“Even if we managed to steal them, how do you propose we get out of here?” Julian asked. “If we reveal ourselves at the gate, we’re finished.”
Leo cursed. “They’ll find us. We’ll never outrun them.”
“Maybe we won’t need to…，” Wren said, glancing back toward the inn. “When do you suppose they’ll discover our absence?”
“Imminently,” Julian said.
“And then what?”
He considered. “Well, they won’t know which way we’ve gone, which means they’ll have to check everywhere. They’ll search the inn, the rest of the town, plus send riders out both gates. He won’t want to risk his men in the Haunted Territory at night, but he won’t have much of a choice.”
“That’s a lot of ground to cover,” Wren said thoughtfully. “He’ll have to split them up.”
Julian’s face changed—he saw where she was going with this. She’d known he would. “He has, what, twenty Red Guard with him? And ten extra soldiers from the kidnapping party. Without the iron revenants at his disposal, he’ll keep six, minimum, to protect himself. Of the rest, he’ll need… at least twenty to properly search this place, even if the locals help. There are too many buildings, streets, and dark corners. Plus the walls themselves will need to be checked.”
“So that leaves four?” Leo said.
Julian nodded. “He’ll divide them, send two riders out each gate.”
“Three against two,” Wren said with a smirk. “I like those odds.”
“Are we counting on me in a fight?” Leo asked delicately, brows raised. He pressed his fingers to his lip, which was starting to scab over. “I’m not much by way of a warrior.”
“I think Julian’s helmet might disagree,” Wren said.
Leo beamed, but Julian narrowed his eyes, annoyed at the reminder. “You might not be a fighter,” he said, “but you’ll make excellent bait.”
* * *
Leaving the way they had come, they were scaling the outer wall of town when a commotion outside the inn told them their time had run out. The Red Guard could be seen spilling out onto the streets, orders barked and soldiers sent this way and that. It would take time to saddle horses, but it wouldn’t be long until the gates opened and they were searching the roads.
Hurrying toward the southern gate, Wren cast her senses wide, but she couldn’t detect the iron revenants or any other undead in the vicinity. Still, their presence, along with the Red Guard, could lure any number of ghosts or revenants, so she drew her swords and kept herself alert.
Julian, meanwhile, scanned the landscape for a likely location for an ambush.
He eventually found a bend in the road where the ground dipped on either side, giving them darkened ditches to hide in—Julian on one side of the road, Wren and Leo on the other.
A part of her realized that a few short days ago, she’d have taken the prince and run, to hell with Julian and the Red Guard.
It might have worked, for a time, though they’d struggle to survive on their own and their pace would be laughable. She’d have seen it as a challenge, a chance to prove something.
But after everything she’d been through, she realized that would have been shortsighted, rash, and just plain stupid. Horses were their best shot at making it back to the fort… and having Julian by her side would only speed things along.
They had actually done it. They had rescued the Gold Prince. They had also discovered a larger plot that made her petty goals and Julian’s personal vendetta pale in comparison, but they had done what they’d set out to do.
The question of what would happen now was far harder to grapple with. Julian wasn’t just an ironsmith—he was Julian Knight, heir to their house. They couldn’t show up at the fort with him—the commander would have him in a cell in the blink of an eye. Even if they kept his identity a secret… he’d been seen during the kidnapping. He was guilty, regardless of what had happened afterward. And when Wren told them about the regent’s plot and the iron revenants, it would put Julian in greater danger. But she had to tell them, right?
“So, bonesmiths and ironsmiths, working together to save a goldsmith prince?” Leo said conversationally, as if they weren’t huddled in the haunted dark, waiting to ambush a pair of highly trained warriors. “Last time I saw you two, you were—”
“Trying to kill each other, yes.”
“And now? You’re… friends?”
“Allies,” Wren corrected shortly.
“Kissed and made up, have you?” Leo asked with a quirk of his lips. Wren opened her mouth, then shut it—which was surely damning enough. His smirk split into a full-faced grin. “Really? I get it, truly, but… wow.”
Wren closed her eyes. “Shut up, idiot. Our lives are on the line here.”
“Yes, of course,” he said, and she looked at him in time to see his expression turn gravely serious. “Dangerous. Thrilling, even.” His eyebrows waggled.
“If we make it through this night, I’m going to murder you myself.”
“I missed you too.”
Across the road, Julian waved a hand, then pointed in the direction of the gate. It was creaking open, and the silhouettes of two riders could be seen exiting the glow of the town beyond. The gate shut, and they disappeared, save for the steady clatter of horses’ hooves.
The plan was simple.
They’d wait until the riders were within sight, and then Leo would stumble out onto the road, flagging them down. Wren and Julian would take care of the rest.
When the time came, Leo performed his part well—almost too well, as far as Wren was concerned. He staggered into the path of the horses, crying out helplessly and waving his arms like a true damsel in distress.
The nearer rider halted and leapt from the saddle, and that was when Wren and Julian struck.
While he targeted the still-mounted rider, she tackled the guard who was on his feet, colliding with him from behind.
A handful of bonedust had him choking and stumbling, and then between her and Leo, they held his arms from his weapons long enough for Wren to pull Julian’s knife on him and press it to his throat.
Julian handled the other guard by himself, the man sprawled and unconscious in the dirt, before chasing down the startled horse. After a glance at Wren, Leo did the same, soothing the other and guiding it back to their side.
They tied the soldiers together, leaving them to stumble back to Caston and admit their defeat. By the time they arrived and were let in, Wren and the others would have a good head start—plus, they didn’t intend to take any roads, which meant finding them again would be nearly impossible.
As they checked the horses and ditched any unnecessary items, Wren registered the fact that there were only two mounts and three riders. Someone would always have to ride double, and she would be damned if it was only her. The image of Leo and Julian riding together flitted into her mind, and she was determined to make it so.
That being said, they needed to get a jump on things, and as Julian was leading the way, she offered to ride with the prince for the first leg of their trek.
“Are you sure you two don’t want to ride together?” Leo asked innocently, and Julian cast a curious—maybe even suspicious—look over his shoulder. “Since you’re, ah, better acquainted and all?”