Horse Charmer

by Angelia Almos

  "You weren't involved in the negotiations?"

  "Were you?" he countered.

  She smiled slightly as she shook her head. "Such negotiations don't include the wants and desires of a mere princess."

  "Nor a prince." Torr turned to his siblings and corrected something Lindley said.

  The rest of lunch passed swiftly and Cassia didn't attempt anymore intrigue. Torr remained closed and kept his conversation to light accounts and descriptions of the countryside near Castle Vespera. Tully and Faolan leapt on his hunting stories and demanded more as the plates and food were cleared from the table. Cassia rose, signaling the end of lunch and after quick goodbyes she shepherded her brothers after Maconahay who led them back up to their quarters. The boys burst with their stories, excited about their new siblings. Cassia turned them gratefully into Witen's skilled hands and escaped into her quarters.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Cassia hadn't really escaped. From her window she watched the first guests arriving; those important enough to be housed inside the palace. Outside the castle walls a tent city grew. She pressed herself to her window in amazement for over an hour as she watched the steady stream of people moving below her. The corrals overflowed with the horses from the carriages and wagons. It brought back the eerie feeling of her father's funeral and all the people who had attended.

  All afternoon and into the evening, she debated what to do. She had tried once more to speak with her mother after returning from lunch with Torr, but she'd been forcefully rebuked and confined to her room as before. If she didn't go through with the wedding she would be willfully disobeying her mother and if she did she would be disobeying her father. That was what it came down to.

  Her handmaidens kept her busy with the preparations. Princess Margarette was to be her bridesmaid and had been shown up to her chamber for a short period of time. She'd ooed and ahhed at Cassia's wedding gown as any young lady would and proudly displayed her own dress which her governess had brought up to the room. Seeing Margarette's smiling face and happiness at the wedding tomorrow morning made the choice the most difficult for her.

  An eternity past before the sun began to set, her nerves were so frazzled she felt like she was going to jump out of her skin. Cassia paced about her room stopping at the windows every time she passed them. Ula and Yaffa watched her warily.

  Finally, she couldn't even take their eyes on her. "I wish to be alone."

  They both bowed and ducked into the small dressing room, closing the door behind them. As soon as the door closed, Cassia darted over to one of her trunks that hadn't made it into the dressing room. She found the large leather walking bag in it as well as a dark cloak. Dashing to the dinner tray, she wrapped the remaining food in a napkin and dropped it in the bag, along with the cloak, before surveying the room for anything else she would need.

  She closed her eyes as a spell of dizziness overcame her at realization of what she was about to do. Cassia opened her eyes with determination. She couldn't allow this wedding to occur. Preventing it was up to her.

  Spotting her jewel case on the vanity, she tossed it in the bag as well. She didn't have any money for traveling. She'd need the jewels and gold to trade for food and lodging. She pushed the exact nature of her journey from her mind. When she pondered how she was going to make it to Castle Karah all on her own she wanted to crawl into bed.

  She looked around the room for anything else. Not that a royal chamber held much that could be used out on the road, but it was worth a look. A letter opener could be used as a knife. She slid it into her bag as she went to the bedside vanity. She hesitated a moment before pulling out the leather pouch with her notes from her dream.

  "Into the bag you go," she whispered.

  The dressing room door creaked open. She kicked the bag under her bed.

  Ula peeked out. "Do you wish to prepare for bed, Princess? You must rise early."

  Cassia held back a tongue-lashing. She picked at the heavy pink skirt. There was no way she could hide in this dress. "Yes, I wish to go to bed. Please have Yaffa inform the guards I don't wish to be disturbed."

  "Yaffa," Ula barked.

  Yaffa hurried to the door and ducked out. Ula began unbuttoning her dress and had it undone in short order. Cassia chewed her lip. With the majority of her belongings in the dressing room, how was she going to get appropriate clothes for a journey without Ula and Yaffa seeing her?

  "Ula," Cassia said as she pulled the nightgown on. "Could you and Yaffa coordinate with Jenica?"

  "As soon as I'm finished," Ula said.

  "Now," she said, smiling to soften her tone.

  "Yes, Princess." Ula intercepted Yaffa coming in the door and they both stepped out.

  Cassia rushed to the dressing room and threw open a trunk. She pawed through the first. Shut it and moved to the next one. With a sigh of relief, she pulled out the loose fitted blouse, vest, leather pants, and riding boots. Ula had grumbled that she wouldn't have time to ride and she had feared that her handmaiden wouldn't have bothered to pack the clothes. Cassia was rarely allowed to wear the leather pants and usually hid them under a flowing skirt, but she wouldn't worry about that now.

  She was back at her bed, the clothing safely stowed underneath, by the time Yaffa and Ula returned. They had her hair down and in a simple braid in short order. The candles were all extinguished except the one on her bedside vanity. They wished their mistress a good night and enclosed themselves in the dressing room to sleep.

  Cassia stared at the ceiling as she listened to them prepare for bed. She waited, for what seemed to be forever, but was probably no more than a half hour, after the dressing room was silent before carefully climbing from bed.

  With practiced speed she had her nightdress off, the riding clothes took a little longer to pull and tie on. Many a night she had snuck out to ride in the moonlight in this exact same way. Shoving the pillows under the covers, she carefully pushed and prodded them to look like her sleeping figure. She looped her bag over her shoulder and took a deep breath. The hallway was full of guards and there was no way she was going to be able to get out the door.

  Cassia turned to the window. With a deep breath she pushed the latch and swung the casement open. It barely creaked. She glanced at the dressing room, but didn't hear any sounds of stirring. She looked out over the landscape and then down.

  To the small ledge looping around the wall just below the windows on this level, she'd first noticed it when she'd been watching all of the guests arrive. The breeze pulled at her braid as Cassia carefully stepped over the sill onto the small ledge, keeping one hand on the window. She pulled it shut her feet now planted squarely on the ledge.

  She gasped in rhythm with the wind as she stared at the castle wall and inched her way along the ledge. She just had to make it to a room which wasn't in the same hallway as her own. A hallway with no guards.

  She passed one window, two. Her finger strained as she gripped the rough rock while a gust of wind threatened to rip her off the ledge. She tasted the stone and waited for the gust to end. As it finally relented, she slid her foot sideways.

  Three windows and she reached a corner. She felt around it with her foot, relief washing over her when she confirmed that the ledge continued. She scooted around the corner until she was along another length of wall. She stopped at the second window. Slowly reaching into her bag, she pulled out the letter opener, her other hand firmly gripping the stone. She slid the narrow tip between the window and wall. The latch released and Cassia warily pushed the window open.

  No sounds greeted her. She climbed over the sill and released a sigh of relief as she safely stepped on to solid floor. She stifled the sigh as a rustle of noise registered. She froze and waited for her eyes to adjust. A small lump showed on the big bed. Unsure of who it was, Cassia vacillated between going back through the window or out the door.

  Steeling her nerves, she tiptoed across the room to the door, her eyes on the sleeping lump. It appeared she wasn't the
only one to go to sleep early. At the door, she hesitated. What if there was a guard standing right outside? She huffed out a breath and pulled the handle as silently as she could. The door hinges creaked lightly and she flinched as the sleeper stirred. She peeked out and felt a moment of relief as she slipped out into the empty hallway.

  She pulled the door shut, but didn't connect the latch to keep the creak from disturbing the sleeping tenant. To her left, a flickering light and a soft murmur of voices. The Karahan Guard. To her right, freedom? Cassia turned right and moved swiftly down the maze of hallways to the back staircase.

  She needed a way to get out of the castle and village without anyone seeing her, especially the guards. It would be difficult. She slid down the backstairs in the shadows of flickering torches. The sound of voices made her pause halfway to her destination and Cassia slipped behind a heavy tapestry.

  The voices drew closer and she held her breath recognizing Erich and Torr's voices.

  "Then why is she asking questions like that?" Torr demanded.

  "She's a young girl who doesn't want to be married," Erich said.

  "She specifically brought up the treaty," Torr said, "wanted to know if I was there and if I was surprised it had been signed."

  Erich sighed in impatience. "We've already been over this. King Robet signed the treaty that night."

  "He didn't look too happy when he left the hall that night."

  "We don't have time for this. You'll be wed tomorrow and that little girl's suspicions won't matter."

  "Why would she be suspicious of the treaty?" Torr asked as their voices grew closer to the tapestry.

  "She's just grasping at rumors. Neither of you should be worrying about what has happened. There's plenty for you both to be concerned about with the future of Vespera and Karah."

  Torr was quiet a moment. "You weren't too happy when you came out of the treaty meeting either."

  Erich growled as they drew away. "Focus on today and your part of Vespera's future, son."

  Cassia strained to hear them as they continued down the hallway, except for their murmurs she couldn't make out what they were saying. Holding still, she counted to one hundred in her head before allowing herself to peek out and resume her path.

  Wary of running into the pair, or anyone else, Cassia made herself go with caution until she reached the final staircase to take her down to the main level. She located a servants' entrance and slipped out into the busy yard. There were numerous carriages in the yard with their drivers in groups talking to each other. Many more continued to pull up, letting out their occupants. Cassia was surprised the activity hadn't slackened off at nightfall as she'd expected. How was she going to slip out unobserved with all the coming and going?

  She pulled the traveling cloak out of her bag and wrapped it around herself. She tugged the hood over her head and stepped out of the doorway into the yard. Walking swiftly, she headed through the yard bowing her head slightly at those she encountered until she made it to the outskirts of the barn.

  A large corral of about forty head greeted her. She peeked into the corral with interest; these weren't Vesperan horses by the looks of them. Several of them looked like the wedding gift horses. Luki. She glanced around nervously. He would recognize her if he saw her. He was often with his horses, watching over them, but she didn't see anyone lurking in the shadows. Perhaps he'd been given a room in the castle.

  Cassia moved along the corral to the opening of the barn and peered down the aisle. At the moment none of the stable hands seemed to be inside. They were probably dealing with the horses in the yard. Slipping inside, she hurried through the large barn looking for the Karahan riding horses. She hoped they were in the royal barn and not stalled in a livery stable. If so, she might never find them and she didn't want to take a horse that wasn't hers. She could justify taking a Karahan horse.

  She stopped at a stall that had a familiar bridle hanging on it, looked in, warmth spread through her with her smile. It was Kali. Cassia glanced to the entrance of the barn before slipping the bridle off of its hook and letting herself into the stall. She whispered to Kali, who snorted at her in evaluation before taking the bit and accepting the bridle. Kali danced into the aisle. Cassia glanced around to make sure it was clear before swinging up.

  Once settled, Cassia urged the mare into a walk and out a side door before heading her towards the nearest gate, trying to stay in the shadows. She pulled Kali up when she got as close to the gate as she could without the guards seeing her. She wouldn't be able to sneak by them and the distance between her hiding place and the gate was too wide for her to bolt through it.

  She would need a diversion if she wanted to make it out without the guards stopping her. Cassia glanced down the dark alleyway to the corral. Cocking her head in consideration, she evaluated the nervous horses as they milled around. A group of stampeding horses would make a pretty good diversion. Plus, if she was with them, she could slip out without anyone the wiser.

  She directed Kali up to the gate of the corral and unlatched it, keeping her attention on the stable hands who were busy taking care of the horses hooked up to the carriages. She swung the gate open and urged Kali into the middle of the herd inside the corral.

  Wrapping her fingers securely in her mare's mane, she leaned forward and slapped the nearest horse on the quarters and let out a whistle. The horses launched themselves out the gate at a full gallop. She concentrated her energy on keeping Kali in the middle of the group as they streaked down the road toward the main gate. She hadn't planned on that, but it was too late to turn the herd toward the side gate.

  Yells of stable hands and carriage drivers rose up as they spotted the loose herd. A loud bell echoed through the streets. They raced closer to the gate and the guards struggling to get the large door closed. The guards paused for a second to stare at the mass of horse flesh heading for them before doubling their efforts. Cassia ducked down and weaved Kali between the horses. She must not get stuck on the wrong side of the gate when it closed.

  Kali dug her hooves into the ground and surged out the gate just as it rang shut behind her. Cassia leaned down farther over her neck, whispering encouraging words. Kali's ears twitched back and her head bobbed forward harder as she lengthened her stride. The other horses had turned off the road and were heading down one of the open pastures. Cassia decided to stay with them to cover her tracks.

  The horses galloped at an incredible speed, ecstatic at being free once again. She momentarily forgot her predicament and enjoyed the feel of Kali stretched out below her and the wild mood of the herd as they moved swiftly toward the mountain in the distance.

  Gradually, Cassia pulled herself away from the horses' feelings. She would have to leave the herd soon and risk making her own tracks. They reached a small stream and Cassia slid Kali to a halt in the middle of it and watched the herd gallop away. She longed to stay with them. Kali shifted uneasily under her and shook her head.

  "The guards will track the herd," Cassia said as she turned Kali to follow the stream into the woods.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  It took about a day for Cassia to start regretting her decision to run away. By day two of traveling through the woods and evading search parties, she was pretty certain she'd made a huge mistake.

  Sure, she was heading in the general direction of home, but the intense need to run had slowly dwindled to nothing and now she was thinking about all of the other things she could have done to stop the wedding. The list grew longer with each mile covered. She'd nearly turned around and headed back to the castle several times. Only the knowledge that returning without a concrete explanation as to why she had disappeared would make things worse kept her going forward.

  The fact that she and Kali hadn't crossed the border into Karah wasn't helping her state of mind either. They kept circling around, making the journey twice as long. Kali snorted at her inner scolding and Cassia ran her fingers through the mare's ebony mane to sooth her. The connection formed d
uring the escape hadn't lessened. She could feel Kali breathing along with her own breath. That alone was enough to pause her inner ranting and focus on the here and now.

  Cassia had been able to communicate with horses as long as she could remember, but she'd never had a bond as deep as this one. She still didn't understand how the connection worked, but she found it comforting despite the mystery.

  Kali stopped and swung her head to the left, her ears pricking in alarm. Cassia followed her gaze and finally registered the sound of baying dogs. She groaned. She'd thought they had lost the dogs earlier in the morning.

  "Come on." She urged the mare forward.

  Kali leaped into an easy gallop heading away from the dogs.

  "We have to get downwind of them."

  A feeling of understanding washed over her and she leaned forward to keep from being knocked off by the low hanging branches. The sound of blowing air filled her ears and she could no longer hear the dogs, but that didn't mean they weren't right on their trail. Another sound caught her attention, the roar of a waterfall.

  Kali burst from the trees and veered, halting to keep from running off the cliff. Cassia stared at the impressive waterfall and wide river. She looked up and then down the water trying to decide what way would be best. The Royal Caravan had crossed a river coming into Vesperan territory. If this was the same river, they were close to the Karahan border. Excitement and relief filled her.

  Once across the border, they'd be safe. She evaluated the short cliff. High enough that jumping wasn't possible yet low enough to make her think about it. She dismissed the idea reluctantly.

  Beneath her, Kali's muscles bunched. With one stride the mare launched herself off the cliff. Cassia wound her fingers deeper into the thick mane, barely able to stay astride. The impact of the splash nearly knocked her loose. The river filled her mouth as they sunk under. With a kick and thrash, Kali propelled them upward and broke the surface. Cassia coughed the water out, clinging precariously to Kali's back. She worked at untangling her fingers.