“Change of plans today,” Haru called, reaching for the halter of his roan. “Serena’s offered to work with you, and I’ve been asked to fill on the eastern patrol.”
“What?” Will stared at his knight, openmouthed. Trying quickly to cover his panic, he shook his head. “I can go work with Rowan and Colin if you’re busy.”
“No.” Haru shook his head. “Serena volunteered to work with you when the King asked me to take Henry’s place on the patrol this morning. Turns out his horse broke his foot yesterday so he’s not going to be riding for a bit. It’ll be good for both of you, as she needs to work her horse now her arm is healed, and you can learn some new tactics of battle.” Haru’s voice was too jaunty, too eager. It seemed he was trying to remain casual in front of Serena, hiding the truth of who Will really was.
Seeing Will’s horrified expression, she raised her eyebrows, a smirk playing at her lips. “Don’t tell me Alamore squires are scared to learn a bit of Kelkor fighting.”
“I’m not scared,” Will grumbled, turning back to adjust Admere’s girth.
“Good.” Haru was striding toward him now, having tied his roan at the far end of the barn alleyway, well out of Admere’s reach. When he was next to Will, he paused, gripping Will’s shoulder and lowering his voice to a whisper. “Watch your back, got it? Just listen to what she says and stay alert. The King and knights trust her, so there shouldn’t be anything to worry about.”
Will bit his lip, longing to tell Haru his suspicions but knew it was impossible. Serena was already stepping from her horse’s stall and, anyway, what ground did he have for his fears? That the poison used on Visra had been Kelkorian? That he’d broken into her chamber and found his name on a list? Come to think of it, Haru might be more terrifying than Serena if Will told him that.
Haru let go of Will’s shoulder, ruffling his hair and grinning ruefully. “Mind yourself, mate, and try not to be an idiot.”
With that he turned toward the tack room, leaving Will to ready Admere with a sick pit of tension in his chest.
To his relief, Serena didn’t say much as they prepared to leave the barn. Haru was the first out, hurrying to catch up with the other knights who’d already left the castle walls. Even without him, though, Serena only paused long enough to ask Will simple questions about his training, what he had worked on in the past, what he wanted to do.
When they had both finished saddling their horses, Serena ordered Will to the courtyard and followed a few moments later. “Have you ever knocked someone from a saddle without a weapon?”
He shook his head. “Not intentionally, no.”
“Then we’ll do that.” She nodded curtly and urged her horse forward, not toward the jousting arena but in the direction of the gates.
“Hold up, aren’t we going to the arena?”
“Are you afraid of riding without a fence?” Serena demanded, leveling him with a piercing green look.
“No, but-” He stopped himself. He’d been on the verge of mentioning The Cutthroat Prince but remembered. If he did that, he would be as good as admitting to her that he was worried about them. None of the other squires had been ordered to stay in the walls.
“Good, then stop holding us up,” Serena snapped. “The fences of the arena are a good way to get your leg broken should you hit one when vaulting. Anyway, the ground is too deep to get your footing.”
Will didn’t have a chance to think of a response. She had already urged her horse into a canter, clattering over the drawbridge. Will waited a moment, glancing around the courtyard in the hope that another knight might come out and tell him off for leaving, or that Rowan and Colin might appear. When neither happened he grimaced, feeling slightly sick, and leaned forward. “Well, Admere, I guess we’re going on another ride outside the gates.” The horse needed no further encouragement, launching into his floating trot after Serena.
Outside the gates, the air was warm against his skin, heavy with the smell of green grass and spring. Birds perched in the notches of the walls, singing and fluttering upwards when he appeared, only to resettle again as he passed. Will had to grudgingly admit that he felt a sense of relief leaving the courtyard again. Serena was waiting along the path, some ways ahead.
She didn’t turn to look at Will when he stopped beside her but rather spoke with her eyes on the distant trees swaying to the east. “Perhaps I’ve underestimated you and the Ranger.”
“Excuse me?” Will asked, frowning. “What are you talking about?”
Her green eyes flashed and the hand gripping her reins visibly tightened. Before Will could think to react she spun, her rein-free hand grabbing his shoulder while she kicked out, striking Admere’s side with her boot. For a horrible moment, Will’s insides lurched, the horse springing sideways, out from underneath him, then Serena let go of his shoulder and he crashed to the earth, sprawling in the long grass on his back.
“Don’t play games, squire,” Serena spat, glowering down at him. “I know you were the one who helped yourself to searching my chambers.”
“You’re mad,” Will panted, pushing himself back up to his feet. Admere, wide-eyed and startled, was standing several yards away. “Thanks for that, beast,” Will snarled. The chestnut horse only nodded his head and reached to grab a mouthful of grass.
Serena gave a dangerous laugh, backing her horse away from Will and nodding to Admere. “Watch your accusations. Get on the horse and this time, pay attention.”
“My accusations?” Will demanded in his best attempt at an indignant tone. “You think I’m the accusing one? You just practically accused me of breaking into your room, which I didn’t do!” Colin did that, I just followed him through the door, he added to himself.
Serena gave a disbelieving snort, shaking her head. “Lying tends to run in your blood.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Will demanded hotly.
“It means,” Serena sneered, leaning back in her saddle and watching him carefully. “That you’re no different from your Ranger. Did you think I didn’t know who you are? What you are?”
Will turned his back to her, pretending to focus on trying to get his foot into his stirrup and lift himself onto Admere again. A tremor was running through his body, making it almost impossible to balance on his other leg. “I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t insult my intelligence,” Serena snapped.
Will pulled himself into Admere’s saddle, tightening the reins as the horse tossed his head, attempting to turn and leave. He glowered at Serena with as much defiance as he could manage, hoping that she couldn’t see the slamming pulse in his throat, the panic rising. “You’ve lost your mind.”
Anger flashed over her features, but she inhaled deeply and forced a smile. Somehow that smile made Will feel in far more danger than her snarl had. Would it be considered cowardice to gallop Admere back to the castle?
“Your Ranger must have thought it smart to try to get you to hide what you are from me. He is probably the one who told you to spy on me as well.”
“Spy on you? Me?” Will retorted. “That’s pretty bloody bold of you to think that.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“The Inanimus, The Cutthroat Prince, it all came about when you did.” Will gritted his teeth, kicking himself as soon as the words escaped him. Why do you talk? Why can’t you keep your mouth shut? Why are you, William of Alamore, a moron?
Serena raised her eyebrows, leveling him with a cool gaze. “You think I’m the spy? You think for a moment that I would care to have anything to do with what your father is doing?”
“What?” Will asked, taken aback. He sagged in the saddle, feeling completely wrong footed. “What? What does any of this have to do with my father?”
Her fingers tightened on her reins and a frown creased her brow. She seemed to be sizing him up, debating if he was telling the truth or not.
“Focus on your weight being in your heels,” she said after a moment.<
br />
“What?” Will blinked, bewildered.
“Your heels.” She nodded toward his feet in the stirrups. “If your weight had been in your heels you would have stayed in the saddle better. Come now, if you are knocked to the ground, you’re an easy target. You can’t learn how to get people out of the saddle until you know how to stay in it yourself.”
“What–what?” Will shook his head. “No, don’t change the subject. I want to know what’s going on.”
“Ask your precious Ranger,” Serena snapped. “That is, if he actually decides to return. As far as I’m concerned, he’s probably there now, with your father, betraying your King in exchange for his own brother.”
Utterly disbelieving, it was a moment before Will realized he was again shaking his head, staring at her with a cold anger rising. “He’d never betray the King. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Enough of this,” Serena retorted. “We came out here to train, so let’s focus on that. Perhaps you’re right, perhaps your Ranger has changed enough that he will choose his King over his own agenda, but I doubt it. The moment rumors reached Kelkor about his brother’s son being taken in as a squire, I knew the truth.”
“The Ranger serves the King of Alamore,” Will growled. “And that’s it.”
There wasn’t time to react as Serena swung round, kicking her horse so it sprang sideways into Admere. Will felt fingers close over his upper arm, pulling it up and another hand shoved into his side. For the second time, that morning he crashed from the saddle, the air knocking from his lungs.
“Pay attention to your surroundings,” Serena said, smirking down at him. “And maybe you’ll learn to see who’s good and who’s evil, who is working for the King of Alamore and who is working in their own self-interest, and that sometimes they are one and the same. The people you think are trying to save you have reasons for keeping you in the dark as well.”
“You are insane,” Will grunted, pushing himself to his feet again and wincing. “For the love of Alamore, quit knocking me off my horse.”
“Learn to keep your eyes open then and be alert.”
Will opened his mouth to retort but a shout made both of them whip round. Snatching Admere’s reins, Will felt his stomach drop. Four riders were galloping from the western trees, their horses stretching out, charging across the valley and toward the castle. Their appearance shattered the peace of the valley and sapped the warmth from the sun.
In the span of a heartbeat, Will recognized the rider at the back of the group, the dark horse surging across the grass.
“Will, wait,” Serena barked but he was already in his saddle, digging both heels into Admere’s side and galloping toward the riders. He wasn’t thinking about the Cutthroats, not thinking about the danger of being outside the wall. All he could do was push Admere to run harder as the cloaked rider on his dark horse began to slump sideways, hardly managing to clutch his saddle. One of the other riders was slowing, grabbing the reins of the black mare and trying to keep the cloaked rider from falling.
Admere stretched further beneath Will, flying over the ground, the air deafening Will’s own shout. He saw the hooded rider try to straighten, turning, looking for him, then the Ranger of Kings slid sideways, collapsing against his mare’s neck, the other rider still gripping his arm to keep him from hitting the earth.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Will was out of his saddle and running to the Ranger before Admere had even come to a full stop. But as he reached the Ranger’s side, the rider that held the Ranger twisted to face him. Will saw the flash of silver blade just in time to leap backwards, away from the dark-haired teenager on his palomino horse.
“Don’t come any nearer!” the older boy ordered, struggling to keep his sweat-soaked horse from prancing forward.
Will took a hurried step back, reaching for the dagger at his belt. “What the blazes happened to him? What’s wrong with the Ranger? Who are you?”
“Who are you?” snarled the older boy and Will caught the sounds of the inflection in his words. He knew that accent. It was the same slightly musical accent of Serena.
“I’m Will, and I’m not trying to hurt you, I swear! Look, all I’ve got is a dagger and I’m not about to fight you. But I need to know, what happened to the Ranger? What’s wrong with him?” Will demanded, trying to step closer again. He was forced to step back once more, swearing in frustration, as the older boy leveled his sword at Will’s chest. “Stop being stupid. What’s going on with the Ranger?”
“We were attacked,” the teenager snapped. “I need to get to Alamore, I have to get us to Alamore.”
“Calm down, this is Alamore,” Will said hotly. “Look, I’m not trying to hurt you, I want to help the Ranger. I don’t give a damn who you–any of you–are! Just let me help the Ranger!”
Will saw the hesitation in the teenager’s face before he lowered the sword. “This is Alamore?”
“I just said that didn’t I?” Will shot back, stepping closer. His heart slammed in his ears, a deafening beat. The Ranger hadn’t moved. He was slumped over his mare’s sweat-darkened neck like a corpse. Don’t think that way. He’s not dead, he can’t be dead. Will reached for the arm dangling over the mare’s shoulder, gripping the wrist. His heart leapt. There! He could feel a pulse, but it was faint, slow. “What happened to him?”
“We were attacked.”
Will turned at the sound of the unfamiliar voice. The other two riders were approaching, their faces flushed with exhaustion, hair falling over their eyes. He stared in momentary disbelief. The two girls were both dressed like squires–tunics, breaches, boots, with short swords at their sides–but the older one sat like a noble, her heart shaped face, framed with dark blonde hair, was regal, her thin frame erect in the saddle and the other girl was small, too small for her grey horse. Even so, she gripped the hilt of her short sword in white knuckles, shadowed eyes narrowed.
He looked between them all again. Their cloaks, though filthy and torn, had traces of sea-green fabric showing through. Sea green…the same color as Serena’s cloak when she had arrived from Kelkor. So, the three had to be from there but none of them were old enough to be knights, surely.
“In the woods, as we came this way,” the older girl spoke again, and Will could now hear the slightly musical accent in her words. “Grey riders. They ambushed us; the Ranger was struck with an arrow before we got away. As we were riding, he started to grow weaker and…” She shook her head, looking helplessly from Will to the Ranger.
Will’s chest tightened. “Inanimus.”
There wasn’t a chance for the strangers to respond. Serena had reached them and was reining in her horse, eyes flashing as she took in the riders. “What has happened? Why are you here? And without a guard? You three should know better than to ride without-”
“The Ranger was my guard,” the older girl cut across Serena, a daring gleam in her clear brown eyes. “As were Niet and Eldin and Paxrin.”
The teenager with the sword looked away but not before Will saw the pain cross his face.
“Where is Paxrin now then?” Serena demanded.
“Dead.”
It was the last girl who answered, shrinking lower into her saddle as she said it, glancing sideways at the boy. Will saw an icy tension run through all of them, and Serena’s fury was replaced with horrified disbelief.
“Paxrin is…”
“We will explain everything when the Ranger has been treated,” the older girl said, straightening again. She had all the appearance of someone trying to keep a brave face, but Will couldn’t help but feel a grudging respect for her.
“Very well. Will, Niet,” Serena said, nodding toward the teenager who was keeping the Ranger from falling. “You two get him to the castle. My priority is Kalia’s safety.”
Will opened his mouth, not sure what he was going to say–that Serena needed to explain what was happening, that the Ranger should be her focus? But she was already wheeling away, ordering th
e two girls to her side and cantering back across the valley toward the castle.
“It’s Will, then?”
Will turned. The teenager was glowering down at him assessingly. “Yeah, that’s right,” Will grumbled, moving to the Ranger’s other side, bracing so he wouldn’t fall from the saddle. Admere, standing several paces away, ambled back toward him curiously. He snatched at the reins, looping them over his dagger hilt. “And you’re Niet?”
“Yes. I train under Serena’s mentorship in Kelkor.” Niet nodded. Will stiffened a moment, not certain if he should trust this newcomer but Niet was sheathing his sword, relaxing, and Will did likewise. Niet didn’t seem to have any idea who he truly was and why should he? He hadn’t had more than a few words with Serena in weeks. Not of course since she’d figured it out for herself. “We better start moving. I don’t think we can go fast, or we risk him falling.”
Not fast was an understatement. Each step felt a painful crawl. The Ranger’s mare was spooked by her flight through the woods, her rider’s collapse, and occasionally shied either away from Will or away from Niet so that the other would have to scramble for a better hold. Will was glad he hadn’t climbed back in the saddle as he wasn’t sure he would be able to keep the Ranger upright if he wasn’t on the ground.
By the time they were approaching the drawbridge, Will could hear the muffled shouts of mayhem from within. The arrival of the others had brought a change to the quiet courtyard. Already he could see soldiers racing along the top of the walls and two people were running over the bridge toward them: the lanky black-haired Rockwood and Ross’s broad shouldered figure.
“What are you doing outside the gates?” Ross demanded when he reached Will’s side. His eyes flashed in a dangerous way that made Will take a half step back.
“I was practicing with Serena and-”
“Not the focus right now, Ross,” Rockwood said in an unusually snappy way. He reached slowly toward the Ranger’s mare, Hemcole, one arm grabbing the Ranger. “Give me a hand with him. We got to get him to a healer and fast or it’ll be in his veins and causing damage.”
The Cutthroat Prince (William of Alamore Series Book 2) Page 17