“We’ve got a problem,” he said quietly.
“What sort of ‘problem’?” The earl’s eyes narrowed, and Merlin shrugged.
“Whoever’s in charge of chasing us is better at his job than I’d like,” he replied. “We’ve left anyone from Talkyra well behind, but unless I miss my guess, whoever they had tracking us initially had messenger wyverns with him. Between that and the semaphore, they’ve managed to figure out roughly where we were headed and get around in front of us.”
“What makes you think that, Seijin Merlin?” Irys asked.
“There’s someone on the other side of the valley ahead of us with a signal mirror,” Merlin replied. “I caught the flash from it just as we topped the ridge.”
“You did?” Coris’ tone sharpened. “Do you think they saw us?” he demanded, and Merlin shrugged again.
“Trust me, my eyes are better than most, and we weren’t deliberately reflecting sunlight at anyone the way they were.” He shook his head. “No, I don’t think they could’ve seen us… yet. The problem is they’re down-valley from us, which means they’re directly between us and where we have to go. And even though the ones I spotted may not’ve seen us, I’m reasonably sure there are additional parties sweeping the area. I don’t know if they’ve realized who we’re out here to meet or if they simply figure this is the valley we’re going to follow to get through the Sarmans, but that doesn’t really matter, does it?”
“No, it doesn’t,” Coris said slowly, eyes slitted as he thought hard.
“I know you don’t claim to be a seijin, Merlin,” he said after a moment, “but do you think you can pick a way through for us without our being spotted?”
“Maybe yes and maybe no,” Merlin replied after a moment. “I’m positive I’d be able to spot any of them before they spotted us, but that’s not the same as saying we could evade them all. If they’ve got the manpower to really sweep the valley, it’s likely we’d end up eventually with one-or more-search parties hard on our trail. And good as these horses are, they’re worn out. If they catch scent of us, they’ll be able to run us down before we can reach the rendezvous.”
There was silence, then Irys reached out and laid a hand on his forearm.
“You’ve got something in mind, Merlin,” she said softly, gazing up into his face. “What is it?”
“Well, the simplest way to keep them from chasing you is to give them something else to chase, Your Highness.”
“Such as?” she asked slowly, hazel eyes locked with his.
“Such as me,” he told her with a smile. “I leave you with the best, most rested of our horses, then I take all the others, ride off into the mountains, attract their attention, and lead them over hill and dale until they’re thoroughly lost… and you’ve reached the rendezvous.”
“I thought you just said their horses were going to be better than ours?” Irys said sharply, and he shrugged.
“True, but the ones I take with me won’t have anyone in their saddles, and without the weight of a rider, they’ll do pretty well.”
“‘Pretty well’ isn’t good enough if there are enough other horses that do have people in their saddles chasing you!” she snapped.
“You really are going to get along with Sharleyan,” he observed with a crooked smile.
“Don’t make silly jokes!” She stamped her foot at him. “I don’t care how mighty a warrior a seijin is. It’s not going to matter if enough of them catch up with you!”
“And they’re not going to catch up with me, Your Highness,” he assured her. She glared at him, and he shrugged. “You might ask Earl Coris about the visit my friend Ahbraim paid him. For that matter, you might think about the first time you and I met, Your Highness.” He shook his head. “Trust me, once it gets fully dark-especially in this kind of terrain-I’ll be able to slip away from them on foot without any problem. All they’ll catch up with in the end is a bunch of worn-out horses with no riders. In fact, I’d love to see their expressions when they do. I wonder if I can hang around close enough to actually watch?”
She glared at him, obviously unhappy with his airy assurance, and he looked at Coris over her head.
“She’s your Princess, My Lord,” he said. “Personally, I’m not going to be all that impressed if she decides to throw a tantrum. If she does, though, are you going to be able to handle her?”
“I’m not a piece of luggage to be handled!”
“No, but at the moment you’re not thinking very much like a princess, either,” Merlin pointed out, his tone suddenly much more serious than it had been. “Even assuming they were going to catch me-which they aren’t-it would be my job to lead them away and your job to make sure your brother gets to safety. Now, are you and I going to have to argue about this?”
She locked eyes with him for another moment. Then her shoulders slumped, and she sighed.
“No.” She shook her head unhappily. “No, we’re not going to have to argue about it. But be careful, Merlin. Please!”
“Oh, I’m always careful, Your Highness!” He leaned forward and, before she realized what he had in mind, gave her a quick peck on the cheek. She reared back in surprise, and he grinned unrepentantly. “Just for luck, Your Highness,” he assured her, and nodded to Coris, who was trying very hard not to laugh.
“Take care of her, My Lord.”
“I will,” Coris promised. “Well, Tobys and I will. And while we’re doing that, she’ll take care of Daivyn.”
“Are you going to tell him goodbye?” Irys asked quietly. He looked at her, and her smile trembled just a bit. “He’s lost most of the stability in his world, Merlin. Don’t just disappear.”
“A good point, Your Highness,” he acknowledged, and looked back at Coris.
“Straight down the river, My Lord. There’s a waterfall about twenty-five miles downstream. The boats are supposed to be waiting just below it.”
“And if they’re not there?”
“If they’re not there, my advice is to continue downriver, anyway. If they’re not at the rendezvous by the time you get there, they’re probably still on their way. Charisian seamen don’t turn back easily, you know. So if you just keep going, you’ll probably run into them.”
“‘Probably’ isn’t one of my favorite words when applied to desperate escapes,” Coris observed dryly. “Despite which, that sounds like the best advice.”
“One tries, My Lord.” Merlin bowed, then straightened, looking past him at Daivyn. “And now, if you’ll forgive me, I have to go tell a young man goodbye.”
“Is Seijin Merlin really going to be all right, Irys?” Prince Daivyn whispered urgently. He was mounted in front of Irys now, since hers was the freshest horse and she weighed the least of any of the experienced riders. He twisted slightly, looking up at her, his expression hard to see in the rapidly fading light. “Tell me the truth,” he implored.
“The truth, Daivy?” She looked down at him and hugged him tightly. “The truth is that I don’t know,” she admitted. “But if anybody in the whole wide world can do this, it’s probably him, don’t you think?”
“Yesssssss,” he said dubiously, then nodded. “Yes!” he said more firmly.
“That’s what I thought, too,” she told him with another hug.
“But how is he going to make sure they follow him? ” Daivyn demanded. “I mean, it’s getting awful dark. What if they don’t even see him?”
“I don’t know what he has in mind, Daivy, but from what I’ve seen of Seijin Merlin, I think we can predict it’s going to be something fairly… spectacular.”
Sergeant Braice Mahknash stood in the stirrups so he could massage his posterior. Hardened cavalryman that he was, he’d spent long enough in the saddle over the last two or three days to last him for months. But that was all right with him. He wanted the traitorous bastards who’d massacred so many of the Royal Guard. And the news that Earl Coris had betrayed his trust-actually taken Cayleb of Charis’ bloodstained gold and sold his own prince and princess to their father’s murderer-filled Mahknash with rage. He hoped Bishop Mytchail was wrong, that Coris and the so-called “ Seijin Merlin” wouldn’t really cut the prince’s and princess’ throats rather than allow them to be rescued, yet surely even that would be better than letting them be handed over to the heretic emperor and empress to be tortured into proclaiming their allegiance to Prince Hektor’s killers.