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some place with privacy.”
    “I think we can manage that...”
    It was a group of about ten guards, and the commotion outside was increasing. “Is there any other way out of here?” Damien asked.
    “Yes,” Isaiah said, “but we’ll have to be careful. Follow us and we’ll get all of us away from the Crown’s home and reach.”
    Tristan looked at Damien. “How do we know this isn’t a trap?”
    “I was once a Gladiator. Veronica favored me for a time. And when she tired of me, she made me her personal guard until she found someone else to fill the position.”
    “Whom did you lose?” Lucilla asked.
    “My mother. My father. My sister. My brother. My wife. My children. If I could, I would butcher the bitch myself. As it is, I can only do the next best thing. Live my life to honor the woman who’s healed my life and forgiven me, her sister.”
    “Then let’s get the hell out of here,” Damien said.
    “On your feet,” Tristan ordered. “We don’t have much time. There’s only one way to make sure Alex is okay and it demands less of an audience than we have.”
    Damien looked at Lucilla. She turned away in shame. Tristan felt sorry for them. The Seymours had left their mark on everyone. And it was up to Alexandra to make everything right. She was so young and at times so fragile he feared she might not make it.
    “This way,” Isaiah said going toward the female quarters.
    Tristan followed him, holding Alex against his chest as he carried her. This evoked a memory of how he had carried his wife over the threshold a lifetime ago. He wondered if he and Alexandra would ever have a home of their own or if they would even live past the moment they exposed themselves near their first taste of freedom in years.
     

Chapter Five
     
    The formation the knights had formed around him and his fellow Gladiators was rather simple. How they hoped to fool anyone, let alone the heavily armed Military Line, was beyond him. And it was hard to shake the thought the guards would ever do anything other than follow the orders of Veronica and her minions. It was then he heard the uproar from clear across the prison system. All of the Gladiators had run for what they believed to be the only exit and the Military Line was focused there. Isaiah was young, but he wasn’t stupid. And it appeared even if he had been favored he felt no true allegiance to the queen or her court. They walked across the bridge without incident and without a single casualty. It was in no small part due to Alexandra’s willingness to sacrifice herself for the opportunity to free just one person. And though he was loath to admit it, it was also due in no small part to Isaiah’s belief that Alex could heal him, as she seemed to be able to heal anyone open to receive the healing powers of her touch.
    As they reached the barns, Isaiah turned to him and said, “Those are the royal stallions inside there. Whether or not she is recognized by the court, she has a right to use them. Should I get them?”
    “A mount for each of us. I’ll carry Alex on mine.”
    “She is going to be okay isn’t she?” Lucilla asked the one question on everyone’s lips.
    Alexandra’s eyes fluttered open for an instant, and a groan escaped her lips. Even though he was relieved, he couldn’t shake the feeling she desperately needed him and him alone to help her recover from such a large outpouring of power.
    Alex reached up and touched his face for the briefest of moments and then slid her arms around his neck. “I hope for all of us that’s the case. Now go get the horses—they’ll be onto us soon enough and we need as big a head start as we can get.”
    The guards retreated and Alex began to shiver. “Hang in there my love, we’ll be free of this place soon enough and we can nurture our own family.”
    Her body flickered, like a fluorescent neon tube struggling to eke out its last bit of life before dying. He kissed the top of her head and prayed. Prayed for the group.