Shelton felt a sharp stab of pain radiating from his side at the same moment he heard Wildas's voice in his mind. The pain was so intense that it made his stomach churn and he pushed his breakfast away. If he hadn't been feeling the phantom pain, he would have left the breakfast table, where his family was watching him with concern. Instead, he pushed his chair back until it found the stone wall a few feet behind the table.

Gods, Wildas, what happened? he demanded. Wildas had told him the night before about the assassination attempt and his escape from the castle without his full guard. He had felt faint pain in his side then, too, but it had been nothing like it now was. He'd been more concerned about Wildas making him promise not to tell Deandre the details until he was closer to home. As if he wouldn't be more upset about not being told immediately.

That assassin. Nicked me with a poisoned blade. Torture poison. You need to find dried Dragonweed. It's the only ingredient to the counter-poison the healer here doesn't have. I have six more days before the poison actually does any damage. It's just extreme pain first.

Where are you? How do you know this?

Village outside Arren. Please. Just find the Dragonweed. We're going to ride hard to make it there in less than six days. Don't tell Father yet.

Shelton sighed and ran a hand over his smooth face. Someone is coming with you from there?

Yes.

One of the Guardsmen survived?

No. Someone else. I trust him. I'll explain everything when this is over.

Shelton could hear the pain and exhaustion in the prince's voice. I'll have the Dragonweed.

Thank you.

The abrupt lack of pain when the connection ended made Shelton sigh with relief. He could barely imagine how Wildas felt having to endure that, and likely worse, until he got the counter-poison.

Shelton stood and left the dining hall without a word, though he knew he was being watched by his spouses and their children who had chosen to eat with them. The only thing on his mind was finding a healer with the right herb.

He would tear the city apart to find it if he had to.

Coulta woke to screams.

"What's going on?" the younger healer – he thought her name was Myri – demanded as he jumped from he cot he'd been given to sleep on.

Mara appeared to be barricading the front door nearby. "I don't know! Soldiers are killing everyone!"

Coulta ran past her to the window and swore at what he saw. Men in green uniforms were chasing people through the streets, killing anyone they found and setting houses on fire. They weren't close to the healers' house yet, but it would only be a matter of minutes before they reached it.

He knew those uniforms too well.

"They're looking for me," Wildas said gravely. Coulta turned to see the prince on his feet, but looking a bit unstable.

"We need to go," Coulta announced, moving to where he'd left his boots and pulling them on as quickly as he could.

"Myri, go with them," the older healer commanded.

"Mother I can't -"

Coulta saw her make a gesture at Wildas, who was struggling to get his own boots on. "He's our patient. Our promise as healers is to see every patient through to the end. Take the herbs and go. They'll need me here."

Letting the women have a moment together, Coulta scouted the small house for another door, and found one that led to a garden nearby. He was relieved to realize it was early afternoon – they hadn't lost much time. Wildas left a few coins on a table and followed.

"Can you make a hard ride?" Coulta asked him, looking the prince over.

Wildas forced a smile that was more of a grimace. "If we make it fast. The tea they gave me helped, but I have a feeling it will wear off sooner than I'd like."

"Probably in less than an hour," Myri agreed, joining them. She handed each of them a plain brown cloak and pulled one on herself. "Mother thought it would help hide your fancy clothes and your... darkness. Most people don't dress like thieves."

Coulta ignored the comment and pulled the cloak on, carrying his own in case he needed it later, and followed Myri as she led them through the garden and around the house. Most of the soldiers were still occupied down the street, so they made it to the stable without incident.

The horses were agitated, but at least they were all still there. They found Quiver and Silverblade, Wildas's horse, but didn't see where the saddles and bridles were. Myri had gotten her own scruffy horse from its stall and was saddling it. Coulta assumed the stable girl had fled already, so he started searching the place for the tack, frustrated by the delay.

He was just considering the idea of riding without tack, as difficult as he knew that would be for his inexperienced self and an injured Wildas, when he heard a muffled sound from the other side of a haystack. Edging closer, sword in hand, he heard it again, and realized it was a muffled scream.

"Now, stop that squirming. If you just lay still it won't hurt a bit."

Coulta stepped around the haystack and found the stable girl pinned under a burly man who was in the midst of unfastening his belt. Grabbing him by the back of the green tunic, Coulta hauled him back with astonishing ease, and threw him against the far wall. The shocked man barely had time to realize what was happening before Coulta's sword was in his chest.

Coulta wiped his sword on the man's pant leg before sheathing it. He almost expected the girl to be gone when he turned around, but she was still on the ground, hurriedly pulling her skirts back down.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

She nodded. "Thank you."

He held out a hand to her. "Come with us." When she hesitated he insisted, "I need to get the prince to Ryal. He's going to be delirious soon and I know nothing about horses. I'm going to need help with them. The healer will be too busy trying to help him." He hated himself as he admitted what he knew would be true, "Everyone in this village is going to die. Come with us."

She finally took his hand and he pulled her to her feet, making sure she was steady before letting her go. He didn't know why he felt the need to help her. Maybe she reminded him of Teeya.

"Your tack is over here," she said, leading him to a corner by the door where the items hung. How had they missed it?

With her help they were riding out of the stable courtyard within a few short minutes, Coulta and Wildas pacing their horses to ride just behind the women. But they hadn't reached the edge of the village before three mounted soldiers blocked their path.

Coulta barely thought as he dropped the reins and pulled two daggers from his belt. He'd never tried throwing knives before, but once again the magic seemed to be leading him, and the first dagger flew with impossible precision into a soldier's throat, above his shirt of mail. It then came back to his hand, trailing a misty tail of black. He immediately threw it again, along with the other, killing the last two soldiers just as his group reached them. The daggers came back as he wanted them to once again.

Interesting. He'd never tried to use his magic like that before.

They had just ridden past the panicking, now riderless, horses when Wildas yelled, "Archers!"

Coulta again moved without thinking and put one dagger hilt between his teeth so he could grab the reins once more. Spinning Quiver around, he threw both blades at the two unmounted archers at the edge of the village. As before, both blades were deadly accurate. One archer released an arrow as he was hit, but it flew uselessly into the trunk of a nearby tree.

Blades in hand again, Coulta looked for any other sign of pursuit. Satisfied that they were safe for the moment, he sheathed the daggers and turned Quiver, kicking him into a full gallop to catch up with his companions.

He'd only just reached them when he saw Wildas grab his side. Obviously, the tea was wearing off. Silverblade faltered to a walk as his rider slumped slightly in the saddle. Coulta barely got close enough to catch the prince before he fell from his horse. Wildas groaned what sounded like an apology as he attempted to sit straight again.

"Hold up!" Coulta called to Myri and Anil, who had barely slowed down.

"We can't stop here," Myri complained. "We've barely left."

Coulta spotted a farm a short distance down the road and nodded to it. "We can stop for a moment."

When they reached the farm, Coulta was dismayed to realize that Varin's soldiers had already ransacked it, killing the family and all the animals. He barely had time to think about it before he was reaching to catch Wildas again.

"Get him down!"

Myri and Anil jumped off their horses and went to Wildas's other side, pulling him off with the help of a gentle push from Coulta. The prince didn't even try to stand, just collapsed to his back with his hands over his face.

"It's not just my side anymore," he groaned as Coulta hopped off Quiver.

"I never said it would only be your side," Coulta stated. He knelt next to Wildas, surprised by how helpless he felt. It wasn't as if he really knew the prince, after all. "What do you want us to do?"

"Find rope," Wildas moaned, not taking his hands from his face. "Tie me to the saddle. Get me home."

"There's a wagon here," Anil said suddenly. "The ponies can pull it. Can we use that instead?"

"Fine. Use it. I don't care," the prince answered.

"We need to look for harnesses," Myri stated. "And food."

Coulta offered her a dagger as he sat down on the ground. She raised an eyebrow, but took it gingerly. He hoped it would be enough if there was anyone dangerous in the barn.

"You could just kill me," Wildas groaned as soon as the women had started toward the barn.

"I can't," Coulta replied. "I made a vow to protect you."

Wildas moved his hands from his face. "Try."

Coulta decided that holding a knife over the prince would be a bad idea if Myri or Anil came back sooner than he expected, so he shrugged and leaned over with the intention of strangling him. Wildas didn't even flinch, and Coulta's hand stopped so abruptly that he almost fell on top of the prince. His hand was so close to Wildas's throat that he could feel the heat from his skin, and just for further proof he used as much force as he could to try pressing closer. Black tendrils of magic surrounded his hand and Wildas's eyes were free of pain for the first time as he watched with fascination.

The effort finally started to hurt and Coulta pulled his hand back, shaking it out as the magic faded.

"It's physically impossible for me to kill you," he stated. "My promise was to protect you and get you safely to Ryal. That's all."

Wildas nodded. "Thank you."

Coulta was impressed that it didn't take Myri and Anil very long to find what they were looking for. They found two large baskets and filled one with grain for the horses, the other with what food they could find in the house for human consumption. There were even two waterskins that they filled with well water that Myri judged to be safe, using whatever magical skills she had.

But the wagon was useless. Upon closer examination they found one of the wheels broken. Anil claimed she knew how to fix it, but it would take up too much time. It seemed that tying Wildas to his saddle really was their only option.

"There's enough rope in the barn to tie him to the saddle securely," Anil told Coulta after explaining the issue with the wagon.

"There's enough for two, actually," Myri corrected as she joined them. She had several coils of rope in her arms. "If we need to ride hard, it might be best to tie two people, and have the other two leading. There's just enough to also tie the horses together. We can share the other rope and rotate sleeping."

"We'll still have to rest the horses at times," Anil added. "They can't go without sleep and food any more than we can."

"And I'll be awake at night," Coulta decided. "I'll rotate with both of you during the day, but not at night. I would feel better about the situation that way."

Both Anil and Myri agreed to that and went about storing the supplies they had collected in saddle bags for the ride. Only moments had passed when Coulta heard the sound of hoofbeats and jingling harnesses from down the road. He stood up from Wildas's side and spotted a group of six riders in green uniforms trotting directly toward the farmstead. Before they could spot him, he mentally drew a blanket of magic over his group.

Myri looked at him sharply, probably sensing the magic. "What–"

He held up a hand to quiet her as he finished setting the magic over them. In his mind he had pictured something like a blanket of magic that would make them invisible to their enemy, and he could see the physical magic hovering just above them all, shimmering like a fine net in the air.

Somehow, he knew the magic wouldn't conceal noise, so he held a finger to his lips and looked pointedly at the women, who both stopped working and placed quieting hands on the horses.

"This is the only logical way for 'im to go," a male voice drifted to them.

"Well, I don't see no damn fancy royal man," another voice replied.

The riders slowed to a walk as they drew closer to the farm, much to Coulta's frustration. He had no idea how long he could hold the magic. He had already used more magic than he was accustomed to on the mad ride out of Windwick, and this was taking even more.

"Clearly, someone lost 'im," a third man stated.

"Or he's hiding," the first man pointed out.

A fourth man laughed, gesturing all around them. "And where would 'e hide?"

"Inside that house," one man said, pointing.

Coulta gritted his teeth as he watched a bearded soldier pull some sort of wooden stick that resembled an unlit torch from behind his saddle. He knocked the stick against his boot and quickly lifted it away as it caught fire.

Coulta had never seen anything like it, even in all his work for Varin, and it was a little unnerving, especially when the man rode to the house and tossed the torch onto the thatch roof. Another man lit his own torch and rode to the barn. Coulta held his breath and the soldier and his horse passed so close to Anil that her expression changed from mild fear to something close to terror.

Both soldiers rejoined their companions on the road as they watched the buildings burn.

"I'd say he ain't hiding here," the youngest man stated. He barely looked strong enough to lift a sword.

Wildas had managed to make it through the tense minutes in some sort of daze, and Coulta wasn't even sure the prince knew what was happening, but then, suddenly, Wildas shifted in pain and moaned.

Coulta dropped down next to him and quickly put a hand over the prince's mouth. Wildas hardly seemed to notice or care about what was probably a terrible affront to a prince under normal circumstances.

Luckily, at the same moment Wildas had moaned, the roof of the house had collapsed, covering the sound even better than Coulta could have.

"I say we go back," a soldier finally said. "Lord Varin won't be happy, but we got nothing else we can do."

"I want to find me a whore I can have a rough tumble with an' not hafta kill," a burly man added as they turned their horses back to Arren.

"I have a feelin' you fathered half the damn city, Kirl. Maybe even little Wilco there," another man said, pointing to the youngest of the group.

"I hope not!" the boy laughed.

They picked up a trot again, but Coulta waited until he could barely hear them before letting go of the magic. He instantly felt lightheaded and incredibly cold. It was all he could do to keep from falling on top of Wildas as everything spun around him.

The next thing he knew, he was staring at the sky. And Myri's face.

"You need someone to teach you how to control your magic," she told him as she helped him sit up.

"I've just never tried using that much before," he explained, rubbing his sore head.

"I suppose you aren't as dangerous as I thought you were."

He gave her a curious look. "Because I look like a thief?"

She snorted. "Because I can feel the taint on you. Care to explain this curse of yours?"

"Let's get going first," he sighed. "I think we've stopped for long enough."

"Anil is finishing with the horses," Myri explained as she helped him to stand. "We just need to get His Highness mounted again and tied. He doesn't respond to me."

Coulta nodded and looked at the prince. He appeared to be unconscious for the moment. "He will be this way until he gets the counter-poison, with moments of awareness where he will be able to drink a bit. Mostly just unconscious or delirious with pain."

Myri looked grim. "I hope they have Dragonweed in Ryal."