Free Allegiance by Cayla Kluver Page B

you, in which case our Queen would now be in their hands.”
    He continued, making a sweeping motion around our shelter with his arm. “I brought you here because I’m not convinced they failed to see you. And even if you didn’t attract the enemy’s attention, you would have spent a miserable night with no shelter and no ability to defend yourself. You could have been attacked by an animal, you could have fallen in the river as you did once before, you could have gotten lost!”
    I hated how annoyed he was with me but couldn’t help noticing how much he sounded like an overwrought parent. That thought threatened to pull up the corners of my mouth, and I bit my lip, knowing that a smile would be absolutely inappropriate under these circumstances. London appeared to be done scolding, but the furrow in his brow told me there was something else he wanted to say. I waited, the shifting shadows cast by the flames playing over his form, giving him an eerie appearance, and he dropped to one knee beside me.
    â€œListen to me, Alera. Whatever romantic fantasies youharbor about Narian can never come true. You are a married woman, and Narian is the enemy.”
    These last words cut me deeply. Hearing it said so matter-of-factly was like having the breath knocked out of me. Narian is the enemy repeated in my head, and I recognized for the first time that I was the only one who wanted Narian to return out of a desire for his company and not just because it would be detrimental to our kingdom for him to end up among the enemy.
    â€œI couldn’t find him,” London said, bringing me back to reality. “But the Cokyrians probably will.”
    London’s dark prediction was still ringing in my ears a half hour later as he doused the fire, satisfied that I was warm and sufficiently restored to enable us to set out again. He did not want to wait until morning to journey back to the city, certain that someone would have noticed my absence, whether or not Steldor had been forthcoming.
    We traveled quickly, although it was another two hours before we reached the city, as the route of London’s choosing continued to avoid the main thoroughfare. I again slept off and on, secure in the arms of my rescuer. I woke as London brought his horse down to a walk before the gate that restricted access to the city. The massive barrier, which stood open during the day to provide passage in and out, had been lowered, and Cannan’s standing order was that it not be lifted until sunrise.
    â€œHalt and identify yourself!” One of the sentries hailed us, hand upon his sword, but then a guard in the tower recognized my companion.
    â€œLondon!” he shouted, and immediately the message that the deputy captain was back swept through the soldiers on duty. Upon seeing me, the tower guard followed with an additional exclamation. “Queen Alera!”
    Recovering from his surprise, the man called for the gate to be raised, for despite Cannan’s orders, he would not deny entry to the Queen or to an Elite Guard who was just below the captain in rank. As soon as the barrier was high enough for us to pass underneath, London urged his mount forward into an easy canter, a gait that would normally have been unsafe to employ on such a well-traveled street. The thoroughfare, however, was virtually deserted.
    â€œLondon, what is the hour?” I inquired, for I had lost track of time completely.
    â€œJust after midnight.”
    We skirted the Business District, which lay to the east, occasionally hearing loud laughter or singing emanating from a pub, or catching sight of a drunken patron staggering home. The closer we came to the palace, however, the more it quieted, until the clacking of our horse’s hooves on the cobblestone was the only sound cutting through the night.
    I leaned against the Elite Guard, closing my eyes and allowing myself to imagine I was with Narian, remembering the first time he had