Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 64872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
With a hiccup in my heart, we race on. The smell of rain hits our noses before the first drops pelt our heads, and the chaos of people dashing for cover from the sudden downpour aids our escape.
“Here!” Bastion hisses; we veer into the alley where we hand over our cloaks and my feathered mask and don plain black. In our stead, vespertines continue our race towards ‘escape’.
Bastion pauses, meeting my gaze with a wink before dashing off with a dramatic flap of Prins Lief’s cloak. “Dream of me.”
Casimiria and I move swiftly in the other direction, towards the canal. Get to the tunnel. No one can follow.
In the near distance, muted clangs of metal and grunts of soldiers engaged in combat. The battle of the longboat is underway.
My stomach twists. I grab Casimiria by the wrist and pull her towards an overgrown bridge that I’ve been instructed to cross. I’m not to come near the fight—Prins Lief’s orders. I’m to skirt the woods until we reach the west canal arm, and slink into the tunnel.
A flash of movement on the bank behind us—
Along the upper edge, Florentius is sprinting in the direction of the longboat.
Casimiria hisses sharply and I let go of her wrist as I curse. Florentius might throw up a good shield against wyverns, but what could he do against redcloaks who’ve trained their entire lives to breach shields and kill?
I recall Lucius taking me aside just before I left the dromveske. His grim stare. “Whatever happens, promise you’ll protect my little Florentius.”
Bastion’s men were supposed to stop him and Akilah from running into danger. They’re supposed to lead them to the tunnel to choose between fleeing with Lucius, or saying their farewell. Something has gone wrong.
I need to catch up to him, take him along with me and Casimiria to see Lucius on the other side—
I step in his direction and halt. Quin’s mother. I have to protect her. I have to get her safely to the tunnel.
Another figure snags my attention and my stomach drops at the sight of Akilah chasing Florentius, begging him to stop, not to throw himself into the battle.
Casimiria eyes the situation. She takes charge, hauling me along towards the longboat.
“It’s dangerous,” I gasp, even as my steps quicken. “Your meridians have been sealed—”
She finds a dead redcloak slumped in the grass and swipes his bow and arrow. “I’ve trained for this.”
She nocks an arrow and shoots it into a redcloak jumping out from behind a tree, sword ready. I gaze at her with a slack jaw. “He really takes after you.”
Akilah screams as three more redcloaks appear, and Florentius whirls back and blasts them away with a shield. He scoops her close to his side and—
Pom-pom-pom. Casimiria fends off more of their attackers. The string of her bow sings.
Florentius and Akilah spin, catching sight of us. His gaze hits mine—but hers doesn’t. She’s only focused on him. Her hand, still in his. My breath crackles. She’s my sister, but now he’s become her world.
We’re stuck in this together now. We can’t go back the way we came. Our only way is to forge forward and follow with the boat.
“Close in on the boat!” Captain Kjartan booms, his voice cutting through the chaos like a knife.
I’m pulled along through the battle, ducking and dodging with Akilah as Florentius and Casimiria fight. At one point, I hold Akilah tightly against a tree while the battle rages. Over her shoulder I glimpse the fierce clash of magic and steel.
I spy the boat and the commotion on deck. Lucius is locked in combat, his magic flashing and slashing under the dense dark clouds. He parries and strikes effortlessly; two redcloaks fall overboard. He rocks back on his heels and searches the battle, his gaze pausing on Princessa Liana battling fiercely alongside the commander. They’re a graceful pair, their movements synchronised and knowing. He goes low and she goes high, they fight back to back, pulling, flipping, conjoining their magic like a dance. Their attacks are strong and playful, their tacit understanding palpable.
I recall Lucius mentioning her fondly; I can only imagine how hollow he must feel, seeing this. What they once shared is now nothing but a memory; a stolen moment. Because that’s what they are in the end: a heartbeat that races wildly, never to race again.
Lucius grimaces, and I wonder if stolen moments only lead to more pain. After a deep breath, he nods to himself and busies into battle again, saving a fellow prisoner from the bite of a redcloak spell.
The fight flashes furiously, and then Captain Kjartan is yelling. “Get to the boat!”
My ears prick, and time seems to stretch as we all pause, held in that fragile moment. Does this mean we won this battle?
Florentius sprints through the sparse trees, the urgency in his movements propelling him onto the longboat that is already pushing away from the alcove. Stormblades and Prins Lief leap aboard, greeted by the cheers of weary prisoners and Prince Nicostratus, whose face dribbles with blood, glistening against the pallor of his skin. We race after the vessel, Prins Lief halting his archers just in time. He rolls his head back in exhaustion, a wry smile ghosting his lips. “I suppose it’ll be a miracle if you ever once do as I say.”