read in her gaze. Their queen would welcome anyone without a place in this world into Bela. It was a land of the misfits, the persecuted. A kingdom free of the prejudices those with magic had experienced their entire lives.
Ara had never imagined she’d return home so soon, that her life as a spy would end in such a fashion.
A smile curved her lips. “What if I told you there’s a kingdom that will welcome you without questions? A land across the sea where rolling green hills provide hope for the hopeless. You’ve never seen anything as beautiful as Bela.” She could almost smell the clean, salty air.
“I’d say I didn’t believe such a place existed.”
“And what would you say if I wanted you to come there with me? This morning, you wanted to kill me, and this evening I’m hoping you want to love me. Eirick, I am a spy for Bela, but I betrayed my mission the day I fell in love with you.” She could never have imagined saying those words as he yelled at her hours before. But now, everything was different.
Eirick didn’t say anything for a long moment as he considered her words. When he met her eyes once more, a new sort of desperation shone in their depths. “I very much want to believe in this place you speak of.”
“And me?”
“You betrayed me, Ara. Repeatedly. And you saved me. I’m having trouble reconciling the person you are with the one I thought I knew.”
Her chest deflated, and she stepped back.
He refused to let go of her hand as he bent to stare at her. “But I’d like to try.” He pressed a kiss to the corner of her lips. “Because I fell in love with you too.”
A tear tracked down her cheek. In a single day, she’d both lost and gained everything.
Coughing interrupted their professions of love, and they both looked to Edmund.
“This is touching and all, but we don’t want to be here when Audun returns.”
All emotion faded from Eirick’s face, and he became the warlord Ara had first met. Cold, logical. “We’re only a day’s ride to the Madran border from here. Once we cross, we’ll be safe.”
He helped Ara lift Edmund to his feet and steadied him on the way out the back door, bringing none of his belongings. They’d find everything they needed across the border. She caught Eirick’s eye as they crossed the narrow alleyway to the barn behind his house. Maybe everything they needed was right here.
Eirick owned only two horses, neither of them particularly young. They pushed Edmund up onto a grey stallion, and Ara climbed up behind him.
Once Eirick mounted his white steed, they took off through the back alleyways of the Canan town, barreling past surprised citizens and warriors yelling their names.
Ara grew up in Gaule, where all those with magic were little more than prisoners. She’d lived her life in enemy territory, so as they found the road that would take them away from town, a grin formed on her lips.
Four years as a spy undone in a single day.
And she’d never felt more alive.
Flashing Eirick a grin, she gripped Edmund’s waist and urged the horse into a full gallop.
Once the town was out of sight, as dusk fell upon them, a rider rode into the middle of the road, lifting his arms to make them slow.
Ara pulled back on the reins as soon as she recognized Prince Quinn.
“You made it!” he yelled.
“Where are the others?” Edmund asked.
“I sent them on ahead.”
Ara’s brow furrowed. “Then why are you here?”
He narrowed his eyes like he didn’t understand the question. “I couldn’t leave anyone behind.”
A new appreciation for the annoying prince bloomed in Ara as she nodded. “Well, come on then. We need to get to the border.”
As night descended, the three horses didn’t slow.
Resting only once, they reached the border the next day with a brilliant blue sky replacing the stormy clouds of the day before, a sign that they’d left the darkness behind.
FIVE
ARA HAD ONLY seen Madra once before, when she first took on her mission as a spy. This time, she didn’t marvel at the extravagant palace or the sheer size of the capital. All she had eyes for was the ocean spanning the distance between Madra and Bela.
Three days later, they boarded a ship with Edmund and the other delegates for the two-day journey.
Eirick didn’t speak much on the trip. He stayed mostly below deck.