As the moon rises in the treetops, we settle down next to the fire Leif’s built in a small clearing.
Catriona jumps up suddenly. “Oh! I almost forgot!” She leaps over to our bags lying next to a tree and rummages inside hers. When she returns and I see the fresh sausages wrapped in waxed paper my mouth starts to water.
“Where did you get these?” I ask.
She pushes a couple onto a long roasting stick and hands it to me. I eagerly hold them to heat over the fire. We’ve not had anything but dried meat for days.
“Mrs. Willow. She sent these, and she sends her good wishes as well. Despite what her husband’s been up to.” Catriona hands the sausages to Tui, who’s seated on her other side.
“So—what did you find out?” I’ve been eager to hear what Catriona learned all afternoon, but we’d been riding too hard to talk.
“Do you want the good news first, or the bad?” She raises her brows, her face serious.
“I suppose I’ll take the good—haven’t had much of that lately.”
“Very well, m’lady. The good news is most of Baldachin’s people got away. They fled the night of the fire. My mama and papa led everyone into the Western Mountains and they are hiding out there. The bad news is, of course—”
“My family.”
“Yes,” she says softly. “They were caught by surprise, taken and held before the fire was even set. The Loyalists wish to present them to Araroa. For punishment.”
“How many?”
“What do you mean?” she asks.
“I mean, how many Loyalists have got my family?”
“I’m not positive, but I think it’s only a few. Four? Maybe Five?”
“Dammit! I knew we should have gone after them straight away. The three of us could easily have defeated that number. We thought it may have been many more.”
I feel a hand grasp onto my knee and look down. I’d nearly forgotten Leif was sitting next to me; he’d been very quiet all afternoon and evening.
“You’re right—we might have been able to oppose that many, but we didn’t know that,” he says.
Something is bubbling up inside me—it’s a swell of irritation. Of distrust. It burns and I hate that it’s there. Leif had told me the pubkeep said there were dozens of Loyalists. Was the pubkeep wrong? Or had Leif just said that to convince me not to follow? I know how good he is at telling stories … I grit my teeth, trying to keep my face even.
Suddenly there’s a flash of flame before me. “Oh hell!” I grab my sausages from the fire and blow the flames out; all that’s left are a couple of charred bits.
“Maybe you should let me take over the cooking tonight,” Leif says, a corner of his mouth quirking up.
I hand the stick over, managing to give him a small smile, despite my foul mood. “That would be great, thanks.”
He chucks the burnt bits into the woods behind us, then sets about roasting two more.
“Here, take mine,” Tui says, reaching his stick over toward me. On the end of it are two perfectly roasted sausages.
I have to reach over in front of Catriona to take the stick from him. “Don’t mind if I do,” I say.
Catriona makes a noise of irritation.
I ignore it. My stomach is positively snarling, and I’m eager to dig in to some food finally.
Happily, when we’re done eating, Catriona and Tui take their bedrolls a good distance away from Leif and me. We’ve got the fire to ourselves and settle into our blankets beside it.
Leif curls himself behind me, drapes his arm over my body, pulls me close. I close my eyes and try to imagine my worry is drifting away, up like the smoke of our smoldering fire. This is all that matters anyway, this feeling of being treasured. How lucky I truly am.
Leif kisses my ear; his hot breath sends a shiver all the way down to my curled toes. “I’m sorry about all this, m’lady. I know you really wanted to get back to Nuimana. Let things settle here in Nadir. But—”
“But that’s clearly not going to happen.” I turn on my back so I can see Leif. His head is resting on his arm, his face and hair soft in the slivery moonlight. “At least we’re here, together.”
“Yes.” He strokes my cheek, then leans down to plant a soft kiss on my lips. He leans back again and smiles.
Suddenly a peal of laughter echoes through the trees: Catriona’s.
“Well, at least those two are together again,” he says with a chuckle.
“But will they get any sleep?”
“Doubt it.” Leif tucks his face into the spot between my head and shoulder. I can feel him breathing in deeply. “Mmmm … but I will. Goodnight, m’lady.”
“Goodnight … but Leif?” I won’t get any sleep until my question is sorted.
“Mmmmm?” he murmurs sleepily.
“Why did you say there were fifty Loyalists … when there were only a handful?”
I hear his breath catch. That’s when I know my suspicion is correct.
I pull myself away, turning to face him. Even in the dark, I can see the sheepish look on his face.
“What did the pubkeep actually say, Leif?”
“I’m sorry, Raven. I really am. I maybe, could have possibly exaggerated the number a bit …”
“A bit?”
“The pubkeep really did tell me it could be five Loyalists … or it could be fifty. He didn’t know. He was certain there were more than stopped in at Alderwood. But I guess I just … you know … went with the higher estimate.”
“But you told me it was certain! You lied to me, Leif.” I’m sitting up now, my body burning with another emotion entirely: fury.
“I didn’t lie … that’s harsh. I just … didn’t tell you the entire truth.” He sits up himself, reaching out for my hands. But I keep them tightly clenched in my lap.
“That’s lying. And you know it.”
There is a long pause. I can tell he’s trying to come up with just the right words to say.
“I guess it was. And I’m sorry, truly. I really did think it would be best not to take these Loyalists on our own—whether there were five or fifty of them. And I still do.”
“Please don’t do that again. You need to tell me everything if you find something like this out. And then let me make the decision based on that. Do not keep information from me again.”
He shrinks back a little, as if my steely words are hitting him, one by one.
“I won’t. I promise,” he says after a pause, dropping his eyes down to his hands.
“Good. Don’t.” I lay back down, so I’m facing him and he does the same.
He takes a deep breath. “But I’m not sorry I managed to convince you to come this way. Still think it’s safest for you. That’s my main concern, as I said before. To keep you safe. But you’re right—I shouldn’t lie to do it.”
I manage a small smile, reaching up to tuck some loose moonlit strands of hair behind his ear. “I accept your promise. All of them.”
Leif takes the opportunity to grab my hand, kisses it, then holds it tight against his chest.
I close my eyes again, feeling his heartbeat in my palm, listening to the soft forest sounds around us. The light wind rustling the trees, a night bird calling.
One could almost think that all was well in the world. Hopefully it will be, in ours.
We reach the top of the pass shortly after setting out in the morning. As we’ve climbed, we’ve encountered a thick, pearly-white fog and now we can barely see one another, much less the majestic view of Nadir I’ve come to treasure. Since there’s nothing to see, we don’t stop, keeping on down the other side. There’s only one path to follow around the rocks, crags, and boulders, but we can’t hurry: we must lead the horses carefully so they don’t slip or get a hoof stuck in a crevice.
It’s mid-afternoon when we reach the tree line. Catriona stops her horse, looking around. I ride up next to her.
“Well, this is odd,” she says. Her brows wrinkle in concentration as she studies the ground ar
ound us.
“Which is … ?”
“There are three different tracks here, all of them relatively fresh.” She points them out to me and I see she’s right: on the other side of the pass, and up to this point, there was one clearly discernible track the Treasoners were following. But here there’s three.
“Do you think they split up? I guess they must have. But I wonder why.”
Catriona simply shakes her head. “Not sure.” She hops down from Hazel’s back and starts walking around, scouting. I watch her kneel down to study each track closely, placing a hand on the ground to sense something invisible to me. Leif has gone to visit the bushes and Tui’s sitting atop Pango, a look of awe on his face as he watches Catriona work.
She returns a few minutes later. “I think most of them went that way, which would be toward the original camp. But the track out that way”—she points to the faintest one to the north—“is fresher and has got footsteps coming in this direction.”
“And the third?” I point to the one heading due south.
“The most recent—the ones from the north, continue that way, but there is another set—a smaller print, female, maybe?—that joins up with them here.”
As she speaks, my anxiety about what happened here swells. I can only guess that the Treasoners encountered another party, and they took one of them with.
Catriona interrupts my ruminations. “Hang on—this is strange.” Her gaze is focused in the distance and she starts walking in that direction. I jump down from Pearl to follow.
That’s when I see it too, yet another set of tracks running parallel to the one heading south. “What do you think?” I ask her.
She shakes her head. “Not sure. But it appears as though the group heading south is being followed.” She looks back up at me, rubbing her chin as she considers all this. “But what’s even stranger is I don’t see any sign of a struggle in this whole area.”
I rub my forehead, where a low throbbing has started. We’ll not know what happened here, until we find the others. But I highly doubt it was anything good.
We return to the horses, to where Leif and Tui are waiting. Catriona fills them in with what she’s found. “The good news is they can’t be more than a day ahead,” she finishes.
“Let’s get on with it then,” Leif says.
I give Pearl a small nudge and we follow the largest track, down the mountainside, in the direction of the original Treasoner camp—the one where I found Leif’s father, Nile, earlier this summer.
It’s late afternoon when we come across the open space the following day.
But it’s empty.
The grass has grown, it’s nearly up to my knees. There’s no sign anyone has camped here in weeks, and the trampled track we’ve followed tells us the Treasoners passed right through. As far as I can tell, we’re still the only people around for miles.
While Leif and Tui clear the weeds and clean out the fire pit, Catriona and I wander around gathering firewood.
I take the chance to ask her the question I’ve wanted to for several days. “What do you really think happened to the Treasoners? This is all so … strange … that they’d just up and disappear like they have.”
She looks around, as though to check to make sure nobody is nearby. Which strikes me as a bit odd—we’re obviously alone. But I guess we can’t be too cautious, after all.
“I think they’re up to something, that’s what. They—” She pauses, clearly not sure if she should say what’s on her mind.
“Come on, out with it.”
She purses her lips, sighing. “It’s just that I heard something on my way out here from Greenhollow. But since it’s unverified, I didn’t want to say anything about it until I could make sure what I’d heard was true. But over the past few days, especially with what we’ve seen, I’ve grown to believe it is.”
We’ve stopped walking. I’m facing her, holding an armful of wood.
“And? That is?”
“The rumor I heard was that the Treasoners are heading to the Bastion. They’re planning to attack the Palace and remove old Araroa from power.” She motions toward the trampled ground not far from us. “The tracks are leading right there, after all.”
Simultaneously, my mouth falls open and my armful of wood clatters to the ground. But I’m speechless; I can only stare in the direction of the tracks. I don’t know if she’s right about them planning to attack, but clearly they are heading directly for the Bastion.
“I’ve got to tell Leif. And Tui.” Leaving the wood on the ground, I hurry back to the fire pit.
The fellows have got the kindling started. Both of them leap up when they see me running toward them.
“Raven? What’s wrong?” Leif has grasped onto my arms, as if trying to steady me. My eyes are wide, going from his face, to Tui’s, and back again. Finally I choke out the words.
“Catriona’s heard the Treasoners are planning on attacking the Palace … and the tracks confirm they’re heading that way. But they can’t! My family might be killed if they do!”
My voice is shaking, my knees are turning into rubber. Leif holds on tighter.
“She’s right, I hated to say it but I think it’s true.” Catriona’s come up behind me, and drops our load of wood next to the fire pit.
Leif leads me to the log he was sitting on. “Let’s sit down for a second. We’ve got time to think.”
I sink down, putting my head in my hands. Think? I feel like my brain has turned to mush.
Leif rubs my back softly. Eventually I take a deep breath and look back up. Tui and Catriona are sitting on the other log, holding hands.
I find this extremely irritating. “How can you two be so calm? This is terrible news.”
Catriona smiles impishly. “If you’d have waited, I would have told you the rest.”
“And what’s that?”
“I believe they’re camped about a mile”—she tilts her head in the direction of the trampled track—“that way.”
I jump up. And I run.
It’s nearly dark now, especially in the thick of the trees, and I stumble over fallen branches and roots as I go. I’m so desperate to reach the Treasoners as quickly as I can that I barely wince when I go flying and nearly land on my face, scraping my hands. I jump up and keep on. There are voices behind me—Tui and Leif—but I don’t stop, not when I smell the camp smoke, nor when I hear the music and voices.
They are camped among the trees, so busy getting dinner prepared and tents set up that they don’t notice when I emerge into the center of their activity. I finally stop, scanning for Nile, hands on my hips, my breath puffing noisily from the run.
It takes a full minute for anyone to notice I’m there.
“M’lady? Is that you?” A sweet voice reaches my ears, and I look down to see the familiar little girl with blond ringlets, her eyes wide and glowing.
I smile, placing a hand on her soft head. “It sure is, Rosie. Is Nile here? Imogen?”
She nods, curls bouncing. “Nile is.”
“Can you send him to me, please?”
“Yes, m’lady.” She darts away to find Leif’s father, and one of the leaders of this group of Treasoners.
Another long minute passes. People are starting to notice me now, greeting me with nods and small curtsies as they go about their work. But they stick close, probably wondering what’s going on.
There are heavy footsteps behind me; Leif and Tui have finally caught up. They keep back, letting me confront Nile on my own.
The man I’ve been dying to speak with for days finally steps out from the gathering crowd. “Raven! Leif! It’s so wonderful to see you both!” His green eyes glint in the dim light, a wide smile peeking through his white beard. But it fades when he sees the look on my face.
“It’s good to see you too, Nile. But please, tell me what’s going on. When we came across the Zenith camp, we could tell you all had left suddenly, what with all the gear and clothing left behind and the fire barely
extinguished. What happened over there?” I raise an eyebrow at him. Dare him to just try to embellish the story—I want only the truth.
Nile reaches up to his beard, begins stroking it as he carefully considers his reply.
“Answer her, Papa,” Leif adds. “She’s got to know the truth. All of it. For her safety.”
“Ah, yes. I suppose you would want to know why we’ve moved on, when we were supposed to wait for you to return from Baldachin. It was a nice spot and all, what with the pond and waterfall. Plenty of berries and game to eat. Room for the kids to play and climb. It’s just that—”
“Nile. Out with it.”
“Right. It’s just that when we heard your home, Baldachin, had been destroyed by fire—just as old Araroa had ordered—we knew you’d want to take revenge on him. And since we travel so slowly, we figured it was a good chance to get a head start …”
“But Nile, now they are on their way with—” My voice chokes, I can’t even say the words.
Nile places a hand on my arm, gently. “What, m’lady? What have they done?”
“They’ve taken my family. My mum, papa, my godmother, and Tui’s mother as well. They’re taking them to present to the King. For treason.”
The entire camp—now gathered en masse around us—silently absorbs this news, looking at one another in disbelief.
Nile takes a deep breath in. “Oh dear. That does complicate things, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, it does.”
“Unfortunately, that’s not the only complication,” he says. “Although I don’t want to alarm you, since the rumors may turn out to be exaggerated.”
“Go on. It must have been important, if you and Imogen decided to pack up dozens of Treasoners, tents, gear, and animals and head this way. What was it, Nile?”
Nile drops his hand from his beard, straightens up, and sighs. “There are other Treasoner groups, m’lady Raven. At least one large one like ours from the South Coast, another in the Western Mountains, another gathering east of Zenith Peak. And likely dozens of small pockets all around.” He pauses.
“I guessed as much. There must be more to it, am I right?”
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