Divide and Conquer (21 page)

Riq turned and beamed. “The king’s foot has been kissed and Rollo’s fealty given.”

The crowd gasped. There was silence. And then someone snorted. Somewhere else there was a stifled giggle, a cough, and before long the entire crowd was roaring with laughter.

The king’s attendants helped him to his feet, and Sera saw a flurry of emotions cross his face — bewilderment and frustration at first, but he softened at seeing the amusement of the crowd. The king smiled, apparently deciding that he needed to look like he was in on the joke.

Sera was so caught up in the moment that she wasn’t prepared for the hand that clamped on her shoulder and the voice shouting, “Hey, you!”

Sera jumped and screamed, the sound lost in the noise from the crowd. The SQ agent shifted his hand from her squirming shoulder to a long shank of her fake hair. “You’re not getting away again,” he threatened.

She grinned, stepping sideways and out from under the horsehair wig. “That’s what you think!”

Without a second thought, she ducked under the chain blocking the aisle and raced toward Dak, grabbing him and pulling him to where Riq stood on the stage, surrounded by a band of cheerful Vikings.

“The SQ is onto us,” she yelled to him over the noise of the crowd. “We have to get out of here!”

Rollo must have seen the urgency on her face and known what it meant, because once the two of them had climbed the stairs and joined Riq, he and his men closed rank around them, facing outward with their weapons drawn.

“Yo, Riq,” Dak said, holding out his fist for the older boy to bump it. “That was pretty awesome what you did with the king!”

Riq grinned, obviously pleased by the compliment, and returned the gesture.

“My time-traveling friends, you’re leaving so soon?” Rollo asked. Beside him, Vígi whined, her forehead furrowed.

Dak scratched at her ears. “I’m afraid so,” he told the new Duke of Normandy. “Though this time I think we’ll leave this lady at home.”

Rollo clamped his hand on Dak’s shoulder. “You’re a strong warrior, smart and true. Thank you for the gift you’ve given me. I will keep the SQ — whether Frank or Viking — out of Normandy for all time. And I promise to turn away from pillaging and do well by my station as duke. Mostly.”

Dak’s face blazed bright red at the compliment, but Sera knew he was loving every minute of it. She pulled the Infinity Ring out and started double-checking that everything was set correctly. The last thing she wanted to do was let a last-minute miscalculation send them zooming too far ahead in the future or drop them into the middle of another war zone.

Beside her, someone cleared his throat and she looked up to find Bill. “So that’s it, then?”

Sera hesitated and then nodded.

He cleared his throat. “I ran out of time, back in Paris, before I could give you this. I’d meant to, then, and I’ve held on to it . . . just in case.”

He pulled a length of fine chain over his head and held it out to her. A gold charm dangled from the end and she reached out to cup it. It was a tiny infinity symbol, delicate and smoothly polished. “My ancestors were goldsmiths and they passed down the skills.”

Sera felt her throat tighten. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“I wanted to thank
you
, actually,” he said.

That took Sera by surprise. “For what?”

“For being brave,” he explained. “I’d have never done anything big in my life, taken any risks, if I hadn’t learned that from you.”

Sera sputtered, “I’m not really that brave and I hate risks.”

In response, Bill smiled. “Maybe you don’t see it yet, but I do.”

Just then Riq stepped forward and linked his arm with hers. “Our work here is done,” Riq announced. “On to 1814!”

“One War of 1812, coming up!” Dak placed his hand on her shoulder after kneeling to allow Vígi to give him one last slobbery kiss.

Sera took a final look around her and smiled at Bill as she pushed the button to send them swirling through time. The Infinity Ring began to vibrate, the scene around her blurring. Her body felt small and impossibly big at the same time. “One more thing,” Dak whispered just as everything began to shatter apart. “I saw my parents. They were here and then they warped out in front of my eyes. But not before they left me
this
.”

The last thing Sera saw as medieval France disappeared was Dak holding out a large iron key.

Turn the page for your Hystorian’s Guide to the War of 1812.

The United States is under attack. Join the fight for freedom now in the action-packed Infinity Ring game. This is your strategy guide for staying alive.

Unlock the full game at:

infinityring.com

YOU must make sure that the SQ never lays hands on the First Lady!

Washington, DC, is under attack. In 1814, the British army burned the city to the ground. It was a very dark day for the newly formed United States. Worst of all, during the invasion, First Lady Dolley Madison refused to leave the President’s House, and a secret squad of SQ Redcoats kidnapped her. They brought her to London and held her hostage. As a result, the U.S. had to surrender. It was a humiliating defeat, and one that gave the SQ a permanent hold on the American government.

Get Dolley Madison safely out of the city!

— Arin