Pink-purple light lit the night, coming in slivers as it pushed past dense foliage. I was in my armour, leaning low and holding a loose grip on Rollo’s reins as he galloped. The night air was cold as it slid into the opening of my helmet, but the rest of my body was cosy with warmth. My heart pounded, purely because of adrenaline; no fear, only focus.

My right arm straightened and pointed. A clearing between the branches appeared, revealing a metal disc engulfed in light, spinning fast. Breathing out, I squeezed the trigger; the sound was louder than it usually was, rolling through the island and eliciting caws from birds as they were rudely awoken.

The disc jumped up, dodging the blast which scorched a tree.

Would have hit that if she hadn’t made it turn, I thought, feeling a well of pride. In tune with Rollo I ducked down, and the two of us wheezed past low hanging branches that would have clipped me — not that it would have hurt. I still wasn’t the best shot, but confidence and determination were doing wonders for my fighting prowess.

I still felt jittery around the edges, as if my high might suddenly evaporate and leave me with nothing; but I let myself busk in the same emotion I’d felt when Odysseus and I had reached the ground, where I’d looked up and seen the scale of what I’d done.

I’m smart, I thought. I’m competent. I can get through this.

Rollo and I continued on, my mouth a line and my thoughts of confidence and resolution.

I spotted the giant bird in the distance, flowing through the trees with incredible speed and agility; and though she was a dark silhouette, I saw Jaslynn as she controlled her disc with only one hand, her attention split between me and her weapon.

You’re going to be running from her, I thought. Running from that ostrich, from her weapons. They’ll have horses and they’ll be better than me. But I have to run.

I played with my spatial sense, widening and then filtering it, pushing population centres out of my range so I wasn’t distracted. We were at the fringes of the island and there weren’t many people around, which meant those that were out here were Ally, Cybill and Freda on their horses, trying to surround me.

It was a hunting game I’d come up with two nights ago, so we’d be training while we waited for Queen Eleanor to convince the king we should leave the castle; there wasn’t a lot of time which meant we needed to compact a lot of different forms of training I’d told them. Jaslynn was target practice, keeping close and working my aim while riding; and the others were stalking me, because wherewolves lived in parts of the Harrengrove and they could be what we hunted.

Ally and the rest were close, using the gunfire to find me.

I leaned on the temporal ring, giving myself a lot more time to think, taking everything in. My training wasn’t about hunting, not really, it was about escaping a chase by people who were good warriors. I needed to get tricky…and I smiled as an idea hit me.

“Keep going,” I whispered as I holstered the gun. Slowly and carefully, I shifted, starting to stand, the armour helping in little ways to make sure I didn’t fall. A thick branch appeared in the distance and Rollo ducked his head, almost throwing me off. “Keep going and don’t stop,” I said before I braced.

My chest slammed into the branch and I hung on for dear life, watching Rollo as he kept going, moving much faster now that he had been freed of my weight. Jaslynn must have missed the manoeuvre because she continued on, still controlling her disc so I wouldn’t have an easy shot; and the others were closing on Rollo.

I let myself fall and focused on them, making sure they were close to the goat before I said, “Rollo, Come.”

The air rippled and the goat appeared in front of me, breathing a little hard. I brushed his neck and then climbed on.

This should probably have been something I kept a secret, I thought. But it was already too late.

Rollo started towards the shore while I played with my filter again, this time setting them so I could detect crabs. It didn’t take too long before I found them, the things with shells that could mimic their surroundings down to the look of texture. My coin purse was at my side, and with its gulping toad lining meant it could hold far more than it physically could. I began filling the purse with those things, even though I had no idea what I would use them for.

There was a part of me that also wanted to go to the shore, kill a few of those auks with their abilities to move stone, but there was no way I could get away with that.

Ally and the others were still moving, spreading out as they tried to find me. I was on an island and there was no way off, the waters were too dangerous and I hadn’t tried to escape. They wouldn’t believe that all of this was in service to that, not when I’d stuck by a hurt Odysseus. All going well, they would think all of this was a part of training.

I got on Rollo again and we closed the distance, moving slower to be quieter. There was no way of figuring out which person was which yet, if that was even possible, which meant I stalked my target blind. A few minutes later I saw a light, bright, probably that of a sword — that would be Cybill and she would be drawing me in.

That’ll be something you’ll have to think about, I thought. They’ll have light sources while you’ll have to be able to stick in darkness. They might even have dogs if they choose the option, it’s supposed to be a hunt after all. There’ll be scent to think about.

All considerations I filed away as I fled from the light, keeping my distance and trying to stalk around the people who were at the fringes. Helped by knowing where she was, I spotted her, on her horse, looking around. Slowly, I climbed off Rollo and whispered for him to break into a run.

He took off and Freda noticed. She made a sound, a chirp like a bird and the others moved. Freda chased after the goat, I pulled out my gun and pointed, tracking her.

“Bang,” I whispered, because that was something I would have to think about doing. My stomach felt tumultuous.

Freda and one other chased the sound of Rollo running, but the others closed around the area. Pink flew through the trees, illuminating everything. I ducked, hiding against a tree. Freda and her ally caught up to Rollo and I thought about pulling him back, but doing so would have given too much away; better to try other tricks, but what?

Jaslynn and another person was in the area, searching for me. I could feel them and how they moved, and I had to be able to get between them.

Careful of my footing, of the branches, of the discs that passed through the trees, I started to move, leaning low and moving to get between them.

What are you planning with this? I thought as I jumped over an exposed root and then stopped, leaning back as a disc flew overhead, stopping over a squirrel that was jumping from tree to tree. It moved on and I slipped into the darkness again, careful of branches.

Rollo had stopped, but he was with one person now instead of two, the other one was moving towards the others. The three formed a rough triangle but I was helped by not being in the centre of it.

Pull back, I thought. Don’t be too good or they might be on alert too much.

Pink light drew close and I moved, gun pointing and then shooting. The ball of fire flew and smacked into the disc; light vanished as it fell, then flashed with fervour once more as it took into the air once more.

“Rollo, come,” I said and Rollo appeared. The others arrived when I was on the goat, and through the low light I could see a measure of pride in Ally’s expression.

“I like this side of you, Champion,” they said. Jaslynn and Cybill arrived a bit after, and though they showed it in different ways I could see the same for them.

“Maybe we should have dropped him from a great height much sooner,” Jaslynn joked.

“You wanted us to do that the first time we met,” I said, breathing a little hard, which made it easy to hide my hard tone.

“Did I?”

I nodded. “Prince Odysseus took us to the balconies and you thought it would be faster to jump,” I said.

“You should have jumped,” said Jaslynn. “You would have been stronger much sooner. Though only the gods know how you achieved such a fate.”

“Luck. A lot of it.”

“And some intelligence,” said Ally. Beside them, Cybill gave Ally an expression of pride. When her eyes turned back to me, the pride disappeared and she seemed conflicted. “I think you have proven yourself enough times that we should not doubt your skill.”

“And it’s started to impress others,” said Cybill, still not quite looking at me. She wore a heavy frown, her shoulders straight and a bit tired.

“Has it?” I asked.

“I envy your detachment from the rest of society,” said Jaslynn. “If only we were all so privileged.”

My attention turned towards her, my expression so dry it could induce a drought. Jaslynn’s brow quirked up. I looked away, running my hand through Rollo’s fur and feeling his warmth, listening to his heavy breathing, feeling his pounding heart.

“Rollo’s a little tuckered out from all the running. We should call it a night.”

“No,” said Ally. They turned to look towards the castle, a tower with a dull glow, some of the rooms glowing from the illumination within. “Mutters have already started, lords and ladies making complaints of the rumpus. The irritation of the court will be a fire under Father and Mother, compelling them towards action on one front.”

“Do the king and queen even care about them?” I asked, tone maybe a little too glib.

Ally shrugged. “Not overly,” they said. “My true hope is that we are keeping him from his night too, that and Odysseus’ manipulations of Mother.”

“Okay,” I said with a shrug. “We can do more target practice,” I said to Jaslynn.

“Dodging and targeting both,” Jaslynn said, unclipping all her discs.

A sigh left me, then I bit it down and focused. I would need every advantage I could get, which meant no matter how little I wanted to, I would have to put in the work.

***

“Prince Odysseus,” I said in greeting, bowing a little. He was dressed in casual silks with his hair bound by a band of metal like a crown, silver with gravitational and luminous gems stuck on it; under one arm he carried a finely carved box. “You were in the hospital longer than I thought.”

Odysseus smiled, but there was something in his eyes, a reservation that hadn’t been there before. A part of me could understand it. I had taken a measure of confidence from the near-death experience, seeing that even when I was full of terror I could puzzle my way through it; but for Odysseus it had only been a near death experience — there was no victory to plaster over the trauma.

I felt sorry for him, but that was tainted by my thoughts on the system he was a part of, that he was benefiting from and through me perpetuating.

“That was a ploy Allycea and I came up with,” he said, “bribing my healers so they went along with the ruse.”

“Yeah?

Odysseus nodded. “My pleas to mother were better received while she thought me ill,” he said. “Mother is a keen woman, but my groans of pain blinded her and served us well. I bid her to talk to father on our behalf, ensuring she doubled her efforts.”

“That doesn’t sound like it should work,” I said.

“Well, it has,” he said, but I didn’t miss that he was blushing, his shoulders were slouched a little and he didn’t meet my eyes.

“She said yes?” I asked, excited.

“Not yet, but it is only a matter of time,” he said. Odysseus walked close and presented the box, popping it open. In it was a crown similar to his but made of a dull gold. “A Feather-Light Circlet. Used by the nobles in the Sky Courts for they, more than any other, know how dangerous it is to fall from a great height.”

I took it and put it on. The fit was a little loose, but as I moved the circlet stayed in place, probably because of gravity magic.

“You have no experience with magic, but it should not be much harder than your temporal ring or your electric dagger,” he said. “First there will be an impression against your mind, and if you feel against it, push it ever so lightly then you can ease the earth’s hold over you.”

It was as he’d said, there was a slider and as I pushed it down, a weight that had always pressed on my shoulders eased. I jumped, not putting my force behind it and it took me higher than I’d expected, though nothing close to what Allycea could achieve.

“You are a reasonably quick study,” he said.

“Thank you, Your Highness,” I said. “For the gift.” I jumped again, playing with the slider and looked myself over. “Why aren’t I glowing? Most of the gravity magic I’ve seen glows.”

“The luminous addition to the circlet dulls the light,” he said. “The circlets are primarily tools of those nobles who’ve found themselves against bad ends and wish to flee in the night. They were made for stealth. Mother gave me those, and I do not think she would have done so if she expected me to stay in the castle. She must think she will be able to convince Father.”

I nodded, mouth a line. “That’s good,” I said. “Thank you again, Your Highness. For your part in it.”

“Your victories are mine, Champion,” he said. “My sister tells me you have taken avidly to your training, now more than ever.”

“It’s something I should have been doing from the very beginning. Ally has been helping wherever they can, and so have the other ladies in waiting. Even if I lose against Owain, I still want to make a good showing, capitalise on the momentum of whatever story people are telling.”

“It would be far better if we had an intimate gathering,” he said, but his expression was turning sour. “So you might regale other lords with the story of our fall and eventual survival. Champions are built by their legend, after all, and yours is growing far faster than many before you.”

“Even Rowan?” I asked. My heart started to beat faster. It was stupid to ask now, to make them suspect that something might be off when I wanted more than ever to be considered a non-threat. “No one’s told me that he’s a Champion, at least not directly I don’t think, but…it’s something that has been alluded to. I really don’t know a lot about the guy and since he’s your enemy, he’s my enemy too. Your victories are mine.”

Odysseus frowned, taking me in deeply, then, “You are right. Rowan is a Champion much like you, but…do you remember one of our conversations? When you told me that the reason some Champions might have achieved greatness was because they did not have the same pressures you do? That they could guide their path?”

I nodded.

“Rowan might be one such figure. At least with the much that I have learned of him. The man’s motives do not make sense at the best of times and so too his actions. He was supposedly summoned in secret by the mages of Washerton, and for a long time that secret was able to remain such until the mages found themselves with a problem so large they required aid.”

“How?” I asked. “Especially when that didn’t happen with me? Don’t secrets always get out?”

“Oh, there were rumours,” he said, “but they were dismissed. Every few decades when new kings wish to secure their power, they will send out whispers that a Champion stands at their side. All to quell rebellion and dissent, and to fortify their alliances. But summoning a Champion is no easy task, and most of these rumours are only that. I’ve spoken of it with fellow Historians and they think Rowan’s appearance might have come and been dismissed when King James the Third was new to power.”

“When was this?” I asked.

“About sixty years past,” he replied.

Sixty years? I thought. But then…how did High Chief Ran know about Usher? Did it mean Susserton really did have their own Champion, or was there some funky time stuff going on?

“So, Rowan’s an old man?” I said. “Not a fighter?”

“He is knowledgeable in magic from the looks of it,” said Odysseus. “Particularly spatial magic. Can I admit something to you, Champion? Something that is often whispered, but not known as a certainty by most in Althor?”

Confiding in each other, I thought. This is what friends do. Does this mean he sees me as a friend? How betrayed will he be when I escape? And how bad will things be if I’m caught?

But I couldn’t let those worries stop me.

“Sure,” I said, shrugging.

“It has been a very long time since a Champion has been summoned in Althor,” he said. “Partly because such a thing has been unneeded, but our mages also did not have the ability — and from evidence it seems this claim is true. It is a very complex thing to take a person from another world, requiring magical prowess far beyond anything that can be learned without true dedication. The records of how our spatial mages did this in the past were lost.”

“But I was still summoned here,” I said, memories coming back of the conversation when I’d first appeared on this world. King Orpheus had been disappointed at the sight of me, saying that I wasn’t a true Champion; and the mage who’d defended me had talked about deciphering something. “You stole your instructions from another kingdom.”

Odysseus nodded. “Washerton in particular,” he said. “From what I have heard, it was easier because of the chaos running through the nation, with its commoners taking positions of power and old families dying. There are even stories of Rowan himself fighting to defend them, though this is likely hyperbole. Rowan is not seen as often as he is felt.”

My head bobbed up and down, using the new information to solidify my path. If the people opposing Rowan said he was hard to find, then there was no way that I would be able to do it without getting caught. Even if it was likely to get me in the claws of another noble, it was probably better to put my hopes on High Chief Ran.

Susserton it’ll have to be, I thought.

“Champion,” said Odysseus, his eyes scrunched. He took a breath, his mouth opening before he stopped, fear in his eyes. The emotion disappeared. “I noticed something quite strange in your manner of speech,” the emotion in the words not matching the flicker of fear, “particularly as it relates to my sister.”

“Yeah?”

He hummed, nodding. “You do not address her as her or she.”

“Um…yeah,” I said, a little uncomfortable. There were rules to these sorts of things and I wasn’t sure where Ally stood. I didn’t say anything.

“Why?” he asked, and he sounded princely, like his mother, like his father. I resented him a little.

“I think they appreciate it,” I said.

“Like she appreciated the ruse with the Eldon character?” he asked and I shrugged. He frowned. “She has always taken to pretending to be a boy. I remember that she did so even when we were younger. I sought to exclude her so I could spend time with our brother, Matthaeus, and she declared that she too was a boy. I laughed at her and expected the same from Matthaeus, my older brother did not. He said that he was to be king and he now declared it so. I remember her bright smile.”

“Have you ever considered that they aren’t pretending?” I asked.

“If not that, then what can it be?” he asked.

I shrugged again. “It’s what they say it is,” I said. “This is a conversation you should be having with them, listening and with the same sort of grace you would like extended towards you for your differences. Whether or not you understand.”

He hummed, eyes far away. “I should be off,” he said and turned. “Good day, Champion.”

“Good day, Your Highness.”

Odysseus started off and then stopped before reaching the door. He didn’t turn. “How did we survive our fall?” his voice was small, almost suspicious.

“What do you mean?” I asked, my mind going momentarily blank and my eyes wanting to go wide. The leather mitts were an advantage and I really didn’t want him to find out about them, especially when it would have him on alert.

“My memory of the event is hazy,” he said, “but…I could have sworn to have seen you bend earth to your power.”

“Like…earth magic?” I asked. Odysseus turned and nodded. I shook my head. “It definitely wasn’t that. It’s…all a blur, most of it was just me doing whatever I could. I remember shooting us against a wall and some brick breaking, me trying to grab it before that wrenched my arm. Then us sliding down until we hit the ground.”

Odysseus nodded. “Pity,” he said. A chuckle left him, obviously fake. “It would have been a great boon if we discovered that you had magic the likes of which hasn’t yet been seen. It would make this entire chapter much easier.”

“Tell me about it,” I said, smiling in turn.

We’re just lying to each other, aren’t we? I thought. You about how you feel and me about what really happened.

“I should be off,” he said. “Thank you, Champion. For saving my life.”

I nodded and when he was gone I went to my room, to my secret compartment and continued my work, crushing the shells into pieces that weren’t too big or too small. My idea was that I’d dust them onto a cloak, and that would give me the ability to blend into my surroundings. Every night we went out and I slipped away from Ally and the others I could gather more crabs; but now there was the problem of finding something sticky, and doing it in a way that meant I had another card up my sleeve.

And the time to do it was shorter if Queen Eleanor was going to let us out.

For the time being, I split my time between feeling out the circlet and taking in a map of the Pastures. Later that evening we were out again, the sound of gunfire disturbing the night, birds joining it soon after leading to a cacophony that continued into the early hours of the morning.

Morning was on the horizon when we returned to the castle, and it was to an attendant to the king bearing a message.

Ally took it, read it and their expression brightened.

“Yes?” I said, afraid to hope.

“Yes,” they said.

Fuck yes.

“Let us prepare,” said Ally. “By afternoon I want us in the Black Pastures. Father might change his mind, and I want that to happen with us as far away as possible.”