The Outcast (Summoner #4)(41)

“What good would capturing us do?” Josephine demanded, her words verging on a wail. “Our parents control everything, not us!”

“Exactly,” Edmund replied. “With a knife to our throats, they would be able to make our parents do whatever they wanted.”

“Not mine,” Harold said, shaking his head. “My father would never bow to their demands, the stubborn old goat. I’d die for sure.”

“Even if our parents did not love us, the consequences of our deaths would be too costly,” Edmund said, shaking his head. “We are not just their children—most of us are their heirs, their firstborn.”

“Only the firstborn are guaranteed to be born summoners,” Arcturus murmured, understanding dawning on him. If the firstborns were killed, the ability to summon might be lost to their families forever.

“I’m not a firstborn,” Elaine whispered, nudging Arcturus. “My brothers can summon. Will I—?”

“No,” Arcturus said, forcing a smile. “Your parents would never let that happen.”

Elaine gripped his hand, and he felt the weight of her Mite, Valens, alighting on his shoulder. Sacharissa nuzzled the young girl’s waist, and she stroked the demon’s shaggy coat.

“So what’s the plan?” Josephine asked desperately. “Shall we head for the bridge?”

“No,” Edmund said. “There are two ways into Raleighshire. One is across that bridge to the north, and the other is a pass south through the mountains, which will lead us into the orc jungles anyway. With an attack this well organized, we can assume they will have blocked both routes.”

“Well, whatever your decision, you had better make it soon,” Rotter snapped. “They’ll be sending out search parties as soon as night falls, if not sooner. And they have hunting dogs with them.”

Prince Harold cursed.

“We won’t last more than a few hours; the dogs will follow our scent right to us. Not nearly enough time to send for help.”

“So do we fight?” Zacharias said. For all his bravado, the blond noble looked terrified.

But Arcturus could take no satisfaction from it. Not in their predicament.

“There’s a rocky outcrop not too far from here,” Edmund said. “If we run we might be able to make it there, fortify it.”

“With what, sticks and rocks?” Josephine muttered. “That’s suicide. I’d rather surrender and let our parents deal with it.”

“It’s your father’s fault anyway!” Zacharias pointed an accusatory finger at Harold. “So what if he has to give up the throne. That’s what they want, right?”

“I don’t deny it,” Harold said simply.

More silence, broken only by Zacharias’s angry breathing.

“Let me think,” Edmund murmured, gripping the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

It was almost dark now, and Arcturus could see the sun was just a sliver of orange on the horizon. Despair gripped him as the light faded, and his thoughts turned to Crawley’s offer. What if he surrendered … would he have to join the rebel commoners? Should he?

But how could he betray his friends … and who knew if the rebels would succeed? If they did, he would be hanged as a traitor with the rest of the nobles.

“Doesn’t your family have men protecting the mountain pass?” Zacharias asked Edmund, interrupting Arcturus’s thoughts. “Maybe the rebels haven’t gotten to them yet.”

“Even if that was the case, there are barely a score of them, mostly retired soldiers that my father didn’t have the heart to fire,” Edmund replied. “His personal guard went with him on his trade mission. They timed this attack well.”

“Do you have any better ideas?” Zacharias snapped.

Edmund gazed toward the town, his brows furrowed.

“There’s something else. But … no.”

“Tell us,” Alice said. “If there’s even a chance … we should take it.”

Edmund sighed, indecision plain on his face.

“Hurry,” Rotter hissed. “We have to go!”

“There’s a secret passage,” Edmund said. “Beneath a statue opposite the old church in Raleightown. But … it leads into the orc jungles, beyond the mountain pass.”

“You want us to go toward them?” Zacharias snarled. “And then into orc territory? Are you crazy?”

“The dogs aren’t tracking our scent yet,” Edmund said. “If we go back to the town, they won’t have a trail to follow. Maybe we can hide in the passageway until help arrives.”

“The path back is clear,” Rotter said. “I just came from there.”

“So that’s it?” Alice asked, gazing back at the town’s distant lights. “That’s our best plan?”

Edmund turned to Harold, and the prince gave him a grim nod.

“We go back,” Edmund said firmly. “And hope we survive the night.”





CHAPTER

23

THE GROUP CROUCHED IN the long grass outside the town, staring into the glow of torches. The air was filled with the barking of dogs, and the shouts of angry men.

Arcturus tried not to look at the blood that stained the dry soil, or the wide, staring eyes of the men that lay dead around them. And the soldiers were not the only corpses that had been left to the wild jackals.