The Choice of Magic - Michael G. Manning Page 0,184
survive a lot longer than you expect.”
“You’re a fool.”
He nodded and got to his feet. Isabel did the same. “Wait,” she told him. “I have a solution.”
“What?”
Drawing herself up and straightening her back proudly, Isabel proclaimed, “William Cartwright, I order you to infiltrate the enemy camp and attempt to destroy their supply line. You are to leave in one hour.” Then she relaxed. “If it’s an order, you’re a patriot, not a deserter.”
He laughed. “I’m not your servant. I thought I made that clear, and besides, who are you to give orders to the army?”
Isabel’s expression failed to conceal the mischief in her eyes. “Someone you shouldn’t trifle with—as you did this morning.”
“Trifle?” asked Will, confused.
“I felt you sniffing my leg,” she accused.
Flabbergasted, he protested, “You shoved me under there! I was just trying to breathe. You nearly suffocated me!”
It was her turn to laugh then. After she had recovered, she told him, “Wait here. I’ll go make this official. I’ll be back in an hour with your escort.”
“Escort?”
She nodded primly. “You’re taking a sorcerer with you. You’ll need some real power to make the most of this scheme of yours, even if you can sneak in there.” Isabel untied her horse and leapt into the saddle with practiced ease. Then she stopped. “Do you need a mount?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think it would be safe to bring a horse along the route I’m taking.” He felt rather uncertain about her suggestion that he bring a sorcerer, but he had to admit that it would open up more possibilities. Worst-case scenario they die, and I can free another elemental, he told himself.
“How about supplies? You don’t look like you brought much.”
“I already have everything that I need waiting for me,” he answered.
“What about for your escort?”
“There’s plenty for him too,” said Will.
“One hour,” she reiterated, and then she was gone.
Will walked a little farther down while he waited, until he spotted the trail that led to the spring. Then he sat down in the grass beside the road. Mentally he reviewed their conversation, chuckling at parts of it. He wasn’t sure how much he should believe. She had certainly showed considerable influence over Lord Fulstrom, but he wasn’t sure if that would carry over to Lord Nerrow.
There was also a significant chance that she would fail. The next people he saw might be a contingent of soldiers sent to arrest him, but that didn’t bother him too much. So long as he stayed alert, he could easily get to the spring and escape before they could lay a hand on him.
An hour and a bit more passed before he spotted a figure coming up the road toward him. The newcomer was hidden by a long, white cloak trimmed in fur. He goggled at it. Is that arctic fox? How much would a thing like that cost?
He judged the stranger to be of average height for a man, though he possessed a slight build. Had there been anyone like that in the camp? Surely, he would have remembered a thin, rich fop of a sorcerer if he had seen one. The stranger kept his head down, face hidden by the hood of his cloak until he came abreast of Will.
Will watched as the stranger threw back the hood of the cloak and flashed a smile at him. It was Isabel.
“Oh, hell no!” declared Will.
“I was the only sorcerer available,” she told him proudly.
“I’m not taking you,” he growled.
One of the elementals above her flashed, and turyn began to flow. The ground started to tremble. “I think you are,” she said firmly. “But if you think you need more time in your cage to think things over, I can arrange that for you.”
He bowed his head in defeat. “Fine, but only under protest.”
Isabel pulled something from under her cloak and pushed it into his arms. “Here. I’m tired of carrying this. It’s heavy.” It was the bag with his mail.
Will pushed it back. “That’s not mine.”
“You’re still a soldier,” she insisted. “I gave you this free of obligation.”
“I can accept no debts,” said Will, then he remembered what she had said about apologies. “It’s the way I was raised.”
Frustrated, Isabel glared at him. “I’m not carrying this for the entire trip. How much money do you have?”
Will frowned. “Six silver clima.”
She held out her hand. “Give it to me.”
Fishing around in his coin purse he found the money and held it out. “What do you want with it?”