother” at a frickin dragon,” Ralph replied. He was still holding his sword, but his hands were relaxed.

The dragon banked overhead, turning and swooping lower, moving downwind, Karl realized, when the horses didn’t make any sounds of alarm.

The dragon’s scales were silver, shot through with golden streaks like lightning bolts.

The tips of its horns, and where the scales ended on all four paws, the end of its tail, and its snout, were all fully gold.

The dragon was easily double the size of the wagon, and it cast a very long shadow in the light of the rising sun as it back-winged for landing.

Half a second before the claws touched the ground, a golden shimmer flowed over the dragon.

The dragon vanished, replaced by a human man.

Golden magic! Karl gasped. That was definitely golden magic.

The only people who could use golden magic were the royal families.

No one knew what Yaroi’s royal magic consisted of.

They kept it so secret Karl had heard even Queen Trina hadn’t known.

If they could shapeshift into mythical dragons, Karl could understand why they kept it quiet.

At first glance he appeared ordinary enough, especially in his simple brown pants with his white shirt tucked in at the waist, but he definitely looked too much like Lady Ettine to actually be ordinary.

They shared the same black hair and dark eyes, but he was older than her, around Karl’s age, and a lot taller. He had to be at least six feet.

“Don’t stop!” he yelled, striding forward. “I tried to distract the guard with evidence that she boarded a ship, but they somehow unraveled that already and sent a full company after you! They’re barely half a day’s gallop behind you!”

Ralph swore again, already spinning to the rest of their group. “Let’s go!” he snapped out.

A flurry of movement erupted. Everything was put away again quickly, and the wagon was moving forward within seconds.

Tilly and Emily rode astride the front horses, Karl and Ralph got seats on the driving platform, and Marc and the dragon both hung off the side of the wagon, their feet on the step up to the driver’s area.

Lady Ettine was tucked back away in her compartment, and Karl hadn’t had time to check on Ama, but he was tucked away too. And the wagon moved .

If Karl thought they had been traveling fast before, he was wrong. They flew down the path, the wheels rattling in the grooves so much Karl had to stiffen his neck to keep from getting whiplash.

“Who are you, exactly?” Ralph asked.

Karl wouldn’t have dared open his mouth, too afraid they would hit a bump and he would bite his tongue. That didn’t seem to deter Ralph or the dragon, who responded with an easy shrug.

“You may call me Lyric,” the dragon replied.

“I am Melody—ah, Lady Ettine’s—older brother and her coconspirator in her escape plan.

I believe I was betrayed and my part in her escape was revealed to my uncle, King Rikash.

I will aid you in getting across the border, and I hope I might claim the same asylum as Melody. ”

“I would think something can be arranged, but I will leave decisions like that to Their Majesties,” Ralph said. “I know any help getting us through this final checkpoint and into Toval would be much appreciated.”

“I’ll do my best,” Lyric replied, something cheeky in the sideways twist of a grin he shot them.

They lapsed into silence. Karl focused on the road ahead while trying not to worry about how close their pursuers were behind them.

He couldn’t see anything, not even a dust cloud to indicate anyone might be there, but he had a feeling Lyric wouldn’t have revealed himself the way he had if the situation wasn’t dire.

Divulging the secret of Yaroi’s royal magic couldn’t have come lightly to him, after all.

They had to slow the horses to a walk to rest them, and Tilly and Marc dashed around getting water and food to all the horses and humans.

After a few miles, they picked up the pace again, although not as fast as the horses were tiring.

Ralph glanced at the angle of the sun every few minutes, no doubt gauging how far they had traveled versus how far they still had to go.

Finally, Ralph nodded to himself. “Let’s slow up!” he called out. Tilly waved a hand in acknowledgement and the horses slowed to a walk. “Rub them down,” Ralph added. “I don’t want to look like we’re in any kind of hurry when we get to the border.”

Tilly and Marc set about the horses with brushes and water, cooling them down and removing any traces of lather or sweat. Emily had to dismount to walk, and Karl joined her, letting Lyric take his seat.

Even with both feet solidly on the ground, Karl’s bones still felt like they were vibrating, jostling and bouncing around under his skin as if he were still on the cart.

His neck was aching from holding it stiff for so long, but that thankfully started smoothing out as he stretched his body into a walk.

Eventually the internal rattling faded as well, although that took a lot longer.

They picked up the pace a touch once the horses were ready, just enough to be faster than walking but nowhere close to their headlong pace from earlier, so the miles passed by quickly underfoot.

Karl kept glancing behind, waiting to see that telltale cloud of dust, which would indicate someone was coming, but he didn’t see anything. He faced forward again as they reached the top of a rise just in time to see their destination appear below.

The Eiroi River sparkled under the glow of the midmorning sun, a glittering ribbon cutting through eerily similar plains on either side.

At the bottom of the rise, their last obstacle awaited.

A large stone bridge crossed the river, which even from this distance looked too wide, deep, and fast flowing to ford.

A small guardhouse graced each side of the bridge, and as their wagon came into view, guards came out of each.

Karl glanced over at Lyric, but he was smiling genially as if this was just a normal day for him. The others were professionals trained to bluff their way through. Only Karl appeared to be the weak link, but he had managed to get out of Yari, so he could do this too. He hoped.