Page 90 of The Prince's Sacrifice

And then Tor stopped thinking and acted. He killed the first two attackers and injured the third badly enough that they were down. Then he didn’t parry fast enough and received a slice across the leg, but he was still standing, so it couldn’t have been vital. It was chaos after that, dealing and receiving various wounds, thankfully none of them fatal for Tor.

“Get the baby!” someone yelled.

Three of them rushed the cradle, and Tor dove after them, attacking viciously. He finally had to reach out and grab one with a strand of magic and fling them across the room.

“He’s not supposed to have any magic!”

Fleetingly, Tor considered that they seemed to be awfully very well-informed for mercenaries.

“But look at the color!” Another one yelled, the man grinning unpleasantly at Tor. “It’s killing him.”

The magic was getting darker and darker, and Tor was running out of time. Maybe he’d run out of time on the mountain, and he’d just borrowed the rest. If it saved Cala, it was worth it. He’d had months with Pel, and those were the best.

He killed two more, but he missed a third, and the stab to his side made him scream. He must have been Mantling, he realized, or he’d probably be dead. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he straightened and fought on.

He had no idea how long it had been, nor did he know how long it would take Pamuna to find Var, but he prayed this was long enough.

There was a commotion in the corridor, and Tor was momentarily distracted. One of the fighters reached the cradle, and he turned back with a look of confusion and outrage on his face.

“Hey, the baby—!”

Reacting instinctively, Tor dissolved the shield and threw the magic up to the ceiling even as he stumbled to the window. He pulled with all his strength, both magical and physical. A tear resonated deep inside him, an awful unmoored feeling, somewhere he wasn’t supposed to touch.

With a great cracking sound, the ceiling began to cave in, and Tor threw himself out the window thinking of rope and magic and safety andPeleven as the world wavered and went black.

Chapter Seventeen

Pamuna

Swinging on a rope of magic that was killing Prince Torex and climbing through a window while carrying a baby wasn’t something Pamaeverwanted to do again. But she was chillingly aware that she’d been waiting to die beside her charge in the nursery before he arrived.

She’d tried to tell herself that the guards would arrive in time. There’d been enough fighting beyond the doors that she was suresomeguards were defending the nursery—but as the fight had gone on and the battering against the door had grown more frequent, she’d feared the protection wasn’t enough.

She still wasn’t sure she should have left Prince Torex, but he was right that Princess Cala had to be protected. Pama had sworn to protect the baby, and while she hadn’t really envisioned it would be with her life, she would do what needed to be done.

Prince Torex had given her clear orders that she could obey. She was a little embarrassed by how relieved she was that he’d taken charge and laid out a clear path to follow. It made her feel less responsible for leaving him in that room. She’d have to grapple with that… later, once Cala was safe.

Because now she had to figure out how to execute Prince Torex’s last order. The room she was in was dark and quiet. She was tempted to just hide here until it was all over—which might even be the smart optionifit was over soon.Ifwhoever was after them didn’t realize the baby was gone.Ifthey didn’t start a search.

Pama had watched one of the guards try to let the attacking force into the nursery. She didn’t know who to trust—except for Torex, who adored Cala, and who’d ordered her to get the baby to her father.

So that’s what she would do. One hand on the baby, thankfully still quiet under the blanket, Pama inched her way through the room and cracked open the door. There was no sign of anyone, though she could hear distant sounds of yelling. Were those all coming from the nursery? She needed to get away from the area.

She didn’t understand how anyone could go after a baby, and she didn’t want to think about how many people had died to protect Cala—or how many might be dying right now to give Pamuna this time. It made it doubly important that she do as instructed, that she get the baby to the High King—and only him.

He would have all his magic, and he’d be able to protect Cala from everyone. Pamuna had seen the shields and avatars Torexand his brother could make at full strength. Yes, getting Cala to her father was the smartest course of action.

She blew out a breath. If she were the High King, where would she be? She didn’t think he would simply stay in his quarters in the middle of all this chaos, but it seemed the most likely place to start.

She crept along, trying to keep to the shadows and the least used hallways—which lasted until she ran into a mercenary who was doing the same thing.

He looked startled to see her, but before she could even react, he was slashing at her with his sword. She screamed and tumbled to the ground from the force of the thrust, but she didn’t seem to be dead. So she grabbed her knife and stabbed upward, catching him in the leg.

He let out a roar of pain, and she just kept slashing with her knife.

Someone was screaming.

The man attacking her was suddenly wrenched away, and Pama thrust out with her knife again, but a voice was calling her name.