Page 67 of Renegade Queen

It was only as they’d nearly passed us by that I saw one of the soldiers at the very rear start to slow his pace. His hand dropped to his side and touched the hilt of his sword. I watched with bated breath as his head turned a fraction in our direction, and I could have sworn that he looked right at me. But then his hand moved away from his sword, and he kept in time with the other soldiers around him.

It was so out of place that even the subtle movement screamed that something about this one soldier was wrong.

But it was more than that. Because I could have sworn that in that split second he locked eyes with me, the blue magic that shone in his gaze had flickered before returning to the same eerie glow as the rest of them.

Chapter 29

Alyssa

We barely spoke as we left the treeline, moving quickly as we headed for the river. The Endless had left deep enough tracks that it was easy to see their route. Not that we needed them. There was only one place you could cross the river safely in this part of Nymeria.

I watched Maddox gulp nervously as he looked at the bridge spanning the waters. It swayed slightly in the wind created by the thrashing water below. The river waters raged in this part of Nymeria just before they slipped into the Wilding Forest and out of sight. By the time they emerged from the other side, they’d calmed, and I’d always wondered why that was.

Whilst we’d be crossing the river at the same point as the others, that would be the extent of us following their tracks. Instead, we’d be following the riverbank North toward the Winter Court as they kept heading West.

“How far do we follow the river?” Maddox asked.

“If we can keep up this pace, a few hours. Once we get closer to the mountains, we’ll need to break away before we hit the waterfall. The training ground at the top has a view of the mountain’s base on the opposite side, but they never used to come to this side of the river, so we should be safe,” I explained.

“A lot could have changed since you were last here,” Dean pointed out.

“True, but I doubt Fizzle would have let us come this way if he’d thought we’d be spotted. Besides, if the stories from the inn are true, hopefully, the people in the training camps will be willing to turn a blind eye to someone sneaking in.”

“That’s not exactly something I’d like to bet my life on,” Dean quipped.

I wasn’t going to hold it against him. He was right, after all. This part of the plan felt like it hinged on a lot of wishes and dreams. It was all we had, though.

“So, how are we getting into the palace?” Maddox asked, quickly changing the subject.

“There’s a tunnel that runs from one of the crags at the base of the mountain and comes out in the wine cellars at the foot of the palace,” I told them. “Rhidian and I found it years ago, and from the state of it, it hadn’t been used for centuries. I doubt Arik knows about it.”

“You were close with Rhidian then?” Dean asked, trying to sound casual and utterly failing.

“Yeah, I suppose. It’s not like we spent every day together because we still lived in different Courts. But he was the only one around the same age as me and the only one that wasn’t… well, like a summer fae.”

I winced as I admitted it. It was true, though. The summer fae had power over fire, and it showed when it came to their nature. They were all so intense. Angry and volatile. Even when they didn’t look seconds away from violence, you could see the lust for destruction behind their eyes. It didn’t surprise me that they were the Court that had managed to stand against Arik and his army. I had no doubt it was a bloody war being waged.

“So… you like him?” Dean asked.

“He was my only friend apart from Fizzle. But he left the Summer Court long before I had to run from Arik, and I hadn’t seen him in years,” I explained.

“Why did he leave?” Maddox asked. “Reading between the lines, he was someone important.”

“You could say that. It was leave or die, and Rhidian thankfully still had enough self-preservation not to do something entirely stupid like trying to stay.” It was the most I was going to say. If I was honest, I didn’t know the whole story. Because I was sure the version his parents had told us hadn’t been the whole truth. After all, they wouldn’t have wanted to appear so weak as to have had their true heir walk away from the Court of his own volition.

We fell back into a companionable silence, moving swiftly as the land beneath our feet started to harden from the cold. Stopping briefly for water, I pulled thin cloaks from the packs and passed them out. It wouldn’t take long for the sweat on our bodies to create a chill.

“We should reach the base of the mountain in an hour or so. Then it would probably be a good idea to rest before we make a move for Damon,” I told them.

I hadn’t run like this for years, but rather than fatigue, I felt more energised than I had since I’d wandered into the human realm.

“We should press on,” Dean said, looking around at the desolate landscape, always looking for who could be trying to sneak up on us. “I don’t feel tired at all.”

“Yeah, why is that?” Maddox asked, stretching up onto his toes and shaking his arms out.

I knew what he was feeling, and it wasn’t just the adrenalin. Not only did they have their animals lending them strength now, but they were also starting to connect to the magic of Nymeria. That first rush would make them feel invincible.

“You’re not human anymore,” I reminded him. “But don’t let this feeling lure you into a false sense of security. You’ve only shifted once, and Dean hasn’t had a shift yet. The likelihood of you being able to pull on your animal if you need it is small. If you run him into the ground before you need him, that likelihood will shrink to an impossibility.”