And a tree line, just below a ridge…
Warriors poured out of the tree line, a sickening number. Many were on horseback and hell-bent on pursuit.
A sharp burst of pain snapped her surroundings back into place again. Her elbow hurt, along with the back of her head. Sitting up, disoriented, it took her a moment to realize she had lost her balance and fallen.
She realized something else as well.
The goddess had never given her any visions based in the present. They had always been from possible outcomes in the future.
But not this time.
This time she had seen images of her people, and they were fighting to get home.
10
Leaping to her feet, she raced out.
In the next room, Prem perched on the corner of her desk as she talked with a few of the older acolytes.
“Fetch my winter jacket, cloak, and gloves,” she told them. “I need healers and Defenders to meet me down at the dock. Now.” Then, as all three frozen women stared, she shouted at them, “Run!”
That galvanized them into action. Eyes wide, they scattered.
Lily raced down the halls and through courtyards. Urgency beat at her with frantic wings. It was quicker to cut through the temple, so she did. Voices rose behind her, calling out questions and exclamations.
“Your grace—what is it?”
“Is anything wrong?”
Then, from Margot down one hall: “Lily!”
She didn’t stop for any of them. By the time she reached the wide stairs that led down to the great barred doors to the dock, she was flanked by three Defenders.
One of them, Justin, tried to give her his cloak, and she waved it away impatiently. The two others joined them as she plunged down the steps and ordered the doors be opened. Together they stared across the white expanse to the mainland.
“I don’t think we can force the barges through that, your grace,” one Defender told her.
She focused on Wulf’s sentry on the mainland, but she couldn’t communicate with them from that distance. The only way to get help to her people was by crossing the strait.
Go, Camael whispered.
She didn’t pause to question it. There was no time to have a crisis of faith.
She ran.
“Your grace, wait—we haven’t tested the ice yet!” Justin roared behind her. “Oh, flipping hells.”
She ignored everything else—the biting wind, the cold that numbed her hands and face and sent stabs of pain shooting into her chest—and raced as fast as she could toward the shore. Wulf would help. She just had to get to him.
Once, her feet slipped out from underneath her and she would have fallen, but strong arms caught her. Giving her a wild-eyed look, Justin set her back on her feet again.
Glancing back at the abbey, she saw others following them. That was all she took the time to notice, for as soon as she regained her footing, she ran again.
Then, on the shore, she saw more soldiers gather. Some set out on the ice and raced toward her. One of them was Wulf.
He was among the fastest. His long legs tore over the distance, and his body in motion was a study in power and grace. She had never felt so glad to see anyone in her life.
As they neared, Justin drew his sword. Sparing him one exasperated glance, she snapped, “Hold, damn it!”
Trying to talk while running made her abused lungs protest. She sucked in a breath, and the dry, frigid air bit the back of her throat. As Wulf reached her, she bent over in a spasm of coughing.
He grasped her by the arms. “What’s wrong?”
The only way she could speak was by telepathizing. We need soldiers—horses—healers… We need to hurry!
Whipping off his cloak, he wrapped her up, scooped her into his arms, and raced for shore.
“Gods damn it—your grace!” That was Justin who raced alongside them.
She was still coughing too hard to respond out loud, her throat raw while the muscles in her chest squeezed like a vise.
I’m all right, she told Justin. He’s helping. I don’t want any of our people picking a fight with the Braugnes. Pass the word.
Yes, your grace. Giving her an unhappy look, Justin started shouting at the other Defenders who drew near.
By the time Wulf climbed onto shore, she had caught her breath again, and he set her on her feet. Lionel appeared at his shoulder, along with Gordon and Jermaine. As she looked for Justin, she saw with gratitude that Estrella, the captain of her Defenders, had reached her side, and Margot too.
More Defenders were climbing to shore, along with priestesses carrying their healer packs. Even Prem joined them, clutching Lily’s cloak and gloves, which she handed over wordlessly.
Wulf captured her attention. Looking up into his hard face, she saw the commander was present in full force.
“How many horses do we need?” he asked.
“I don’t know.”
He gave her a fierce frown. “Well, how many fighters and healers?”
“I don’t know! How many is a lot?” Closing her eyes, she tried to bring back the image of the snowy countryside and the ridge behind the trees. “I know where we need to go. There’s a ridge about five miles away, near a waterfall that’s frozen right now.”
Estrella said, “I’m familiar with that place.”
Lily met Wulf’s gaze. “We have a party with wounded who are trying to get to us. They’re being pursued by many more troops than they had expected. I saw them pour out of the tree line. Our group is spent, and they aren’t going to make it if we don’t get there in time. I don’t know how to gauge how many are after them, because I only got the images in flashes—but I’m going to guess over a hundred. Wulf, I want my people to come back home. Plan for much more.”
He nodded and squeezed her arm then rapped out orders, and soldiers leaped into action. A dozen cavalry, already mounted, danced on restless horses.
Wulf told Lily, “Every minute counts, you said. I’m going to send them ahead while the others muster. We just need to know where to go.” Telepathically, he added, Brace yourself. The advance scout will have a higher casualty rate.
There would be time for grief later, when they knew how much this had cost them. Lily looked at Estrella. “Go with them.”
“Yes, your grace!”
Estrella joined the party, and they plunged off.
After that, Lily figured the best thing she could do was get out of the way. She was a visionary, not a fighter. Within a remarkably short time, a much larger force comprised of Defenders, Braugne soldiers, and healers was assembled.
One short, intense argument punctuated the gathering when Wulf discovered Lily in the process of mounting a mare that one of the Defenders had brought to her. Eyes blazing, he snatched her horse’s bridle.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he snapped. “Stay here! You have no business putting yourself in danger.”
Behind his preemptory attitude was a deep, genuine alarm. She didn’t waste energy on getting angry. Instead, she asked, “Can you see the things that I can see?”