For a moment she felt as though the bottom had dropped out of the world. She hadn’t thought about that. There’d been no time to think in the few rushed minutes since the lieutenant had taken charge. To realize that her family might be in danger, too. And then she remembered that they weren’t at home. They were, in fact, supposed to be arriving in Kingswell that evening. A week of unseasonable storms had delayed their departure, but the latest messages had assured her that they would arrive in good time for her birthday.
Just in time to land in the middle of a battle zone. She wrenched her arm free of the lieutenant’s grip, whirled, and headed back the way they had come.
He caught her after a few steps. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“We have to go back,” she said, jerking her arm. But he was ready for her, and his hand simply tightened. She yanked again. “We have to go back. My family is in Kingswell.”
“So is mine,” he said flatly. “But I can’t help them. I can only help you.”
“You can help me by taking me back,” she said, voice rising.
“No.”
“I outrank you, Lieutenant.”
“Not when it comes to decisions about your safety. I’m a member of the Red Guard, and I am charged with keeping you alive.”
Sophie suddenly remembered the gun. Her fingers tightened around the grip.
He must have noticed the movement. “If you shoot me, then who is going to work the portal for you?”
Dust of the goddess. She hadn’t thought about that. She had no magic. She couldn’t use a portal. And she was halfway across the country. By the time she made it back any other way, assuming she could make it back in one piece—it wasn’t as if she’d brought much money with her or had fresh clothing or a means of transport—matters in Kingswell would likely be settled anyway. One way or another.
The lieutenant stayed very still, watching her with those serious blue eyes. “Please, milady. You have to trust me. Or if you can’t trust me, then trust the princess. She gave me her trust when she chose me as a bodyguard.”
That was true. But had the princess been mistaken?
Her head throbbed a protest as she tried to think through the implications. The gun was growing rapidly heavier in her hand. If she held it up much longer, her hand would start to shake and then she might not even hit him.
She had to make a decision. And right now there seemed to be only one real choice. She lowered the gun. “All right. I’ll come with you. But you have to tell me your plan.”
It turned out the plan involved more portals. Too many portals. After the third transfer, Sophie was feeling regretful that she hadn’t dug her heels in and insisted on being taken back to Kingswell. She’d lost what little she’d eaten earlier in the day as she’d staggered across the portal boundary after the second journey.
The lieutenant had waited politely for her to finish and then handed her his handkerchief. But that had been the extent of his sympathy. He’d taken her by the arm and headed into the wooded area behind the portal. He seemed to know where he was going. Which meant that one of them did.
“Where are we now?” she demanded, trying to keep her skirts free of the fallen branches and other obstacles littering the path. Apparently, not many of the locals took this path to the portal.
“South Westby,” he said.
She’d never heard of it. “Would you care to narrow that down a little? Perhaps give me a county or a town I might have heard of?”
“Caloteen,” he said. “Sort of east.”
Caloteen was one of the middle counties. About half a day’s ride from her father’s lands. The lieutenant had made it clear they weren’t going there. But at least it gave her a fixed point to cling to. At least until the next transfer, when they might end up goddess only knew where.
They walked away from the portal for several miles until they came to another small stand of woods. The lieutenant led the way into the trees and paused when they reached a clearing near a narrow stream. He scanned their surroundings for several minutes. Sophie leaned against a convenient Oran tree and tried not to think about how foul her mouth tasted.
“We’ll rest here,” he said eventually, and she nodded and walked toward the stream as fast as her aching legs would take her, dropping to her knees to drink and rinse out her mouth. The stream wasn’t flowing full force in the heat of late summer, but the water seemed fresh enough and the lower water level meant there wasn’t too much mud on her dress when she stood. The dark gray—she’d never thought she’d be thankful for gray after wearing it for most of a year—hid the worst of the stains.
The lieutenant was moving around the clearing, gathering up sticks and branches.
“Just how long is this stay to be?” she asked.
“We’ll sleep here,” he said. “There’s a village a few miles on. I’ll walk there early, see if I can find us some clothes and horses.”
“Horses?”
“If we need them. There may be news that means we can make our way back, but if not, I think we should stay away from the portals for another day.”
“The day after tomorrow is my birthday,” she pointed out.
“I know. And I’ll get you back to the palace if we have the all clear.”
“And if not?”
“Then your birthday party will be delayed.”
He didn’t sound terribly sympathetic.
“It’s hardly the party that concerns me.”
“Then what is it?”
She shook her head at him. “The part where I may come into my power. It’s my Ais-Seann. I’m supposed to complete the dedication to the Goddess on my birthday.”
“That’s just a ritual, isn’t it? A day or two won’t hurt.”