Chapter 20

Getting two children out of the castle before sunrise turned out to be much harder than I expected.

Will had been surprisingly easy — he'd dressed himself, packed half the food before I could stop him, and spent the entire walk downstairs carrying a basket clearly too heavy for him, refusing every offer of help like it was a personal insult.

Asta was another story entirely. She'd refused to get out of bed, refused to get dressed, and very nearly set one of her pillows on fire when I pulled the blanket off her.

Now, somehow, she was the happiest of all of us.

Will walked on one side of me, carrying the basket with both hands, trying hard to look older than he was. Asta skipped along on my other side, sneaking looks at him every few steps that she thought I didn't notice, ducking away the second he glanced back.

I smiled to myself and said nothing.

We were almost at the gates when Asta lit up. "Papa!" She took off running, a