An idea occurs to me then, and I’m speaking before I can even stop to consider it.
“Come with me,” I say, grabbing Tira’s hand. “The Temple will be looking for me too, but we can hide together.”
Tira bites her lip.
“Where would we go?”
“I’m going to find Will Mercer. He’ll help us.”
“Will?” Kit asks.
“He was the head guard at Gallawing,” Una explains. “Before that awful man replaced him.”
I can see on Tira’s face the offer is a lifeline, but a terrifying one. She’s never lived outside Otscold. She’s never been separated from her family.
Una takes a shuddering breath.
“Will is an honorable man,” she says to Tira. “And he’s a soldier. He could keep you safe.”
Tira looks ready to protest, but I cut her off.
“It could just be for a little while, until we know it’s safe for you to come home. And I’ll watch out for her too,” I say to Tira’s parents. “I promise.”
“I don’t doubt it,” Hale says. “I won’t claim to know if your magic is from holy sources, Morgana, but I know today you acted with the will of the gods.” He looks at Tira, tears brightening his eyes. “You should go. But you must be careful, Tira.” At this, he throws a meaningful look at Leon’s unit. The Holmses might trust me, but things are different when it comes to fae.
Tira looks at her family as if she can’t believe they’re even discussing this. I hate to tear her away from them, but selfishly, the idea of having her with me gives me more hope than I’ve had in a long time. Besides, she can’t stay here.
“It doesn’t have to be forever,” I remind her.
“Alright,” Tira says weakly. She stops and composes herself, then nods with more determination. “Alright, I’ll go.”
“We should all go,” Alastor says. “We need to get a head start on anyone who might be looking for us, and poor Eryx here won’t be happy if he loses a leg because we stood around chit-chatting.”
“We’ll need fresh horses,” Leon says to me, giving Alastor a subtle shove away from the Holms family. “The ones we borrowed from that inn by the dock were run ragged trying to get us here before you did anything drastic.”
I picture blasting Sophos off the platform with my solari magic and wonder how much drastic action they really prevented in the end.
“The time we gained traveling by boat will be lost if we continue to dawdle. Help Tira collect what she needs, and I’ll come get you,” he says.
I suppose it would be too much to expect the boat captain to wait for us with all these Temple clerics around here. He wouldn’t want them poking around in his business. We go through more tearful goodbyes at the tavern before we leave Otscold. It occurs to me that I’ve done this all before. The first time I planned to escape the village, I was trying to escape my guards. The second time I left Otscold, I did it as a princess and future queen. And now I’m a criminal. I try not to worry about what might come next.
Twenty minutes later, Leon comes to escort us to the edge of the village, where his unit wait with horses.
“The Temple’s,” he explains when I eye the well-kept animals. “But there was one less than there should’ve been. So now we know for certain Sophos got away.”
The fae mount their animals, and I accept the full-sized horse from Leon with apprehension. Tira, like me, was never taught how to ride. She hangs back nervously, clutching her pack. I’ve always known her to be brave and fierce, so seeing her so uncertain now pains me.
“You can ride with me, Tira,” I offer.
“Bad idea,” Alastor says. “You barely know what you’re doing.”
I glare at him.
“You’re welcome to share my saddle, Miss Tira,” Stratton says. He leans down to offer her his hand and one of his dazzling smiles.
Tira examines his outstretched fingers like they might bite, then cautiously takes them.
“Watch yourself,” I say to Stratton as he lifts Tira up behind him.
