Will followed Rowan’s gaze and felt his stomach drop. The castle ahead of them was alive with movement on the walls, light flaring. Now that Rowan had fallen silent, he could hear people shouting. A pool of flickering orange and gold shadow poured from the open drawbridge into the valley and in the courtyard, he saw men running around, horses being saddled.
“All this because we’re missing?” Will asked slowly. “Seems a bit extreme for a couple of squires.”
Rowan snorted. “You mean four squires–two of whom are the last of the Kelkorian squires loyal to protecting Kalia, one of which is the extremely good-looking son of a powerful Lord, and the last twerp is the heir of our enemy Kingdom, and Kelkor, and somehow of Alamore too.”
Will forced a hollow laugh. They were near enough now that the light was reflecting on Admere’s sweat-darkened neck, glowing red over the horse’s hair. A shout rose up from someone on the walls and were echoed through the courtyard.
“Riders! Riders approaching!”
“No crap we’re approaching. What, you think they thought we’d camp out here?” Rowan demanded indignantly.
Will frowned, an uneasy feeling pressing on his shoulders. “I’m not sure they’re expecting it to be us.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Will didn’t answer. They were close enough now to make out the three people standing on the drawbridge, peering at them through the darkness. In the glow of torches, the thatch of red hair was too recognizable. Haru gave a shout and sprinted toward them, ignoring Rockwood’s yell.
“Will!”
Will reined in Admere to keep the horse from stepping on his knight at the foot of the bridge as Haru reached him. Before Will could open his mouth to form a question, Haru had grabbed him around the middle and was pulling him off of the horse and into a tight embrace.
“Walls of Thornten! You’re alive, you’re alive!”
“Course he’s alive you daft rat,” Rowan said somewhere above. “But you keep crushing him like that and he’s not going to be alive much longer.”
Haru released Will from his hug, grabbing him by the shoulders and looking him up and down. “Are you hurt? Did they hurt you?”
“What?” Will blinked, bewildered. How had Haru already received news of their attack? There was no way that Eldin and Niet had returned first. Rowan said they’d cut south to avoid the Cutthroats.
Haru ignored his question, shaking his head and dropping his hands back to his sides. “Thank Alamore, I didn’t think that we’d see you back here…we were getting horses ready…and…”
Will stared at his knight. Haru seemed frantic. He’d expected a tongue lashing for being an idiot but Haru was shaking, running a hand over his face.
“For future reference, Haru.” Rockwood had jogged to their side, panting slightly. “Don’t run toward unannounced riders. It’s a damn fine way to get murdered.”
Haru gave a halfhearted laugh which Rockwood ignored, already grabbing the reins to Rowan’s horse and peering up at his squire. “Alright, how the blazes were you drug into all of this? Where are the others?”
“All of them are right behind us. And all of what?” Rowan demanded. “What are you on about?”
“The Cutthroat Prince’s attack,” Rockwood said flatly. When Will and Rowan only stared at him, openmouthed, Rockwood groaned. “Don’t tell me you left the castle of your own free will. Seriously?”
“What happened?” Will repeated, turning to Haru. “What-”
“Get your reunion off the drawbridge and into the walls!” Laster’s voice called down from the gatehouse above. “If you haven’t yet understood the concept of a drawbridge, it’s made to be shut to keep people safe inside and unless you care to tumble in, get off of it.”
“Mangy git,” Rowan huffed but didn’t protest to Rockwood pulling Naja forward into a trot.
Will and Haru walked together the remaining distance into the courtyard, leading a sweat-soaked Admere behind them. Serena still stood on the bridge, eyes blazing.
“Where are my charges, Haru?” she demanded. “Where are Eldin and Niet?”
“They’re coming,” Will assured her. “They weren’t far behind us and-”
“And you left them?” she snarled. “You left them behind?”
“Niet’s practically a knight, have some faith in the lad,” Rockwood retorted. “Will and Rowan are thirteen. They can’t do much to help him anyhow.”
“We all got away anyways,” Rowan told Serena, swinging off of his horse in the courtyard. “They were right behind me. Then we heard a horn blow and the rider chasing me turned back, so I am guessing the one chasing them did the same.”
Serena seemed on the verge of retorting when two more people approached them. one of them broke into a run, colliding with Will and Rowan in a streak of golden hair and a cry of relief.
“You’re alive!”
“Blazes, Colin!” Rowan staggered, trying to free himself of their friend’s grip. “If the Cutthroats don’t kill us, you seem about to!”
Will struggled to break out of Colin’s embrace as well, taking in their surroundings. The courtyard was crawling with activity, guards rushing up the stairwell to the top of the battlements while scrambling to pull on leather jerkins or fasten sword belts.
“Well,” Serena said, stepping back slightly and glancing back toward the drawbridge. “We need to go find them.”
“I quite agree.” Rockwood nodded. “And that’s something we can actually go do. Colin–see to it your two friends here don’t go getting themselves killed or anything for twenty minutes while Haru and I saddle horses.”
“Wait,” Haru hesitated. “Should we-”
“Come on, Haru,” Rockwood cut across him. “I imagine Ross is already about done saddling his horse and we need to get out there and help Serena.”
The knights strode away, Haru throwing an anxious glance back at the three squires.
Will shook his head, stepping away from Rowan and Colin to pat Admere’s neck and take in their surroundings. The change to the courtyard since they left could not have been more drastic.
“What happened here? How did you all know we were gone?” Rowan demanded of Colin.
Colin took a shaky breath, shaking his head. “I’m not sure how the knights really found out. All I know is that one minute I was asleep, the next Laster was shaking me awake demanding to know where you–Will–were.”
“He didn’t ask about me?” Rowan asked, offended. They crossed the courtyard toward one of the hitching rails. Will slung Admere’s reins over the top of the rail, the horse nearly knocking him aside as he itched his sweaty face on Will’s back.
“We noticed you were gone soon as I was up,” Colin continued, reaching to help Will with unsaddling Admere. “That’s when the panic really set it. I tried to get Laster to let me help look for you, but he made me go wake the knights and he came out here to the gatehouse since the guards…” Colin paused, and Will saw his face twist in a pained look. “Well…”
“What guards?” Will asked, frowning. “We didn’t see any.”
“They were behind the barracks,” Colin explained. Now he looked ready to be sick.
“Behind the barracks? What? Like having a drink fest or some stupid dance that they didn’t invite me to?” Rowan asked, addressing them with his head under Naja’s stomach as he uncinched the horse’s girth. “Why weren’t they at their post?”
“They’re dead,” Colin said, and Will suddenly understood his friend’s green tinge. He himself felt ready to be ill.
“What?” Rowan gawked up at Colin. “Dead? How?”
“Someone knew which guards would be on night watch it seemed.” Colin ran a hand through his hair, closing his eyes a moment as if trying to forget something terrible. “Someone slit their throats… but after Laster came out here, I went to wake the knights. They roused the other guards and that’s when Serena woke up and found that Eldin and Niet were gone.” Colin shook his head. “And that
didn’t make sense to me. I get that The Cutthroat Prince and his followers somehow got into Alamore and caught you all.”
“That’s not what happened,” Will cut across Colin. “The Cutthroat Prince wasn’t in the castle, he was in the woods and it was-” Before he could finish recounting the true version of events, however, a shout rose up from the wall.
“Rider coming in and looks like someone is injured,” Laster called down.
Will spun round, heart slamming in his chest, and started at the open mouth of the drawbridge. Eldin had been hurt, he knew that, but what if it was something else. What if Niet or the Ranger…the Ranger. A sick weight dropped in his stomach. How had he forgotten the Ranger? The Ranger had just saved them and Will had been so caught up in the escape, in what had happened in the walls, that he hadn’t spared a thought of the Ranger of Kings. The clatter of hooves rose before the single horse appeared. Will saw Eldin slumped forward, Niet’s hair sticking to his forehead with sweat, struggling to keep her on the grey horse with one hand, controlling the animal with the other. A shout from the barn announced Serena’s reappearance. She ran toward her squire and Eldin, reaching up to help Niet lower Eldin out of the saddle.
“What’s happened?” Serena was asked, her voice shaking. “What happened to her?”
“She fainted,” Niet panted. “Her arm is broken–careful of it please. She fainted as we fled and…”
“Will, where you going?” Rowan called.
Will didn’t bother responding, darting the distance between the hitching rail and Niet, reaching up to grab the reins of the grey horse. “Did you see the Ranger?” Will demanded. “Did you-”
His question was strangled in his throat by Niet’s head shake. “All we saw was Rowan for a while, then we turned. They were after us,” he hurried on, and Will could hear the pleading in his voice. “They were on our tail. I thought they had us, then the horn blew and we were riding for our lives.”
“I get it.” Will nodded. And he did. They had been fleeing for their lives.
“The Ranger?” Serena asked sharply. “What about the Ranger? Did he have something to do with this?”
“He saved us.” Niet shot her accusation down with a sharp look. “He saved us. Again.”
Serena snorted, her lip curling, and whirled round. Carrying Eldin like a child, the woman stalked back across the courtyard and through the double doors into the castle.
“The Ranger is out there?”
Will hadn’t heard or seen Ross leave the barn, leading his black and white stallion, a stony expression on his face. Will nodded, still struggling to speak through the knot in his throat.
With a growl, Ross turned, swinging himself easily onto the warhorse. Tilting his head upwards, he waved to Laster on the wall. “Keep the bridge down, I’m going to find the Ranger.”
“Ranger?” Laster shouted back. “Why is the Ranger out there? Isn’t he supposed to be in the healing chamber, being dramatic about a bit of poisoning?”
Ross didn’t craft a response, digging his heels into his horse’s sides and charging into the darkness. Will watched him go, dread seeping through his veins. A moment later, Rockwood and Haru were leading their horses from the barn as well, grim expressions on their faces.
Haru’s face lightened at the sight of Niet and Eldin. “You’re safe!”
“Ross went after the Ranger,” Will said, unable to keep his silence. “He’s still out there.”
Rockwood swore, spinning round and vaulting onto his chestnut horse. “Haru, come on. It’d be just like Ross to try to murder the lot of Cutthroats.”
Haru didn’t hesitate, pulling himself onto his roan and the two knights thundered after Ross into the darkness.
“He says murder the lot of them like it’s a bad thing,” Rowan commented casually. Will hadn’t noticed his friend come to stand behind him. “But if they were all dead, I honestly wouldn’t give two farts.”
“Your way with words is astonishing.” Niet shook his head, sliding down from his palomino. Exhaustion was drawing on his features, making him look older.
Will turned away from his friends, glancing back over the bridge. His skin was crawling, his mind still reeling from the night’s events. Surely the Ranger had a plan to escape. He had just assumed the Ranger would get away like they had but if so, why wasn’t he here? What had the horn been about? His stomach churned sickeningly. Had it been a signal that the hunt was over? They had their caught quarry?
“Healer, all of you.”
Will started, turning to see Laster striding down the steps, his amber eyes narrowed at the group of squires. “The younger squires can tend your horses, but you need to get inside and taken care of. I have no doubt you’ll need to be in a council before dawn.”
“A council?” Will asked. “What for?”
Laster raised his eyebrows, pausing on the bottom step. “Use your head, Will. Soldiers are dead, our defenses breached, and the King will probably want to know where his Ranger ran off too since we all thought he was intelligent enough to give himself time to heal. Colin, see to it that Kelkor and the two troublemakers get to the healer, won’t you?”
“Yes, Sir.” Colin dropped the brush he’d been using to untangle Admere’s mane and gave Rowan and Will a firm look. Will hesitated, torn between the comforting warmth of a bed and the desire to wait, the need to see the Ranger return. He’d been terrible to the Ranger, and again the man had come through and saved his life. He had to be sure the Ranger was okay.
“I’ll make sure Ross comes up when they return,” Laster said, and for the first time his words were edged in a softer tone, more comforting than Will had ever heard them. He seemed to catch the tone himself because his sneer curled his lip a moment later. “And I can only hope the Ranger returns with him, so I have the chance to throttle him myself.”
Will nodded. There wasn’t anything else for them to do. Even if he had wanted to help find the Ranger, he knew the knights would never let him and what good would it do anyhow? He’d put them in more danger. All because of his stupid blood.
He waited as Gabe appeared–blurry eyed and tousled hair–to take Niet’s horse. Then the four of them, Colin in the lead, started across the courtyard. They had just reached the double doors when a guard shouted something from the top of the wall. All of them turned, Will’s heart swelling in his throat. The dark forms of two horses were returning. Instantly, he recognized the roan as Haru’s horse. His heart leapt and he pulled away from the others, moving toward the bridge again.
“Will, wait!” Colin grabbed Will by the back of his collar and Will turned, confused. His friends were staring ahead, their faces unusually grave. Even Rowan was wide-eyed in horror, his mouth falling open, all traces of his smile gone.
Turning back to the bridge, Will’s heart froze. Haru was leading the second horse. He recognized the slight built black mare, her head high in panic, twisting to look behind them with each step. Her eyes were ringed in white and her coat glistened in the torch light. It wasn’t until they had stopped in the center of a now silent courtyard that comprehension crashed into Will’s chest. Someone grabbed him as his knees buckled a step. He stared in disbelief at the Ranger’s mare, at the blood that had been spilt over her shoulder and neck and, worst of all, at the hauntingly empty saddle.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“I need to get back out there, I can help, I can-” Will was babbling and he knew it, but he still struggled to get free of Rowan and Colin, dragging him backwards through the doors and into the entry hall.
“Like the blazes you will,” Rowan snarled. “Let the knights find him! Niet, mate, either give a hand or get out of the way won’t you?”
Niet was standing in the corridor, his face twisted in a mixture of anger and shock. He shook himself and nodded, stepping aside. “They’ll find him, Will.”
“But I need to help, it’s my fault,” Will pressed on.
Colin grunted as Will pulled to break free, his elbow catching his fri
end in the stomach. “Don’t be a fool, Will! That’s what The Cutthroat Prince will want. He’ll want you to get back out there.”
“Elbow Colin again and I’ll knock your block off,” Rowan grunted, heaving Will toward the stairs of the healing chamber. “We’re trying to help you!”
Niet grabbed Will around the middle, hoisting him out of Rowan and Colin’s grip. “Come on, we’re getting upstairs and checking on Eldin. You need doctored anyway.”
“I’m fine! I need to help find the Ranger! We need to go! We need to help!” Will struggled but Niet didn’t budge, gripping Will tight enough to press the air from his lungs. He carried Will up the stairs like a protesting toddler, growling a few choice words in Kelkorian until they were pushing through the door to the healing chamber. It wasn’t until Rowan had slammed and barred the door that Niet unceremoniously dropped Will onto the floor.
His knee collided with the ground painfully, but he barely noticed, scrambling upright and spinning to face Rowan and Colin. He stared between them, desperate. “Come on, please.”
“You’ll cause more problems than you’ll solve being out there right now,” Colin said flatly. “If you want to help the knights find the Ranger, then the best thing you can do is stay here.”
Will looked at Rowan, pleading in silence. With a pained look, Rowan shook his head. “Col’s right, Will. We can’t help, we screwed up and bad this time.”
Will opened his mouth, ready to argue but someone cleared their throat behind him and he turned. Serena was standing beside one of the beds, watching them with a dangerous gleam in her eyes. “What’s going on out there?”
Will turned from his friends to Niet to Serena and, when it became clear that none of them were going to answer, he straightened, matching her glower. “The Ranger’s horse returned without him.”
The orange light of the torches in the room cast a shadow across her face as she turned away, snorting. “So, it seems he’s pulling a trick again.”
Anger crawled up Will’s back but Niet spoke before he could retort. “The horse is blood covered.”
The Cutthroat Prince (William of Alamore Series Book 2) Page 28