Page 15 of The Spy

“My lady, it’s dangerous right now,” Ralph called back, his gaze still focused on the incoming dragon.

“I said, let me out!”

Ralph grimaced, but still reached up to press the hidden lever that opened Lady Ettine’s compartment door.She tumbled gracelessly into the path below and sprang to her feet, dashing out from under the wagon overhang to look at the dragon swooping in from above.Suddenly, she lifted one hand into the air and waved.

“What the—” Ralph cut himself off before he could swear again.He stomped in her direction, but then froze in place when she cupped her hands over her mouth and yelled.

“Brother!Brother, I’m here!”

“Weren’t we helping her run away from her family?”Marc muttered as he abandoned the back of the wagon to join Ralph and Karl in staring incredulously at her.Emily came over as well, scowling fiercely at Lady Ettine in the first break of her established character she had allowed the entire trip.No one would mistake her for the happy-go-lucky child she had been pretending to be with an expression like that on her face—as if she could easily kill Lady Ettine, hide her body, and not lose any sleep over it.Tilly was over by the horses, but kept looking over at Ralph, awaiting further instructions.

“I’m more curious about why she’s yelling “brother” at a frickin dragon,” Ralph replied.He was still holding his sword, but his hands were relaxed.

The dragon banked overhead, turning and swooping lower, moving downwind, Karl realized, when the horses didn’t make any sounds of alarm.The dragon’s scales were silver, shot through with golden streaks like lightning bolts.The tips of its horns, and where the scales ended on all four paws, the end of its tail, and its snout, were all fully gold.The dragon was easily double the size of the wagon, and it cast a very long shadow in the light of the rising sun as it back-winged for landing.Half a second before the claws touched the ground, a golden shimmer flowed over the dragon.The dragon vanished, replaced by a human man.

Golden magic!Karl gasped.That was definitely golden magic.The only people who could use golden magic were the royal families.No one knew what Yaroi’s royal magic consisted of.They kept it so secret Karl had heard even Queen Trina hadn’t known.If they could shapeshift into mythical dragons, Karl could understand why they kept it quiet.

At first glance he appeared ordinary enough, especially in his simple brown pants with his white shirt tucked in at the waist, but he definitely looked too much like Lady Ettine to actually be ordinary.They shared the same black hair and dark eyes, but he was older than her, around Karl’s age, and a lot taller.He had to be at least six feet.

“Don’t stop!”he yelled, striding forward.“I tried to distract the guard with evidence that she boarded a ship, but they somehow unraveled that already and sent a full company after you!They’re barely half a day’s gallop behind you!”

Ralph swore again, already spinning to the rest of their group.“Let’s go!”he snapped out.

A flurry of movement erupted.Everything was put away again quickly, and the wagon was moving forward within seconds.Tilly and Emily rode astride the front horses, Karl and Ralph got seats on the driving platform, and Marc and the dragon both hung off the side of the wagon, their feet on the step up to the driver’s area.Lady Ettine was tucked back away in her compartment, and Karl hadn’t had time to check on Ama, but he was tucked away too.And the wagonmoved.

If Karl thought they had been traveling fast before, he was wrong.They flew down the path, the wheels rattling in the grooves so much Karl had to stiffen his neck to keep from getting whiplash.

“Who are you, exactly?”Ralph asked.

Karl wouldn’t have dared open his mouth, too afraid they would hit a bump and he would bite his tongue.That didn’t seem to deter Ralph or the dragon, who responded with an easy shrug.

“You may call me Lyric,” the dragon replied.“I am Melody—ah, Lady Ettine’s—older brother and her coconspirator in her escape plan.I believe I was betrayed and my part in her escape was revealed to my uncle, King Rikash.I will aid you in getting across the border, and I hope I might claim the same asylum as Melody.”

“I would think something can be arranged, but I will leave decisions like that to Their Majesties,” Ralph said.“I know any help getting us through this final checkpoint and into Toval would be much appreciated.”

“I’ll do my best,” Lyric replied, something cheeky in the sideways twist of a grin he shot them.

They lapsed into silence.Karl focused on the road ahead while trying not to worry about how close their pursuers were behind them.He couldn’t see anything, not even a dust cloud to indicate anyone might be there, but he had a feeling Lyric wouldn’t have revealed himself the way he had if the situation wasn’t dire.Divulging the secret of Yaroi’s royal magic couldn’t have come lightly to him, after all.

They had to slow the horses to a walk to rest them, and Tilly and Marc dashed around getting water and food to all the horses and humans.After a few miles, they picked up the pace again, although not as fast as the horses were tiring.Ralph glanced at the angle of the sun every few minutes, no doubt gauging how far they had traveled versus how far they still had to go.

Finally, Ralph nodded to himself.“Let’s slow up!”he called out.Tilly waved a hand in acknowledgement and the horses slowed to a walk.“Rub them down,” Ralph added.“I don’t want to look like we’re in any kind of hurry when we get to the border.”

Tilly and Marc set about the horses with brushes and water, cooling them down and removing any traces of lather or sweat.Emily had to dismount to walk, and Karl joined her, letting Lyric take his seat.

Even with both feet solidly on the ground, Karl’s bones still felt like they were vibrating, jostling and bouncing around under his skin as if he were still on the cart.His neck was aching from holding it stiff for so long, but that thankfully started smoothing out as he stretched his body into a walk.Eventually the internal rattling faded as well, although that took a lot longer.They picked up the pace a touch once the horses were ready, just enough to be faster than walking but nowhere close to their headlong pace from earlier, so the miles passed by quickly underfoot.

Karl kept glancing behind, waiting to see that telltale cloud of dust, which would indicate someone was coming, but he didn’t see anything.He faced forward again as they reached the top of a rise just in time to see their destination appear below.

The Eiroi River sparkled under the glow of the midmorning sun, a glittering ribbon cutting through eerily similar plains on either side.At the bottom of the rise, their last obstacle awaited.A large stone bridge crossed the river, which even from this distance looked too wide, deep, and fast flowing to ford.A small guardhouse graced each side of the bridge, and as their wagon came into view, guards came out of each.

Karl glanced over at Lyric, but he was smiling genially as if this was just a normal day for him.The others were professionals trained to bluff their way through.Only Karl appeared to be the weak link, but he had managed to get out of Yari, so he could do this too.He hoped.

Chapter Ten

“HALT!”ONE OFthe guards barked out as the wagon reached them.Tilly stopped the horses, and Ralph jumped down from the steering bench and approached the guards, his hands outheld at his sides to show he was unarmed.

“Good morning,” Ralph called out, a genial smile on his face.“Would you like to see our papers?We’ve traveled from Yari.”

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