They waited in silence, Yhkon pacing, claiming he just wanted to keep an eye on all sides of the building. Jaylee was watching him with a contemplative frown, as if she were trying to work out a problem in her head.
It was just as Gustor and Ami came back out, her bag slung over Gustor’s shoulder, that two sounds made them all freeze. One, from the direction they’d recently come from, the voices of a large group of children. The other, from the direction of the castle, clinking armor.
Yhkon didn’t curse like she might have expected. He just sighed. “Knew we couldn’t get out of here without trouble.” More loudly for them to hear, “Let’s go! Keep it tight.”
Ami looked a little dazed but she followed the rest of them. Talea kept close behind Yhkon, not wanting a repeat of what had happened in the last big city she’d been in, when they’d been separated. He started to his right, probably hoping to sneak out between the two oncoming groups.
No such luck.
Instead, they rounded a corner and found themselves faced with glinting iron. Ten soldiers. At their lead, a man not in the usual armor, but in much fancier black leather and light chainmail, with a maroon cape matching the Kaydorian insignia on his chest.
More notably, there was a crown on his head.
Talea could sense as well as see the tension that seized Yhkon, making his whole body as taut as a bowstring. His eyes narrowed and glared at the man with a more icy hatred than she’d ever seen from him.
Between Yhkon’s reaction and the crown, it wasn’t too hard to guess that she was looking at Kaydor Veserron himself. The man was powerfully built, probably in his forties, beginning to show his age but still attractive, with deep-set gray eyes and dark hair framed with silver. He eyed Yhkon for what felt like a long moment, only briefly scanning the rest of them. “I was wondering when I’d see you again,” he said at last. His voice was low and gravelly, seeming to vibrate through his chest.
Yhkon only lifted his head. No reply.
Kaydor’s attention shifted to Amilyne. “Ami? Why are you with them?”
She looked like a barbsit caught in a trap. Paralyzed.
“Yhkon,” Gustor spoke under his breath. “We need to go.”
No reply to him, either.
He tentatively put his hand on Yhkon’s shoulder. “This is not the time or place.”
Kaydor’s passive expression was hardening. “I heard that you had some teenagers with you, that supposedly can perform some sort of witchcraft. I suppose these are them. Let me guess, you’re going to use them to try and kill me?”
Yhkon balled his fists. “Unfortunately, not today. Gustor, go!”
Gustor grabbed Talea and Ami’s wrists and called Wylan as he took off at a sprint, away from the Kaydorians. Yhkon and Jaylee brought up the rear. The all-too familiar sound of iron grating iron and heavy footfalls told her that the soldiers weren’t going to give them an easy escape.
Gustor navigated them deftly between buildings and down alleys, managing to throw the Kaydorians of their trail. For awhile. They stopped in an alleyway. She could still hear them searching the nearby streets. It could be mere seconds before they were found.
Ami’s flawless features were contorted with fear and confusion. “No, this isn’t right…I shouldn’t…I don’t want to go with you! Let me go back!”
“Hey, shh.” Gustor put a hand on either of her shoulders. His tone was half impatient, half gentle. “You’re going to be fine. We’ll get out of this.”
“I don’t want to get out!” She looked back the way they’d come. “I was fine there. The other kids…they need me. I can’t just—”
“Listen!” Gustor tightened his grip, giving her a slight shake so that she fell silent. “There is no going back. Even if you did, Kaydor knows that you were with us. He knows we have some reason for taking you. He’d never just let you go back to the orphanage. You have to trust me, Ami.”
She was panting, cringing as if pained. Yhkon moved closer and spoke quickly at a whisper. “We don’t have much time. Gustor, Jay, you get them out of here. I’ll draw their attention and catch up with you. If you have a chance to get out of the city, take it.”
Gustor had a reluctant look, though he didn’t say anything. Jaylee did. “Um, no. You’re not staying here by yourself. Both of us can draw their attention while Gustor gets the wards out.”
Yhkon looked at her like she was crazy. “Um, no. Just—”
Gustor cleared his throat. “Enough bickering, just go! They’re almost here.” He gave Yhkon a shove in one direction, and tugged Ami the other. “Go!”
Talea hesitated as Gustor took off with Amilyne, Yhkon and Jaylee preparing to meet the soldiers. Just the two of them? At least if she was there, she could use her ability if they got into an impossible situation. “Yhkon—”
He didn’t give her a chance to argue. “We’ll be fine. I promise. You and Wylan go.” He indicated for them to follow Gustor. Wylan took her by the elbow, and they left Yhkon and Jay in the alleyway, catching up to Gustor and Ami.
“Alright.” Gustor crouched beside a wooden fence, and they did likewise. “We move quick and quiet. No talking, you just stay as close to me as you can. Got it?” He looked younger, with energy flushing his cheeks and lighting his eyes. As if the prospect of a dangerous escape from a giant city, chased by soldiers, was exciting. Well I suppose if you’re an ex-assassin, maybe it is. Personally, she just felt out of breath.
But he was already helping her and Ami over the fence. From behind them, where they’d left Yhkon and Jaylee, she heard shouts and clashing steel.
~♦~
Yhkon watched until the wards and Gustor were out of sight, before turning to Jaylee. Stubborn girl. He wasn’t sure she would be a help so much as a distraction. “Here’s the plan. We take down a few, then run. We’re not trying to take them all, alright?”
“Right.” He had never seen her in combat, and had vaguely worried she would be frightened. She looked calm and ready.
He untucked his shirt from his belt and reached behind to grab the hilt of the short cutlass he’d strapped against his bare back. “I’ll take the first one down and get you his sword.”
“You think I can’t handle myself without a sword?” She wore a confident smirk. Which he found far more attractive than he should have.
“I’m sure you can, Rhondel.” He found himself smirking back at her. “But it’s rather hard to penetrate armor with nothing but one’s fists.”
The Kaydorians came clattering around the corner seconds later, with only a moment of hesitation before advancing. Yhkon attacked the nearest one with the quickest, most efficient sequence of strikes he knew, dispatching the man and catching his sword. He threw it to Jay just in time for them to engage the rest of the knights together.
There were a dozen that he’d counted. One of them had been dealt with. Yhkon was skirmishing with two more and knew he could easily take them down with a few more seconds, but Jaylee was up against three with the other six pressing in around them. If they wanted to avoid injury, they had to end the fight. “Time to go!” Cutting down one of his opponents he engaged another of Jay’s, just long enough to give her the opportunity to retreat. He spun and sprinted after her, narrowly missing a blade through his spine.