“Hold on tight,” Buddy advised. Even now, with everything going on, he found it impossible not to show off. “You may think you’re a great rider, but you’ve never ridden lightning before.”

He spun sharply around in the tight space, narrowing his eyes. It felt like half the residents of the castle were now loitering in the corridor and gawping, but they all seemed to take the hint. They moved back hastily into doorways as Buddy charged back down the corridor. He leapt fully down the flight of stairs, blasted through the great hall, jumped down the front steps and broke into a full gallop as soon as his hooves touched the green lawn. Technically Buddy was only half Lightning, on his mother’s side, but his father’s Night blood had done nothing to quell his thirst for speed. The ground flew beneath them as they geared up to full throttle, trees and buildings whipping past in a meaningless blur. He had to slow down again as soon as they hit the forest of olive trees, winding his way through the footpath with more agility than most horses but less than he would have liked under the circumstances. With Cal missing, anything slower than shadow travel was sluggishly holding them back.

As soon as they hit the village, Buddy seized on the opportunity to speed up again. Opting for the most direct route, he didn’t bother with the roundabout streets but rather leapt straight ove the fences of people’s gardens, charging past social barbeques and sheltered reading spots alike. He ducked his head as they shot under a washing line, billowing the skirts of the shrieking girl clutching her damp laundry. Jumping the final fence, he finally made it past the village and onto the track where he’d found Cal’s comm. Here, he slowed to a trot and finally a full halt, doing away with his characteristic sliding stop. Most of the path looked the same; it took a careful look to recognise the exact spot.

“Here.” He announced, lowering his head to study the floor up close. It only took a few seconds to find the dribble of blood, preserved exactly as he’d left it. Probably (hopefully) no one had come tramping through since then, although it was wishful thinking to presume they could find any identifiable footprints in the mud. Buddy had already trampled all over it on his first run around here and most of it was dry anyway.

While Flynn looked around, Buddy relayed to him concisely everything that had happened since the prince had vanished. Being the aja of a common force officer made this a less laborious process than it could have been: Buddy knew to stick the facts, omitting tangents and covering any detail which may be relevant, including names and brief descriptions of everyone they’d encountered. When he’d finished, the silence hung in the air for a moment with the pregnancy of an unasked question or an unstated fact. An elephant in the room.

“She’s fine,” Buddy said after a moment with none of his usual confidence. “Ker are the hardest creatures to kill, after wolves.”

She’s not a ker anymore though, is she? The thought wormed its way into the back of his mind, nagging. Fairies have much softer skin.

Buddy cast the thought off, grinding his teeth noisily. He needed to focus on something helpful, proactive. If Cal were here she’d already have bounced half a dozen ideas off him by now. Buddy had always considered himself her equal partner, but now he wasn’t so sure. There was a fog in his head, clouding his ability to conjure up potential scenarios and next steps.

“What about your wolf-dog? Den?” He flicked his tail. “Can he track her scent?”