Faur and I agreed to leave at dawn, as soon as the gates of Sanajec reopened for the day. He had a coach in a stable nearby. He’d help us get there discreetly, and some moments later, he’d walk out of the inn and meet his coachman at the stable, as if he’d never met us. Then he’d get us out of the city and into Inabar, drop us near Malo, and go all the way to Elkodunar.

“You should sleep now,” he said when I yawned.

“I still don’t trust you.”

“Generally speaking, you shouldn’t, but tonight, I’ll be asleep too, you know. Let’s agree to wake up together, all right?”

I frowned. What is he offering, exactly?

“I’ll cast a spell to link our sleep patterns,” he explained. “When the first of us wakes up, it’ll awake the other. This way, no stabbing, no sneaking out, no dirty trick.”

Can I trust him? Of course I can’t. But we both need to rest.

I pointed to the bed where Catalin and Chess were already asleep.

“The problem is, there are four of us and only one bed, in case you didn’t notice.”

“Do you know how often I slept on the floor with a mannequin in my bed? I won’t mind. It’ll remind me of fond memories. Meanwhile, you can stay with your friends.”

Sure, assassination must be considered a natural cause of death when you’re in the middle of the succession war for the demon empire.

“Do you agree?” he insisted.

The Demon Lord, my prophesized enemy, was asking for my consent. I nodded, still tense but too tired to refuse.

Faur cast his spell on the two of us. I could feel it well enough to check it’d do exactly as he said, so I lay down between Catalin and Chess, in the spot where he’d put me earlier, while he arranged blankets on the floor. I waited for his breath to get slower and more regular before allowing myself to drift to sleep.

Light flowed inside my head, ripping my dream like a thin veil. It felt as if the curtains of my mind were left open and the rising sun went through.

An inner alarm clock, that’s interesting.

I tried to remember my dream, only to lose every picture one after the other. I just kept a feeling of urgency, as if I’d been running through something. I got up just as Faur emerged from his blankets, his wavy silver hair not quite as expertly styled as it’d been a few hours earlier. He saw my gaze and reached for a comb.

I knew he cared a lot about his appearance!

I reached up to pat my head. My own hair was terribly tangled. I should try to brush it, and wash a bit, if possible. I was about to have a bath when the soldiers interrupted us.

“Do you mind if I get some privacy for a short moment?”

Faur nodded. He was stretching, like a normal person just getting up.

I hid behind the partition and looked for clean water. There was a large jug near the wall. Its content was cold, but I used it to feel a little fresher and more decent. I put on clean clothes, rolled the dirty ones at the bottom of my bag, and went back to the bed to wake up my friends.

“Catalin? Chess?”

Both sprang up, looking panicked.

“What happened?” asked Catalin.

Chess just reached for their sword. I used both hands to calm them down.

“We’re fine! We were just exhausted and we all slept.”

Chess frowned. “By the Almighty, it’s morning already and…”

They turned around to face Faur, who waved at them from the chair near the desk. The furious look on the cadet’s face made me wave frantically.

“Chess, Catalin, I told you it’s okay!”

“Of course it’s not. I’m sure he cast a spell on us!” Catalin was pointing an accusing finger at Faur.

“Do you remember that?”

She blushed. She didn’t. I tried my best to keep a poker face and hide my relief.

“Why would I do such a thing?” asked Faur with mock innocence.

I glared at him before sitting down next to Catalin.

“You fell asleep first, so I had a conversation with our host. He’s a local lord from the mountains. Since he’s also heading to Inabar, we’ll travel together today.”

“Really?”

Faur nodded. “I have plenty of room in my coach and I’d be glad to help you along the road.”

Then he got up and walked behind the partition, followed by our gazes.

“Do you trust him?” hissed Chess.

I shook my head.

“I don’t. However, he can help us out of Sanajec and into Inabar, quicker and safer than we’d do on foot. We just need to stay on guard while we’re with him.”

Catalin shook her head. “He’s strong. He can dispose of us whenever he wants.”

“He could have done it last night, and yet, he didn’t harm us or hand us over to the soldiers. I don’t like him any more than you do, but he’s our best option. Please. We’re running out of time and he’s our best chance to prevent the attack on Brealia.”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

She wrinkled her nose and flattened her ears.

Faur came back from behind the partition. He’d changed into leather traveling gear and the new outfit made him sexier, somehow, with a bit of a Witcher flair to his look. When he saw my gaze, I promptly turned away, but I could feel the flush in my cheeks. He came closer to the bed with an unbearably smug face.

“I’ll send you to the stables now. I’m only able to displace the three of you over a short distance, so I can’t send you out of the city walls, for example, but stay where you land and I’ll get to you soon. Don’t move if you want me to find you!”

Catalin opened her mouth to protest, but Faur didn’t let her speak. Magic radiated out of him, the whole world somersaulted around us, and we shifted through time and space into a stable, complete with straw and spiderwebs. The familiar smell of horses softened my nausea, but I still felt sick.

Remind me to never get teleported again! I’m glad I didn’t have breakfast this morning. I’d be puking all over the straw.

“What was that?” asked Chess.

“Local warp step.” Catalin’s voice was shaky. “It takes a considerable knowledge of magic to transfer three people like this. And I’m not even mentioning the raw power.”

She looked around, then sat against the wall with her elbows on her knees and her tail curling in the straw.

“Who’s this man, Al? I know you talked to him and you decided to go along with his plan, but he doesn’t smell or feel human, he’s as strong as a Senior Magus, and I hate his self-confidence more than I fear his power!”

I sat down next to her. “I told you, he’s a foreign lord. He dislikes Saegorg and he wants to help us. I don’t know what he is, biologically speaking, but I don’t care, so long as he brings us closer to Malo Castle. As soon as he’s gone, I’ll be happy to forget him.”

Faur arrived a little while later, along with a short man he presented as his coachman. The guy had ashen blonde hair with a receding hairline, and unlike his emperor, he only looked human to the casual viewer. Just by taking a good look at him, I understood his appearance was a mere disguise he couldn’t wait to get rid of.

Is it what Faur is like too? Only better at looking human? Or is he able to actually shapeshift, just like Kossi?

Faur ignored my pondering.

“My coach is ready. Get inside and stay under the bench until we leave Sanajec.”

We followed him to the other end of the stable. Two dark horses were harnessed to a coach with brass accents and no visible coat of arms. Why am I surprised? Why was I expecting something distinctive? It’d be stupid of him to prance around displaying the flag of Elkodunar. We got in, Faur covered us with the blanket he used to keep his legs warm, and we left the place in the relative calm of the early morning.

“I hate it,” Catalin whispered into my ear.

“So do I,” I sighed.

It’s too hot in there! And I’m not exactly comfortable with this leather-clad leg against my shoulder.

The horses trotted on the paved main street for a while, then the coach slowed, probably to pass through the gates. Someone wished the foreign lord a good day. We walked across what sounded like a wooden bridge, and then a dirt road. We sped up again. I tried to remove the blanket, but Faur put a hand on mine.

“Don’t move yet. I want us out of sight first. A little longer… Now you can get out.”

He finally removed his hand and we pushed the blanket out of the way. Breathing fresh air was a relief. I sat opposite Faur, and also opposite the direction of travel. Catalin stayed next to me, and Chess reluctantly took a spot on the same bench as the Demon Lord.

I looked outside. The sky was partly cloudy, but sunlight hit some parts of the mountains, dappling the landscape with moving patterns. It was beautiful.

“How long will it take us to reach Inabar?”

Faur raised an eyebrow.

“You may want to hang on to something.”

“Why?”

A strange noise came from the front of the coach, behind me, like a neigh turning into a high-pitched scream. One second later, we picked up so much speed that the acceleration threw me off my bench and into Faur’s lap. I put my hands forward as a reflex. They both ended on his chest.

“That’s why,” he smiled.

He grabbed me by the waist, quite unceremoniously, brushed my clothes with his hands, and placed me back on the bench in front of him. I was appalled. The Demon Lord had touched me! Worse, I’d touched him!

I should have sat facing the direction of travel.

“These aren’t horses!” said Catalin with a look of pure terror on her face.

I’d gathered so much, thank you. How did I not see the magic that created the illusion? Their disguise must be something other than a spell. Some kind of glamor, maybe. And the coachman probably uses the same trick.

The landscape whirred past us as if we were on a high-speed train. I took Catalin’s hand and held it on my lap. I felt sorry for her, with her clenched teeth, her ears folded back and her tail wrapped tight around her legs.

Faur gave a casual look outside, making a show of acting normal.

“To answer your question, I should be able to drop you off near the city of Malo before noon.”

The ride is way too smooth, as well. I bet we’re not touching the road, but hovering a few inches above it.

The journey went on like this, with all blood drained from my friends’ faces and the Demon Lord smiling smugly, for about two hours, until the creatures that drew the coach pretended to be horses again and slowed down to a more reasonable pace. Faur looked at the three of us. I wished I could punch the smugness out of his face.

“Lady Al, you remained remarkably calm. I take it you have some experience of fast travel?”

I nodded. “Some, indeed, sir.”

I drove on highways and flew on planes before ending up in a cloud with biblically accurate angels who pushed me across a portal to this world, so it takes more than your little feat to impress me. I mean, I’m impressed. But the teleporting trick was way worse.

“Then have a sweet bun,” Faur smiled, producing a paper bag from a hidden compartment under his bench.

We were starving, so we ate. The buns were probably from a bakery in Sanajec, and they tasted delicious. A hint of anise, maybe.

“What are these creatures drawing the coach?” asked Chess. Catalin looked at them with the face of someone who’d been dying to ask the question without daring.

Faur only shrugged.

“Tanvarchs. Don’t you have them in Brealia?”

The answer came so casually that for a second, I doubted my understanding of the world. Wasn’t magic a rare and precious thing? And unnaturally fast creatures treated with awe and respect, like Kossi was?

Chess narrowed their eyes. “I didn’t know a tanvarch could be tamed.”

“They most certainly can, but they’re high-maintenance animals. I only use them when I travel abroad.”

Were some of the horses in King Esthar’s stables also tanvarchs in disguise? I decided to shelf the question in the back of my mind until it was time to bring it up.

The coach followed a narrow mountain road with goats on our left and log cabins on our right. The logs seemed to come from patches of forest scattered around the mountains. Higher up, we could make up stone battlements that had seen better days. Faur pointed a finger at the fortifications.

“This is the fortified city of Malo. We can’t see the castle from here, but it’s right on the other side, on the edge of a cliff.”

Princess Nigella told me about it. Maitura Ordonbadet had the fortress built, and it was overlooking a cliff.

“Does it mean we’re in Inabar?”

He nodded. “We crossed the border only a little while after we left Sanajec. Are you worried?”

“Well, I wasn’t exactly counting on King Esthar’s protection, so I guess it doesn’t make much of a difference.”

He laughed. “Your company’s so enjoyable that I regret having to part ways! But I have a feeling you’re not done surprising me. Shall we meet again?”

“For the sake of us both, I hope not.”

He gave me a fake sad puppy look, like a child begging for another sweet. Catalin’s hand clenched in mine, but I focused on my poker face. I can be mad at him later, once he’s gone. All I need is a little more patience.

And then it was over. The coach stopped, we got off, and I took a closer look at both creatures drawing it. They did look like actual horses.

The city walls looked about to crumble, but people came and went everywhere. I couldn’t help feeling a little surprise. This is a real country, with a real population. Not a lone madman in his tower.

“Good luck on your mission, whatever it is,” said Faur with a last smile.

“Have a safe trip home,” I answered.

To be honest, I won’t be sad if you break a leg.

The coach left, and there we were, the three of us, trying to blend in the local population and get closer to the castle. Kossi was in there, somewhere. Third floor of the keep. But how could we sneak in unnoticed?