He nods, slowly. “As you know, Loyalists are taking over towns and villages and forcing Treasoners out. Our groups are steadily growing. Obviously—like ourselves—they’re not keen on being homeless and would much prefer to return to their homes. That’s why we’re all tired of waiting. Back in the Zenith camp, we got word Treasoner groups were moving to the Bastion. We decided to leave straight away to try to meet up with them, assuming you’d meet up with us before we got too far. It’s why”—his eyes dart around, he lowers his voice substantially—“Imogen and the boys left a few days ago, to get a head start to the Bastion. She’s to send word back to us when it’s time to move on.” He looks very sheepish suddenly. “Unless, you give other orders, of course, m’lady.”
I purse my lips, holding some sharp words back. A fury is growing deep in my belly: that they had decided to move camp without waiting for me to return as I’d asked. No—I’d ordered it.
But truth be told, with the stench of Baldachin’s ashes still in my nostrils, I feel a little thrill in my chest that they’re no longer willing to simply wait. Do nothing.
But still, I’d asked them to stay put. I keep my face even, and straighten up a bit more. “This is all very concerning. Nile, first off, the camp was not to move until my return. I can see how you might think I’d want to advance toward the Bastion, knowing what happened to Baldachin. But we’re in no way prepared for a confrontation with old Araroa. We’d talked about it, remember? We were going to bide our time for at least a couple of years, set up a new village instead of moving around like this all the time. It’s tiring for most people, to say the least. But finally, you did not have all the information. My family are in the hands of Loyalists. You know these men won’t hesitate to kill them. Araroa certainly won’t when those I love are delivered to him.”
Nile’s face falls serious again. Even he can’t make light of the terrible picture all the pieces falling into place have made. “You’re right, m’lady Raven. We should have stayed put. We made assumptions. Wrong ones. We’ll—I’ll make it right. I swear to you.”
I put my hand on his shoulder. “Of course you will,” I say, giving him a hard smile. There’s so much more I want to ask him, but I can’t right now, with so many ears listening in.
But I figure one question is safe. “Why are you all camping out here in the trees? Why not stop in the main camp?”
“Ah yes.” His mouth returns to a grin. “It’s going to rain tonight.”
Sure enough, just at that moment a drop falls right onto my nose. I can’t help but laugh. “Good reason.” I turn to ask Tui and Catriona to go and get the horses and our things, but they’ve already started back.
As if reading my mind, Tui turns and waves at me. “Got it! We’ll be back shortly.” I have to try hard not to laugh, knowing I probably won’t be seeing them for at least an hour.
“You’ll be joining us for dinner, then?” Nile asks. With his words, the crowd disburses, returning to their various chores.
“Of course.”
Night soon falls, and I have to admit that it’s good to be back with the Treasoners again; as ever, they are joyous and wild and free, especially now that most families have been reunited. Music echoes out into the night, my belly full of basic but delicious fare. I dance with Tui and Rosie and others.
I’m dancing with Nile when Leif breaks in. “I’ll take over, Papa.”
“Of course, m’boy. Watch this lady—she’ll tire you out if you’re not careful.”
Leif winks at his father. “That she will.”
Even though the music is still a fast jig, Leif and I melt into a dark corner of the forest together, holding fast to one another, falling into a slow rhythm of movement.
I lay my head on his chest and close my eyes. I feel him plant a soft kiss on the top of my hair. For a moment, I really do forget everything that’s happening.
And all the horror tomorrow may bring.
Chapter 6
Reality indeed returns with the sunrise. Even before I open my eyes I feel heavy with the weight of all that’s happening: my family in the hands of Loyalists, and dread of what other Loyalists around the kingdom are taking upon themselves to inflict on Treasoners in their midst.
I remember that terrible night, watching the Murphys’ inn burn, and shudder.
Then there’s the rumored groups of Treasoners heading to the Bastion, ready to confront King Araroa with no telling what the consequences of their actions may be.
I keep my eyes shut and press myself closer to Leif, wanting to draw the quiet morning out. He mumbles something sleepily into my ear, and I’m about to ask him to repeat it when there’s a great commotion outside our tent.
“M’lady Raven! Good morning! Do you want—”
“Shhh! Rosie! I told you to wake them gently.”
“Aw, Mama. I’m sure they’re awake by now.”
I smile, then sit up and pull the door flap to our tent aside. Rosie’s outside, practically jumping up and down. “Breakfast is ready, m’lady? Do you want some?”
“Have you got any coffee?”
Rosie’s face scrunches up. She shrugs.
Her mother appears next to her, the spitting image of her daughter: golden ringlets and hazel eyes. “We’ve got plenty. Whenever you’re ready, m’lady.” She gives me a small curtsy, but hesitates before she goes. “My name’s Nina. I never got the chance to thank you properly for finding and returning Rosie to us. It was so chaotic before you left for Baldachin …”
After I’d sworn to the Treasoners to be their leader, I’d made plans to leave straight away, to check on everyone at Baldachin. Too late, obviously. “Don’t worry. I was sorry to have to leave everyone so soon.”
“Anyway, thank you again. For caring for her and bringing her safely to us. And Callum too … although he’s gone with Imogen.”
Rosie’s brother Callum is just a boy, only fifteen. And gone with Imogen to fight? I try to hide my alarm at her news, brightening my smile instead.
“You’re welcome. I’m sorry I put her in danger. And I’m sure Callum will return safely too.”
Nina gives me a warm look; the both of us know Rosie was far safer outside of the Bastion than hiding out with Treasoners underground. Waiting to be found by Hunters and sent up to the—now closed—Northern Desert prison camp.
“I’ll be up shortly, for the coffee. But wait—” I reach over and rummage inside my pack, locating Rosie’s small doll. I hold it out to her. “I found something of yours.”
Rosie leaps over and grabs her beloved doll, hugging it tightly. “Thank you so very much, m’lady! I thought I’d lost her! They wouldn’t let me go back to look, we had to leave quickly, they said.”
“Well, there you go.” Nina gives me another nod of thanks, then the two of them turn to walk back to where breakfast is being prepared.
“That little girl is sure fond of you.” Leif is sitting up now, stretching his arms behind his back. His voice has a hard edge to it. And I know exactly why: Tui and I left the Bastion with Rosie in tow, masquerading as a small family in hope to travel safely back to Baldachin to warn everyone Hunters were on their way. Of course, little did we know the King’s Hunters were the least of our worries: it’s angry commoners who are the most dangerous.
But right now, Leif’s voice tells me he hasn’t completely forgotten how I’d left with Tui to return to Baldachin, and left him behind in the Bastion to look for his father. I can’t blame him, in a way: when Tui and I had reached Baldachin, we discovered that nobody’d left after I warned them of the coming danger. But Leif could have come with Tui and me—I’d asked him to. Not only that, Tui and I had found Nile ourselves, in the Treasoner camp in the woods outside of the Bastion.
My body stiffens with the tone of his voice; I will my shoulders to relax, turning to face him. “You’d be fond of her too, if you’d have come with us in the first place. Could have skipped all that with Hannah, and your trip to the Palace dungeon.”
; I pull on my boots, then stand and duck out of the flap. He can hold that grudge all he wants, all on his own.
My nose leads me to where the women are cooking breakfast near the fire, and that promised cup of coffee. Tui and Catriona are nowhere to be seen.
A mug is thrust into my hands, and the woman apologizes that they’ve no sugar or cream for the coffee. I thank her, telling her it’s no trouble at all, and take a long sip as if to demonstrate. It’s thick and rich—perfect.
Then I start off to find Nile. There’s something I need to ask him before I can decide what to do next.
But it turns out he’s gone out to hunt with some other men and boys. I pace around the camp, waiting for him to return. Leif busies himself with chopping wood for the fire and other chores; he’s keeping his distance after our icy exchange this morning. I’d only seen Catriona and Tui briefly at breakfast, then they’d gone off somewhere together, not saying where.
By lunchtime, I’ve had enough of the tension between Leif and me; he’s avoided me all morning. I grab an extra plate of food and go to find him.
“Truce?” I say to his back when I walk up to him. He’s checking on the horses grazing in a small clearing.
Leif gives George another pat on the neck, then turns slowly to face me. I offer him the plate.
He accepts it and smiles, though it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Look, I’ll be honest with you, Raven. I see how protective you are of Tui, how your eyes get that squinty look when you’re watching Tui and Cat … and I’m jealous. I feel as though … as though you’re not really all that happy with the two of them being together. And then I think—why? I know you’ve been friends with Tui since you were kids, but there’s something else.”
I open my mouth to argue, but the thing is, I can’t. He’s right, in a way. “I’m just protective of Tui, that’s all. He’s never been in love before, and he’s in … very deep. Over his head. I’m just worried that Catriona doesn’t feel quite the same. I don’t want to see him end up with a broken heart.”
Leif’s smile widens, a genuine one this time. “I don’t either. That’s what I love about you, Raven Araroa. How worried you are about everyone else except yourself. But Tui’s got this. It might be his first love, it might be his last … or not. Either way he’ll manage.”
I look down at my plate of cold food, suddenly not hungry in the slightest. Maybe Leif’s right: sometimes I do worry about others more than myself … but I can’t do that to Leif too.
“I’m sorry, Leif. I really am. I’ll stop worrying about him so much. Besides, I wouldn’t want Tui and Cat’s relationship to come between ours.”
Leif leans over and kisses my forehead, then rests his forehead against mine. “No chance of that.”
I smile, then lean back and kiss him on the nose. My stomach growls and we both laugh at that. “C’mon, let’s sit somewhere and eat.”
We sit down in a small grove of bushy trees, their canopy arching above our heads. The tips of the autumn leaves have turned golden. Soon the entire forest will be a riot of color: orange, yellow, red. It makes me think for a moment of Baldachin, how brilliant the colors were of our treetops this time of year. Something drops in the pit of my stomach, like a small iron ball.
I put the thought from my mind. That’s all gone, for now.
After we eat, we lay back on the damp mossy earth, arms behind our heads, Leif’s thighs resting against mine. He tucks a stalk of peppermint in the corner of his mouth and the familiar minty smell reaches my nose. Neither of us speaks, we just lie, listening to the quiet forest sounds around us.
The sky is clear today, there’s no threat of rain. The leaves above us twinkle, sunlight scattering all around us. I close my eyes, watch the light dance across my eyelids, and if for only a few delicious minutes, the rest of the world seems very far away.
I must have nearly fallen asleep, I’m startled to alertness by loud voices coming from the center of camp. I’m up in a flash, and hide myself behind a large tree, my heart thumping wildly. Leif, calm and cool, grabs our plates with one hand, and motions with the other for me to follow him. “It’s just the men back from hunting. Sounds successful from the sound of it!”
It takes a long time for my heart to slow, and I realize how on edge I am. At least I’ll be able to talk to Nile finally, and get some answers.
Nile’s watching the men clean a large carcass—enough to feed the whole camp twice over—with a pleased look on his face.
“A word, please?” I say, stepping in front of him.
His face falls for a second, then a forced smile appears. “Of course, m’lady.”
Leif looks at me, brows raised in question. I motion for him to accompany us.
The three of us walk to the outskirts of the camp, where I’m sure nobody can hear.
Finally, I go on. “Nile, there’s something I need to know. Be honest—was moving the camp closer to the Bastion Imogen’s idea?”
Nile looks down at his shoes.
“Papa?”
Leif and I both stare at the man, silently waiting for his reply.
“Yes, it was.” He looks directly into my face, his green eyes full of worry. “Listen—please don’t be cross with her. She’d ordered it done, thinking it was the best strategy, though I did tell her I thought we should wait for your return. That there might be things we weren’t yet aware of.”
“And you were right. On all of those counts. But that’s not all I need to know.” I lean in toward him, closer, narrowing my eyes. “Who did you meet up with? Back on the mountain? What happened up there?”
His eyes go wide, he licks his lips. I can tell his mouth has gone dry. “What do you mean?” he asks, hoarsely. Stalling.
“Nile, we followed the group’s track from the Zenith camp. It wasn’t hard. We also saw that a smaller group crossed your main track, and then some of yours split off and followed. What’s really going on? Tell us.”
He shakes his head, then gazes toward the ground. He’s smiling when he looks back up to me, as if he wishes to soften the blow. “I’m sorry, m’lady. I tried to stop them, but some of our own—our best fighters, to be frank—decided to go on ahead with Imogen, make tracks directly for the Bastion. They were following a small group of Loyalists.”
“And what are they planning to do in the Bastion?”
“They are going to confront the King directly, m’lady.”
My breath hitches at that. I open my mouth to ask him why he didn’t say so yesterday, but I remember the crowd around us, and forgive him for protecting those listening in, like Callum’s mother.
“Imogen left with them? She wasn’t alone?”
He shakes his head. “No. They all departed together. Was there something—”
“No,” I say, though it comes out harsher than I intend. I don’t want to alarm him with what Catriona had made of the tracks, of the female prints—Imogen’s, no doubt—joining up with whoever had been following. Perhaps Catriona had simply read them wrong...
“Anyway, my family is in dire straights, and nobody must even entertain thoughts of attacking the Palace, confronting the King, none of it. Not until I have them all back, safe. I need Imogen and those men to go to the port—not the Bastion. I need them to confront the Loyalists holding my family.”
I turn and start walking back to the camp, then face Nile once more. “You have my orders not to move this camp. Not one yard. Only when I order it done. Understand?”
Nile nods. “Yes, m’lady. Where are you going?”
“I’m going to find Imogen. I’ve got to stop whatever she’s got planned.”
An hour later, I’m working with the other women to put together some provisions for the four of us when Tui and Catriona emerge from the trees. Neither of them look happy. But I don’t have time to care. Not right now, when we need to move quickly to find Imogen and the others.
Catriona marches up to me and starts to open her mouth to say something; I beat her to it. “We need to get read
y to go. It’s worse than we thought.” I fill her in with what I’d just learned from Nile, ending with my decision to find Imogen and the men as quickly as I can, then move onto the port to meet the ship. If it’s not too late, I add silently.
Tui gives Catriona an unmistakable look of warning. She glares back at him.
“What is it? Tell me,” I demand.
“I don’t want to alarm you—it’s only a suspicion—but I don’t think we’re alone out here. I ventured just a few miles away this morning and there are tracks everywhere. I could get a head start—”
“No.” Now I understand what they’d been arguing over: Catriona is always trying to set off on her own, much to Tui’s angst. “We’ve got to stick together. I need all three of you.”
“I knew my mad knife skills would come in handy one day,” Tui jokes. His smile fades as he sees our faces, not laughing. “Sorry.”
Tui gets another look of warning, from me this time. “We don’t have time to prattle on about this. Pack your things, ready the horses, say your goodbyes. We leave in an hour.”
It’s late afternoon by the time we finally mount our horses to go. I’ve hugged Rosie and her mother, Nina; many of the others too. I’ve been showered with wishes of farewell and good luck. I hug Nile, reminding him once more of my order not to move the camp, no matter what. If Loyalists find and threaten them, there are plenty of men here to fight them off. Not that I entertain that thought for long, but we all know it’s a real danger.
Finally we head off into the woods, in the direction of the Bastion road. We’ll travel at night again, to lessen the chances of being seen—and more importantly—we’ll be the first to spot any Loyalists camping out by the light of their fire.
I don’t mean to question Catriona’s tactics, but I am curious. “Don’t we need to backtrack, to find the trail Imogen and the others left?”
She shakes her head. “I studied the tracks carefully when we first saw them. I’ve got the paths right here”—she taps the side of her head—“and we’ll come across them again soon enough.”
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