Page 45 of The Prince's Sacrifice

The part of the shield they were standing right next to just… disappeared. It was like it dissolved, but Tor already had another shield up over top of it, so as it disappeared, they were suddenly in one big shield that now had some space in the middle.

And standing startled and fearful across from them were far too many children, some holding babies or clutching the hands of toddlers. There were some people aged right to be mothers and fathers, but mostly, it looked like grandparents and young children. Too many of them were crying, and there were shrieks of fear as the lightning flashed and the rocks continued to batter the shield.

“Over here!” Pel called, raising his voice as loud as he could. “We need to pack together so Tor can keep the shield up. We need to make it smaller. Come on! Over here! Tell the person behind you. We’ve got to get closer together.”

The exile added his voice to Pel’s, and Cavun was motioning people along. After a startled moment, they did as asked, walking and running the distance between them. It couldn’t have been more than ten yards, maybe not even that, but it feltlike an immense distance, knowing Tor was maintaining this space through sheer force of will.

“Come on!” Pel exhorted them. “Everyone, make friends with the person standing next to you. It’ll be all right. We’ve all got to deal with our neighbor’s cold, wet clothes, just like they have to deal with ours!”

The looks of terror eased a little on some of the children. Some of the adults were looking at Pel incredulously, but he’d do whatever worked today.

“Tight as you can!” Cavun was calling.

“Everyone together now!” the exile shouted.

Pel and Tor were now half surrounded by children who were goggling at them with wide eyes.

There was a tug on his tunic, and Pel looked down into the face of a little boy. He was dirty and as wet as the rest of them, with dark hair, eyes, and skin.

“Are you doing that, mister?”

Someone else shushed him.

Pel smiled and squeezed Tor’s arm. “It’s my friend Tor who’s doing it. But it’s really hard to keep up a shield so big, so that’s why everyone’s packing together. It means he can make the shield a bit smaller, and that’s easier for him.”

Tor didn’t appear to notice the exchange. He seemed to be focused on something Pel couldn’t see, maybe his magic deep inside himself. He was too pale, and Pel could see tension in every line of his body.

Everyone in the vicinity was peering anxiously at Tor, and Pel couldn’t really blame them. Most of them would never have seen an Extraordinary shield, certainly not one as big as this, not one that was literally all that was standing between them and certain death.

It was incredible… and also terrifying. Pel had thought he hadn’t liked to be in the shield Tor had constructed aroundhim first when Pel had attacked him over the misunderstanding about Lashuna and then to demonstrate to Larexa. Pel had been infuriated the first time and distinctly uneasy the second, but he realized now just how little he’d beenafraid. Even once he’d seen the strength of the shield and its ability to crush things, he’d never actually worried that Tor would harm him.

He’d been inconvenienced and irritated, not trapped. Now, though? The top of the shield couldn’t be more than a foot or so above Pel’s head, less than that for Tor and Cavun and the tall people present.

Pel wondered how much everyone wished they’d just stayed in bed tonight. Pel desperately wished they’d never left the castle. Quiet conversations had sprung up around them in a few places, impossible to make out over the sound of the rocks and the thunder. Were those noises getting a little less frequent? Or maybe that was just wishful thinking on his part.

Many people were quiet and anxious, staring with wary, fearful eyes. This was probably the weirdest inadvertent gathering Pel had ever been a part of. Most people were dirty in addition to being soaking wet. Some were injured, and most had been trying desperately to kill one another not very long ago.

It was amazing how nature’s wrath could unite everyone in a common goal. Pel wondered if it was the goddess’s way of showing her displeasure about what was going on. He certainly couldn’t envision anything else that would have stopped the fighting. But they were far from out of danger. The shield was getting buried in rock, and—

Pel sucked in a shuddering breath, his whole body tensing. Was the shield goingpink? He stared fixedly, and the longer he stared, the more certain he was. The shield wasn’t pure white anymore. It had taken on a pink tinge.

Everyoneknew the danger of this, even Unremarkable who had so little magic that it was practically impossible for them toendanger themselves. Pel had only ever heard of it happening in the war, and he still didn’t understand what Unremarkable had been doing that had caused them to use their magic in a dangerous way. But it had happened to everyone during the war, Unremarkable, Illustrious, and Extraordinary.

They were fine when the magic was pure white. When it began to go pink, core magic was beginning to be used, the center of their being. The magic would grow darker and darker until it went blood red. Using the last of the core magic was fatal. Every time.

Everyone knew that as soon as you saw pink tingeing your magic, you stopped what you were doing immediately. The magic would recover with time and rest, but you couldn’t keep using it.

“Tor!” Pel said urgently, and his eyes snapped open. “You’re using too much magic.”

Tor gave him a strained smile, the reality of what they were facing stark in his blue eyes. “I know.”

Because Tor wasn’t going to stop. He wasn’t about to bring down his shield voluntarily. After all, what was the alternative? Putting up a tiny shield around Pel and Tor and letting everyone else die? Picking a small group who got to live?

Tor wouldn’t do it, and Pel knew he wouldn’t. He wouldn’t save himself at their expense. Pel swallowed thickly. He understood. He would unquestionably make the same choice. And yet he couldn’t bear the thought of watching the other man sacrifice himself trying to keep everyone alive—especially people who’d been trying not that long ago to kill one another.

Pel was going to punch Sir Cloril in the face the next time he saw him.AndKing Forex. If they hadn’t been so pig-headed, none of this would have happened.

He could feel frantic energy building in him, the desperate need to do something… when he was completely powerlesswith nothingtodo. His brain flitted from thought to thought, desperately trying to come up with a solution, a way to help.