“Stop it, stop it,” Roland screeched, his voice tiny and distant against my rattled eardrums. “I’ll kill you. I’ll end you. I’ll rend your heart!” His free hand was flailing above him, each gesture accompanied by an enormous outpouring of magic. But the motions were random and strange, seemingly directed at nothing.

No, not nothing. The sun.

Lessa rose on unsteady legs and lifted her arms to the sky. Clouds of black magic furled out from her palms, rising and spreading until the sun was obscured, a dark shadow cast across half the town. “Roland, stop!”

The concussions ceased, the only sound the weeping of the injured and the ringing in my ears.

I didn’t know what to do. The last thing I wanted was draw their attention, but lying on the ground waiting didn’t seem much better. Stones and sky, where were Marc and the twins? Why weren’t they doing anything?

A whistle pierced the air, and the trolls turned in the direction of the sound. Taking advantage of the distraction, I pushed up onto my elbows. A man sat on a black horse in the center of the road leading out of the village. He was too far away for me to recognize his face, but I didn’t miss the bow slung across his shoulder. He’d been the one to take the shot at Roland. The one who’d ruined our plans.

“All hail Prince Tristan,” the man shouted. “True heir to Trollus and the Isle of Light.”

My shoulders twitched with shock, and not because of his words. I recognized his voice.

Chapter 18

Cécile

“Damn you, Chris,” I whispered. “What are you thinking?”

Roland rose to his feet. “I. Will. Be. King!” The ground shuddered, and he slashed his hand sideways, the air shimmering with a lethal blade of magic.

“No,” I gasped, but Chris was already moving, his black horse galloping flat out toward the nearby woods. Clenching my fists, I watched, waiting for the magic to catch up, to slice through both horse and rider. But it fell short.

A string of oaths poured from Roland’s lips, but before he could go after him, Lessa closed her hands over his shoulders. “It’s a trap.” Her eyes panned the surroundings. “Cécile is here, which means Tristan likely is too. They’re trying to draw you out.”

“Tristan?” The anger fell away from Roland’s face, and he rose up on his tiptoes as though the extra few inches would give him the vantage he needed.

“Don’t be a fool,” she snarled. “He just tried to have you killed, can’t you see that?”

Roland’s face fell, but his half-sister ignored him. “Go after the rider,” she ordered the other two trolls. “Bring him back alive – he might have information about their plans.”

Both inclined their head, then they were running. I bit my lip as I watched them disappear down the road. I’d known trolls were fast – had seen the way they moved. But Trollus had kept them contained in more ways than one, so I’d never seen one in an all-out sprint. Chris’s horse wouldn’t outpace them for long.