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Dewla shrugged. “They never showed up while we were there.”
“We could at least check it out,” I said. “If it seems safe enough, we’ll give it a try.”
“It’s this way,” Roloff instructed, leading us along.
We let the three Far Shore princesses ride the horses while Roloff took the lead and Farrow and Indigo scouted either side of the road. I lingered behind as the tail, kind of wishing I had my magical wrist guards back. But Indy hadn’t been lying when he told me he wasn’t returning them. They looked rather feminine attached to his forearms, yet he still refused to remove them, so I sighed and fingered the key on my necklace.
I’d come a long way, I realized. A moon cycle ago, I would’ve been breaking out in hives to learn I’d been wearing enchanted jewelry. Now, I stroked them as if they were precious, because they were. Farrow had saved me from a dungeon with them.
“Oh, fuck no,” Bricklynn suddenly cursed.
I glanced up to spot soldiers ahead, wearing Far Shore colors. And they spotted us too. With a shout, they stampeded in our direction at full charge.
“Lovely,” Farrow snarled as he jogged closer to provide more protection to our group as Indigo closed in from the other side. “Where were you for this unexpected surprise, Roloff?”
“Trust, my lord,” the soothsayer said, though his voice didn’t sound all that steady. “This is meant to happen.” Then he prayed under his breath, “Please, let this be part of destiny.”
“We need to run!” Payne cried, turning away to flee, but Farrow caught her arm.
“No. We’re on foot and they’re already too close; they’ll be on us in seconds.”
“We need to fight,” Indigo countered, giving his wrists a flick. When a sword sprouted from one hand and the lightning shield grew off his other forearm, Dewla gasped in delight.
“Oh wow, my lord. That was quite impressive.”
I sighed and strode to the front of the group. “We’ll neither fight nor run.” Stepping in front of the approaching men on horses, I held up a hand and bellowed, “Halt.”
It’s possible Farrow’s conversation with me about trusting my instincts went straight to my head. But I felt utterly confident in my ability to handle the situation as the knights immediately obeyed, yanking on their reins and slowing in front of me without attacking.
Blinking at me as if I’d lost my mind, the lot of them simply stared as I walked right up to the front rider, saying, “You’re representatives of the queen, I presume?”
“Uh…” They exchanged confused glances with each other before turning back to me. “Aye, my lady.”
I nodded. “Good. I had hoped so. In that case, take me to Kalendria. I wish to have an audience with her.”
Completely unexpecting that, they scratched their heads. “Well, er, who exactly are you, anyway?”
I lifted my eyebrows as if unimpressed by their ignorance. “I am Princess Nicolette of Donnelly. And if you don’t wish my army to invade your fair city and annihilate it in mere days—because I can stop their mad attack—you’ll do as I say. Right now.”
At my authoritative command, they jumped into action as if to comply, only to pause when they took in Farrow and his sisters, plus Indigo’s crackling shield full of lightning.
“But we’re supposed to capture this lot,” one man finally said, motioning toward them.
“That won’t be necessary.” I waved a dismissive hand. “They’re all part of my court now, so they’ll be accompanying me to the castle anyway. Therefore, there will be no need for force.”
It was almost humorous, but the guards actually looked relieved to hear that. Bowing respectfully to me, they answered, “Right this way, then, my lady. We’ll escort you straight to the queen.”
I smiled brightly, inclining my head graciously. “Thank you. You may proceed.”
My heart pounded hard in my chest, hoping my false bravado would carry me all the way through, but my fingers were beginning to tremble, and sweat slipped down the side of my face.
Farrow and Indigo suddenly appeared on either side of me, guarding me with their lives.
“I have no clue what you have planned,” Indy told me from the side of his mouth. “But, by God, this better work.”
“Of course, it will,” Farrow said before he met my gaze and winked with pride. “Well done, my lady.”
I released a shuttered breath, letting him see a bit of my nerves. When he reached out and took my hand, we squeezed our fingers together, silently prepared to face whatever happened next.
