“We really shouldn’t linger,” Sir Forrest said, when I stopped to say goodbye to our two goats. “The less people gossip around here about Phoebe’s disappearance, the better.”

I glared at him for interrupting my goat snuggles. “Oh, they’re going to gossip. This town has four hundred and twenty two people. Once they spent a week discussing the time a squirrel somehow got an acorn cap on its head and wore it like a tiny hat.”

“I hate small towns,” he muttered. “The sooner we’re back to civilization, the easier it is to disappear. Get the cat and a change of clothes and we’ll be off.”

“Wow, can you tone down your enthusiasm to be my guardian?” I said. “I’m not thrilled about this either.”

His mouth tightened. “You misunderstand me.”

“I don’t know what there is to misunderstand.”

But he didn’t really answer. One of those quiet-when-it-suits-him types. Sigh.

I opened the door and Wretch shot out, her black wings spread, letting out a meow of annoyance. The inside of the door was covered in scratches from top to bottom, expressing Wretch’s displeasure at all the times we had ever shut her up in the house. She landed at my feet, folding her wings and weaving around my legs, looking at Sir Forrest suspiciously.

“It’s okay, muffin,” I assured her. “I wouldn’t bother him, but he’s…he’s fine, I guess.”

“I’ll get my horse,” he said. “Be ready by the time I return.”

I only owned a few changes of clothes anyway, if you didn’t count the old costumes and things I bought on tour that didn’t really fit, so I went to my little attic room, changed into a blouse and skirt, and rolled up the other two outfits into a bundle. The whole time I felt this blurred mixture of excitement and terror. I could hardly think straight. My eyes roamed over the bed, the window, the desk—all the things I called my own. Would I ever see them again?

I was about to head out on the road with a slightly irascible stranger, and if the Black Army knew I was alive, they would kill me.

And yet, as terrifying as that sounded, it also felt right.

Maybe I had always known I was meant for more than Istim.

When I came back outside, some curious neighbors had gathered around. They were murmuring about the monster breaching the wall. “…a flying one, not a good sign…” “…not usually that clever, are they?” “Never been sure about that Argrave, but it was a good thing he had his sword.”

“Phoebe, are you all right?” Mrs. Balbron asked me. She lived two houses down, a sweet old lady who grew and sold all sorts of exotic herbs. If you came to her asking for an ounce of nettles for tea, she would spend an hour telling you everything she knew about them, so I’d learned a lot from her, like it or not.

“Oh, me? I’m fine,” I said, sounding a little too bright. “Not a scratch on me. I’m just sorry I didn’t get to sing April Hearts.”

“Sing us a few bars now!” Mrs. Balbron suggested. The neighbors nodded.

“Well…” I lifted a hand, modestly. “I mean, I guess, if you insist—‘She was my April girl—blooming in the spring—!’”

Sir Forrest came galloping up the path. “Phoebe has been accepted to school,” he said, decisively interrupting me.

“School? What school?” asked Kitty Baker from down the lane.

“Music school. In Capamere. She didn’t want to tell anyone unless it was a sure thing. She needs an escort so I’ll be taking her.” He put his huge hands around my waist and lifted me onto the horse. Wretch crawled onto my lap. Her fur was puffed at the base of her tail. Sir Forrest stuffed my extra dresses into his saddle bags.

Mom was trying to elaborate on the school story. “Yes, it was really a huge surprise. Phoebe applied but she never expected to be accepted. It’s for the best. We all know she’s not fit for life in Istim.”

“I didn’t even know you and Mr. Argrave were acquainted,” Kitty said, looking jealous.

A second later, Sir Forrest swung up behind me. “Say goodbye,” he whispered into my ear, which felt ominous.

“Goodbye,” I said.

“Be careful of monsters!” Mrs. Balbron called. “It’s not safe out there!”

“You know I’ll guard her with every bone in my body and every drop of my life’s blood,” Sir Forrest told my mother.

Speaking of ominous…

He spurred on his horse. We rode down the Hill Road, his arm around me. I had rarely been on a horse, and I had certainly never been on a horse with a man’s strong arm holding me close. I felt his warmth even through his study clothing. My mind was unsure of him, but my body felt strangely secure.

I took in the familiar sights of town as if they were new, knowing that I wouldn’t see any of this again for some time. Simple, cozy houses with thatched roofs, a handful of shops. The inn was the largest building in town, two full stories. It had a dining room and tavern below, and three beds upstairs. Hardly anyone stayed there. Tulips and daffodils were blooming in all the yards, and a spring-fed creek wound down from the hill through a canal. There was hardly an inch of town or a person who lived here that I didn’t know. I had been dreaming of leaving again for three years, but now tears welled in my eyes. I quickly wiped them away.

As we rode, more townsfolk were emerging from doors to stare, gathering like they were watching a parade. I waved at a few of my friends, but since I couldn’t say proper goodbyes, it was awkward.

The watchmen opened the gates as we approached. In the spring and early summer, wild berries grew in the fields and forests outside, so a few times a year, the best archers and fighters in town would guard the perimeter while the rest of us picked berries. That was far as I’d ever gone, without being safely ensconced within an armored carriage.

Now, the horse flew down the path. Within moments, the gates were behind us, and I was out in the world with only this stranger to protect me. I would honestly rather be naked inside the walls than properly clothed on a horse outside of them.

“How are we going to stay safe?” I asked. “Caravans always have at least two guards, and usually more…”

“You see my sword?” he said. “It was given to me by the Elder who told me I was your guardian. It’s called the Monster Cleaver for a reason.”

“Okay, I can appreciate where this is going,” I said, recalling how quickly he’d struck down the monster who tried to rush me on stage. “But don’t they roam in packs sometimes?”

“At night,” he said. “We just need to make sure we reach one of the safe houses before dark. I can sense them coming.”

“You can?”

“It’s one of the abilities granted to me when I became your guardian. And I will grow stronger…as we spend more time together.”

He was alert, and so was Wretch. They both glanced toward every little sound in the forest around us. This was not a very threatening forest; scrubby trees broken up by meadows. We passed the remains of farmsteads that existed outside the walls of Istim a century ago and once supported the town. Before the monsters came, much of the outlying areas off the roads were farmed. Stone walls lined the road, rotting barns sagged, and peeling signs still named the farms that were long gone. “See, a monster has been here,” he said. “Maybe the one that reached the village. I can sense the remnants of its presence. But it’s moved on. If one comes for us, I’ll have warning.”

“How did you find out you were my guardian?” I asked.

“It’s a long story.”

“Good thing we don’t have anywhere to be.”

“I was—in the capital,” he said. “I had been in the Black Army for the past five years, and…I’d seen too much. When I joined, I was proud to serve my nation, but when I saw cities fall to Commander Abel…” I sensed him stiffen, and he changed course. “A hundred years ago, as I’m sure you know, the Elders of the Tower of Stones were the leaders of this realm. All cities answered to the ultimate authority of the Elders. The Elders were the ones who would find each priestess and her guardians. For centuries, that held, until the priestess and her guardians died and the Elders couldn’t find a replacement. The monsters started flooding the land. The King of Capamere declared martial law and took it upon himself to protect the gate and the towns as best he could—and then he started unseating other rulers, conquering cities, declaring himself the Emperor and saying he was the only one who can protect people.”

“Uh-huh,” I said, glazing a little, although I was trying not to. “So you mean the first Emperor was a bad guy? And Emperor Leonidas? He’s killing the priestesses?”

“I had always thought that the Black Army was necessary to protect people from the monsters,” he said. “But when I was in it…we didn’t protect people. We subdued them. Oppressed them. Worse things…” He swallowed.

I felt a little uncertain. This totally went against everything I’d heard. “I met him once,” I said. “Emperor Leonidas. When I was in the troupe. We all thought he was a hero. And pretty dashing for an old guy. He was really gallant and welcoming, to us. But—”

“It’s all right, Phoebe,” Sir Forrest said, his voice growing rougher as he tried to be gentle. “Everyone thought that. Leonidas is a charismatic man, as his father was before him. And the Strawberry Girls are just propaganda, that’s all.”

“Propaganda?” I crossed my arms. “We made people happy.”

“That’s what propaganda does. It’s not just brainwashing. It can also be a distraction.”

“Hmph.”

“I thought you wanted to hear this story, not defend the man who will be trying to kill you.”

“I’m not defending him, I just…” I waved a hand. “Go on. You were in the army, and how did you get out?”

“I started searching for someone who would stand up to the Emperor, and that was when I met Elder Dion. He was the one who identified that I was a guardian and told me the true fate of the priestesses, that the Black Army had been quietly disposing of them for the past century and beyond, before they could collect their guardians and go to the gate. When one priestess dies, it takes about five years for another priestess to rise. It is believed that twenty-two girls have been killed before you.”

“Great odds…”

“All we can do is look to the future. Now, the Elders are monitored heavily by the empire. Their ability to practice their faith is greatly restricted. They have their ways of getting word past the guard, though. He gave me the Monster Cleaver and awakened my sigil so I could track your presence.”

“Your sigil?”

“They’re symbols that appear on our skin, establishing a magical connection between us. I’ll show you later.”

There was something romantic about this idea, that Sir Forrest had been watching over me for these past few years, and I had never known. He must have watched me at a distance, but he had never let on that he was waiting for me. I wondered what he thought of me.

I shivered. “Twenty-two girls,” I said. “And not a single priestess has evaded the Black Army? Why would we be any different? We’re going to die!”

“No,” he said, his arm clenching tighter around me.

I waited a moment before saying, “Okay…you want to give me a reason why not?”

He paused. “The Black Army is overstretched right now. Their years of wins have made them overconfident, but this attempt to conquer Gaermon Castle is too much. It’s too far from the capital. The supply chains are vulnerable. The Gaermon are formidable warriors. Their castle has never fallen.”

“You’re just kind of making that up, aren’t you?” I said. “The Black Army has had challenging fights before.”

He stiffened, tugging the reins. His attention was far ahead of us now. Wretch dove forward, landing on the path ahead, holding out her wings to look bigger.

“Monsters?” I asked, feeling my chest tighten with panic. I knew what Sir Forrest and his sword could do, but I had never been out in the open like this in my life.

“Just one,” he said. “You wait here.”