Damien left his master to brood in her office and followed Lane to the main gate. He couldn’t stop smiling. Even if she hated him, any assignment that got him out of the capital for weeks or maybe months was right up Damien’s alley. When in doubt, delay. Sound, if not especially brave, tactics.

He didn’t meet another soul until he reached the gate guards who waved him through. Since the ceremony last week everyone knew Damien and he could go wherever he wanted with no trouble. He shivered in the chill breeze as he passed under the raised portcullis, and through the open gates. A thin blanket of snow covered the ground, but the riot of footprints made it impossible to tell where Lane had gone.

Damien frowned and turned back to the guards. “Did you fellows see an attractive, pissed-off looking woman with short brown hair come this way?”

“I believe she was headed for the stables,” the right-hand guard said.

Damien touched his forehead in salute and headed left, expanding his shield and heating the air around him as he went. The stink of the stables, though reduced by the cold, still made them easy to find. Why would she bother with horses when he could fly them to the border in a day?

He found Lane in a fur-lined cloak right outside the stables, adjusting the straps of the saddle on a bay gelding. Her breath puffed in the air with each tug of the strap. Damien strode up and stopped a few feet away. “Morning. I’m Damien St. Cloud, I’ll be your bodyguard for this mission.”

Lane gave the strap one last yank and straightened up to face him. Jade eyes flashed in the bright morning sun. “So my mother said. I’ll tell you what I told her, I don’t need a bodyguard and I certainly don’t need a sorcerer tagging along on a diplomatic mission. All you people are good for is blowing things up.”

Damien certainly had a knack for blowing things up, but he liked to think that wasn’t the extent of his talents. “We don’t need horses, you know. I can fly us to the border by nightfall.”

“Ha! If we fly in there, they’ll know you’re a sorcerer and they’ll think you’re along to intimidate them into doing what the king wants. If the barons feel threatened the negotiations will be over before they start. Besides, the meeting isn’t until March first. If we ride and take it easy, we should make it just in time.”

Ten weeks on the road and away from Karrie, that sounded fine to Damien. “Do you have supplies?”

“The grooms are loading a mule. There are army supply posts every ten days where we can get more food and swap horses. Are you ready?”

“I need to pack my gear and grab a sword so I’ll pass for a regular bodyguard. Other than that I’m good to go.”

“Well hurry up, I want to be out of here inside the hour.”

Damien nodded and jogged back toward the keep. When he’d moved past the guards he wrapped himself in an invisibility screen and flew a few inches off the ground so his steps wouldn’t draw attention. A lot of sorcerers forgot that part when they turned invisible. Clomping steps from thin air drew people’s attention. Not that he’d get in trouble if someone caught him, he just didn’t want to deal with the princess.

He flew through the halls at the speed of a brisk run, dodging servants and messengers as he went. The halls quieted as he approached the living areas. A single chambermaid carried a pile of towels toward the laundry. Damien floated silently as she hurried past him, then he turned toward his room.

He landed outside the door and let his screen fade. Getting ready shouldn’t take long. He could pack everything he owned in five minutes.

Two minutes later he had a change of clothes, a spare set of boots and his curved dagger tucked away in his rucksack. His sword he strapped to his back then covered it with a heavy fur cloak. He wore both for appearances rather than need. Damien glanced in the mirror and nodded. He looked like a proper bodyguard.

“Where are you going?”

Damien spun to face the door and found Karrie standing there, arms crossed and frowning. He’d been visible for two minutes. How had she found him? “I’ve got a mission, guard duty for the archmage’s daughter. Your father knows about it.”

Her frown deepened. “He didn’t say anything to me. I know Lane Thorn. She’s very pretty. I suppose you prefer spending time with older girls.”

Damien would have preferred spending time with Lizzy, who had existed since the dawn of time, so he supposed that made her an older girl. Lane, on the other hand, appeared to hate him on principle. He doubted it would be an especially pleasant trip. “Guarding Lane is a job, and I assure you she hasn’t the slightest interest in me, nor do I have any in her, beyond keeping her safe. We have a task to complete. When it’s finished we’ll come back, so relax.”

Her frown softened. “I don’t like you hanging around with another girl, but I suppose it is your job. See that you keep it professional. We’ll continue our conversation when you return.”

Karrie turned in a swirl of silk skirts and sauntered down the hall back toward the royal residence. Damien wanted badly to shout at her back that she wasn’t his girlfriend and it was none of her business who he spent time with, but she might come back if he did, so he held his peace.

Damien retraced his steps back to the stable and found Lane sitting in her saddle, reins held in one hand, the lead of an overloaded mule in the other. “Ready?”

Damien nodded and started to conjure a mount.

“What are you doing?” Lane’s disagreeable voice stopped him halfway through the process. “You’re posing as a regular bodyguard, remember? No sorcery; you ride the same as me.”

He grimaced, both at her patronizing tone and the idea of having to ride a bouncing, jostling, uncomfortable horse for ten weeks. A stable boy led a saddled roan mare out of the long building. Damien accepted the reins, nodded his thanks, and checked the saddle straps. Everything looked good and tight.

He hung his rucksack from the pommel and swung up into the saddle. “Satisfied?”

“Hardly.” She clucked her tongue and led the way toward the outer gate.

Damien tapped his mount’s ribs and followed her. This was going to be a long trip.