Page 112 of The Mage and His Stolen Prince
Maximus’ eyes widened at my sudden coughing fit. “Are you alright?” He reached into his pack and pulled out a canteen of water.
I took a long drink, buying myself time to think of an explanation. Something that would smooth away Maximus’ hostile edges. “Wilde’s not wrong,” I said slowly.
Maximus pursed his lips and took the canteen back from me. He raised it to his own mouth to drink from it, maintaining eye contact with me the whole time, waiting for me to say something worth his while.
“He is … different though. I think there’s a lot of fucked up things going on in his head.”
“That would make anyone dangerous. It’s worse that he’s a mage. We shouldn’t have allowed him to join us.”
Why did he have to be so damn stubborn? “Wilde’s trying his best.”
“Best is subjective. If he’s evil, the ‘best’ thing he could do is lead us all into a trap.”
My heart sank as I realized Maximus was directing his ire at the wrong person. It wasn’t Wilde who had once led the royal champions directly into the Lord of Grimnight’s trap. Wilde had been part of the plan, I had enough vague recollections to know that, but he wasn’t the one who convinced the royal champions to go on a quest. Who had protected them through the woods only to hand them to the villain on a silver platter. Maximus deserved to understand that I was the one who had betrayed them. “Maximus—”
Delilah scampered back to us, holding her finger to her lips to signal silence.
I pressed my lips together. This wasn’t the best time to explain the time resets to Maximus anyway. The information I could share with him would be just enough to be dangerous.
“What is it?” I mouthed.
“Minions,” she mouthed back.
Angelica and Fitz had already slipped between two houses, their backs pressed against an ivy-covered wall. Angelica jerked her head toward the other side of the ‘road’, indicating that we should split up. It’d be better if we weren’t all caught in one place.
Delilah hurried over to a building and crouched low to the ground, her head peeking around the corner to keep an eye on the people approaching. Maximus joined her and gestured at me, but as I started to follow, I glimpsed a massive silhouette. If I ran, the movement would catch their eye. If I moved too slowly, they’d reach me before I found cover.
I ducked behind a wide trunk instead, arms and legs pressed against my body so none of me stuck out around the side. The uneven spacing between the trees would hopefully hide me from a distance.
“You really think there are adventurers headed to the lair?” one minion asked. Though they’d whispered, their low voice carried through the trees.
“Wilde said they should arrive soon, so we have to keep a lookout.” There was a soft smack of skin against skin. “Which means you need to shut your mouth and open your eyes, so we don’t lose sight of them.”
My breath caught in my lungs. Wilde had warned them we were coming?
The heat of Maximus’ accusatory stare burned me even from a dozen feet away.
Two huge orcs passed close to my tree. One of them carried a club, the other an enormous battle axe that could chop through me like kindling. The first orc paused and sniffed the air. “You smell something … perfumy?”
The other paused and lowered his voice. If I’d been farther away, I would have missed the words. “What kind of perfume?”
“Not sure. ‘S nice though. Kind of orangey. Maybe Dreamweed?”
“Fuck, hope it’s not more of those flying pigs. I swear, you kill one, and the swarm follows.”
“Report to the master, or look around?”
Report to your master,I silently urged.
The second orc paused for a long time. “You report, I’ll search the area.”
Fuck. I slowly slid around the trunk, hoping to keep the tree between me and them.
Delilah watched me with huge eyes. She waved for me to join their hiding spot. I shook my head. Her gesturing became even more frantic until she suddenly stilled.
I slowly turned my head to the side and peered into huge, glittering black eyes. A tusked mouth split into a wide grin. “Boo.”
I punched him in the face.
