Way of No Return (Champions of the Crystal Book 8)

Chapter 13.4

"Did you run all the way up here?" Sabrina asked as Kendara dropped into a chair.

"Yes, ma'am. Pickets are posted," she replied. "And I brought this." She held up Ranja's pad. "Before you look at it, I want you to know that the prince lives. Don't be frightened."

Sabrina raised her eyebrows as she took the pad. Everyone gathered around her chair and watched Ford's confrontation with the Reissians, with muffled exclamations when it looked like he was about to be beheaded.

"But how can the Inheritor be there?" Merith asked when the vid was finished.

"That's Mara, in disguise. I recognize the grass people," Sabrina replied. She was smiling ruefully. "Oh, Ford must have enjoyed that. I'm glad I didn't see it live."

"He missed his calling," Cynthia said. "He'd be right at home on Broadway, wouldn't he?"

"No," Sabrina said. "If he lived on Earth he'd be holed up in the basement at M.I.T. thinking up ways to save the world and enjoying the adulation of scientific conferences. That scene there was right out of a fairy tale. There really is a story about Prince Xabahgh the sixteenth calling up the rocks and trees to fight for him. I don't remember the grass, but that might have been a substitution because there weren't any trees in the immediate area. And I don't remember exactly, but I'm betting that speech was more or less in the story as well."

Seuréa said, "I liked it. I wish I'd been there!"

"But you were, as far as everyone else is concerned," Sabrina said. "And that, I think, was the point. Mara is trying to draw the Kyan back into the city so they won't find us."

Evis said, "They'll also be easier targets if they're not scattered throughout the mountains when the fleet gets here."

"True. But we can't take it for granted that they'll all go back to the city," Sabrina mused. "We should still make an evacuation plan."

Kendara said, "I asked around. There is an old ore mine not far from here—one of the entrances is down by the river a few miles up. It was an emergency exit, so it's not very far from an emergency shelter with an infirmary. If we have to run, I think we should run there. The remnants of the ore will protect us from scans, and we'll be relatively comfortable."

"Good," Sabrina said. "Go check it out when you've rested. Cynthia, do you mind going with her?"

"Not at all. I could use some exercise," Cynthia replied.

"The fleet should be arriving today or tomorrow," Sabrina said. "Hopefully we'll be able to stay here until we can go home. Although I'm pretty sure there's a lot of hard work ahead before the palace is livable again. Assuming the Reissians haven't burned it down by now."

"Then we will just rebuild," Ranja said cheerfully. "Meanwhile, I'm sure you can have your pick of homes to rent."

Sabrina smiled at her, then looked at Cynthia. "I'm sorry to disappoint you; I'm sure you were expecting a life of luxury, not homelessness."

"From what I hear, you have other homes," Cynthia replied. "Including a lovely beach house."

"Assuming it survived intact," Sabrina said. "If that's where they caught Mira—" She broke off, swallowing hard, and put an arm around Seuréa.

"It can't have been," Evis said. "They didn't catch her right away, and she wouldn't have stayed there to be found."

"Anyway, I need to stay in Bathir close to the capital until after the baby's born. When she's old enough to travel I'll show it to you," Sabrina said.

"No hurry," Cynthia said. "Although it sounds like we're all going to need a vacation when this is over."

Sabrina chuckled. "My vacations have a way of going horribly awry," she said. "Be careful what you wish for."