by C. J. Archer
"If we're going to hide, it has to be here," I called to the others.
Meg, Balthazar and Theodore stopped to survey the area. Kitty kept going until she realized we weren't following and turned back.
"We should keep moving until we reach Freedland," she said. "If the men can't hold them off then we won't be able to."
"We can't outrun them," Theodore said. "Dane knew that, which is why he told us to hide."
Kitty looked at Balthazar and her shoulders slumped as she gave in. "Very well. But where?"
"Somewhere off the track," I said. "And I think we should go separately so as to do as little damage to the underbrush as possible."
"You mean to confuse their trackers if they have them?" Meg asked.
"A good idea," Balthazar said, setting off through the trees to the left. "Everyone find somewhere well away from the path. Don't get lost."
Kitty looked around, her brow crumpling. "But I have a terrible sense of direction. I’ll never find my way back."
For some reason, that made me smile. "Can you see the sun?" I asked.
She squinted up at the tree canopy where dappled light filtered through to the leaf matter on the ground. "Yes."
"Head that way and keep the sun over your left shoulder. When you return, it will be on your right."
"But the sun moves," she whined.
"It will only move further to your left."
"Don't you mean my right?"
"Kitty!" Meg snapped. "Just go. We'll whistle for you when all is clear. Just follow the sound."
Kitty blinked back tears. "Why didn't you just say that in the first place?" She headed off into the underbrush, ducking under a low tree branch.
"I'll stay here near the track," Theodore said. "Someone has to meet Dane and the others if they return."
"When they return," Meg said.
He dismounted and handed me the reins. "Take my horse. I'll hide up there behind that bush. I'll have a good view of anyone approaching."
I shook my head and dismounted too. "I'll stay. You have to take my horse, Theo. I can't control both if they get startled."
He looked doubtful, so I thrust the reins into his hand, giving him no choice. They headed into the forest and I made my way up the slope to the bush Theodore had pointed out. It did have a view of the track in both directions, but the track was winding, the forest thick, so the view wasn't far reaching. I wouldn't know who approached until they were almost upon me.
It seemed to take forever before the thunder of hooves in the distance reached my ears. It was impossible to tell how many riders there were, but it was more than one.
Dear Hailia, let all four of our men return safely.
I rested a hand on the damp earth, ready to spring out at the first sight of them. The vibrations increased, the rumble of hooves drew closer. I rose up from a crouching position to hail them, expecting to see Erik, the best horseman, leading.
But it was not Erik. It was two riders dressed in purple with gold braiding on their uniforms. And they came to a stop right in front of me.
If they were here and Dane was not…
I felt sick.
They dismounted and inspected the ground, churned up by our horses. One pointed out the paths each of us had taken into the forest. He followed one set of prints to the edge of the track and shook his head. The prints disappeared on the leaf matter. My friends were safe as long as they stayed hidden.
But I was not safe. One of the riders indicated my lone footsteps. His gaze followed them to where I was hiding behind the bush.
"One is there," he said. "Going by the size of the boots it's the old man or a woman. And they're alone."
His companion adjusted his grip around his sword. The blade was bloody. "I'm going to enjoy this." He plunged up the slope towards me, a gruesome grin splitting his face.
Chapter 9
I dipped my hand into my pocket and pulled out the small surgical knife. My other hand scooped up a small rock.
I watched the first guard through the leaves and branches of the bush, advancing steadily up the slope. He looked eager to claim his prize, either the “old man or a woman.” Easy prey.
Or so he thought.
"Come out, come out," he sang off key. He came right up to my hiding place and stood on his toes to peer over the bush.
I threw the rock away to my left. It made a small sound, just enough to make him think I was hiding over there. He looked towards it.
I struck upwards with the knife as I rose, stabbing the guard through the throat to kill him instantly. This was no time for merely inflicting a minor wound. Not when there was another behind him and I was alone. Blood gushed from the wound as he slumped forward over the bush. I removed my knife and plucked his sword from limp fingers. The longer blade was necessary if I was going to defeat the second man.
He advanced up the slope, sword drawn and ready to swing. I emerged from behind the bush and clutched the hilt with both hands, my knife once again tucked into my pocket. With my height and the benefit of the slope, I had the strategic advantage. But he was a skilled swordsman, and I'd barely even held one before. Any advantage would be almost useless.
"You Glancians are all the same," he snarled. "You're animals. You fuck animals like that Marginer. I'm going to enjoy fucking you all the way back to Merrin."
He lunged at me and I just managed to get the sword up in time to parry the strike. The blow jarred my wrists and arms, but I had no time to shake off the pain. The blade descended again, swiping in an arc at my head.
I flattened myself to the ground and rolled out of the way, thrusting the sword upwards. The tip struck him across the underside of his jaw, not enough to kill him, only anger him further.
With a roar, he grabbed his sword in both hands and struck down. I rolled to the side then rolled back as the sword plunged again. I had no time to lift my own sword to either strike or parry. All my efforts went into dodging each fierce blow.
Dirt and leaves flicked onto my face, in my eyes. I blinked them clear just in time to see the sword descending towards my head yet again. There was no time to raise my sword, no time to move, just squeeze my eyes shut and pray for a swift death.
It didn't come.
I opened my eyes to see the guard falling forwards. He landed beside me with a thud, his dead eyes staring at me. A knife protruded from his back.
I scrambled away, half sliding, half running down the slope and hugged Balthazar as he stood in the middle of the track. "You saved my life."
He patted my shoulder. "It would seem so."
I drew away and wiped my tears on my sleeve. "I didn't know you could do that."
"The warrior priests in Tilting told me I was a good knife thrower. Apparently I trained with the other priests in my younger years, but I had no aptitude for swordsmanship or horsemanship. The only skill I learned with any success was knife throwing. I've kept one on my person ever since I learned about it." He looked at the dead guard. "It seems the priests weren't merely flattering me after all."
"Where is your horse?"
"Tied to a tree through there." He indicated the forest behind him then gazed along the track in the direction the guards had come. It was silent.
"I have to go back," I said, heading up the slope again. "I have to see for myself if…" The words stuck in my throat along with my tears.
"Let me fetch the horse. We'll go together." He headed into the forest, whistling.
I retrieved both swords and Balthazar's knife from the bodies then returned to the track. By the time I reached it, Meg, Kitty and Theodore had returned. There were no congratulatory hugs, no smiles, just a weighty silence.
We mounted and rode back the way we'd come. As the best rider, Kitty was in the lead, but she suddenly stopped up ahead. She put up her hand to urge us to halt.
That's when I heard it too. Hooves thundering towards us.
Merdu, not again. I couldn't fight off more guards. My arm and shoulder ached, my heart t
oo. I just wanted to find Dane and the others. I needed to know what happened to them.
Theodore and I dismounted and moved to the front, swords raised. Neither of us was skilled enough to fight while mounted. Balthazar remained behind, knife in hand, ready to throw it again.
The hoofbeats drew closer. I adjusted my grip and stance on one side of the road while Theodore took up position on the other, sword raised to strike.
Because of his location on the track’s shoulder, he had the first view of the riders. He lowered his sword and broke into a grin. "Erik!"
Erik rounded the corner at speed and pulled his horse to a stop. Kitty dismounted and ran to him and he scooped her up with one arm, sat her on the horse sideways in front of him, and hugged her. She didn't care that he was covered in blood.
"Erik?" I asked, my voice weak. "The others?"
Even as I said it, I heard more hooves. I raced along the track until I saw them. First Dane then Max with Quentin some way behind, leading the packhorse. I let the sword go and started to cry.
He was alive. They all were.
Dane's hug started fiercely, his arms tight as they wrapped around me. But it soon became tender, as he kissed my forehead, my damp cheeks, and finally my mouth.
"I thought you were surely all dead," he said when he pulled away to search my face.
"And I you."
"Did you see the two guards?"
I nodded, my lip wobbling again as fresh tears threatened.
His thumbs stroked my cheeks and he peered into my eyes. "And?"
"I dispatched one. Bal got the other."
He took in the discarded sword, the blood on my clothes, and Balthazar clutching a bloodied knife. "Bal?"
"You first." Balthazar nodded in the direction they’d just come. "What happened?"
"We should keep going," Max urged. "That could have been an advance party."
Dane agreed. "We'll tell you our story as we move. I want to get as far as we can before nightfall."
We mounted and set off again, riding single file because of the narrow track. Dane, Erik, Quentin and Max eyed the two bodies as we passed them.
"They escaped while we were engaged with the others," Dane told us. "I saw them go but couldn't stop them."
"He had two guards on him," Max said. "So did Erik."
"Three," Quentin piped up. "You should have seen Erik. One time he stood on the saddle to get a good angle to strike, all while the horse was going full tilt. Another time he fell to the side to escape the guard's blade. I thought he'd fallen off but he righted himself when the danger passed. It all happened so quick, I hardly had time to blink."
"You should have been concentrating on your opponent," Max chided him, without any heat in his voice. "Not watching Erik."
"It is good that he watches me." Erik tapped his chest. "So he can learn from the best rider, the best fighter."
"The best fighter on a horse," Quentin pointed out.
Erik beamed. "I am good on a horse, it is true."
The people of the Margin were known for their horsemanship, but it only just dawned on me that they weren't simply good riders, but good fighters on horseback too.
"I wonder what else the Margin folk do on horseback," Kitty said, quite innocently.
Erik's grin widened. "We will see, later."
Max groaned.
We told them about Balthazar's secret skill of knife throwing, which led to me describing how I'd fought off the first guard. Dane remained silent throughout the retelling.
We made camp as dusk fell in a cave we stumbled across half way up the mountain. I patched up the men's cuts by torchlight at the back of the cave with Kitty and Meg assisting, but immediately extinguished the torch afterwards. We made no fire and ate the cold salted pork we'd brought with us.
The day had been long, and I was so tired that I felt drowsy soon after eating. I lay down but my arm ached, so I sat up again and rubbed my shoulder.
Dane sat beside me. "You have something for that in your medical pack."
"How do you know what I have in my medical pack?"
"Because you're well prepared and carry everything we could possibly need." He reached for the pack and rummaged through it. It was too dark to see inside, but he pulled out a jar he'd found by touch. "What about this?"
I could just make out the distinctive shape of the promfrey sap jar in the moonlight. "That's for burns."
He returned it and pulled out another. "This one?"
I laughed softly and took the jar and pack off him. "It'll take you all night." I found the jar of tumini spice mixed with the pulp of overripe blackberries. The heat of the spice was good for muscular aches, and massage helped too.
I removed my doublet and jerkin and unlaced my bodice. I paused but when Dane didn't avert his gaze, I continued until I could pull the bodice down to reveal my bare shoulder. I removed the jar stopper, but Dane took the jar from me.
"I'll do it." His voice was all thick velvet, deep and rich. He scooped out some salve and rubbed it on my shoulder in slow, gentle circles.
I leaned into his touch. "What happened to keeping your distance?"
"I'm weak." His whisper brushed my hair and warmed my neck.
I lifted my gaze to his. "You're the strongest person I know."
"Not when it comes to avoiding you." His eyes gleamed, two bright orbs in the dark. They drew closer until they filled my vision.
The kiss was tender but no less powerful for it. It wasn't a hungry kiss, a kiss between lovers held apart too long. It was sweet and sad, intensifying the dull ache that lodged in my heart months ago into a piercing pain.
A movement at the cave entrance startled us apart, but it was only Theodore joining Quentin on the first watch. With a shuddery sigh, Dane put his arm around me and drew me down with him. We lay together, my body nestled against his, my head on his chest, until I fell asleep.
No one followed us the next day. It would seem the group of royal guards that attacked us had not been an advance party for a larger group. By the time Lord Barborough realized they weren't returning, we would be in Freedland. It wouldn’t be worth sending another party over The Razorbacks to retrieve us.
The steeper we climbed, the more difficult the terrain became. The forest thinned then stopped altogether and the trees were replaced with low shrubs and fallen rocks. A cold wind whipped across the barren landscape, but the sunshine and exercise kept us warm.
All but Erik and Balthazar dismounted and led the horses single-file. In the rear, the packhorse was tied to Dane's horse, which in turn was tied to Erik's. Dane led Balthazar's mount carefully, talking to it in soothing tones whenever the loose stones beneath its hooves shifted.
It was slow going and by nightfall we'd progressed half way up the mountain. The saddle of Merdu's Pass was in sight, but it was another day's ride away.
We camped among the shrubs that offered some protection from the wind once we lay down. Erik built a small rocky wall to protect our campfire and we dined on our first cooked meal since leaving Merrin Fahl. The two rabbits we'd caught during the day offered little sustenance, however, and we all went to bed hungry.
I huddled with Kitty and Meg for warmth and suffered through Kitty's complaints about the cold until Erik joined her. Her contented sigh made me long for Dane's warm arms around me, but I didn't ask him to lie with me. The previous night's tenderness had been an admission of our love, but an unspoken agreement had passed between us. It could not happen again.
Not yet.
Somehow, I managed to get some sleep but awoke to dampness. A misty rain fell all morning, making the rocky path slippery. We trudged carefully forwards, always heading up, not uttering a word to the person before or aft. No one was in the mood for jokes or casual conversation. We were focused on the pass as if it would be the end of our arduous journey.
But it was not the end, merely the mid-point. We reached the flat saddle of Merdu's Pass just before darkness fell and made camp beneath a rocky out
crop. The rain had ended some time before, thank Merdu, but we couldn't make a campfire without dry wood, so we ate what we could find in the saddlebags. A hot meal would have been welcome, but the god of weather did not smile on us.
The wind was stronger through the pass between the mountain peaks, and as the night wore on, the air grew colder. We huddled together, cloaks wrapped around us, hands tucked into pockets, and tried to sleep.
Sleep did not come for me, but Quentin snored softly, and Meg's breathing became heavy as did her body against mine. I tried to control my shivers so as not to wake her. The moon and stars stayed hidden so there was no light to see Dane by. If he slept, I couldn't tell.
Dawn's glow revealed a light dusting of snow covering the track. Deeper drifts collected in dips and between boulders. I'd never seen snow before and couldn't believe how white it was, how pristine, until it melted and turned the path to mud.
Kitty blinked hard at it, as if she couldn't quite work out what she was seeing. Then she promptly burst into tears. "I hate this. My body aches, I'm freezing and hungry, and I want to go home."
Meg put an arm around her shoulders. "Come on. The sooner we leave, the sooner we'll get out of this cold and into an inn."
Erik patted the saddle in front of him. "Ride with me, my duchess. I will keep you warm."
She stepped towards him but stopped herself and shook her head. "I am not a duchess now. I'll walk. You have the horses to manage."
I took Kitty's hand. "You're coping very well."
"No, I'm not." She sniffed. "You and Meg haven't complained once. Nor have the men."
"Meg and I are hardy village girls." I nudged her with my elbow. "Meg's right. The sooner we move, the sooner we'll reach Priest's End. I don't know about you, but the only thing keeping my legs moving is the prospect of a hot meal."