by Jude Marquez
Alyx’s entire body ached from the near ceaseless riding and even then, he suggested riding after the sun had begun to set. Aldous remained his companion throughout the ride and rarely left his side. He slowed only when the forest cleared into a large flat meadow. Alyx brought his own stallion to a slow canter.
“What is it?” Alyx asked and looked around. Were it not for their current circumstances, he would think it lovely and perhaps the perfect spot for them to rest.
Aldous shook his head, held out a hand. He looked over to Geoffrey, on the other side of the carriage. Elyes caught Alyx’s eye but said nothing, only pressed his lips together in a thin line.
The only sounds around them were their horses breathing and the soft words from the carriage.
“It feels like a trap,” Aldous said softly.
“We can go around,” Alyx suggested.
Aldous shook his head. “If they have done this, they might have us followed as well. Around offers no sanctuary. Or they are pushing us to go around and have laid a trap there as well.”
The sun was dipping below the treeline. It looked peaceful.
“What do you suggest we do?” Alyx asked.
Aldous looked around. “Ride. Hard and fast,” he looked up at Edward who nodded.
“Keep low to your horse. Stay close to the Princess,” Aldous said to Geoffrey. He looked around, at the children who were peering at them through the small windows. “Whatever else, do not leave her side. If something happens, get her to safety. Do not wait for the rest of us.”
“Aldous-” Auelina protested.
Aldous was already shaking his head, sadly. “I have my orders, Princess. From your brother and mother.”
Auelina fell silent and pressed her lips into a thin, angry line.
They were not halfway through the meadow when they heard the snap of an axle and the muffled cries of those in the carriage. Edward was thrown from his perch and the horses skidded and danced against the sudden uneven weight.
“Shit,” Geoffrey said, riding up along the side of the horses, calming them with a hand. Edward stood slowly. Blood trickled down his forehead.
A crossbow bolt slammed into the carriage next to Alyx, causing his horse to rear, as it caught the carriage on fire. Auelina was pushed back as well as three more bolts slammed into the carriage.
“Go!” Alyx yelled at Auelina as he swung off his own horse. Geoffrey did the same, unhooking the horses from the carriage. Aldous jerked the door open and pulled the children out, the women stumbling out on their own. Alyx gave up on the straps holding the horses to the carriage and pulled his blade out to slice them free. Geoffrey freed the last horse on his side, swung up in his saddle, reached for Auelina, and snapped at his horse. His gray stallion took off, leaving clumps of mud and grass in his wake. Men charged out of the woods and Ricardus and Aldous threw themselves into the fight.
The last Alyx saw of Auelina was her blonde hair streaming behind her, Geoffrey's horse at a dead sprint.
Alyx freed the last horse, watched as Elyes pulled Gia from her horse and he also left. An arrow whistled past his ear and Alyx startled, but when he turned, a man was falling to his knees, an arrow planted in his throat. He looked around, but saw none of his companions with a crossbow. He had to leave the mystery for a minute but soon the arrows were felling others around Aldous and Ricardus, clearing the way for them.
“Up, up,” he hissed at Verna and put Kenley on the same horse. The others scrambled for horses and left as soon as they were seated. Annabelle was the last one left and Alyx had to help her to her feet. She injured her ankle when the axle broke. Ricardus left with Cordelia on his horse.
Aldous limped over to them, his horse trailing him. He pulled a strip of bandage from her pack and tied it around his leg. The bodies around them were still and not a single one of them was ever going to move again, Alyx realized grimly. “This is going to make riding unpleasant,” he remarked, tone light as always. “Who has the crossbow-”
“Watch out!” Annabelle screamed and that’s when Alyx saw a man rear up and slam a gauntleted hand into the back of Aldous' head. Aldous crumpled to the ground and Alyx reached for Annabelle, pulled her to her feet and put her behind him. He wrapped her arms around his waist, something for her to keep steady.
The man that knocked Aldous down was bleeding from an injury Alyx couldn’t tell the source of.
“Where are they going?” He demanded.
Alyx shook his head.
“You are the king’s whore. Tell me and I’ll let the girl live,” he bargained.
“I would rather die,” Annabelle hissed.
Alyx put his hand to hers over his stomach. The man rushed in, far too quickly for someone his size, and slammed into Alyx. Annabelle fell to the side, barely avoiding getting crushed beneath the two men. Alyx got one blade out but the man punched him in the stomach and he gasped, lost his grip on his blade, and he hoped Evander would forgive him this.
Annabelle screamed again and there was a spray of something warm and wet on his face. The man on top of him stopped moving and his weight was removed.
Someone stood above him and with the carriage fire to the person’s back and a hood over their head, he couldn’t tell who they were or their intention.
They extended a gloved hand.
“Come with me if you want to get out of this hell hole,” she said. Alyx saw a crossbow over her shoulder and realized she must have been the one to fell so many of the enemy.
Alyx gave her his hand.
“Let’s get him on the horse,” she said and threw her hood off. Her hair was a fiery red and her face was pale and drawn. Alyx helped her put Aldous over the saddle and she swung up on it. Alyx put Annabelle on the saddle first and then settled into it.
“What do you call yourself?” She asked.
“Alyx. This is Annabelle. Your companion is Aldous.”
She gave him a brilliant smile. “Josette,” she gestured. “Shall we?”
They rode hard, tried to catch up to the rest of their group. Time and again, they would be cut off by other riders and it was only because of Josette’s knowledge of the land and Alyx’s forethought that they avoided most of the groups.
After the fourth group, Josette pulled her horse to a stop. “We need to take the mountain trail,” she huffed.
“It will add a day to our ride,” Alyx said.
“I’m sure the king would rather you delayed than dead,” Josette remarked philosophically.
“How did you-”
“Your tunic. The cape. You are not well suited to subterfuge,” she pointed her horse to the mountains. “Your Highness?” She prodded.
Alyx sighed and nodded.
They rode through the night, though at a slower pace. Annabelle dozed against his chest. Aldous had finally woken and was all but laid over Josette’s shoulder. She didn’t seem to mind. The rode for hours through the night, barely speaking above whispers until they had to come to a stop.
They saw the fire first. The voices came later. There was a woman, angry and snarling and another voice, pleading. A voice answered and laughed and it echoed.
“Yours?” Josette asked.
“Possible,” Alyx muttered. “We were scattered, as you saw.”
Josette nodded. She shrugged Aldous off her shoulder and swung off the saddle. Alyx handed Annabelle the reins to Josette’s horse and nodded at her. She nodded back.
Josette had the crossbow up as they got close to the fire.
Two men stood in front of Lisa and Verna who were pressed against an outcropping. Josette looked to Alyx and pointed to the left with her crossbow. Alyx nodded and went left. He used the dancing shadows from the fire to hide himself. The men were drunk, both on drink and their absolute conviction that they had their prizes in their hands.
One man darted in, the one on Alyx’s side and grabbed the back of Lisa’s head and pulled her in for what would undoubtedly be a horrible kiss. Alyx jerked Lisa back by her shoulder and u
sed the man’s confusion to slice through his leathers and into his rib cage.
The other man was already on the ground and Josette was jerking her bolt out of his stomach. Lisa turned in Alyx's arms, threw her arms around him, and near strangled him with her gratitude. He rubbed her back and took his cloak off to drape around her.
“Your horse?” Alyx asked Lisa.
She looked around, tried to get her bearings and then nodded to the right. Verna approached Lisa and they wrapped their arms around each other.
“Are you injured?” Alyx asked.
“No. You got here before-” Lisa looked to the two men, dying at their feet.
Verna spat on one.
“Good,” Alyx hissed. “We must ride.”
Once the sun rose on their third day, they were descending the mountain. Even Josette was swaying in her saddle.
“Is that a village?” Josette asked, peering ahead.
“Yes,” Alyx said and felt for the bag of coins Evander had pointed out to him. It seemed empty. There were no children playing around the center square or near the trees. There were no people at the wash woman's house or at the bakery.
“It might be Thomas's doing,” Josette whispered.
It felt sacrilegious to speak in a normal tone.
As they drew nearer, a woman stepped out between two small buildings. She kept her eyes forward and a basket of linens on her hip. “Your Highness. Go to the end of the block. There is a stable there. Hide your horses there. The stable boys will see that they are taken care of,” she said before disappearing. Alyx stared after her and looked to Josette who seemed equally surprised and confused.
A young man appeared on Josette’s other side. “Bring your injured to the east side of the village. There is a healer there,” and stepped away into another alley.
“His Highness needs to go to the tavern. There we can discuss methods of getting him to his keep,” an old man said from a nearby stump and did not look up.
Alyx and Josette stopped in front of him.
“How do we know to trust you?” Alyx asked.
“You are out of options,” The old man said. He raised his head and looked up. “The king sends his regards. In this life and the next.” The old man leveled a look at Alyx, “He sends his regards.”
Alyx nodded and with those words, he left the old man where he was and led the others according to the man's directions. None but Evander and his most trusted would offer those words. Alyx led their group to the stables. He paid the owner in coins and two men showed up and took Annabelle and Aldous away. A little girl took Verna and Lisa away by the hand and the old man from the stump strolled up to the Alyx and Josette and took them to the tavern.
When they walked in, Alyx reached for his remaining blade. It was dark, empty, and felt forsaken, just like this entire town.
Movement caught his eye from the corner of the room and both he and Josette raised their weapons. A light was lit on the bar.
Jeanna sat there, like she had been waiting for them.
Alyx wanted to weep in relief.
Chapter Fourteen
Jeanna served them a thick stew, quizzed Josette relentlessly before she finally gave her seal of approval. The village was where Jeanna had grown up at and the queen had sent her away the night before the attack.
Josette, as it turned out, worked for Thomas. This took both Jeanna and Alyx back until Josette explained that while in training she heard plans to steal the Princess and “fuck his way to the throne”.
At this, Josette left. Having trained in the far north as a spy, she was easily able to steal a horse and leave the camp without anyone noticing until she was far away. She was a scout for Thomas's army and no one thought it strange she left on her own. She made for the castle only to get waylaid by the marching army. She got to Cade as he was leaving the castle and he ordered her to Auelina’s side. Josette was about to approach them before they stopped at the clearing but then-
“Well. The meadow,” she said helplessly and Jeanna handed her a piece of bread to sop up her stew. “So, orders from a Prince to go protect the Princess at all costs,” she swiped at her bowl with the bread. “Instead, I found the King’s betrothed and his favored lieutenant,” she shrugged.
“Rest for the night,” Jeanna said. “Aldous' head injury isn’t terrible but he shouldn’t be traveling. The girl’s ankle just needed a proper wrapping. Verna and Lisa are already in bed.”
Alyx couldn’t think of a proper argument and Jeanna showed them up to a room with two beds. Alyx fell on one but Josette took a chair by the window, pulled her hood up, and smiled at him. “Rest. There are others on watch,” she murmured.
Alyx did he was told.
∞∞∞
The march was bigger than any that Evander had undertaken. Thomas's forces were burning villages in their path, kidnapping women and children, killing boys and men.
“Send a force ahead to protect what villages we have,” Evander said to Ralph.
“Prisoners, Your Highness?” Ralph asked.
“Kill every single one that they come across,” Evander said.
Ralph left his side.
A man came in, reports from both Gael and Cade. Each was a day to his east and west, commanding troops of a similar size. They had only small fights against scouts of Thomas's, nothing important. They believed that the scouts were probing forces, meant to ascertain the size of the De Loughrey's army.
Evander gave the same orders, for Gael and Cade to dispatch a force of men to ride ahead and protect what villages they could, to kill with extreme prejudice.
The man turned to leave but Evander stopped him. “Any word from the south?” He asked.
The man, Regan, shook his head. “No, Your Highness. I could send a scout- I could go myself,” he volunteered.
Evander considered it and shook his head. “Relay my messages then return. I will decide then.”
Regan bowed and left.
Evander considered his map and frowned. As far as reports could tell, Thomas's army had fanned out to march along the border and destroy the land that they could. They were killing livestock and burning crops in their wake. It made no sense, to destroy the land that he made to rule. He wished for Alyx, someone to speak to about Thomas's actions, Gael by his side, or even Cade's unruly thought process. He longed for his mother and her pragmatic sense or even Auelina who he could ramble to. His family was splintered, in pieces along the country.
Messengers came and went throughout the day, servants dropped off food and wine for him that he barely looked at.
He was stripping off his leathers and readying for bed when he heard a commotion outside, as thought a hundred men were shouting. Evander looked to the servant, Titus, that was hanging his armor up but he only shrugged and left the tent to investigate. He barely had a foot out of the tent when he was shoved back in.
A man, one that he recognized to be under Gael's charge, fell into the tent at Titus's feet and Gael walked in after him.
“Gael?” Evander said looking from the man on the ground up to his brother.
“I found the mole,” he said and kicked the man viciously in the ribs. “Brady. He was a schoolmate. He turned to Thomas's forces years ago. He was promised Lady Cordelia in exchange for information.”
Evander nodded and gestured for Titus. “Fetch me Hubert and Percy,” He ordered. As Titus left, Evander called him back. “Bring Valentine as well.”
Titus paled but nodded. “Do you have any instructions for him, sire? Or do you merely request his presence?”
“Tell him to come prepared,” Evander said, his eyes on Brady still.
Titus left in a hurry.
In the meantime, Gael and Evander circled Brady who was on the ground still.
“You've been feeding him information for years, then?” Evander asked conversationally.
Brady spat at their feet but didn't reply.
“Is there anything else you would like to inform me of?” Evander asked.
“Before Valentine forces you to say it?”
“Valentine doesn't scare me,” Brady growled.
Evander crouched in front of him. “Be that as it may, a man with such a stain on his traitorous soul should be scared of judgment on the other side. Before the night is through, I will let my brother choose your punishment,” Evander gave Brady a winning smile, meant for dignitaries, but now just looked maniacal. “And my brother has always been fond of evisceration and quartering,” Evander stood and called for his guards. “Hog tie him. Take him to the edge of camp. Send in your replacements.”
They bowed, tied Brady and carried him out. Gael and Evander listened to the jeers and the threats from the men that remained faithful to the crown. He was sure more than a few punches were thrown and, knowing his guard, they probably did nothing to stop the attacks.
Evander turned to his brother.
“Fancy meeting you here,” he said to Gael.
“I had to come. As soon as I knew,” Gael said. The light caught his face and Evander saw a bruise blooming along his cheek.
“He attacked you,” Evander said.
“He tried to kill me,” Gael corrected.
Evander grasped his chin and tilted Gael's face into the candlelight. “Well,” Evander said. Then he sighed and looked at Gael. “You could have sent a convoy.”
Gael looked helpless.
Evander looked down at his feet and nodded.
“I have no desire for this war. Less than you, I would wager,” Gael said.
Evander gave a hollow laugh.
“Cordelia is pregnant,” Gael said.
Evander closed his eyes. The news was welcome, as all children were in his kingdom, especially a possible heir. But the news paired with this new war made Evander want to kill Thomas more than ever. He let himself imagine the worst possible torture he could inflict on Thomas and let out a breath and opened his eyes to look at Gael once more.