by Gin Hollan
Arabeth thought a moment; she hadn't brought any of her usual kit for that. What disguise would work in this situation? She was too obviously female to do a gender swap ... but then again, she'd been losing weight over the past couple weeks. All of her clothing was loose.
But, no. The idea of having to go into the men's bathroom didn't work for her. She would have to opt for feminine. Ringlets, skirt, fan, and giggling. She groaned. Thank God none of her friends would be here to see it.
She ran inside a shop and bought what she needed, changing while she was in there. Stepping outside again, she found Andun twiddling with his hair. His look was fine. Her biggest concern was how to make Marble fit in as part of her look. Her stomach sank as she realized the best choice would be to carry her like she was a baby.
"You were barely gone five minutes. You do this disguise thing a lot, don't you?" Andun said.
"Yes, and you have to stop grinning all the time," she retorted as she looked him over. He looked taller with long red hair braided back like a Viking, and clothes that fit but were un-tailored.
"I can't help it. This is fun."
She wished he would stay behind while she went to ensure his foster family would still welcome him, but he was determined to go. Unlike Arabeth, he had no doubt of their unending devotion. For someone who had lost so much already, he was very optimistic, Arabeth thought. It must be his nature.
She hailed a hansom cab but only went as far as the edge of town. They would walk the rest of the way. Their objective was on the side of town closest to the cliff, and removed slightly from the city's edge.
"Follow me," she said. "I am going to approach them alone, first. Do you think you can stay out of sight?"
"Wouldn't that be more suspicious?"
She looked him over as he stood on the roadside. He had a point. No one knew who she was or what she looked like, but word was spreading. Even with her hair colour the same, she’d changed her walk, her demeanour, and effectively, her personality, so anyone looking for a Blastborn rebel and the heir apparent would be hard pressed to imagine these two as them.
"Fine, you have a point. Let's call you Leonard, for now."
"Leonard? That's not very Nordic."
"Neither is your accent, Your Highness." She sighed and shook her head. "Try not to talk. Try not to smile. Believe it or not, teeth are highly individual, and have been known to ruin more disguises than any other slip."
"How do you know all this stuff?" He tilted his head to the side and frowned. "You're making it all up, aren't you?"
Arabeth rolled her eyes and turned to face the house. They weren't close yet, but it was an imposing structure, even at this distance. Looking at it, one got the impression that the owners wished it were a castle. The stonework resembled castle-style stone and mortar, including large slabs of stone with high-elevation gaps for archers.
"It hasn't changed, even a little," Andun said, smiling.
"How long ago were you last here?"
"Three years, but even the hedges are exactly the same height, width, depth. It's like they've been frozen in time.... Uh, except for her." He suddenly stared at a girl who would be near his age. He fell silent as he watched her playing croquet with a group of teens.
"Who is she?" Arabeth asked.
He didn't answer, watching her as she interacted with the others. The flickering happiness and other wistful emotions faded and his expression clouded. He soon turned away. Somehow that small act made him more real to Arabeth. In that moment she remembered Sam and wondered how he was. Had he escaped? Was Melanie helping him find them?
Just then a tall, thin man walked over. "Pardon me. What is the nature of your business here?" he asked.
"I have a message for your mistress. Please let her know that we are here on business related to the future king and need a word in private."
He gave a slight bow and turned away. Moments later he returned.
"She is indisposed, but says that her business with the royal family is concluded. She thanks you not to trouble her doorstep again," he said, entirely without expression.
"When was her last contact with the royal advisor?" Arabeth asked, annoyed. "Is he still in contact?"
"I will go ask her." He turned and walked away.
"That explains how he stays so thin," Arabeth muttered.
The wind off the ocean picked up, causing Arabeth to wish she had her jacket on. The lighter fabric of the dress and long cloak would take some getting used to.
The girl Andun had been watching suddenly drew near, smiling.
"Hello, are you looking for someone?"
Andun froze in place, still facing away.
"Yes, thank you. We are looking for information about the future king. He's gone missing."
"And you think he'd come here? He's not welcome here," the girl said.
"Does he know that?" Arabeth asked.
"Yes.... I don't know, but my parents will likely kill him on sight, so if you see him, tell him to stay away, for his own good." With no other explanation, she turned and walked back to her game.
Arabeth was taken aback. "Is she always so careless with her language? She makes you sound like a rogue."
Andun stood with his arms crossed. "People speak as they will about the royal family." His words were vague, but she could tell he was hurt.
"One would think they'd be different, because they know you."
"They don't know me well enough, it seems." He started to walk away but the groundsman came back just then.
"My lady says that she owes you no answer, and suggests you kindly move on." He bowed sharply and turned away.
"That could mean any of a hundred things." Arabeth sighed. "However, I think this will not be the refuge you had hoped for."
Andun suddenly turned to face the croquet players and called out, "Clarice!"
The girl spun to see who had called.
"Clarice," he repeated. "At shallow's break."
She tilted her head to one side, then shook her head, angry. Turning away, she took her next turn at play.
Arabeth could only imagine what Andun was thinking, but her impulse was to get him away from here, as fast as possible.
"Are you speaking in code? And are you crazy? Giving away your identity like that was stupid." Arabeth grabbed his arm and dragged him back down the road. Why had they even come here? The advisor would have expected it. He would have prepared the family, and told them how to react.
"Wait, I have to get something." He pulled his arm away and turned, heading into the light trees lining the area between the cliff and the mansion grounds.
She followed him into the trees, stabilizing Marble on her shoulder with one hand and hiking up the hem of her dress with the other.
"What is it? In the trees?" she muttered, following.
"Do you have a way to dig?" he asked.
She frowned and turned away, standing guard as he started digging with a branch.
Standing, doing practically nothing, her mind wandered.
// Chapter 29 //
THE MINUTE THEY returned to their hotel rooms, Arabeth changed and packed for travel, muttering the whole time about the emotional foolishness of youth. If he only needed the box, why did he call out? Why go through the trouble of disguises if he was going to talk in code and ruin it all?
"Let's go, Leonard. We're late," she said, loudly. As she waited, her hand brushed the red crystal that Melanie had given back.
Suddenly her ears flooded with inaudible words, messages waiting for her attention.
'Arabeth, Sam is safe. Where are you?' Pause. 'Arabeth, I can't talk long, are you listening?' Pause. 'Sam is headed to the ocean. Kennen is with him. Wait for them.' Pause. 'I had to tell them where you are. Get out now.'
Good thing they were. Sam would have to figure out another way to find them. It sounded like Melanie wouldn't be helping much now. They'd have to travel by horse—this close to the ocean, there wouldn't be an underground shuttle.
Andun stepped out, still in his disguise. She nodded. "Ready?"
"I'm starving. Can we grab some food on the way over?" he grumbled.
"Yes, of course." They'd be stupid not to, but his asking implied they weren't going far. Was he worried about spies already?
Crystals could hold messages until later ... how much later?
The small box in her grandfather's desk had a few of these crystals. She remembered asking to play with them when she was young, and he'd said they were a magic she wasn't ready for yet. At the time, she'd figured he spoke metaphorically. Now, she understood.
That was one more reason she wanted to find the four secret journals he'd mentioned a few weeks before he passed away. He'd locked his workshop, leaving it as his final puzzle to her. In the note he'd left, he'd almost begged her to find the way in. The exact wording was burned into her memory. It was her last contact with him. Right now, it felt like a lifetime ago.
When had anything he'd said either casually or on paper ever turned out to be a minor thing? Everything he'd said was layered. It drove her crazy most of her life, and now she missed it. Missed him.
"Miss Barnes," Andun said. "Are we going, or what?"
Arabeth shook herself out of the unexpected languor. She could introspect on the ride ahead. They were heading to her home, this time for certain. Following the coast would bring them to the only natural break to the mountains that separated Blastborn from the rest of the world. She could think of no other way to keep Andun safe and to find her answers.
They packed the saddlebags and mounted up, Marble sitting comfortably on a flat section of leather behind the saddle's cantle.
"Where are we going now?" he asked, still sullen from the encounter earlier.
"Your home didn't work out according to plan, so we're going to my home." In the beginning, she'd wanted nothing more than to get safely back behind the mountains. Now she had to find out why.
"Wait, we're going behind the mountain? Isn't that even more dangerous?" Andun asked.
"You've been told stories about wild monsters and other fabricated facts to keep people from emigrating there. Relax. It's no more dangerous than here, and I have resources that may help in your quest."
Arabeth held the crystal in one hand as she rode, hoping Melanie would be able to contact her again. The bag full of cured crystals sat quietly, and she'd never noticed them acting like the one in her hand. When things settled down again, she was going to experiment on them, see if she could bring them back to their full potential.
A twinge of guilt hit her as she thought about leaving before Sam caught up, but he'd understand. He'd even know where she was headed, so it wasn't a real problem. She had to admit she was looking forward to seeing him again. She missed him. It was simple logic: he was a close friend, and she was homesick.
The ride ahead was not going to be smooth, partly because she travelled with a hunted person, and she herself was going up against ambitious people who could justifiably lock her up for being an exile on the wrong side of the boundary.
"You see the ridge that's coming up?" Arabeth asked.
Andun nodded.
"We'll stop there."
"If we ride until dark, there's a town with comfortable accommodations," Andun mentioned.
"Oh?"
"I've had little else to do in my life. Listen to stories, study the maps, plan out war strategies, play out mock battles. They made it seem like games, but I'm distressed that they haven't taught me more diplomacy. Anyway, the inn has a good reputation."
"Your lessons were light on cultural studies?" Arabeth asked.
"Exactly. I haven't got a clue about a country's predispositions, only their military strengths and weaknesses. Tell me, what do people do where you're from?"
"What they do? In what way?"
"Diplomacy. How do you convince people to work with you, instead of against you?"
Arabeth wanted to take him seriously, but the question was odd. "Are you feeling all right?"
Andun shrugged. "I have no allies inside this country. Mardell has been working against me for too long and I’m only just waking up to the truth, it seems."
"I'm sorry your friend turned her back on you like that."
"Clarice has always been weak," he replied.
Arabeth was hesitant to speak. Was there really a good chance he would lose his throne? Maybe. What life would he have then? Would he be the kind to spend the rest of his days playing political games to get back what was lost? It was human nature. We want to maintain our sense of normal.
"I know people who can help you," she said. "But theirs is a long game. We need to send out messengers to any potential ally you have and find out who still sides with the throne." The only way she knew to do that was to enlist her mother's spy network. "We should travel as far and as fast as the horses can reasonably handle."
"Our government is run by a council of twelve elected officials, but the throne has one-to-one voting power, as well as veto power. That is the only thing that gives my voice strength. If somehow Mardell uses this time to change that structure, it's all over. No country leaving a monarchy has ever gone back."
"There is something of an advantage to being royalty: you will have the power to move the people. We cannot underestimate the fact that people idolize royalty."
"Interesting," Andun said.
"People will see you as the ideal leader, once we expose Mardell's duplicity. Again, not my strength, but I know people for whom it is second nature." Andun nodded. "I need to walk. I'm getting saddle sore." He dismounted and took a minute to stretch; Arabeth did the same.
"This will have to be our last break. We can't afford to get caught," she reminded him.
"You don't need to tell me that," he snipped. "The funny part is that Mardell still sees me as a child. He forgets I was raised as a tactician. I feel well-suited to that mantle."
"Glad to see you've got some fire in there." Arabeth smiled and clapped him on the back.
They walked in silence and haste for a short time before remounting, then travelled straight south, stopping only to let the horses drink and graze a little every few hours. Arabeth checked her pocket watch to keep them moving. Soon the night started to creep in, and as dusk turned to darkness, town lights came into view.
"Remember your disguise, Prince Andun," she said.
"I have my story. I'm Leonard," he said. "A young foreign student, out to see the world by horse and backpack, looking to understand the world outside his own."
Arabeth chuckled. "You've given this a bit of thought."
"A good story should be fun. A whimsical, adventurous spirit in a fifteen-year-old is easy to sell."
"Just remember that when you're surrounded by people and you start to wonder if they see through it. Appearance sets the stage, but attitude and bearing sell the disguise."
"I remember," he huffed. "Once more and this counts as nagging, you know."
"I didn’t realize we were keeping score," Arabeth retorted.
"I'm going to die of boredom out here if we don't do something to pass the time," Andun said.
It was late afternoon as they neared the town. Looking ahead, Arabeth saw a familiar figure sitting on the roadside. Sam! Arabeth picked up her pace, relieved and excited to see a friend.
"Hey, what's the hurry?" Andun called after her.
She turned and waved him forward. "He's a friend. He's also the reason we got away."
As Arabeth drew close, she thought expression on Sam’s face was odd. "It's good to see you, Sam. I was worried that Melanie's plan might not work."
His expression made her pause and she stopped a few feet away.
"You two took your time getting here," he said, stepping forward.
"Well, no.... Melanie sent us—"
"Enough. Let's get going. We need to reach Starsfall tonight."
Arabeth and Andun exchanged a look.
"What's your hurry, Sam? If you've been waiting, then it's not becaus
e you're being followed. I think a little explanation is in order," she said.
"This is neither the time nor the place." He turned and walked away.
Arabeth tried to ignore the growing knot of concern in her gut, but the habit of years fought within her. "Sam...." She bit her lip. Maybe he was right. They could talk later. She didn't know what he'd been through or how he had managed to escape. Her trite comment that there was no good excuse for bad behaviour died on her lips. This was Sam, after all.
Maybe he just needed to get far enough away to feel safe. It had been quite some time now since she had last felt secure, and she wasn’t the one who’d been dragged away by power-hungry traitors.
Sam was without a horse, so she dismounted and walked with him. They skirted the little town Andun had suggested they stay at. Travelling past dinnertime and into twilight, they covered fair bit of distance but Arabeth worried that the horses were getting exhausted. They’d barely had a break before heading back out on the road, and Davin wasn't getting any younger.
"Sam, slow down. Tell me what you're thinking," Arabeth pleaded.
The look on his face was almost hate. He wasn’t looking at them, and she feared for whomever he had in mind. Arabeth stopped and took a step back, putting her hand on Davin for comfort.
"Did you know?" He turned to glare at Andun. "We’ve been misled and deceived our entire lives in order to keep us as willing, unknowing prisoners. You knew, didn’t you?"
Andun frowned back. "You'll have to put some meaning behind your accusation before I can say what I do or don't know."
Sam looked back at Arabeth and his expression softened lightly. "We've been lied to … by everyone."
"Repeating the same words won’t add to my understanding. I know about the war that had our ancestors locked behind the mountain, and the lies that kept us there," Arabeth replied.
He shook his head. "No, not those ones."
"How many more can there be?" she scoffed. "That's quite enough, I think."
Sam grabbed her hand and pulled her close, then leaned in to whisper. "Everything is a lie." He pushed her away and stalked off down the road.