Page 132 of A Touch of Poison
Stags and hinds snorted and pawed the ground, picking up on the fear and anticipation. With low words in the ancient tongue, stable hands calmed the creatures and warned them of what was to come.
Trainees and those with only basic weapons, I ordered to help civilians. Panic was as much our enemy as the Horrors themselves. They would help get people indoors to safety, coordinating with the lookouts to keep them away from the roaming monsters.
I barked order after order, muscles tight and ready. I should be out there finding her, not here dispatching units to different quarters of the upper and lower city.
The Head of the Palace Guard, Evin, arrived and I gestured for him to take over, but he shook his head and motioned for me to continue.
Those with enchanted weapons, I split between him, his first and second in command, and myself—a dozen per group.
The Queensguard and Kingsguard would keep to the palace—a last line if it was needed.
I prayed to every last god that they wouldn’t be.
We mounted and rode out. I flew across the bridge, barely registering the sheer drop.
How did the Horrors get past the wardstones? Past the patrols? The questions burned in me, but they would have to wait until the threat was neutralised.
We passed abandoned stalls, chestnuts burning on portable stoves. The smoke blotted out most scents, but they wouldn’t be enough to cover the stink of Horrors once we got close.
One stove had been tipped over, and I jerked my chin for a guard to speak over the fire and quench it. They weren’t meant to spread, but if Horrors sucked up the magic, it might turn into a normal fire—as hungry and deadly.
We had enough to deal with for one day.
We aimed for the screams coming from the lower city. In a neighbouring quarter, it sounded like the monsters had breached the upper city, but that was Evin’s problem to deal with.
As I rounded a corner, I picked out a flash of red hair against a wall. Kat? My heart leapt.
But when I slowed, I saw it was lighter—strawberry blond rather than rich red. “Rose?”
She slipped from the doorway, a larger shape unfolding behind her—Faolán. Just the two of them. Kat had to be safely indoors somewhere with Ella, Perry, and Ariadne.
“Stars above, am I glad to see you.” I flashed them a grin, which neither returned. “You’re both all right? No injuries?” I examined them more closely. No sign of blood.
Rose kept her eyes downcast, and Faolán edged forward, placing his shoulder between us.
“What’s…?” I frowned between them. “Where are the others?”
His nostrils flared as he raised his chin. “Ari, Ella, and Perry are holed up in the shop. Asher’s stationed himself there healing folk who need it. They’re assisting with bandages, triage, that sort of thing.”
“Ari, Ella, Perry,and Kat, you mean.”
My heart beat harder with every moment it took Faolán to reply.
His throat rose and fell in a torturous swallow, but it was Rose who looked up, eyes wide, and asked, “She isn’t with you?”
The street tilted. For a second, I thought I was falling from my stag.
But no. It wasn’t me falling. It was the entire world.
“Why would she be with me? She went to the festival with you. You were meant to be—”
Faolán’s growl made my stag toss his head. “She headed back to the palace to findyou.”
She hadn’t made it.
Rose’s eyes filled with tears. “It… it was just before the attack began.”
More screams pierced the air. They could be Kat’s. And even if they weren’t, they belonged to people relying on us—onme.
