Bean walked around behind her and used a thin streak of burgundy magic to cut through ropes binding the little boy. Still, Midnight did not stir, and when the ropes fell from him, only String’s hands around his chest kept him from falling forward on to the ground. The scruffy old trappers lowered him gently and String felt anxiously for a pulse in his neck. After a moment, he nodded and breathed a sigh of relief.
Tarkyn’s party looked at each other in confusion, unclear about what had just happened right before their eyes. Waterstone glanced a query at the prince who merely responded, “I’ll explain later. Right now, I need to help Midnight.”
But Hail did not know him and certainly did not trust him so, as he approached, she thrust her knives in his direction. Without a second thought, he
