Page 37 of To Save a Kingdom

The lightning crackled from her fingers to the blade, then up into the bandit’s arm. His entire body spasmed, his weapon dropping with a clatter. He fell to his knees, black scorch marks branding his flesh as the magic faded.

Zadé did a barrel kick, knocking their leader prone. His head hit a rock with a sickening crack.

Three down, one to go.

The man with the cudgel pulled it over his shoulder and, with a scream, charged at Aliya, apparently judging her to be the bigger threat.

Aliya reached for her power again, bracing for the headache to explode into a migraine.

“Hi-yah!” Zadé swooped in from the side, tripping as she tackled the ruffian.

They rolled. Somehow, Zadé’s fist collided with the man’s forearm. His fingers spasmed as he dropped the club. Her head bounced off the ground, ramming her forehead into his nose, which cracked as blood spurted over both of them.

“Valek!” Zadé muttered. “I didn’t bring an extra shirt!”

Aliya bit the inside of her cheek as the two came to a stop. The man was limp, knocked unconscious.

Zadé stood, brushing the dirt from her trousers with one hand as she pulled the front of her bloody tunic away from her skin.

Aliya raised her eyebrow. “You didn’t pack a backup set of clothing? Given our history?”

Zadé shrugged. “I wanted ta travel light. Plus, wasn’t ‘xpecting ta get in a fight ‘til we hit Brisimin.”

Biting back a snort, Aliya shook her head. “Want one of mine?” They were close enough in size that, while Aliya’s clothes may be a little tight, it’d be wearable.

Half an hour later, Zadé was in a clean shirt. They’d hooked both horses up to the tree and managed to tug it off the road.

“What do we do with them?” Aliya asked as they stood staring at the four bodies.

“Well, we could go ta th’ nearest town ‘n report ‘em, but then we’d hafta reveal yer th’ queen, and that’d blow yer cover for th’ rest o’ the trip.”

And that would undermine the entire point of leaving Aliya’s aunt in charge as she snuck out of the castle. Plus, word of her presence would likely get back to Lions Grove before they arrived at Brisimin, freed the prisoners, and returned home. She may well find the nobility in a full-out revolt if that happened.

Aliya shook her head. “No. That won’t do.”

Zadé rolled her shoulders. “We could take half a day, dig some shallow graves ‘n bury ‘em. Gunna be hard ta do without shovels ‘n all, though.”

Aliya’s gaze drifted from the corpses to the burning bush, which had reduced itself to smoldering coals rather than spreading to the surrounding forest. “Can we burn them? Make a pyre?” With her magic, it would be easy.

“An’ risk catchin’ people’s attention with th’ smoke?” Zadé shrugged as she pulled a flask from her saddle bags and took a deep swallow. “Would be faster, but more conspicuous-like. Or we could just leave ‘em here.”

Aliya studied the bodies again. Two of them had burnt skin that peeled and crackled like dry parchment. It would be obvious to anyone they’d been attacked by a mage. This wouldn’t be written off as an attempted mugging gone wrong. It may well start a realm-wide investigation, which was the last thing she needed, even if she was queen.

“No.” She sighed. “Shallow graves it is.” Grabbing the ankles of the man closest to her, she glanced at Zadé. “Come on. Help me get them off the road until we can find somewhere suitable.”

Chapter 16

Elessan

Elessan spent the better part of the afternoon asking everyone he encountered if they’d seen Princess Tsara. The woman had disappeared into thin air. Not even her lady-in-waiting or the royal servants had any idea where she’d gone, though none of them expressed concern. Apparently, the full sun elf army camped right outside the city walls was more than enough security for them to consider her safe, regardless of current political tensions.

Elessan had eventually given up and turned his attention to finding Zadé. Aliya may have frozen him out of the investigation into the stolen Whisperers, but she had no reason to withhold information from the general.

The only problem was neither Tsara nor Zadé appeared to be in the castle.

Brushing his hand through his hair in frustration, he made his way down to the kitchen. All this running around had caused him to miss lunch and dinner, a fact his stomach was starting to protest. He’d grab something for himself, and for Aliya, too, as she had a habit of forgetting to eat when she felt overwhelmed.

Grabbing a plate of leftover beef and spiced potatoes for each of them, he climbed the stairs to her suite.