Free Destiny of the Light: Shadow Through Time 1 by Louise Cusack

she asked.
    He took a moment to speak. ‘My duty is to escort the White Princess to her brother.’
    ‘But … this is your girlfriend, your …’
    B ETROTHED.
    ‘Your betrothed.’
    He nodded. Something scary was happening behind his eyes but Khatrene wasn’t frightened by it. Even angry, Talis had the ability to make her feel safe.
    ‘So, what’s going to happen?’ she asked.
    Laroque cleared his throat and turned to explain to his Princess. ‘The King’s Counsel has ordered —’
    ‘Nothing which the White Princess cannot over-rule,’ Talis put in softly.
    Both Laroque and Khatrene turned to face him.
    ‘Pardon?’ she said.
    ‘Nephew, I do not think —’ Laroque began but Talis wasn’t listening.
    ‘Only the King may contravene the will of the White Princess,’ he said, his voice growing in confidence. ‘Should she order me to accompany you, Uncle, I would have no leave but to obey her.’
    ‘Obey
me
?’ Khatrene was having trouble keeping up with the conversation.
    Laroque frowned at Talis, then both men turned their gaze on her. Expectantly.
    ‘Princess?’ Talis prompted.
    She looked from one to the other, then shook her head. ‘I was a passenger a minute ago. I don’t think you should drag me into this.’
    ‘Perhaps not,’ Talis said, ‘but if you do not order me to go, my betrothed may die.’
    Khatrene and Talis stared at each other for several seconds before she said, ‘Oh. I see.’
    Laroque glanced at his nephew, then back to his Princess. ‘You must do as your conscience dictates, My Lady.’
    ‘My conscience?’ She didn’t know whether to laugh hysterically or cry hysterically. She was too tired to be making life and death decisions. What she needed was a nap.
    Talis touched her arm, his large, rough fingers closing over her pale flesh. When his eyes met hers, they were just as gentle. ‘Decide with your heart, Princess,’ he said, ‘and you will do no ill.’
    Khatrene nodded. ‘My heart. Right.’
    Help me here
, she asked, and to her everlasting relief, the voice replied immediately.
    Y OU KNOW WHAT MUST BE DONE .
    But what about Mihale?
    Y OU WILL SEE YOUR BROTHER SOON ENOUGH .
    And really, what choice did she have? What choice had Talis given her? Damn him. ‘All right, I order you to go,’ she said before she could change her mind. Talis barely had time to sigh with relief before she added, ‘But I’m going too.’
    Laroque shook his head. ‘This was the very thing which I —’
    She swung on her heel to march off but Talis was already moving.
    ‘My Lady!’ He stepped in front of her, cutting her off. ‘You must let another Guardian escort you to your brother. There could be danger’
    ‘Oh really?’ She gave him an interested glance. ‘You want it all your own way?’
    Talis opened his mouth, closed it again.
    She said, ‘Like it or not, you are my Champion and I’m staying with you.’ She glanced at Laroque. ‘He has to obey me, doesn’t he?’
    Laroque nodded solemnly. ‘Most certainly, Princess,’ he said. ‘As we all do.’
    ‘I must remember that,’ she said, thinking of Pagan. Then she glanced back at Talis. ‘So it’s settled. We’re all going.’
    He didn’t like it. Not one bit. But then again, neither did she.
    ‘My Lady,’ he said at last, civilly enough, but she could tell there was a whole lot more he wanted to say.
    The next few miles were trudged in prickly silence, on both sides. Khatrene wouldn’t look in Talis’s direction and he simply kept pace with her as they reached the end of the Plain and started into some vegetation which Khatrene was surprised to hear called a ‘forest’. There weren’t any trees, just tall, fungus growths with knobbly pineapple-skinned trunks rising out of a sea of fat, furry, tumbleweed shrubs. She searched in vain for green but found only brown. A whole spectrum of shades from cream through to dark chocolate. But still only brown.
    She couldn’t imagine what sort of weird creatures lived