Even their captive had been cooperative and quiet during the ride, thanks to Luke’s feeble-mind spell.

  All that said, she didn’t delude herself either. Being in the right didn’t mean she’d win or live a long life. She had to stay vigilant even if Sebastian’s life didn’t depend on it anymore. Hers did, and so did the lives of her four companions. Life was also hard work, but that had a satisfaction to it of its own.

  The forest and wilderness gave way to miles of farms, and then the city came into view. The setting sunlight scintillating against the northern wall from their right, as they headed toward the northern gate of the city.

  She took a moment to brush the roadside dust off her armor with aero-kinesis, and then checked to make sure her hair was still firmly pinned up. She suspected it would make things more difficult, if she didn’t look clean and presentable. Part of the influence of her training as a princess perhaps that no longer applied so strictly, but there was some truth in it even out of the halls of power.

  They should get into the city just fine, it was the castle gate guards that would judge her by her appearance, before she even had a chance to speak who she was. There was also the not so small matter of escorting a tied-up man in mage robes with Cynia markings. That might even beg questions at the city gates, much less the castle gates. She was also under orders not to relinquish her prisoner to a city guard or soldier, only the royal guard or Jacinta’s court mage, Alisa.

  She’d have to be at her best to win any confrontations about custody without causing an inter-kingdom incident. She hoped the queen had anticipated that possible problem and had made arrangements to brief the gate guards not to attempt to take custody, but she couldn’t depend on it.

  She held the reigns loosely and tried to project confident serenity as the guards in the back scanned the line of wagons entering the city, while the two in front focused on the next person in line. She assumed it was standard procedure, vigilance against being caught by surprise if they’d all been focused on the current group of entrants. It felt a little strange, as the last few days she’d been trying to tone down her royal bearing, as well as had worn a helmet to hide her ink sorceress tattoos.

  But the laying low part of the mission was over and being who she truly was would only help her cause in keeping her prisoner. The two soldiers in the back kept bringing their eyes back to her and the tied up mage as they moved toward the gate.

  Finally it was their turn.

  The guards in front looked them over for the first time and became a lot more alert. Perhaps because they stood out from the others.

  “Identify yourselves, and the reason for your visit.”

  She replied, “Princess Luna, and my hunting team. We have a Cynia mage in custody, with orders to deliver him to the royal guards up at the castle. The queen is expecting us.”

  The guard looked her over, “Princess Luna formerly of Doryn with a death mark on her head, now sworn to King Sebastian of Thaenid?”

  She smiled lightly, “Yes.”

  The moment hung there for a moment, then he nodded.

  “Please move inside to the gatehouse, we’ll have an escort to the castle prepared shortly, and also send a runner ahead so that Court Mage Alisa and several royal guards are waiting to take custody at the castle gate.”

  It seemed the queen had made arrangements.

  That all seemed proper, but it set off her instincts anyway. She didn’t think the guard was doing anything but his duty and had no evil intentions, but it meant every guard and soldier stationed in the city must have heard the head of the intelligence service for Cynia was being brought in. No doubt the queen had ordered the escort from the main gate to ensure the man made it to the castle dungeon alive, but she feared the other ears the rumors would’ve reached. Surely Cynia had operatives in the city.

  Point being, there was a good chance such orders would backfire. All it would take was one crack shot with a crossbow on one of the rooftops between the northern gates and the castle gates to ensure no more of Cynia’s kingdom secrets were compromised.

  She didn’t show any of that concern on her face, gave him her best noble nod, and even managed to thank him with a regally grateful smile on her face. With a light squeeze of her legs, her horse walked slowly into the city and she turned him immediately toward the area before the guard tower next to the gates. One of the four guards went with them and entered the guardhouse itself, presumably to assemble the escort.

  The look she shared a moment later with her team was quite different, and more expressive, as she warned them with her eyes to watch out for trouble. She was worried, but not too worried. She was quite experienced at guarding another’s life after all, and she had foiled many assassins before. It might all be in her head as well, perhaps she was feeling a little paranoid now that they’d reached the last thirty minutes of their mission, before it became all politics.

  That said, a little paranoia and vigilance never hurt anyone, and it would help keep her and her people alive. The alert looks and slightly narrowed eyes on her team told her she wasn’t the only one that suspected one last danger was ahead.

  She subtly arranged her group, with the mage in the center. Liam was on the other side of Larius and leading the spy’s horse with his own, while she was on the left flank. She placed Kade and Anisa in front of her, and Jonas behind. She’d have preferred to have Alisa guarding her left flank, but it would be hard enough to get through the busy streets of a city at twilight riding three horses abreast, much less four.

  When she activated her array and shield, it took a little more focus than usual to expand and shape it, since she wasn’t at its true center, but instead on its western side. As she pushed it out to the right and front only, forming a bubble around the group of six including herself.

  The guard came out a moment later.

  “It’ll just be a moment. I need to get back to my post.”

  She nodded, “I understand duty, and thank you.”

  It was a habit that wasn’t just something from her heart, though that was true as well. She’d never felt the need to lord over those of lesser rank, and polite speech and expressing thanks just felt right. But it was also somewhat tactical, as her natural inclinations had saved her life in the past, and she’d never had reason to regret being kind to those of lesser rank.

  Except perhaps, in the captain that tried to rape her. Perhaps that habit also encouraged predators, but with her power that was a risk she no longer feared anyway. In the end, even that had saved her life, as she’d never have gotten out of that cell and escaped her uncle’s gibbet if he hadn’t tried.

  He smiled and moved back to his post.

  They were close together, and the closest person was at least ten yards away. They could speak quietly without being overheard.

  She said under her breath, “I have us shielded. If I was going to kill Larius I’d stage a distraction in the street, then take him out from a rooftop when all the guards were distracted by that perceived threat. Let our escort handle anything in the street, unless it gets through their lines, keep our focus on the rooftops.”

  Kade replied, “And the guard escort.”

  That was a good point. If one of the guards was a long-time city plant, then they might be willing to give up their life to buy back Hadrius’s anger driven blunder. That agent would also act under distraction. It’s possible both scenarios could happen without a distraction, but that would be a desperate act almost doomed to fail. Not with a highly experienced hunter team save her, and an escort of soldiers along. Not to mention her, an ink sorceress.

  Experience wasn’t everything, and so far her power had made up the difference.

  She quipped, “Apparently I’m not paranoid enough, yet. But I’m still young.”

  Anisa chuckled, “You’re doing better than most, and your orders are insightful, but experience is the best teacher in the end. Don’t discount the guards either, seeing through enemy distractions and not losing sight of the rest of their surroundings is no doubt a part of their training.”

  She nodded. That’s why Sebastian sent her out with four very experienced and competent babysitters. To offset her inexperience despite her instincts and power. Although she kept that thought strictly in her own mind.

  Who knew, maybe nothing would happen at all. She almost snorted out loud at that thought. She wasn’t that lucky, and she was more than positive her uncle wasn’t the only king that wanted her dead now. This mission and her success had earned her the lifetime enmity of King Hadrius, no doubt.

  She’d destroyed his plans, but conversely she failed to keep things quiet and subtle due to stumbling into that raid. There was no hiding her involvement and leaving it a mystery, which had been the original plan to avoid that enmity.

  Still, it would be a pleasant surprise if her unease and preparations were for naught.

  The gate tower door opened, and ten soldiers trooped out. They put four in front and two on each side to clear the way, and two guarding their rear. One of the soldiers, a lieutenant, gave the order to move out.

  The street was packed with last minute shoppers, as the sun lingered on the horizon. No doubt they’d all just got off from work, and then rushed to the market before sundown saw the food stalls and stores close. Most cities had their market streets right inside the gates, and the capital of Xevell was no different. She honestly couldn’t have picked a worse time of day to go through, as it was the busiest part of day, making all their jobs harder.

  It was pure chaos as the people tried to get out of the way of the soldiers escorting them deeper into the city. More than a few looks of annoyance came upon people’s faces, but they moved as quickly as possible. They weren’t going very fast at all though, because of it, and they often had to reign in the horses and wait a moment or two before starting back up.

  People were jostling and pressing against one another trying to make a hole, so perhaps it was inevitable when a fight broke out that quickly spread as people took sides between the initial combatants. The soldiers pushed back the crowd trying to escape the melee in a panic, only adding more confusion to the scene.

  Her eyes and senses focused on nothing particular. Staying calm in the loud yells of either anger or pain, and she was focused on possible threats from both the crowd and rooftops. It was hard to stay serene in the middle of chaos, but she’d trained her whole life for that.

  That’s when someone in the crowd pulled a throwing dagger and threw it at Larius. Her shield deflected it at an angle above his head, and the mental picture of it falling into the crowd and stabbing a child to death or something, made her cast telekinetic manipulation before it did so. She caught the dagger with her mind and pulled it to her, even as she fired off a psychic punch and hit the man that threw it with her other hand.

  It was complicated and difficult to do simultaneously, and would’ve been impossible, if she hadn’t been practicing every night for the last four months. Running scenarios in her mind, and then teaming up spell casts until it became pure reflex. It was only possible because she’d worked hard for it, and it was a subconscious reflexive act, where a purely conscious response would’ve failed.

  Perhaps unfortunately, the man would never be questioned which had been her intent in only knocking him out. He was immediately trampled by the crowd that was running from the fight in a panic.

  The second attack was the crossbow bolt she’d theorized, and her shield deflected that as well, and it slammed into the storefront wall near the rooftop on the other side of the street. She looked at the rooftops from the other direction, and she didn’t see an assassin. It was only when Kade’s arrow sped from his bow, and it went through a window and into the crossbowman’s chest, that she realized the man had shot the crossbow from the second floor of a building, and not a roof at all.

  Just another learning experience, she’d be more aware of that possibility next time.

  She barked an order that would do a war trainer proud.

  “Close your eyes and cover them!”

  Her people all did it, even Larius followed her instruction, but only about half the guards, as she released a fireball into the sky that was very bright. It exploded in a blinding flash, made even more effective by the low light of twilight having everyone’s pupil’s wide.

  The fight and chaos instantly halted, as all the fighters and people fleeing in fear were flash blinded for a good ten seconds. They were all rubbing at their eyes in confusion, not willing to throw a punch, or try to run forward, without being able to see. As she’d hoped, it ended the fight and the panic response of the crowd as people slowly recovered from it.

  A guard said angrily while rubbing his eyes, “What the hell!”

  The lieutenant said sharply, but with some small hint of amusement in his voice, “Stow that Stein. Maybe next time a powerful sorceress and princess gives you an order, you’ll follow it. She just ended a riot and saved lives.”

  The man blushed, “Yes, sir!”

  It was the last of the assassination attempts, and the street became far easier to navigate ten minutes later. Once they’d reached the end of the market district, and they entered the district for lesser noble and prosperous merchant housing, the foot traffic was much lighter. She stayed vigilant just in case, but they made it all the way to the castle gate without incident.

  In truth, she was always vigilant, it was just part of the life of a princess marked for death.

  Court Mage Alisa was about ten years older than Luna. The powerful mage had light blonde hair, blue eyes, and was a short generously curvy woman at five foot four. Xevell was the only kingdom that didn’t have a court wizard, but she was sure their mage was one of the most powerful of the type, and she was on her ground. Meaning, she was sure there were long term spells in place around the castle that would squash her like a bug, despite her power, if she tried anything.

  Which she wouldn’t.

  It wasn’t exactly alarming knowledge, but it did help her not to get arrogant. She was powerful, more than a match for most, but she was still weaker than those on the top the scale. Power also didn’t mean everything. Power was nothing without preparation, training, wisdom, and vigilance.

  Alisa stood next to a royal guard with captain’s rank, so she suspected the head of the royal guards was here himself to officially take custody of such an important prisoner and source of information on their enemy.

  He was a large man, six foot five, and all muscle. He had dark brown hair and eyes.

  There were also four more royal guards behind them as escort, in addition to the four that had gate duty that evening. She was relieved as one of the four moved forward and took Larius’s horse’s reigns from Liam, and the prisoner was no longer hers to safeguard.

  She dismounted so she wasn’t talking down to them, and her people followed suit save Larius who was too feebleminded by the cleric spell to do anything without a direct order, never mind track and respond to subtle social situations on his own.

  Court Mage Alisa nodded, “Thanks for getting him here alive, your highness.”

  “My pleasure.”

  The court mage nodded to the lieutenant of the city guards after that, who took it as a dismissal and he and his men started back for their duty station.

  Alisa waited until they were out of earshot, though Luna couldn’t say why. Perhaps whatever Alisa was about to say would be gossip fodder if it traveled out of the hearing of the royal guards who were far more circumspect by training.

  “The queen extends her welcome in Xevell and in her home. She’d like to meet and speak with you, and we’ve arranged some quarters for you and your people for a few days.”

  Luna smiled graciously, “That would be welcome, I look forward to getting to know her majesty.”

  The strangest thing about dodging assassins for months and becoming an ink sorceress was how easy and natural it felt to fall into the old measures of noble formality. It felt like an old comfortable and warm blanket to her, and not at all stifling.

  Alisa waved to the side at one of the guards, “I must accompany the captain and the prisoner until he’s secured behind wards and in a magic suppressed cell, but James here will escort you to your quarters where you can freshen up before dinner.”

  “Thank you.”

  Alisa nodded, and they split up at that point. The court mage, the captain, and three of the guards went a different way, as James escorted them into the castle. The silence was comfortable enough as she took it in. The castle was well appointed in the public part, and even more so in the noble guest wing they were brought to. Lots of disparate art types, flower arrangements, and indoor plants.

  The whole wing was designed for a visiting high noble and their entourage, which meant they had more than enough bedrooms for the five of them without sharing. As princess, she got the largest bedroom which was a two-room suite with an entrance room. She smiled lightly at the servant who was drawing her a hot bath.

  The servant girl said, “There are dresses that should fit you in the wardrobe, your highness. If you or your people have need of anything simply pull the rope in your sitting room.”

  She wondered how the queen had managed that, but after she thought about it, she realized they’d either asked Sebastian for her measurements or for all she knew a spy stole them from the castle tailor who had made her leather riding clothes. She wasn’t sure how she felt about the idea of wearing a dress, but she wasn’t on duty as a bodyguard any longer, that life was behind her already, and more importantly she was a guest of a foreign queen. She didn’t want to insult the queen by showing up in riding leathers.

  At the same time, after the last three and a half months she’d feel naked without her sword on her hip. Not to mention constricted in her free movement.