Prim squeezed Dante’s hands one last time and aimed for Hogard, knowing she’d come nowhere close. She had to get there as quickly as possible. She had to warn the royals and the guards about the army after Princess Kallia right under their noses.

Prim hadn’t used her gift since she loped from the royal complex to the city streets the night she met Dante. She had already been drained from her private lessons with Helena that week, her mentor working her hard after missing one day then leaving early the next. After the lope from her room to the barracks to see Roan, she hadn’t even been able to make it all the way to Maria’s shop on her powers alone. The princess’s handmaiden certainly had nothing left to lope from the alley when Dante found her there.

At first, she’d planned on escaping as soon as her magic replenished. But when he said he was the only one after her--after Kallia--then she thought if she remained with him, believing her to be Kallia, the princess would be safe. So she decided to stay longer, until they were far from Hogard before loping away. Learning that the plot extended past Dante changed her plans again.

But falling for him didn’t change her plans. Her duty was to Kallia--to Wassalia--and she would have performed that duty and saw it through, no matter where it left her and Dante in the end.

The only time it came close was when she learned the people he loved were in danger because of her. She nearly confessed she could lope in the hopes of getting to them quicker. Luckily, Dante had his own secret that was much more effective. She wouldn’t have been able to get him there, anyway. She could only lope herself.

She looked around, trying to recognize her surroundings, but there was nothing to recognize. She was in the South, she could tell. In the forest she and Dante had traveled together, surrounded by nothing but trees and rocks and moss. She’d have to find a high point to climb and get her bearings. In the meantime, she identified north from the moss on the trees, and took one step in the opposite direction.

Then stopped.

She wiped the tears from her cheeks, still warm from Dante’s hands on them only moments ago. Gods, what was she doing?

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She’d learned Kallia was in danger and she’d panicked. Now she was in the middle of the forest, days’ travel away from Hogard and the people she cared about there and Pregg and the people she cared about there--at best. Weeks at worst. She was alone with no extra clothes, blankets, food, water, weapons. Nothing.

And she’d left Dante without explaining anything.

She hadn’t even said she was sorry.

She hadn’t even told him her real name.

He would hate her, she knew.

Prim couldn’t breathe. She tried, but the air seemed to flow in and out of her mouth without venturing down her throat and into her lungs. Her head swam and she fell to her knees. What had she done?

She should have explained. She should have agreed to go back to Hogard with Roan, asking Dante to come, too. Asking Tamar or Delle or maybe even Marnie to give them a ride. They could have done it together. A dragon ride would have taken about the same time, anyway, once she factored in the days of walking she had ahead of her.

If she had explained, maybe Dante would have forgiven her.

But she didn’t, and she didn’t have the magic to get back to him to right it.

Prim forced air down her throat only to expel it in a thundering wail, needing to release the regret, the pain, the anger--all directed at herself.

She remained on her knees on the forest floor trying to regulate her breathing for several minutes before she fully accepted that she couldn’t get back to Pregg.

There was no going back, only forward.

Prim walked south until she saw a rocky incline to the west in the late afternoon and adjusted her course to ascend it. Once at the top, her gaze traveled northward, as if she could see those she abandoned.

But she couldn’t even see the Bartoqs. She’d loped even further than she’d thought, her magic cache having built up to an impressive amount after so long without releasing any magic at all. Sartu was likely only a couple days’ walk away.

And there, a further bit more west, was the Great Road. There was a chance she’d come across travelers who’d like to give her trouble, but there was also a chance she’d come across royal guards or maybe even a kind fae who’d give her a lift. Regardless, it was the fastest, most direct route to the royal city. She had no choice.

It was nearly dark by the time she made it to the Great Road. There was no one to be seen in either direction. She sighed. Her legs didn’t ache like they had when she’d walked this far the first couple days she left Hogard, though she was tired and hungry. Still, she pushed south, resolved to walk until she simply could no longer put one foot in front of the other.