Zadie demurred politely. “You should see to the horse, surely. I’ll help make the camp.”
She went to clear the campsite of rocks and debris while I unpacked our saddlebags. If she was experiencing any land sickness, she was doing a remarkably good job of hiding it. I glanced back at Osius, who was still observing my sister, as if he wanted to make sure she was truly all right before he tended to the horses.
“You noticed it, too, then,” Talin said, startling me.
“What?”
“I believe your fair sister may have caught the eye of our captain.”
I turned to stare at him. “Osius? Impossible. He’s all business.”
Osius had moved on to the horses, but he stole repeated glances at Zadie, who was gathering firewood.
“Oh dear,” I said. “I think you may be right. He does know she’s in love with Sami, doesn’t he? That’s why she’s here.”
“He knows. And I don’t think Osius has any plans to marry. Most members of the king’s guard don’t.”
“If he thinks she’s the kind of girl who would betray—”
Talin chuckled and patted my shoulder. “Calm down. He doesn’t. I think he’s just protective.”
“He never behaved that way toward me,” I muttered as we walked to the campsite.
Talin smirked. “But you were never really in need of protection.”
“Hmph.”
“Besides,” he added, tucking me against his side, “he knew all along that if anyone was going to attempt to protect you, it was going to be me.”
I smiled and kissed his cheek. “I may not need protection, but I am in dire need of a shoulder rub.”
“That,” he said with a grin, “I can manage.”
8
By the fourth day, Zadie had adapted to life on land. She had never been sick to her stomach the way I was, which could have been because I was forced to travel in a closed coach with no access to fresh air. She was always eager to cook when we made camp at night, while I preferred to unsaddle the horses and rub them down. I took particular care with Titania, who had proven herself to be an unusually intelligent and loyal animal.
“It’s unnatural,” Grig grumbled, pointing as Titania followed me around camp, which she had taken to doing in the evenings. I suspected she would have happily slept next to me, though even Talin objected to that. He reasoned that she could roll over in the night and crush me, but I knew it had more to do with the fact that it was our only time to be together. He didn’t want to share me, not even with a horse.
“Leave her alone.” I held out an apple core to Titania. “She just likes me.”
“You wouldn’t think anything of it if she were a dog,” Osius said to Grig. “Besides, you’d better get used to it. Where we’re going, I’ve heard the horses practically live in the houses.”
Zadie lifted her head from the cook fire, eyes wide. “What?”
“It’s not true,” I assured her. “Is it?” I whispered to Talin.
He shrugged. All any of us had to go on were rumors.
“What if they turn us away?” Grig asked, poking at the fire with a stick. “Where will we go then?”
“If I can’t find reinforcements in Galeth, I’ll join my mother and sister in the south and pray for a miracle. But I would understand if you chose to journey onward.” He glanced at me. “All of you.”
I was surprised that he was already discussing the possibility of going separate ways. Only a short while ago, he had scoffed at the suggestion that Zadie and I head north alone. Then again, I had closed up like a clam when he mentioned marriage.
“There’s no reason to cry storm when the sky is clear,” Zadie said, as if sensing my discomfort. “Let us wait and see.”
I patted Titania’s neck. “I’m going to tie her up for the night with the other horses. Would you help me, Zadie?”
She nodded and hurried to my side.
“What is it?” Zadie asked when we had reached the horses. “Aside from all the obvious answers.”
Titania arched her neck and gazed down her long nose at me, as if to say, Do you really expect me to spend the night with these three again? I ignored her and tied her lead rope to a branch a short distance from the two geldings and Xander.
Zadie and I had spent very little time together on the journey. She rode with Osius every day while I generally rode next to Talin, unless the road only permitted for single file. During those solitary times, I was alone with my thoughts, which seemed to be caught in a whirlpool of fear and doubt.
We’d been riding later and later each night, afraid that we were taking longer than we should. There was no way to know if Ceren’s guards were following us, or what had become of the Varenians we’d left behind, and every day away I grew less certain that we’d made the right decision by heading north. Then, of course, there was...
“Talin,” I responded. “Sometimes I feel as if he truly loves me, and other times I can’t tell what he’s feeling.”
Zadie sat down on a mossy tree stump, leaving enough room for me to join her.
“I imagine he’s feeling quite torn, Nor. He cares about you greatly. There is no question in my mind. But he also loves his mother and sister. You can’t expect him to choose you over them.”
I winced at the suggestion. “No, of course not.”
“I think he was trying to give you a way out, so you don’t have to make a choice between staying with him or going your own way, either.”
I unraveled my braid and combed it out with my fingers. “You’re probably right. I’m just feeling insecure.”
“That’s natural,” she said, helping untangle my hair. “I’ve felt insecure with Sami, too.”
“You have?” I gazed at her with wide eyes. We were born only minutes apart (Mother would never tell us who was first, saying it didn’t matter; I secretly suspected she’d mixed us up and didn’t remember) but Zadie had always seemed wiser and more mature.
“Of course,” she said with a soft laugh. “After the scarring, I had no idea if he would marry me. But even before that, when I found out he was betrothed to you, I thought he was fine with that outcome. It was terrible.”
I felt selfish for not realizing what that must have been like for her. “I’m so sorry I didn’t see it.”
She was about to speak when we heard rustling in the brush behind us. I reached for the knife Talin had purchased for me back in the city, which I kept tucked in my boot, and Zadie grabbed hold of a sturdy branch.
“Who’s there?” I called into the shadows.
Two strangers stepped out of the darkness.
“What do you want?” I demanded, but the man already had his hands in the air, and the girl looked like she was about to cry.
“We’re just looking for shelter for the night.” The man was dressed in clothing that had once been fine but looked well-worn from travel. The girl had the same green eyes and brown hair as the man, who had his arm protectively around her shoulders. She couldn’t have been over twelve or thirteen.
“What are you doing all the way out here?” I asked. We hadn’t passed a town in miles.
“We’re on the road, like you. We saw your fire when we were searching for a campsite.”
I cursed under my breath. We needed to be more careful when we chose where to camp.
I heard the girl giggle and realized I hadn’t been as quiet as I’d intended. “I’m sorry. We don’t have any shelter, just our bedrolls.” I studied the two of them more carefully. They didn’t appear to be carrying any weapons, other than a small knife at the man’s waist, which he hadn’t reached for. Despite the giggle, the girl was reeling on her feet, utterly exhausted. Talin wouldn’t like it, but we couldn’t leave them out here to wander in the dark. “You’re welcome to join our camp for the night.”
The man sighed in relief. “Tha
nk you. We saw the men back there but were afraid to approach them. When we heard your voices, we thought asking you for help might be safe.”
“You’re safe,” Zadie said, reaching for the girl’s hand. “Come and meet our friends. One of them is a prince,” she whispered.
“I’m Nor,” I said to the man. “That’s my sister, Zadie.”
“I’m Shale. My daughter’s name is Ella.”
I shook his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Shale.”
When we reached the outskirts of the campsite, Talin, Grig, and Osius rose. Their posture was relaxed, but all three men had their hands on the hilts of their swords.
I gave a tight shake of my head to indicate the weapons were unnecessary. I didn’t want to frighten Ella. “This is Shale and Ella. They’re heading...”
Shale shrugged and waved in the general direction of north.
“Anywhere in particular?” Talin gestured for Shale to take a seat by the fire, though his hand never strayed from his sword. Ella was with Zadie, receiving a bowl of the stew we’d eaten for supper. We wouldn’t have any left for breakfast, but we would manage.
“Anywhere the woman king isn’t,” Shale said. He glanced up as Zadie handed him a bowl of stew and thanked her.
“What do you mean?” I asked before Talin could respond. I didn’t need to see his face to know he was offended.
“We’re from just south of Linrose Lakes. The uprising has been simmering in the south for years, but we thought we were safe, living as far north as we were. But in the past few weeks, it has become untenable. She started conscripting every able-bodied male between the ages of fifteen and forty. Ella is just thirteen, and my wife is gone.” Shale glanced at Ella. “I can’t leave her alone.”
Talin took a seat, softening a bit. “I’m sure there will be exceptions made for special circumstances.”
Shale shook his head. “I’m afraid not. We were told to report for duty one morning, no exceptions. Ella and I ran that night.”
I looked across the fire at Talin. He was staring into the flames, his expression unreadable. “Surely you can stop running,” I said. “Meradin is neutral territory, and the woman king won’t be coming this far north.”
“Perhaps. But once we started moving, I wasn’t really sure when to stop. We have no other family. It seems as if the entire kingdom is at war, or about to be.” He took a few bites of stew, stretching his long legs out in front of him. “What about you? Where are you heading?”
“To Galeth,” Talin said, surprising me. I wasn’t sure if he would reveal our destination to a stranger.
Shale’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. “Is that where you’re from?”
“No. We’re Ilarean.”
Shale looked at Zadie and me. “Not these two.”
I smiled. “No, not us.”
“Where are you from?” Ella asked Zadie. My sister had always been the more maternal of the two of us, and Ella had gravitated to her like a moth to a lantern.
“We’re from a place called Varenia,” Zadie told her. “We’re refugees, just like you.”
“Varenia?” Ella asked. “Where the princesses come from?”
Zadie nodded. “That’s right. It’s a small village in the middle of the Alathian Sea.”
“But you don’t really live in the ocean, do you?” Ella looked at her father for confirmation. He nodded, and she turned back to Zadie, eyes narrowed. “I thought only mermaids lived in the ocean.”
Zadie and I chuckled. “Our mother always said my sister is half fish.”
“Is that so?” Talin grinned at me, finally relaxing.
I wiggled my feet in the air in front of me. “A quarter fish, at most.”
Ella laughed, and in that moment, we were all friends traveling the same road together. As we settled down for the night in our bedrolls, our bellies full of stew, my heart still light with Ella’s laughter, I turned to Talin.
“Good night,” I said sleepily.
His hands were folded behind his head and he was staring up at the night sky, wide awake. “Good night, Nor.”
“What’s the matter?” I scooted closer. Osius was standing first watch, and everyone else was already asleep, or close to it.
“I can’t stop thinking about what Shale said about my mother.” Talin rolled to his side, propping his head on his hand. His cheeks were shadowed with stubble, which made him look older, less like a princeling and more like the fugitive he had become.
“He wasn’t talking about your mother,” I said gently. “Not really. The people have built this woman king up in their minds. She’s become some mythical creature, when in reality she’s your four-year-old sister.”
“If that’s true, it’s only because my mother allowed it. Encouraged it.”
“I’m sure she felt like she had to. How else would she get people to join her cause?”
Talin stared at me for a few moments, but I knew he wasn’t really seeing me. “Do you think she’s actually forcing people to join her army?”
I could see the fear in Talin’s eyes, his concern that his mother had become someone he didn’t know in the past four years. I shared his apprehension. It was easier for me to believe she had changed, having never known her in the first place. But he didn’t need me to add to his worries. He needed my support.
“I think,” I said finally, reaching for his hand, “that there are two sides to every story. I’m sure Shale isn’t lying, but I also don’t believe your mother is behind whatever forced him to flee. She’s doing all of this for her own children, after all. She wouldn’t be that cruel. No one who raised you could be.”
His smile almost reached his eyes. “Thank you. You’re probably right. I’m letting my fears get the best of me.”
“Understandably.” I glanced at the forest around us. The fire had died down, and despite the moonlight, there was something about the trees that made me uneasy. I preferred the wide open skies of Varenia, where it was much more difficult for something to sneak up on you.
Talin smiled and patted the ground next to him. “For warmth.”
I only hesitated for a moment. Everyone knew how Talin and I felt about each other. What did it matter if we slept closer to one another?
I dragged my bedroll next to his and tucked myself under his outstretched arm, which started to close around me. When he felt me flinch, he lowered his arm until his hand just rested on my hip.
“What is it?” he asked.
I closed my eyes, not even sure myself why I didn’t like the feel of his strong arms around my chest. Gods knew I had, once. “It’s nothing.”
Within moments, I could feel Talin’s breath on the back of my neck, deep and even, and I was glad that my presence calmed him, even if I couldn’t relax in his arms. I didn’t know what awaited us around the next bend in the road, but our fears had not gotten the best of us yet.
The best was here, in the space between us, soft and warm and safe.
9
The next morning, we left Shale and Ella on the road, wishing them a safe journey. They were on foot, and we couldn’t afford to wait for them. I hoped they found a place to settle where they could live in peace. It seemed like such a simple thing to wish for.
The fifth day of our journey was uneventful, though we were all growing weary of the road. While I had developed calluses on my hands from rowing so much in Varenia, they had softened during my time in Ilara, and my palms were raw from gripping the reins. Every morning when I went to saddle Titania, she lowered her head and exhaled heavily through her nostrils, the equine equivalent of a sigh.
On the evening of the sixth day, when by all accounts we should have been close to the Galethian border, Osius pulled out his map of the continent and spread it on a large rock.
“Why is Galeth blank?” I asked, peering over Talin’s shoulder at the map. “Sure
ly the mapmaker knows what the geography is like there.”
Talin glanced at me with a knowing smile. “Perhaps. But this is an Ilarean map. Whoever commissioned it, probably my grandfather, would have told the mapmaker to leave it blank. It’s still a sore spot that the Galethians took that piece of land from us.”
“What is it like?”
“I’m not sure,” Talin admitted. “But judging by these foothills,” he said, gesturing north, “I’d say mountainous.”
Grig muttered a curse. “That means it will likely be cold as well.”
“The hardier the Galethians are, the better for us,” Talin said, patting Grig on the back. “Assuming they’ll help us, of course.”
We all knew what a big assumption that was, and the closer we grew to Galeth, the more I worried they would refuse. If we came all this way and abandoned our parents to Ceren for nothing, I didn’t know how I’d ever forgive myself.
“Do you need any help, my lady?” Osius asked Zadie, who was using a branch to sweep a small clearing for our bedrolls.
She wiped the sweat from her brow, smiling. “No, thank you. We’re just about ready.”
Zadie had grown used to the trousers and boots, though we both longed for a bath. Even our bodies were changing. I had always been strong from swimming, but this was the first time I was both exercising and getting enough to eat. When I removed my tunic to change into my shift at night, I was shocked to see muscles in my upper abdomen where I had once only seen ribs.
“I’m going to check on the horses one last time before heading to bed,” I told the group. Titania and I had developed a bond that even I could tell was unusual. She had taken to kneeling down so I could mount without a boost from Talin or a rock. She anticipated my needs, so I rarely had to signal with my hands or legs. Most of the time, I didn’t even need to use my voice or adjust my weight. She was one step ahead of me, the smartest horse any of the men had ever seen.
“There you are.” I held out a handful of grass that I’d plucked on my way over. She was perfectly capable of getting her own, but I liked feeding her. She had the softest muzzle, and she never nipped. She lifted her face to mine, blowing softly against my skin, tickling me with her whiskers.
Kingdom of Sea and Stone Page 7