Ava rolled her eyes in smiling disbelief.
“It’s true!” Sarah insisted. “You can see it in the way he looks at you.”
“I know you well enough now to know that you can see whatever you want to see, Sarah,” said Ava.
“No, she’s right,” said Evelyn, surprisingly coming to Sarah’s defence. “I noticed it too. It’s not that he’s always watching you exactly. It’s that he’s always aware of you; as if some part of him is always aligned towards you. And when he does watch you there’s an intensity in his gaze that’s…compelling.” The usually stoic guard seemed a little embarrassed at this assessment. “I admire him as a guard tremendously but none of us have ever given you any real competition.”
Ava was impressed at the way both girls were so willing to release any potential jealousy or resentment. And she couldn’t help but feel touched at the way they were trying to reassure her of her supposed sweetheart’s loyalty.
In truth, though, their words only increased her unease. There were so many layers to her relationship with Hans that they didn’t understand. And yet, despite this, it was impossible to dismiss their words entirely.
The best she could do was muster a smile and several more blushes and express her thanks in glowing enough terms to satisfy Sarah that she was a typical young girl in love. She longed to be free of the wagon and riding Cinnamon. Not at the sedate trot required by the caravan but at a headlong gallop.
“What’s the news?” Sarah asked Evelyn, pulling Ava’s attention back to the conversation in the wagon. Sarah spoke with unusual gravity, showing that she was more aware of the current climate of the caravan than she appeared to be.
“We’ve had reports about other caravans being examined so the Guard’s arrival last night wasn’t entirely unexpected,” Evelyn said. “But Ariana was furious that they would show up in the middle of a dance. The Guardsmaster thinks they timed it purposely since we had a minimum number of guards on duty. They came in with a big show of force, trying to cow everyone but it wasn’t until some of them tried to start turning out the wagons that Ariana confronted them. They clearly didn’t expect her to take such a strong line but she’s the most senior merchant in Rangmere at the moment. She’s already had multiple envoys from other caravans expressing their unhappiness with the situation so I think she knew a reminder of our independent status was going to be needed sooner rather than later.”
Ava was yet again impressed with the young merchant girl-turned-guard. She was skilled or she would never have won such a male dominated position but it was now evident that her skills extended beyond physical combat. There was no way the Guardsmaster had shared all this with his guards. Clearly she was observant and also giving them the benefit of her own insight.
“We were all hoping that would be the end of it,” continued Evelyn, “at least until we hit the border. But our scouts reported that the guards only retreated a short distance and that they are giving every indication of planning to follow us. They may merely intend to tail us to the border but everyone’s on edge. And understandably so. Prince Konrad seems to have thrown the full force of the kingdom into tracking down whoever is responsible for murdering his family.”
“Hardly surprising,” chimed in Sarah.
Ava remained silent but she was listening intently and was ready to ask some well-placed questions if the conversation seemed about to wander off track. She had been able to glean only bits and pieces of news from Rangmeros and she was desperate for more information.
“No, it’s not surprising,” said Evelyn. “He’s even delayed his coronation. He’s vowed that he and the country will remain in mourning until his father is avenged. It seems a bit dramatic but I think he’s probably doing it to sway public opinion in his favour. He wasn’t overly popular before but the populace is still feeling sympathy towards him after his tragic loss and his own near escape. I suppose it makes sense to milk that for all its worth.”
Inwardly Ava agreed with this rather cold reading of the situation and cheered Evelyn’s perspicacity. It was a relief to think that not everyone was blind to her brother’s true nature.
She was interested to learn of the delay to the coronation. Rangmeran tradition held that the old monarch was mourned for fourteen days at the end of which the new monarch was crowned. No wonder Konrad was so tirelessly pursuing their uncle. By setting such an extension to the mourning period, he was also potentially delaying his coronation indefinitely.
She suspected that if her uncle didn’t materialise, he would begin to talk of the need for stability and for the kingdom to turn their eyes to the future. She could almost hear the perfect mix of sorrow and hope that he would use when he delivered the speech. She wondered how long public opinion would remain on his side.
“Prince Konrad has always scared me,” said Sarah, wrinkling her nose in an expression that seemed more displeased than afraid.
Evelyn raised a sceptical eyebrow.
“What?” asked Sarah. “I saw him once! When I went with Mother and Father to hear the public address he gave on his eighteenth birthday.”
“I see,” said Evelyn dryly. “I didn’t realise you’d had so much contact with him.”
“He scares me too,” said Ava, surprising herself by voicing her opinion aloud. “I’ve always thought that Princess Ava must have been glad not to be born a boy.” It felt strange to refer to herself in the third person.
“Yes, I wouldn’t want to be facing him at the Trials,” agreed Evelyn, and Sarah shivered dramatically.
Unlike the other kingdoms, Rangmeran succession wasn’t determined by birth order. During the period of mourning, all sons of the deceased monarch were given the opportunity to register as formal claimants to the throne with the Head of the Magistrate’s Guild. The brothers then competed in the Monarchy Trials, ensuring that the strongest was crowned king. The fate of the losers was left in the hands of the victor.
It had been thirty years since Ava’s father had defeated his two younger brothers in the last Trials but people still talked of it. One of them had been so badly injured he later died of his wounds and the other had been banished to the outer lands.
“But why is he targeting the merchants?” asked Sarah, less interested than Ava in the broader politics of Rangmere.
“He’s closed all the borders.” Evelyn crossed her arms. “But he knows he can’t keep them closed to the merchants for long. I suppose he’s worried that whoever is behind the assassinations will slip out with us.”
“You don’t think he’ll actually try to prevent us leaving, do you? Once we’re all assembled, I mean,” said Sarah, casting a worried glance towards the wagon wall that separated her from her parents.
“That’s what we don’t know,” said Evelyn grimly. “But if he does, we’ll be ready.”
Chapter 10
When it reached late afternoon, no one talked of stopping. Already they had covered more ground than usual but still the enlarged caravan pressed on. It wasn’t until the sun had actually set that Ariana finally called a halt.
Ava remained in the wagon as everyone rushed to set up camp while there was still some light. It was unusually chaotic due to the presence of the additional caravan and she was sure she would only get in the way.
Hans ducked his head into the wagon and wholly endorsed this perspective.
“I’m still on duty and will be until after midnight. Half of the guards are catching some sleep now and the rest of us will get some later tonight. I think the Guardsmaster resents the fact that we need rest at all.” He smiled briefly. “But even he knows we can’t keep going forever.”
“And the Royal Guard?” asked Ava.
“They’ve been following us pretty closely but they’ve made no other move as yet. We’ll see what happens tonight. When I get off duty later, I’ll lie here, at the entrance of the wagon. If you hear anything, slip out to me and we’ll be off, just like last night.”
Ava nodded, wondering how she would get any sleep a
t all.
In the end, however, not only did she fall asleep but the camp remained undisturbed throughout the night. Regrettably, she herself was not so fortunate.
She awoke constantly, drenched in sweat and shaking from the same dream that had plagued her the night before. As in the original dream, Hans was there, standing to the side. Sometimes he was armed with a bow and arrow and sometimes with the axe but he was always there, offering his help. But as before, Ava was too frightened to turn and run to him.
The most terrifying moments were when Ava woke up, gasping and panting, and realised that this time she had been the wolf. On those occasions, even when awake, she could still feel the hunger and the desperate need to finally consume the girl fleeing before her. But regardless of whether she was girl or wolf, the flapping red cloak always remained just out of reach of the snapping jaws.
It wasn’t until the early hours of the morning, well after Hans had finished his shift and lain down at the wagon door, that she finally slipped into a deeper sleep, free of dreams.
The caravan began to stir at the first signs of dawn. Ava knew she must look terrible but no one commented on it. Pack up was completed quickly and they were on the road before it was fully light. The harder pace of travel and the constant state of alert was beginning to take a toll and there was very little talking to be heard.
Evelyn didn’t join the girls in the back of the wagon and even Sarah had little to say. Instead she alternated between dozing, her head resting on a small box, and staring at the wagon wall separating her from her parents.
Ava also tried to nap but without much success. Instead she tried to think about the next step in her quest to find the High King. She had been so focused on blending in with the merchants and making it into Arcadia that she had given little thought to what would come next.
Unfortunately, the more she thought about it, the more her mind became a blank. They could travel between the various small villages scattered throughout the deep forest, seeking rumours of the Palace of Light but that seemed like a long shot at best. At worst she would be old and grey before she found the palace home of the godmothers.
So instead, Ava practiced holding herself still and calm, allowing no sign of her inner frustration to show on her face. It was an old game, one she used to play when she was thirteen and fourteen. Back when she was still learning how to block her emotions and be the cold strategist her father demanded. She hadn’t needed the exercise for many years.
Whenever the tension grew too high to control, she would peer out of the wagon at Hans, riding beside them. Something about the sight of his alert, strong figure reassured her.
She felt weak, though, for needing the reassurance. She had never needed it before.
The third time she looked for him, he seemed to sense her gaze and he returned her look. He didn’t smile at her or wave but something in his calm face expressed silent support. She pulled back quickly, overwhelmed by a memory.
It was from one of the first times she had played the game and the first time her father had allowed her to join him at a state dinner. The inclusion was a mark of his trust and pride in her accomplishments and she was desperate not to let him down.
But Konrad had resented her presence and had constantly needled her, belittling her in front of the visiting dignitaries. Her father did nothing to shield her and she knew this was yet another test. Just when she had thought she would fail and allow the anger and humiliation to break through, she had looked at Hans, standing guard against the wall. He hadn’t been her personal guard for long, and his own face had maintained the look of passive disinterest required of a guard, but something in his eyes had transmitted the necessary strength to her. She had held and had never come so near to breaking again.
Perhaps I’ve never done it on my own, she thought and the thought frightened her. Perhaps I have never been as strong as I thought I was.
The thought continued to plague her throughout the day and her night was again disturbed by the dreams in which she alternated between terrified prey and hungry predator.
When she awoke the next morning she was relieved to hear that they would reach the border that day. Whatever awaited them there, at least this unbearable tension would be over.
Ava obviously wasn’t the only one glad to be nearing Arcadia at last. The longer they travelled, the more bubbly Sarah became until Ava had to use considerable will power to restrain herself from snapping at the other girl.
“Do you think we’re nearly there yet?” asked Sarah for what must have been the twentieth time. Luckily for Ava’s self-restraint, Evelyn jumped into the wagon just in time to hear the question.
“What are you, a child?” she asked, rolling her eyes in Ava’s direction. Ava allowed herself one subdued smile.
Sarah, oblivious to the criticism, leaped to her feet in excitement.
“Well? What’s going on out there? We should have reached the border an hour ago.”
“We’ve had to slow down a bit since there’s a fair amount of traffic heading in the same direction. Most people have been getting out of our way once they see how big our caravan is but it still slows us down. We can finally see the border crossing though.
“There’s a contingent of guards blocking it and we’re not the first caravan to arrive. Hopefully now that we’re here, the merchants will have the critical mass required to push the issue. No guarantees, of course.”
“What’s the plan, then?” asked Ava.
“Ariana’s given the order to pull up in the middle of the road. There’s simply nowhere left to camp in the area. I have to get back out there but you both hold tight. We’ll know more soon.”
She didn’t give either girl a chance to respond, instead exiting the wagon as quickly as she had entered it. Sarah stared at Ava with wide eyes and Ava tried to think of something reassuring to say. Nothing came to mind.
“Ariana will sort it out,” said Sarah after a long pause.
Somehow waiting in a stationary wagon was infinitely more frustrating than waiting in a moving one. The thirty minutes it took for the negotiations to take place felt more like two hours. But eventually the time passed and word was passed down the caravan that Ariana had returned from talking to the border guard. They were to be let through.
Both Evelyn and Hans popped their heads in to pass on the good news but Hans accompanied it with stern instructions to Ava to stay where she was. With reluctance she agreed.
They had only just begun to move again when the wagon jerked to a halt, nearly throwing both girls from their seats. Before they could even regain their balance, there were several loud shouts quickly followed by the ringing clang of steel meeting steel and several high screams.
Sarah gave an echoing scream but Ava ignored her, dropping instinctively to the ground. Crawling to the back of the wagon, she thrust open the door so she could see what was happening outside.
As soon as she did so, the sounds of conflict increased dramatically. She could hear the shouts of the guards and the clash of sword against sword, the whinnies of frightened horses and the curses of the wagon drivers as they attempted to control their animals.
With the wagons arranged in a long line, it was hard to get a sense of what was going on but Ava could see several of the caravan guard battling with men in the light armour of the Royal Guard. She could only assume they had been attacked. The Royal Guard must have been desperate at the prospect of the caravan escaping across the border.
In the heat of the moment she felt no fear, just a furious rush of thoughts as she attempted to analyse the situation. Peering cautiously around the end of the wagon she tried to work out what was happening at the border.
The crossing had already been opened and the border guards were watching the conflict in stupefied amazement. They were certainly making no effort to join the Royal Guard.
The merchants on the other hand seemed much more unified and Ava suspected they had planned for this eventuality. All the smaller caravans th
at had gathered at the border were swiftly launching into action. Their wagon horses were being pushed to extraordinary efforts, practically galloping the wagons across the border. Meanwhile the guards from these other caravans were streaming towards Caravan Hargrove to assist in holding back the Royal Guard.
Leaping from the back of the wagon, Ava climbed onto the stationary wheel to get a better view. She could see Ariana standing on the bench at the front of her wagon and waving her arm above her head, gesturing for the other caravans to hurry across the border. Clearly she meant to keep their larger caravan in place until all the smaller ones had escaped.
The Arcadian guards on the other side of the border had formed into two troops on either side of the road and looked ready to deal with any Rangmeran guards who attempted to harass merchants who made it across into Arcadia.
Ava had only a few seconds to take this all in before the fighting reached their wagon. Leaping from her vantage point, she crouched down to retrieve her dagger. When she stood back up, she found herself face to face with a royal guard whose hand gripped a blood-streaked sword.
For an endless second they both froze, eyes locked. With horror, Ava realised she recognised him. He was one of her brother’s favoured bodyguards.
From the widening of his eyes, she could tell that he recognised her as well. She gasped and fell back a step but found herself pressed against the back of the wagon.
He also stepped back, twisting around to look for back up. Seeing two mounted soldiers he waved wildly.
“It’s true,” he called loudly, “she’s here! I’ve found her.”
His words seemed to echo in Ava’s head. They confirmed all her worst fears. They weren’t searching for the assassin, they were here for her. Konrad had obviously lost patience with the search for their uncle. He was clearly determined to eliminate at least one threat while he had the opportunity to do so.
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