Cassidy sneered back at the onlookers, but he paid no mind to the chatter of the growing crowd, as the masses that had been stretched across the parade route began to converge on the singular wagon that carried the Ackerson heir. There was a time when he'd dreamed of returning home, confronting those who'd cast him out and making them pay in front of every pair of eyes here.
Then he'd found
Neith. Revenge isn't what he needed any longer. Her touch, her love had tempered that ugly flame inside of him. The only thing he needed now was freedom: to spread his wings and be rid of this place and the chains it bound him with forever. If these people got in his way, he would blow them away.
Using the momentary distraction created by the reveal of his identity, Cassidy hoisted himself up onto the emerald wagon and delivered a kick to the large bird carving bolted onto the side of the vehicle, knocking it loose of the fastenings holding it in place and sending it falling off of the cart and down onto the guards pursuing him. It fell upon the one who'd nearly impaled him, and the other barely evaded before scrambling to his feet and climbing up after the exiled nobleman.
He was far from the only one, from her spot behind the growing wall of flesh, Neith could see no less than a dozen guardsmen leaving their posts and heading for the calamity. The only blessing was that they were just as impeded by the curious crowd as she was.
The child sitting atop the throne now met Cassidy's eyes, and for the first time since putting his plan into action, he felt the tug of remorse and regret pulling at his neck. The fear in the young boy's eyes was a sobering reminder of his innocence; He'd not been responsible for anything that had happened to Cass, had no part in inflicting the suffering he'd endured. Now, he likely thought himself about to be slaughtered by a man he'd done no wrong to.
Any second thoughts were interrupted by a pair of guards climbing up on either side of Ackerson, each armed with blade and shield.
Reaching behind him, Cassidy grasped the child's collar, causing him to wail and the approaching guards to stiffen and stall, afraid of any act that would bring harm to the heir. Instead, they approached with slow steps, as Cassidy ripped his prize from the necklace hanging around the boy's neck and pocketed it.
In the seconds he had left, he pulled the shard of his sword from his pocket and squeezed tightly.
Get the wagon, get the hell out of here.
Neith's panic and fear did not make the crowd any easier to navigate, and the obstacles between her and her lover only seemed to multiply the longer she struggled against the riotous crowd before her. She had no way of knowing if Cassidy had succeeded, was waiting for her help in escaping, or if he'd been apprehended or even killed.
But she wasn't alone.
Mar never left Neith's side, clinging to her even as she fought to get through the bodies blocking her path. The harder she struggled, the louder the feline mewled and hissed down at those stopping them from helping Cassidy. It seemed their efforts may have been in vain until the cat's ears perked up at the pressure exerted on Ackerson's sword fragment. The order given was a direct one, but even the residual intelligence inside of the familiar knew that Cass wouldn't last until they'd retrieved their wagon.
Something strange happened then, something Cass wouldn't have thought possible, nor the wisest magical minds in
Arethil. Confronted with following her master's orders and letting him take on an impossible challenge, Mar instead chose a different route... A route quite unlike any ordinary familiar...
Neith would feel a surge of power within her, a rush of adrenaline filling her body as the cat riding her shoulders ignored her orders, and instead bonded herself to that of her Master's lover. With their strength together, they could save him.
Neith
