“It was just Cadie fifteen minutes ago,” Zeke said, an undertone of displeasure in his voice.
“Then I can assume we’re off to rescue Airlie?” Gia asked happily. “I’ve been wondering when we were going to break away.”
“Are you really going to come with me?” I asked in disbelief.
“Of course we are.”
“Both of you?” I looked at Nikolas.
He sighed. “Both of us, apparently.” Something else lurked in his eyes, but I was too shocked to try to puzzle out its meaning.
I looked to Zeke. Suddenly the reality of what we were doing seemed far more dire. Could we take the first and second in line to the throne into the fallen kingdom with us?
“I can see what you’re thinking,” Gia said, her expression turned serious. “But there’s no way I’m letting you go off after the raiders with only Zeke along. It’s too dangerous—and besides, you’ll never succeed in rescuing Airlie. You told me that yourself a hundred times while you were forced to wait around at the Guild.”
“But I didn’t mean I wanted to take you!”
“If there’s one advantage to being royal,” she said, “it’s that we have strong abilities in our bloodline. Nik and I might only be apprentices, but we’re already more powerful than most full mages. We can help.”
“But what if something happens to you?” I looked to Zeke for assistance, but he was watching Gia with narrowed eyes.
“That’s my risk to take,” she said. “If you want to save Airlie, you need us. You’ve known all along you can’t do it on your own. You need help, and we’re all you’ve got.”
I wanted to protest further, but one glance at the determined look on Gia’s face told me I was either taking her with me or not going at all. And for Airlie I was willing to defy a king.
“Very well, then,” I said. “Pack quickly.”
Zeke and Nikolas disappeared, hurrying off in the direction of their own rooms.
“Are we walking?” Gia asked as she threw a haphazard collection of items into the first bag she could find. “Because they might come after us.” She sounded apologetic, although I couldn’t see her face.
“Let them try.” I laughed, a crazy idea occurring to me on the spot. “We’re riding the Celadon up to the lake, and I defy anyone to catch us.”
“Riding upriver? How are we going to manage that?”
“The same way the raider plants mage did. We’ll harness the Calistan protections.”
She stopped, turning large eyes on me. “We can do that?”
I shrugged. “I think so. Do you want to back out?”
“Are you kidding?” Her eyes gleamed. “I’m with you all the way.”
“Great.” I swung my bag onto my back. “In that case, let’s go.”
Chapter 24
Cadence
We strolled out the front door while the music from the ballroom still drifted over the manor.
“Aren’t you supposed to be a guest of honor back there?” Nikolas asked Zeke as we made our way through the formal gardens that stretched in front of the building. “Won’t they notice you’ve disappeared?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be a prince?” Zeke asked back with a cheerful lilt. “Won’t they notice you’ve disappeared?”
“One can only dream,” Nikolas muttered, earning him a glare from Gia.
“It doesn’t matter if they notice,” she announced. “Because Cadence has a plan that’s going to get us well beyond their reach.”
Both boys turned to me with almost identical raised eyebrows.
“The tainted power,” I said. “If the raider mage could use it to pull him upriver, so can we.”
Zeke whistled softly while Nikolas continued staring. “Tainted power?”
“The Calistan protections,” Gia explained gleefully. “I have no idea how Cadence is going to pull it off, but I have full faith in her.”
“Look, there!” I pointed to the quiet inlet that spread under the willow.
To one side of the tree, a small wooden boat had been secured. It was nothing like the barges that had taken us downriver, clearly intended for short, recreational trips in the vicinity of the manor. But it was big enough to seat eight which made it good enough for our purpose.
“We’ll have to find a way to pay Karielle back for taking the boat,” I said as Zeke and Nikolas untethered it and pulled it over to the edge of the main river, where the current was waiting to snatch at it.
“That’s no problem,” Gia said. “I’ll send them a new boat when we’re back in the capital.”
“Being a crown princess has some advantages,” I muttered, earning an approving look from Nikolas.
I carefully refrained from making eye contact with him, however. I still hadn’t fully adjusted to the idea that Gia was appreciative of his efforts to undermine her during the tour, and I wasn’t ready to share a moment with him, however small.
“Are you sure about this?” Zeke asked, catching my gaze.
“Not at all,” I said boldly. “Are you still coming?”
I had given Gia an out, so it only seemed fair to do the same for Zeke.
“Do you even need to ask?”
I smiled at him, and he smiled back, his gaze softening as the seconds passed by. Gia cleared her throat ostentatiously, breaking the moment, and Zeke turned back to the boat.
He held it in position while we threw our packs in, and then he gestured for me to climb in first. I hesitated, however. Was I really going to do this?
Memories of my sister filled my mind, and I stepped over the side of the boat. I wasn’t doing this for myself, and I couldn’t back out now.
Gia and Nik followed me, Zeke jumping in last. He immediately started searching around for an oar.
“We’ll need to give ourselves a few pushes to get out of this inlet and into the current.” He glanced at me. “Or can you do that, too?”
“I think so? Give me a minute.”
He nodded, and I closed my eyes. My nerves thrummed with tension. I would look foolish now if I couldn’t do what I’d so rashly claimed.
I put my protective shell in place, although it had done nothing to help me last time, and reached out with my ability. At first I could feel nothing, but as soon as I dipped my hand over the edge of the boat, trailing my fingers in the water, I sensed the tainted power.
It was still very faint and dispersed, but it was there, stretching away in both directions. As usual, it tried to slip away from me, each tangled knot of vines slipping free and slithering away as I reached for it. I gritted my teeth and grabbed for one, pushing myself faster than I’d moved before.
Grasping it, I braced myself for the nausea. But it still made me pitch forward onto my knees, the intensity robbing me of breath. I had thought I was prepared, but only now that I was experiencing it did I remember how it actually felt.
“Cadence!” Zeke’s worried cry reached my ears.
I ignored him, all my focus on finishing my dealings with the tainted power as quickly as possible. I let it wash over me without struggle, digging its claws in and twisting my ability to match itself. My body protested, but I ignored that, too, pushing through the pain that seemed to come from everywhere at once.