Go back?
For a brief second, Clover's heart lifted with hope, that she could just walk back home, go back to her quiet, boring life--and then her hopes sank like a turd in a lake.
Explain to the soldiers? Explain to the soldiers that had been shooting at her?
She was a mage, mixed up with a criminal. All these people ever wanted was an excuse to hang a mage. Or burn them.
"Maybe.? Maybe? They were shooting at me, too!" Clover said, voice turning into a squeak as the situation began to sink in even more, as she began to realize just how deep in this she was. She pressed a hand to her mouth, her talisman biting into the palm of her other hand as she clutched it, panic tightening in her chest. He was sorry, he said. He didn't mean to, he said. And he sounded sincere enough, regretful enough, said he wasn't going to hurt her--and if he wanted to, wouldn't he have already done it? But...but now what?
"I can't go back now! They think I'm with you! I think! Why else would they shoot at me--ow!"
She jerked and opened her hand, the one that had been clutching her necklace, and the little talisman fell back against her chest. With a wince and a frown, she looked at her hand, her palm bleeding where the charm had bit into the skin--and as it pooled in the creases of her hand, she found it hard to look away.