Page 26 of The Sunbound Princess
“Come on. It’s past lunch time, and I’m fucking starving.”
“You sure? I thought you recognized the men from the poster.”
“Eh. Maybe. Maybe not.” The first knight paused. Then came the sound of someone gathering phlegm in their throat.
Bel tensed. Her hair tickled my nose. A subtle scent drifted from the crown of her head. Dark and flowery. A little spicy.
Jasmine, I realized. She smelled of jasmine.
The unmistakable sound of spitting sounded overhead.
Nikolas turned his gaze to mine, his expression mildly appalled.
“I don’t think it was them,” the first knight said. “Let’s go.”
The knights’ horses trampled the forest floor above us, the retreating hoofbeats gradually fading to silence. After a moment, Bel pulled my hand from her mouth.
“Sorry,” I murmured.
She flung the dried and dead foliage off us, then scrambled from the hollow. Her golden eyes glittered as she glared down at me and Nikolas. “You’re going to get me thrown into prison!”
Nikolas pulled a leaf from his coat. “Oh, we’re much more likely to swing.”
Her nostrils flared. “That’s worse, not better!”
I stood, then turned in a slow circle, listening for any sign of the knights. When the forest remained silent, I faced Bel. “We need to get to Saldu.”
Her eyes widened. “And encounter even more knights? We’ll be caught.”
“Not so,” Nikolas said, standing. “It’ll be easier to blend in. The city is the best place for us.” He gestured to Bel. “Besides, that’s where your magic wants to go.”
As if he’d summoned it, the magic pulsed in my chest, urging me to move up the incline and back toward the road.
Bel pressed her lips together, anger and indecision in her big eyes. But recognition gleamed there, too. She felt the pull as keenly as I did.
Light streaked down the incline, and Helios halted steps away. “Are you all right?” he asked Bel. “I was worried sick. The humans left. I thought they were going to squat in the road forever.”
“I’m fine,” she said, going to him. She brushed his fiery arm, then turned back to me and Nikolas. “We’ll continue to Saldu.”
Helios shoved his spectacles higher, his body dimming as he scowled. “I don’t like it.”
“You don’t have to,” I said, “but I don’t think we have much choice.” At least, Bel and I didn’t. The connection was stronger than ever.
For better or worse, we were going to Saldu.
Chapter
Seven
NIKOLAS
We didn’t encounter any more knights on the road to Saldu. Just a few farmers hauling cartfuls of onions and apples. I pinched a few of the latter, passing them to Dain and Bel when the farmers weren’t looking.
Bel frowned with disapproval when I pressed the apple into her hand. Then her stomach growled, and I winked at her as I bit into my own apple.
The fruit was a lucky find because the meadow yielded little in the way of game. If rabbits inhabited the rolling hills, I didn’t see any.
“Nothing but chipmunks,” Dain mumbled, voicing my next thought.
