Page 49 of The Prince's Sacrifice

Thankfully, it was exactly the reminder everyone needed of what had just happened and the real possibility that they were still in danger from more than each other.

And a voice piped up, “All hail the High King! Praise to the High Prince!”

There was silence for a moment and then a swell of sound, “All hail the High King! Praise to the High Prince!”

For a moment, the cry echoed through the air.

And then Gremuna’s voice, crisp and clear, sounded out. “About face! Retreat!”

In a more or less orderly fashion, the guards turned around and began to pick their way back down the mountain. Since the path curved, the ones at the front immediately disappeared from sight. The injured got put in the middle, and Gremuna made sure there was an able-bodied rear-guard.

Pel had to admire that she stayed until the end and made sure her people were safe. Looking back, he saw that the exiles had done the same. The fighting force was there, waiting to ensure they weren’t needed, with the hazel-eyed man at the front. He inclined his head at Tor, who inclined it back, and then he turned and was gone as well.

Able to watch them now, Pel realized that the exiles were slipping along a path that he could barely discern, one that was just past the edge of Tor’s shield keeping the landslide from reaching them. Had Tor made sure earlier that the exiles had a way to escape? He reallydidthink on his feet.

Tor waited until everyone was gone, and then he let the vertical shield fall.

“I think we should probably move to the head of the path before I release the shield covering the landslide.”

Pel, Beluna, and Cavun all moved with alacrity to get out of the way, and as soon as they were clear, the final shield dissolved. A number of rocks immediately slithered down the side of the rockslide, sending more dust up into the air, but thankfully, they were relatively small.

Tor smiled at Pel, face tired but shining with triumph.

And then he said, “I think I’m going to fall over.”

He promptly did so, and Pel managed to lessen his collapse but not prevent it, winding up on the ground with him. Pel’s heart jumped into his throat.

“Hey,” he said, leaning in to press a kiss to the other man’s cheek. “That was the most amazing thing that I’ve ever seen. You aresoamazing.”

Tor smiled at him… and then Pel watched as his eyes rolled back in his head, and he passed out.

Pel fumbled desperately to check Tor’s pulse and sagged with relief when it was still there, though it was slower than Pel liked.

Beluna and Cavun were kneeling beside them a moment later. They got Tor arranged more comfortably, and Beluna quickly checked him over for injuries, just in case. Thankfully, there were none. Magical exhaustion was the most likely culprit.

Pelstilldidn’t understand what had happened, but Tor had clearly used more magic than any person should have.

“We need to get off the mountain,” Pel told them.

They weren’t going to be able to get Tor any help up here.

Cavun scooped Tor into his arms, and they began to pick their way carefully down the mountain. They didn’t have Tor’s magic grips to assist them now. The fact that the rain had lessened definitely helped; the fact that hundreds of people had tromped through here? Not so much. It was still slick and muddy and dangerous.

Pel’s heart was in his throat any time any of them slipped a little, especially Cavun, but he was remarkably sure-footed overall. Pel had to still the silly urge to insist that he be the one to hold Tor. Cavun was doing the best job, and there was no way that Pel could carry Tor down a mountain.

Pel couldn’t remember where they’d left Denil and the horses, but they finally passed through the area of the original landslide. If more rocks had fallen thanks to the most recent landslide, they’d thankfully been cleared again by the passing guards.

Beluna led the way, Cavun carried Tor in the middle, awkwardly sideways, and Pel made a very anxious rear guard as they inched their way through the narrow space.

Denil was apparently on the lookout for them, because they hadn’t been traveling for very much longer before they heard a call.

“Hsst.”

They found him by an overhang of rock that looked like it led to a cave of some sort. He looked agitated… and horseless. His expression only grew more worried when he saw Tor.

“Is he all right?”

“Magical exhaustion, probably,” Pel said, surprised that his voice came out mostly steady.Please, let it just be that.“But we need a horse to get him down the mountain.”