I toss and turn on the pile of blankets thoughtfully provided by Nile. Tui and I are trying to get a few hours’ sleep before we leave, but it’s no use. It does seem like it’s all going to work out, but I can’t shake a deep feeling of unease. Something just isn’t right.
I drift off to sleep and then Tui’s shaking me awake. “Raven, wake up. It’s time to go.”
I’m up in an instant, not even groggy. I notice Tui’s changed into clean clothes, his torn and stained ones piled in a corner.
We climb out into the kitchen, where Nile hands us each a warm cinnamon roll. Then he motions for us to head out the back door.
A covered wooden cart is waiting, a small burro harnessed to lead. Leif is holding up a corner of the canvas tarpaulin and motions for us to climb underneath. We settle ourselves among the hidden bottles and packages, then we’re off, Leif commanding the animal to move swiftly.
The pre-dawn streets are silent. There is only the creaking of the cart and the clopping of the burro’s hooves on the cobblestones.
We must be getting close to the Bastion gates when I hear another sound, a sort of humming. Like the noise a crowd of people makes.
“Do you hear that, Tui?”
“I do. What’s going on over there?”
The sound is getting louder. It’s unmistakable now; we must be close to the central square. And it’s clearly full of people.
I claw my way to a corner of the tarp and peer out.
Leif’s head swings over, then forward again. “Keep down, Raven,” he hisses.
I reluctantly duck down again into the darkness of our cover. “What do you see?”
“Shhh … be quiet. I can’t tell what’s going on yet. We’re almost at the square.”
A few minutes later, Leif stops the cart. Tui and I don’t move a muscle. The sound is all around us—a dull roar of excited chattering and conversation, but I can’t make out the words.
There is a whistle from the other side of the square.
The crowd goes silent.
A single voice booms: “May I have your attention, ladies and gents, boys and girls. The King hereby announces an execution to be held here, in two days’ time. A most grievous offense has been committed, that of treason. As you know, King Araroa holds absolutely no tolerance for such a crime, and as such the punishment of death is the only suitable consequence. It is most unfortunate that this crime was committed by—” The voice cracks, and it’s a long second before it continues. “The crime of treason was committed by our beloved Queen Seraphine Araroa.”
At that, the crowd goes wild. There are cries and shouts.
“No, it can’t be!”
“What?”
“Absurd!”
Women are wailing and crying out, no … no … no …
One of them is me. My face is covered in tears and I’m silently mouthing the same. No.
The burro starts clopping again. Leif has commanded it to move away quickly. I’m glad for it; to hear the tremor of the crowd’s grief grow farther away is a relief. My own is enough.
Tui moves closer and grabs me into his arms. I sob silently into his chest.
This can’t be happening. They must have found out it was she who helped me escape from the dungeon. I should never have left. I should have waited for the tribunal and taken the oath.
My beautiful mother cannot be executed for what I’ve done. She just can’t.
Leif said it would take us four hours to reach the port. The burro’s pace is slow and steady, but to me it feels like we’re flying. The gnawing feeling in my stomach grows as each step takes me farther from my birth mother’s fate.
By the time we’re halfway to the port, I’m a mess. I know the ship is waiting there, to carry us safely to Nuimana. I’m only hours away from neutral waters, where the King will have no power over me, ever again. Exactly what I set out to do so many months ago.
But how can I go? How can I leave Seraphine to suffer, to pay the ultimate price for what I’ve done? I could have taken my oath, then made the case to King Araroa that Tui wasn’t aware of what he’d agreed to. He and I could have been on our way back to Baldachin right now.
I can’t hold it in any longer. Throwing the tarp back, I yell out for Leif to stop.
He does. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”
I swing myself out of the cart. “I can’t do it.”
“What?” Leif looks puzzled.
I glance over at Tui. He’s poked his head out from under the tarp and is watching, eyebrows raised.
“I can’t go. I can’t let the Queen pay for my actions. I’ve got to go back and … and save her. Or help her. Something. Anything.”
“But Raven, I’m sorry, we can’t do that. I’ve got to meet the ship. It leaves tonight, when the tide turns. If I don’t get this shipment on board, then … well, it won’t be good. Come on, we’ve got to keep going. The agent expects us before noon.”
I shake my head. “You go. I’ll catch up. I promise.”
“What are you talking about? You can’t go back now—it’s more dangerous than ever for you. I’m sorry to say this, but you’ve got to think about yourself now. The Queen’s fate has been sealed. There’s nothing you can do.” Leif’s voice is rising, his green eyes sparking with anger. It’s the first time I’ve seen them like this.
Tui jumps out of the cart. “I’ll go with you. I have no idea what we’re going to do, but there’s got to be something.”
Leif is silent, looking back and forth between us. Saying nothing further, he reaches into a pile of packages and retrieves a long and narrow one, wrapped in cloth.
“Fine. The ship leaves tonight, with or without you.”
“We’ll be there.”
“I hope so. I was going to give you this before we embarked, but you should have it with you now.” He hands me the package and I unwrap it. It’s my beloved knife. I run my hand over the familiar smooth handle.
“Where did you get this?”
“The Queen sent it. I do hope you can thank her in person.” His voice is full of reluctance.
I tuck my knife into my belt then grab Leif into my arms. He wraps his around me too.
“Thank you. I’ll see you soon,” I whisper into his chest.
“I hope so,” he says into my hair. I feel him take a deep breath, breathing me in.
We take the footpath back to the Bastion. Leif has told us this is much quicker than the road. We run as fast as we can, only stopping when we can see the Bastion gates.
“All right, heroine, now what’s the plan?” Tui asks.
While we’ve been running, I’ve come up with an idea. But I have no clue if it will work or not. I reach into my pocket and grab the key, holding it out to show Tui.
He grins. “Back underground it is, then.”
I coil my hair up and pull the wool cap down almost to my eyes. We make our way through alleys and side streets to the hidden entrance of the dungeons.
As we reach the small courtyard near the entrance, the gate at the end of the corridor clangs shut. We dart behind a hedge and watch the hooded boy emerge, carrying an empty tray.
“Psst! Hello!”
The boy hears me, but can’t see me. He stops walking; swings his head left and right, confused.
“I’m over here … but don’t look this way.”
He does as I ask, looking straight ahead.
“Is the Queen down there?”
He nods.
“Let me have your robe.”
He shakes his head, no.
“As heir to the throne of Nadir, I command you.”
Tui looks over at me in disbelief. I shrug.
The boy hesitates only for an instant before he sets the tray down on the floor. He removes his midnight-blue robe and holds it out in my direction. I jump out just long enough to grab it, then pop back behind the hedge. As I put it on, I thank the boy and dismiss him.
“What do you think?” I ask Tui as I pull the hood over my hea
d.
“I think you don’t need this anymore.” He pulls the wool hat off my head then replaces the hood.
I smile. “Good thinking.”
“No problem.”
“You stay here, okay?”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’ve got this.”
He squeezes my arm and then I’m off down the corridor. I unlock the gate and squeeze through, closing it, but leaving it unlocked behind me.
I feel my way along the dark tunnel until I come to the intersection of the upper and lower cells. I figure they’d keep the Queen in the upper ones, like they did me, so I head to the left.
Sure enough, I find her in the same cell where they kept me. I’m not surprised. She’s lying on the cot with her arm draped across her face.
“Sera.” I use her common name.
She drops her arm, looking over at me, eyes wide and startled. “Raven? Is that you?” Seraphine slowly sits up, shaking her head as if to clear her mind of a hallucination.
“Yes. Listen, we don’t have long.”
“No, we don’t. Not at all.” She speaks slowly. Groggily.
“I’m going to get you out of here, when darkness falls. It’s the middle of the day now—”
“It is?”
“Yes. But I’ll be back after they bring you dinner. Don’t worry, there’s no way you’ll be anywhere near the … the execution platform. Leif’s got a boat. You’ll be with me. It leaves tonight.” Suddenly I’m fighting to breathe as panic rises up in my chest. This is all too real.
Seraphine tries to stand up, but the effort is too much and she slumps back down. There’s a small smile on her lips, but her eyes are filled with sadness. “Raven. You don’t have to do this,” she says. “I’ve gotten away with so much. It’s time for me to pay the price. You need to go to Leif. Get on the boat and get as far away from here as you can.”
I know she’s right. It’s the reasonable thing to do. But at the same time I feel like I owe her. Everything.
“I’m not going without you. I’ll see you soon.” I force myself to turn away from her sad, beautiful face, and return up the dark corridor.
I reach the darkest section before the gate and break into a run. Which makes it even more alarming when I crash into a body.
“Oof!” we exclaim in unison. My eyes have adjusted a little to the darkness and I can barely make out a figure smaller than myself. It’s just a kid.
“Who are you?” It’s a young boy’s voice. I realize his hand is holding on to the sleeve of my robe. He must have grabbed it to steady himself.
“Oh, you are just a page,” he says. “You should look where you’re going, you know.”
“I’m very sorry, mister …”
“I’m Prince Dominic, mind you.”
“Of course. My apologies, Your Highness. I … uh … didn’t recognize you in the dark.”
Prince Dominic. What an odd way to finally meet my younger brother.
“Well, I must go. I’ve got to see Mummy.” His voice cracks as he says this, then he dashes away down the dark hallway.
I listen to his footsteps pounding on the stones and make a silent promise that this won’t be the last time he sees his mother.
When I reach Tui, I remove the blue robe and leave it draped over a stone bench in the courtyard. I won’t need it again.
We make our way to the royal stables, which we saw this morning. With our plain clothes, and wool hats pulled down on our heads, nobody notices us.
We stand behind a corner and wait for the path to clear. When the stable hand leaves to go to lunch, we duck inside. Tui follows me up the ladder to the hayloft where we tuck ourselves behind a tall stack of hay bales.
As I breathe in the tangy scent of hay, warm memories of Pearl flood into my mind. All the good times I’ve had riding her with Tui and Pango. But as quickly as the warmth envelopes me, it’s gone. I remember my last moments with my beautiful horse, when they pulled me off her back. I could hear her cries as they restrained her, pulled her away from me. I don’t know what’s happened to her. Maybe I never will.
But I can’t think about her any longer. There’s a long night ahead of me and I need to get some rest. I close my eyes and try to empty my mind of worry.
As I’m drifting off, another memory returns, of another hay-scented nest. Another barn, moons ago, in Sagegate. Leif’s face fills my memory, his untied golden hair falling around his face across the pillow. His soft green eyes flash and burn into mine as he tells me he’d never lead me anywhere that wasn’t safe. I think he truly believed that. I believed him then, too.
But I’ll never, ever trust anyone like that again.
Chapter 18
I awake with a start. How long have we slept? Tui is still snoring, curled up in his pile of hay. The light is slanting through the barn doors below. It’s late afternoon. Nearly time.
I nudge Tui’s leg with my foot. He wakes slowly, mumbling something about being hungry. I realize I’m starving. We haven’t eaten for hours.
Tui reluctantly sits up and rubs his eyes. His black hair is sticking up all over the place. “What’s so funny?” he mutters.
“You.”
“Ha ha.”
I grab the purple hat lying between us and toss it to him. “Let’s get something to eat.”
“Best idea you’ve had all day.” He yawns and stretches, then pulls the hat over his unruly hair.
I pull my own back on, tucking my braid underneath it. Something occurs to me. “We don’t have any money. I should have gotten some from Leif. I know Nile gave him some before we left.” My own pouch of money is no doubt back in the hands of the King, along with most of my other things. And Pearl. At least I still have the two items I value most: my knife and the necklace from Papa, still safe around my neck. I instinctively reach up to caress the cool obsidian. As always, the gesture fills me with a sense of home.
A corner of Tui’s mouth turns up. “We don’t need money. C’mon.” The prospect of food has him wide awake now. He hops up and over to the ladder and I climb down after him.
We make our way to the market, winding down back alleys again. The main marketplace is completely empty. I’m not surprised; most activity takes place here in the early morning, after all. But as we walk through the deserted stalls, I realize that even the houses behind them seem vacant. The only life remaining appears to be the chickens darting back and forth.
“Where is everyone?” I whisper to Tui. He just shakes his head and shrugs.
We keep walking until we come across the smell of baking. My mouth starts watering. We find the small bakery it’s coming from and peek inside. It’s deserted, but there are trays of cooling savory pies just inside the door. Without even thinking about it, I grab a nearby cloth and wrap up six pies. I tuck the warm bundle under my arm, then Tui and I head for the nearest alley.
“Is this what you had in mind?” I ask him, grinning.
“Actually, I had a hunk of day-old bread in mind, but you sure beat that,” he says with a wink.
We find a stone curb that’s reasonably free of filth, and sit down to eat. Tui quickly devours three of the pies. I slow down by the time I bite into my third.
We still haven’t seen a single person.
It hits me like a punch in the chest. Whatever was left of my appetite vanishes. “We’ve got to get to the square!” I stand up and toss what’s left of my last pie onto the ground.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Tui stoops to pick it up, brushing off bits of dirt and grass.
But I’ve already started running.
I don’t bother taking the back alleys this time. I run straight down the main market road, which goes directly to the center of the Bastion. Somewhere along the way my hat flies off, but I don’t care. I’m running so fast my braid comes undone and my hair swings free behind me.
Long before I reach the square I can hear the chanting.
At first, I can’t make out what they are saying. I keep r
unning. I hear Tui’s footsteps not far behind me, but I don’t look back. I run straight into the square, which is completely packed full of what seems to be every single resident of the Bastion. I shove through the sea of brown and gray until I’m in the middle of it all. Here, the crowd’s deep chant rings clearly in my ears:
Hang her.
Hang her.
Hang her.
I’m dizzy. I don’t know if it’s from all the running or because of the bloodthirsty crowd surrounding me. Suddenly somebody grabs my waist and I nearly jump a foot in the air.
“Are you okay? What’s going on?” It’s Tui. Sweat is pouring down his face, even though it’s near freezing out. He’s panting.
I just shake my head. And listen.
Hang her, hang her, hang her, hang her …
The voices are deep and thunderous. A thousand male voices.
I steal a few glances around. The women that are near me are silent. Some of them are crying.
Panic starts to rise up inside me. I try to talk myself down. Don’t worry, Raven. It’s not the Queen. It can’t be. Her execution isn’t for another two days. There’s time … there’s got to be time to get her out of here.
Minutes pass. The chanting steadily continues. Then it stops, and it’s so quiet all I hear is sniffling and noses being blown. I stand on my tiptoes, trying to see the hanging platform prominently situated at the other side of the square.
When Queen Seraphine is led out onto it, the wailing starts. Women all over are shrieking in despair. Somebody cries out, NO! NO! NO!
I don’t even realize it’s me.
A male voice booms over the crowd: HANG HER, and the chanting starts up again, louder than ever this time. It nearly drowns out the women’s cries. But not quite.
I’ve got to put a stop to this. It isn’t right. Seraphine cannot pay for what I’ve done. She cannot pay the ultimate price—her life—to save mine. I start to push through the crowd, but it pushes right back against me. I realize Tui’s got hold of my arms, he’s trying to pull me back. “Let me go!” I scream at him. The chanting is so loud my voice fades into it.
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