He was silent for a moment; something flickered in his eyes. What of your guardian? You can rescue him on your own?
His questions agonized her for nearly a full minute before she recognized them for what they were: manipulation. He was not above using her anxiety for Master Haywood to get his way.
Every last mage in pursuit of you seeks to abuse and exploit your powers.
Trust no one.
Why hadnt she understood it sooner? For all the princes seeming majesty, he was monumentally ambitious and wanted her only as a means to his own ends.
Dismay spread unchecked in her heart. This is beneath you, Your Highness. My guardian did not make his sacrifices so that I could throw away my life on a wild quest doomed to fail. He would be apoplectic if I allowed myself to be exploited this way.
The princes jaw tightened. I am not exploiting you. I have saved you two times, offered you as much security as you will find anywhere on this earth, and put myself at abysmal risk. It is a fair enough exchange to ask for some help from you for a good causefor as worthy a cause as there ever was.
Unlike her, he had not raised his voice. But he sounded defensive.
So a steer should head willingly to slaughter because the farmer has fed and housed it? How many would make this bargain if they only knew what would happen to them in the end? You are asking me to give up everything for a cause that isnt mine. I dont want to be part of any revolution. I just want to live.
To live like this, never knowing what it is like to be free? His voice was tight.
I will know nothing when Im dead!
Her anger was all the more bitter because she had stood ready to place her faith and hope in him. To rely on him as her anchor in this new, turbulent life. And to repay his kindness to the utmost of her ability.
Only to be told that he wanted her to die for him.
Back in Archer Fairfaxs room, Iolanthe lifted the dull red valise the prince had given her to carry as her own and placed it on the desk. Inside were boys clothes, unfamiliar-looking coins, a map of London, a map of the Eton-Windsor area, and a book called Bradshaws Monthly Railway Guide .
Please reconsider, said the prince.
She spun around sharply. She had no idea when hed vaulted into the room.
He stood with his back against a wall, his expression blank. You do not even know where to go.
But she did. The prince had said that his school was not far from London. She needed to be back in London. Master Haywood had advised her to wait near the end portal for as long as possible, for the arrival of the memory keeper. The move had its risks. But she did not plan to go back inside the madwomans house. She could monitor the house from outside, a nearby rooftop, perhaps
I would not even think about it.
Her heart missed a beat, but she turned back to the valise, pocketed the coins, and pretended to check what else it contained.
That woman in the attic knows who you areor what you are, at least. She will have consulted other Exiles. There are informants among the Exiles. Atlantis will have the entire neighborhood under surveillance by now. The agents will strip the house of its protections for you to vault in, if you are desperate enough to try. Do it, and it will be the last anyone sees of you.
She felt nauseous. Britain is a large realm. My options are nearly endless. As you yourself said earlier, Atlantis, great as it is, cannot hope to locate me so easily in a land of millions.
You are not as anonymous as you think. Your jacket is part of the Eton uniform. It will mark you anywhere as an Eton boy. The natives will wonder why you wander about when you should be at school insteadand they will remember you.
She broke into a sweat. She could reveal herself so easily, without even being aware of it. All I have to do is to change.
She exchanged the jacket for a brown one from the valise.
If only it were so easy. In the countryside, where everyone knows one another, you will be too conspicuous. So you must go into cities, where anonymity is possible. But you do not know which parts of a city are safe for a well-dressed young man, and which will get you robbed and possibly beaten. And before you reassure me again how handy you are with your fists, how many grown men can you take on at once, without resorting to elemental powers?
If you aim to convince me that every place out there is dangerous for me, she retorted, you have not succeeded.
But he was coming awfully close.
Every place out there is dangerous for you. Have you not realized this yet?
She wished he wouldnt speak so quietly and reasonably. More dangerous than here? You will lead me to my death.
I will lay down my life for you. Do you know anyone else who will do that?
I will lay down my life for you. The words had a strange effect on her, a pain almost like a wasp sting to the heart. She shut the valise. Can you promise me I will live? No? I thought not.
He was quiet. Saddened. She had not perceived it earlier, but now she saw that there was always a trace of melancholy to him, a heavyheartedness that came of being entrusted with too great a burden.