Free Flight of the King by C. R. Grey

before Bailey’s eyes: a small, grayish-brown
animal pursuing the tiger.
    â€œWho’s watching you?” Bailey asked. “Is it Graves?”
    Bailey tried to focus, but he couldn’t connect strongly enough to get a clear answer. Instead, he just felt the longing that Taleth experienced. She wanted to stay close to the school,
close to Bailey. Bailey wanted that too, but it was impossible.
    â€œGo, get out of here,” he said, and his voice tightened. “You can’t stay here; it’s not safe.”
    Bailey pushed at Taleth’s flank, urging her to turn away. The tiger padded away a few paces from Bailey, then she stopped and looked out toward the dark. She turned back to him and
blinked.
    Just as if he had blinked too, all of a sudden, everything was darkness around Bailey. A cloth was thrown over his face and he was being lifted off the ground, away from Taleth. He instinctively
lifted his arms to rip the cloth away, but a strong hand grabbed his wrists. They’d been seen.
    â€œTaleth,” he cried out. “Run!”
    Part of him feared that she would stay and help him—but to his bittersweet relief, he heard a crashing in the bushes, and he knew that she had gone away to safety. He thrashed, trying to
break free. A fresh, throbbing pain broke out on his injured arm.
    Bailey was dragged, half standing, half stumbling, several yards away by someone who kept their arm locked around his middle.
    â€œWho are you?” Bailey yelled through the dusty cloth. It smelled like old potatoes. “What do you want?”
    â€œFor you to stop being such a nincompoop,” said a familiar voice. Bailey was thrown down on a soft patch of grass, and the brown potato sack was yanked off his head. Tremelo stood
over him.
    Bailey sat up. Gwen stood a few feet away, watching them. She was still wearing Phi’s too-small clothes, as well as a remorseful frown.
    â€œI told him it was a little extreme,” she said.
    â€œExtreme? That’s the best lesson plan I’ve put into action all year,” Tremelo said, tossing the sack aside to light his pipe. “You deliberately ignored everything I
told you when you returned to school. Running off into the woods with the Dominae just steps away—and asking Gwen to take part in a half-cooked, dangerous plan.”
    Bailey smoothed out his sandy hair, which had gotten mussed every which way by Tremelo’s clumsy kidnapping attempt. Of course Taleth had left him alone back there—she had sensed
Tremelo being
Tremelo
, and not any immediate danger to Bailey. Unless you counted severe annoyance as danger.
    â€œYou could have been killed if anyone else had found you first tonight!” Tremelo continued. “You’re lucky the girls brought Gwen to me; she may have just saved your
life!”
    â€œWhat do you mean?” Bailey asked, looking from Tremelo to Gwen.
    â€œI tried to tell you outside the assembly,” Gwen began. “I watched Viviana during her tour of the school this morning, from across the commons. I saw her send some men into the
forest, all spread out. They’ve been combing the woods all day.”
    Tremelo shook his head, and blew out a puff of smoke.
    â€œYou haven’t learned a thing since autumn,” he said.
    Bailey got to his feet, fighting the urge to mention that it was his idea for Gwen to spy, and that what she’d seen had proved useful. But only useful, he then realized, because he’d
disobeyed Tremelo’s orders.
    â€œI’m sorry,” he said instead.
    â€œCome on,” said Tremelo. “Quickly now, we can’t be seen. The others are waiting in my office. We have much to discuss.”
    Tori, Phi, and Hal jumped as Bailey, Gwen, and Tremelo entered. Outside in the halls, the sounds of whoops and laughter echoed as students made their way to dinner after an
afternoon of no classes. Tremelo locked both the classroom and office