Rya smirked, amused by his comment. “You’re right,” she agreed. “That would have upset me greatly.”
The trio tip-toed through the halls and down a staircase Rya had never seen before, until it spit them out into a narrow corridor. It was exactly like the one Cam had led her down that first day, only instead of heading to the kitchens this one ran the opposite direction.
“Where are we going?” Rya hissed in the darkness.
“This leads to the storeroom,” Cam answered. “There’s a hatch in the floor that leads to a passageway out of the grounds. It was built for the royal family in case anyone ever attacks the castle. Of course, the Ashen haven’t been threatened for hundreds of years so it’s been forgotten. It’s the perfect escape.”
Guilt tugged at Rya as Cam finished her sentence. Hundreds of years without worry was a legacy that was going to be ended because of her. It was her fault Kasen was marching on them now.
The hall ended and Cam pushed against the thick wooden door with her shoulder, grunting as it slid open. Inside they found shelves stocked full of excess dry goods from the kitchens, piles of tools tucked into corners to avoid rust, and stacks of extra bedding for upcoming winter months. It was exactly as Rya thought a storeroom would look except for one big difference—the man standing in the middle, glaring at them over his ginger beard.
“Papa,” Cam gasped.
Mikkel stood with a massive foot placed on the escape hatch, his arms crossed over his barrel chest. To his right stood two figures in the shadows; Thane and Norell leaned against the wall looking defeated and pained. Cam slouched next to Rya, shocked and shamed under the gaze of her father.
“What were you thinking?” Mikkel asked. “Did you really think you could slip out of the castle that easy? Even if I hadn’t caught these two trying to sneak horses out the main gate, I would have discovered you were gone eventually. Did you honestly believe I wouldn’t come looking for you?”
“It’s my fault,” Rya answered. Sora was hanging on her arm, cowering under the angry king. “Cam was only trying to help me.”
“Cam knows better.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes closed in disappointment. “I thought we had agreed to fight Kasen together.”
“We can’t.” She replied, shaking her head. “I need to leave. I need to be far from here.”
“But why?” He asked.
Rya knew everyone’s eyes were on her. She owed them an explanation, but she was afraid to say it. She didn’t want to watch the kindness in their eyes dissipate as the truth came out. She knew she had to leave the Ashen Forest but volunteering to go and being ordered to leave were completely different.
“I was leaving to protect you,” she said. “Kasen plans on attacking your kingdom whether you comply or not. He’s recruited more men and double his numbers. I was hoping I might draw the army a different direction if I ran. I never intended on Cam trying to come along, and I never wanted any of you to be in any danger.”
Mikkel’s shoulders sank and he dropped his arms at his sides. “It sounds like we’re in danger either way. If you leave and they don’t follow you, they will still attack us. If they split the army, they will be after you and still be pounding on our doors. If what you say is true, Kasen won’t be deterred by you fleeing. He’ll be angry that I allowed you to leave.” He sighed, taking a beat before asking, “did you even have a plan for after you left us?”
“Yes, but it’s a little crazy.”
“That sounds right,” Cam said with a weak smirk.
“I said before that Kasen knows Prince Gavin is alive, but it’s more than that. He knows exactly where Gavin has been hiding these past years—and so do I. I’m heading to the Ivory Cape to find him and bring him back with me. Only with the two of us together do we have a chance at beating Kasen. I can’t do it without his help.”
“That is crazy,” Norell snorted. “Why would he help you? He should hate you after everything that’s happened.”
“If he doesn’t join my side,” Rya replied, “then he’ll be Kasen’s next victim. If he wants the crown, he knows he’ll have to kill anyone who can challenge him. After I’m gone, Gavin is only threat Kasen has.”
“So, it’s either help you or die?” Thane laughed. “You don’t leave him much choice.”
“I’m hoping he agrees,” Rya nodded.
Mikkel looked around at the rest of them, and ran a hand down his beard. “Alright,” he said. “If that’s the plan, then that’s what we’ll do.”
“What?” Cam asked. Her mouth hung open in shock, matching the same expression on Norell’s face.
“If Rya needs to reach the Ivory Cape, we’ll help her get there. We still have a spy among us so it needs to be done quietly. You two,” he barked, pointing to Thane and Norell, “head back to the stables and take three horses. I think any more than that would draw attention. Meet them at the tunnel’s exit when you’re done.”
“Uh—right.” Thane stammered, rushing out the storeroom door. Norell was on his heels, disappearing in the dark night outside.
“Papa?” Cam was still lost in surprise. “You’re going to let us go?”
He stepped forward, putting his hands on her shoulders, and leaning down to her level.
“I don’t know how I could stop you,” he smiled. He pulled her into a tight hug and kissed the top of her head. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Papa.”
Cam’s face was hidden behind his arms, but Rya didn’t need to see her to know she was crying.
Mikkel stepped back, and stooped down to the floor, lifting up the hatch he’d been standing on.
“Climb in,” he said to Cam. “I’ll drop the boy down to you since he shouldn’t be jumping down with those bandaged feet.”
Sora blushed bright red but limped forward and allowed the king to lift him by the armpits, sinking him into the black of the hole. Once he’d disappeared, Mikkel turned to Rya and huffed.
“We’re going to give that army a fight,” he said in a low voice, trying to keep it from reaching Cam below. “Head north to the Craken Peaks and then along the coast to the Ivory Cape. I’ll do my best to keep Kasen’s forces distracted as long as I can.”
“Don’t forget about Nix,” Rya added. “And we don’t know who the traitor is who’s helping him.”
Mikkel laughed. “I think the five of you can handle one Kael assassin. I have faith.”
“I— “she faltered “—thank you. I don’t know what else to say.”
“Just keep Cam safe.”
The passage was washed in black. Unlike the ones that led to the kitchens or storeroom, this narrow space was rough and unfinished. Every few steps someone would trip over a rock, or dip down into a sunken dent in the ground. Tufts of roots hung from the dirt above, brushing their hair as they passed underneath. More than once, Rya swatted at an unseen object touching her cheek, panicking that it was something more sinister than a vine.
After walking in the pitch black, Rya was pleased to notice the pale glow of the night showering down from somewhere ahead. The exit to the tunnel was above them, blocked by a rusted metal grate, and through the holes she could see a pair of black boots facing away from them, kicking at the grass.
“It’s going to be rough,” Thane hissed, ignorant to their arrival. “Maybe it’s better if you stay here.”
“No way,” Norell spat back, trying to keep from yelling. “You’re not going to run off with Cam and leave me here to sit here with my hands in my lap waiting for your return. I’m going with you and that’s the end of it.”
“But it’s dangerous,” he argued.
Norell swung around the spear she’d been leaning on, showing the sharpened tip to Thane close up. He took a step back, holding up his hands in defeat.
“I might not use a sword,” she grumbled, “but I’m not completely useless.”
“A little help here,” Cam interrupted, wiggling her fingers through the grating.
Thane dropp
ed to his knees and grabbed one end while Cam pushed from underneath. Slowly the metal disk slid aside, allowing room for them to crawl through. Thane had collapsed on his backside with a grunt, and Norell pushed past him, her hand outstretched to help each of them from the hole.
“Thanks,” Rya mumbled as she took the girl’s hand.
Questions filled Rya’s mind, but she was forced to keep quiet until they’d reached the cover of the thick woods. Hidden behind the trees and the brush, she was finally able to speak.
“Where are we?”
“Outside the back of the grounds,” Thane whispered in reply. “It’s where we were supposed to meet you before Mikkel caught us.”
She scoffed. “And how long did it take Norell to sell us out?”
“I didn’t,” Norell answered. “As soon as he saw me and Thane, he knew something was up. Even without our help he worked out what was happening. It seems you and Cam are the only ones ignoring what’s going on between you two.”
Rya’s face grew hot, but the cover of night hid the pink of her cheeks. Cam kept her head down, watching her feet as she walked, obviously trying to hid the same blushed skin.
“Here we are,” Thane grinned. The horses stood between the trees, their reins wrapped around low hanging branches. Rya immediately recognized Rainy who shook her head upon their arrival. Behind her, Zara looked bored as she waited, and Eclipse nipped at the leaves of the tree he was secured to. Rya smiled as she saw him.
“Alright,” Cam nodded. “Norell, you ride with Thane. You’ve been on Rainy before, so it’ll be easy for you. Rya, I had them bring Eclipse for you but if you’re not comfortable you can ride behind me instead.”
Rya glanced at Thane, and he returned the look. They both knew that in the end Rya would still be leaving, she’d still be breaking Cam’s heart, and riding half way across Kelda pressed together wasn’t going to make that any easier.
“I’ll be fine,” she nodded, “and Sora really should be riding double with me.”
“If you’re sure,” Cam replied, failing to hide the twinge of disappointment in her voice.
The group mounted the horses and with a silent nudge, led them further into the forest. The thin moon was overhead guiding them north as they moved in a single file line. All around them the trees stood like shadow creatures, their arms stretched overhead, their fingers twisted and gnarled trying to grab the sky. The sounds of the forest, the rustling of leaves, the break of a twig, a mysterious croak, all seemed amplified in darkness.
The horses came up over one of the hills and Rya looked into the distance. The shadows of the Craken Peaks swallowed the border of the forest, consuming the barrier and leaving no trace. The snow-capped tops laughed down at the group, taunting them with the promise of cold weather and icy terrain. With no other way to reach the Cape without Kasen knowing, they had no choice but to ride straight into the white winter of the north.
The moon had settled behind the horizon, and although the sun was still hiding the sky had begun wake. The dim light of the morning showed the exhaustion on all their faces. Rya could feel Sora slumped against her, either sleeping or close to it. The night had crawled by once they set their course, the world passing in a mix of grays and blacks. The daylight was a welcome sight, but it also meant their cover was fading away.
Thane and Norell had gone ahead to check for shelter while the others lagged behind. Eclipse and Zara were still moving steady, but it was obvious they were just as worn. They took slow steps between the trees for almost half an hour when Thane finally reappeared. His mouth grinning from ear to ear.
“You’ve found a place to camp?” Cam asked, hopeful.
“Better,” he smiled.
Twenty
The abandoned cabin they had stumbled upon consisted of four rotting walls held together with a shabby shingled roof. Each of the two shorter sides had a single window that was covered in a thin film of dirt and grime. Thane opened the door and Rya winced as its hinges squealed in protest.
Sadly, the inside wasn’t any better than the exterior. A single bed was pushed against one wall, and the few blankets they found had been chewed up from various rodents trying to find warmth. The fireplace was nothing more than a small niche in the wall that hugged a mound of old ash. It was obvious that no one had called this place home in years.
“Lovely,” Rya breathed, her nose scrunched up.
“It’s better than sleeping outside,” Thane shrugged. “We’ll have plenty of nights under the stars later, we might as well take advantage of the shelter while we can.”
Cam was quick to volunteer to gather wood from the surrounding area, and sensing Rya’s eagerness to join her, Norell offered to help first. The queen was left behind and tasked with sweeping away what she could to create a place to sleep, while Thane dug out the powder from the fireplace they’d soon be using. Sora sat against the wall, pouting while he watched them work.
“You should let me help with that,” he grumbled as Thane dumped another handful of ash out the window. “I’m not useless.”
“You’re still recovering,” he answered. “You need more time to heal, and shoveling dirt isn’t going to speed that along.”
“He doesn’t like to be still,” Rya teased. “Sora needs to feel useful. He hasn’t taken a day off since I’ve known him.”
“I had nothing but days off while you were away,” the boy muttered. It wasn’t clear if he meant to wound Rya, but if so, the comment had done its job, striking her hard in the heart. She tried to mask the hurt before anyone could see what he’d done.
“I feel a little faint in here,” she lied. “I think I’ll step outside for a minute.”
“Are you alright, Your Majesty?” Sora asked, trying to stand. She motioned at him, forcing him to sit back down.
“I’m fine. I think the combination of no sleep and this stuffy shed is getting to me.” She pulled back the weathered door and left, allowing it to slam shut behind her. The guilt of leaving Sora was growing harder to shoulder each hour that passed. She couldn’t erase the image of him lying in the bed with ratted hair and bloody feet. The faded scars he’d received as a small boy were covered in fresh marks. They were a sign he’d been tortured in her absence. She knew Sora would never complain to her. He would never admit if he was angry that she had left him, but she also knew she had let him down. All those years ago she had made a promise to protect him, and she’d failed. It didn’t matter if he ever confessed what Kasen did to mark his body, she would make that man pay for those new wounds.
“Everything alright?” Cam asked. Her arms were full of small branches and bits of wood. It was enough kindling to get them through the night.
“Yeah.” Rya forced a smile. “I just needed some fresh air.”
Cam watched her for a moment, studying her. “I’ll take these insides to Thane,” she finally said, accepting Rya’s answer. “The sooner we get the fire going, the sooner we can eat. That should make us all feel better.”
She nudged the door open with her foot and slipped inside. Norell however had lingered behind.
“I want to apologize,” Norell said, almost too low to hear. She cleared her throat, trying again at a normal volume. “I want to apologize. I shouldn’t have teased you about Sora before. It was wrong, and I’m sorry.”
“Are you?” Rya asked, rolling her eyes.
“I just said I was.”
“You might be saying that to appease Cam. You admitted yourself you do things for her that you hate.”
“I’m trying to apologize to you,” Norell snapped. “I’m admitting I was wrong, which doesn’t happen often.”
“You being wrong?” Rya asked. “Or admitting it.”
“Why are you so difficult?” she shouted. “After hearing about how you saved Sora, I thought I could change my mind about you, but you make it so hard.”
“It doesn’t matter what you think of me.” Rya could feel the anger and guilt swelling in her chest. “It’s not going to c
hange anything. It’s not going to erase the rumors and stories that travel Kelda about me. It’s not going to change what I’ve done, or the damage it’s caused. Right now, Sora is sitting inside burying his feelings deep inside him, refusing to admit he’s hurt. He wants to ignore that I fled the Isles without him. He wants to forget that I left him behind in that hell. He won’t tell me what happened once I was gone. He won’t talk to me about the punishment he endured because of me. He’s going to hide his resentment away inside him until it bubbles up and one day explodes.”
Norell cocked her head to the side. “Like you’re doing right now?”
Rya’s chest heaved with her heavy breathing as she tried to calm herself. “He’ll leave me. He’ll run off once it becomes too hard to look at me any longer.”
“I don’t know you very well,” Norell continued, “and I don’t know Sora, but I don’t believe he’s going anywhere. He’s your family, and that means standing by each other even when you think they are crazy, or stupid, or making the biggest mistake of their lives.”
“You don’t sugarcoat things, do you?”
“The point is, you and Sora chose each other and you’re bonded for life. Stop worrying about what he’s thinking. He’ll talk when he’s ready.”
For the first time ever, Norell’s tone was without anger or hate. There was no taunt hiding under the surface, no backhanded remarks, and no suspicion. She was being honest and sincere, and it made them both uncomfortable. Norell nodded her head, then ducked inside the cabin, eager to leave the awkward moment outside.
Á
Rya had to admit that having the others along on the journey did come with some advantages. Thane had come prepared with a good amount of food, the best of which was a slab of salted meat he had cooked over the fire for them all that night. It was the big enough that even after they took their share, they’d have scraps of dried meat for the next few days. She thought back to her time running from Nix, and the lengths she had gone to in order to survive. Stealing from the villages in the dead of night was one thing but being trapped in the wilderness foraging for berries was worse. They were never filling and hard to come by, making her desperate for something more. It’d been days since she’d had more than a handful of food when she found a carcass lying in the dirt. The rabbit had been torn apart by some small predator, but the bottom half remained fairly intact. Rya would never admit to anyone that she stood in that spot a little too long, staring at the rotting flesh, trying to decide if it was worth eating. In the end, her pride was stronger than her hunger, and she left the body behind and continued on her way.
The Poison Within Page 13