“Listening,” Rose sniped. “I wasn’t doing anything with what I heard.”
“Yes,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry. I—”
Micah waved away her words. “Have you decided to accept the captain’s offer to stay, yet?”
Rose shook her head. “I was thinking of maybe going to the plains? I haven’t been that way. Perhaps east over the mountains, once I have my answers.”
He was quiet a moment before answering. “You are leaving.”
Rose looked away from his frown. “Yes. No. Not yet. I want my answers. I’ll stay until I have those. But after that . . . I think it might be best if I leave.”
The king was quiet for a long time before speaking. “Why are you leaving? Captain Sayla said you thought you would be staying with us.”
Rose stared ahead. If leaving was the right choice, why did she feel she was making such a mistake? “I do not belong here. I think it best if I move on. I never meant to stay.”
“What are you running from?”
Rose snapped her head around to stare at him. “I’m not running from anyone,” she whispered.
“That’s not what I asked.” Micah stared at her, and it felt like he was looking at all her secrets.
Rose looked away and took a shaky breath. They rode in silence; neither knowing what to say in the awkward silence. In that moment, a nobleman worked his way between Rose and King Micah. Starlit snorted and skipped to the side, snipping at the other horse’s neck. Rose pulled Starlit farther away.
“Excuse me, Sire, I—”
“I was speaking with her,” King Micah interrupted loudly.
The man looked shocked and taken back and a few others turned toward them. Rose raised her hand and stopped herself just before she waved the king off. “It’s all right. I’ll . . . I’m going to ride ahead a bit.” Rose didn’t let the king protest. She kicked Starlit’s sides and off she sprung. Starlit skirted the road and ran into the tall grass on the side. After a moment, Rose pulled her into the woods, beyond anyone’s eyes. The trees forced Starlit to slow down to a walk. She could still hear the chatter from the riding party and Rose pulled Starlit deeper into the forest.
She was running from her father, her past. But was that all she was running from? Rose held her breath for fear she’d scream with it. Why was she so determined to leave?
What was she doing? Rose took another deep breath and tried to settle herself. Letting her mind run in circles like this did nothing to help her. “Let’s go back, horse. Best not to make a bigger fool of ourselves.”
Rose was turning Starlit around when she heard it: birds and the rustle of dry leaves falling. Then, a strange sound. What was that? She let her vision sink into the shadows of the forest.
“Oh . . . my . . . gods.” Rose pulled back from the shadows just as an arrow thumped into the tree next to her. A cry escaped her lips as she kicked Starlit toward the road. She burst through the tree line and Rose turned toward the riding party. They were farther behind than she’d thought they would be. She’d ridden farther in to the woods than she thought. Rose leaned into Starlit as she sped toward them.
The king looked up and saw her first, his eyes growing wide.
Rose shouted with all her might. “Run!”
An arrow whizzed past her and struck a nobleman in the chest.
Chapter 36
Screaming erupted as the nobleman fell from his horse. Guards swarmed around the king and Rose could hear a thundering behind her. The soldiers were closing. More arrows landed on the ground around Rose and she saw more people fall from their horses. Horses screamed in pain as they collapsed with arrows in their hides. Rose thundered up next to her king.
“They were in the forest. Soldiers. They were waiting.”
“And we rode right up to them.” Micah swore under his breath. “The bastard is still trying.”
Rose nodded, out of breath.
“Retreat! Retreat to the castle!” Micah shouted, and the guards echoed the order.
Everyone still on a horse wheeled around and started racing back toward the castle. More and more arrows fell, taking bodies down with them. Rose looked toward the castle and saw the long, narrow King’s Lead. Anyone not at the front of the pack would not make it into the safety of the walls.
“We will not make it to the castle, Sire,” Rose heard Aaron shout from behind them.
Micah glanced behind at the approaching army. “No. We will not.”
“Sire, into the forest. We can use the tunnels.”
Micah nodded once and veered his horse off the road. They were nearly to the tree line when an arrow struck the king’s horse in the neck. The beast screamed as it crashed forward on itself.
“Micah!” Rose shouted and spun her horse around. He was already pulling himself free of the fallen beast. She leaned down and held out her hand. Micah gripped her arm and he pulled himself up behind her.
“Go!”
Rose needed no second urging. Starlit raced to the tree line, Aaron and one other guard following closely behind. They kept going, through the forests, up the mountain.
“They’re following us,” the second guard spoke for the first time.
“The guards along King’s Lead would’ve noticed them by now. They will send out our forces,” Micah spoke from behind her. “Alert the castle.”
They could still hear arrows flying, hitting the trees around them. “Yes, but what stops them from following us?” Rose asked.
“We need more cover,” Aaron answered. “Just long enough to get to the tunnels.”
They were going deeper and deeper into the forests that surround the castle; farther and farther up the hill side they traveled.
“What are these tunnels you keep mentioning?”
“Shh,” Aaron silenced her. They all stilled their horses and listened. “I think . . .” He was whispering, “I think they have lost our trail.”
Rose sent her sight though the dim forest, growing dimmer as the sun continued to set, and looked for soldiers following them. Her hands fell off the reins, and Micah reached around her to hold them. He directed Starlit as she kept looking through the shadows.
In the darkness she saw them, wandering through the bush loudly and clumsily, far to their east. “They are going to wrong direction. We’ve lost them for now.” She pulled out of the shadows and looked over at Aaron. “Now,” she whispered, “what of these tunnels?”
“The tunnels,” King Micah answered instead, his voice right above her ear, “are the escape route for the royal family in case of a castle seizure. They go underground and exit in the hills west of the castle walls.”
Rose turned her head to look at him and found her face very close to his. She turned forward again. “And we’re going to use them to get in?”
“That is the idea,” Aaron spoke from the growing darkness.
They rode in silence the rest of the way. The sun seemed to be setting faster and faster. They were coming to a crest of a hill when sound broke through the shadows. “Stop!” Rose hissed.
“What?”
Rose held up a hand and looked through the shadows again. Her vision went over the crest of the ridge and down the gentle slope. In the near darkness of dusk Rose saw four bodies on the ground and an opening in the hillside.
“Is the entrance to these tunnels in a hillside? Blocked by a slab of stone?” Rose spoke while sending her vision into the opening.
“Yes. Why?”
Rose recognized the uniform of the king’s guards on the dead men and just inside she saw two soldiers without colors or insignia. She sighed and pulled back from the shadows. Rose turned to Aaron. “Your tunnels have been breached. Four dead guards at the mouth and two soldiers standing guard just inside. Not our soldiers.”
“Gods!” Micah hissed.
“How many guards are in those tunnels?”
“Quite a few, but if an army is marching on the castle the majority of them would be sent to guard the gates and the King’s Lead.”
“It was a ploy,” Aaron said. “The assault on the gate was a ploy to draw out our forces.”
“It would appear so,” Micah bit out. “But how would they know about this exit?”
Rose could hear his anger, could practically feel it vibrating at her back. “The spy,” she quietly reminded him. “The spy we never located. She must’ve smuggled out plans of the castle.”
Micah hands shook, Rose could feel the tremor in his arms. She put her hands on top of his clenched fists. “I can get you in.”
She felt the guards turn to her in the darkness. “How?”
Micah nodded at her back. “Can you?”
“Yes,” she said with more certainty than she felt.
Aaron pulled his horse to a stop. “Carl and I can get in through the tunnels. Don’t worry about us.”
He and Carl dismounted and tied their horses off to trees. Micah jumped down and Rose followed on unsteady legs.
“Rose.”
She turned to Aaron and switched half her sight into the shadows so she could see his face.
“Get the king into the castle and hide. Do not make your presence known. We will get in through the tunnels and meet you. King Micah knows where. Do not do anything until we find you.”
Rose didn’t say anything. She just nodded. Aaron spoke to the king but Rose didn’t listen. She took slow deep breaths and tried to prepare herself. In the distance, she could see the red eyes of the wolf; watching her. Rose stared back and if she had hackles, they would’ve risen. I am tired of your games. We’re doing this my way.
She felt a huff of laughter echo in her mind. If you think you can.
The breath stopped in her throat for a heartbeat.
“Rose?” The king was suddenly at her side, fingertips on her shoulder. “Are you all right?”
“Yes.” The whisper hid the tremor in her answer.
“Aaron and Carl have already left, we should go.”
Rose nodded and gripped his hand. She couldn’t tell if it was his hand or hers that shook so badly. Might’ve been both. “I’ve never done this before.”
“You’ll do fine.”
Rose clenched her teeth and pulled the shadows around them like a cloak, forcing them into the tunnels. She felt herself fall through but the shadows resisted the king. She heard a growl vibrate through the shadows.
“Dammit, I need to you to let him through,” Rose bit out as she tried to pull and shove the shadows around him. “Let him through!” She pulled the king and pushed the shadows as if they were a solid thing. She grabbed a handful of shadow with her free hand and dragged it around the king. Her power had been growing. Her limits changing. She should be able to do this. She would make them listen to her.
A pressure built up in her head distracting her from anything else. With a pop, the king fell into the shadow world with her. She moaned as her head felt like it was being squeezed by a vise.
“Rose? Rose where are we? What has happened?”
Rose forced her eyes open and she saw the gray and black mists of her shadow tunnels. The silent forest was around them, tinted in grays. Rose let out a long breath and felt her chest loosen. She’d done it. Rose looked up, at the king staring at her in shock and fear. She’d done it. She had pulled another into the shadows with her. Rose forced herself up, even as her head screamed in protest.
“Welcome to my shadow tunnels.”
“I see nothing but darkness and mist.”
Rose looked around. She saw the forest. She saw tunnels in the darkest parts of the shadows, paths leading to other areas, other places. Mist swirled at their feet and around their legs. She saw a whole world. “That is not what I see. Can you see me?”
Micah stared at her and slowly raised his hand to her face. “I did not know it was you.”
Rose was still as his hand cupped her cheek. “What . . . what do you see?”
Micah frowned and stared at her. “You will not believe me.” He started to shake his head and he dropped his hand.
Rose watched the shadows for a minute before shaking herself. “We must go.”
Micah held tightly onto her. “I will follow you.”
Rose started walking through the mists, taking the tunnels leading toward the castle. “Do not let go. I’m not sure what would happen to you if you did.”
Micah tightened his grip on her. Rose moved through the mists and took the dark tunnels. She felt the shadows trying to push them out as she walked. The shadows seemed to have much more substance than they normal did. They pushed against her and tried to squeeze her out. They didn’t want King Micah here. Rose gritted her teeth against the pressure building behind her eyes. Not much farther.
“Talk to me. I need a distraction.” It was so difficult to walk. It was like walking through wet sand. She had to force every step and she could hear them, the whisperers. She couldn’t understand what they were saying, but they were getting louder.
“Answer my earlier question. Why are you leaving?”
Rose groaned. “That is not a good distraction.”
“So?”
Rose stumbled and her strong grip on the king’s hand kept her from falling completely. “It has been . . .” Rose paused to think back. “It has been many years since I stayed in a place longer than a few weeks. I don’t know if I know how. I do not know what I want. Now tell me,” she demanded. “What is it you see, when you look at me now?”
He was silent for so long she didn’t think he’d answer.
“Is it so hideous?” Rose asked quietly into the growing silence.
“What I see is regal, and demanding of respect. And a little terrifying.”
Rose glanced back at him and chuckled nervously. “Anything more descriptive?”
“A queen shrouded in darkness with glowing eyes.”
Rose was silent. She couldn’t think of anything to say. She almost wished she hadn’t asked. She forced herself to focus on walking and forcing her legs to continue. Her knees gave out and she fell.
“Rose?” Micah helped her to her feet and put his arm around her waist.
“Not much farther. I can see the castle. We must to go a little farther.” The forest was changing; parts of the castle could be seen in the distance. She stepped through a dark opening and appeared in the shadows closer to the castle. They were so close. Her legs shook.
Sluggishly, Rose took more steps until she saw a small opening into the castle.
“Stop here.” Rose huffed. She looked through the break in the shadow. It was a small room. Covered in dust and broken chairs. “This should do.”
They stepped through the opening into the room.
Rose stumbled and sunk to her knees.
“Rose?” He knelt in front of her and held her by her shoulders. “Rose, are you all right?”
She tried to keep her eyes open. “My head.”
Micah dragged her to the wall and leaned her against it. He knelt in front of her and spoke but his words were lost to the rush of the whisperers. They were so loud. What did they want from her? She could hear them all around her, murmuring, whispering, mumbling.
“. . . me . . . I . . . focus . . . .”
Rose frowned at Micah. “I can’t hear you.” Her eyes went back to the dark room and the shadows that moved within it. “I can’t hear—” Rose watched as the shadows moved and pressed around her. “What are you?” Rose whispered to them. “What do you want?”
You.
He gripped her face and leaned in close. “Rose, listen to me!”
With a pop the whisperers were silenced. The shadows went back to being just shadows. She gasped and coughed, and Micah relaxed his hold. “Are you here, now?”
She reached up and held his hands against her face. “Just . . . wait . . . a moment.” She was shaking and her head was pounding. “They could come back.”
Micah shook his head. “The shadows are gone from your eyes.”
Rose nodded and sagged in his hold. He moved next to her and pulled her against his chest. She let him. She let her head fall back on his shoulder. “I’m so tired. The shadows did not like you being there.”
“Do you know where we are?”
She could feel his rapid heartbeat against her back and his jagged breathing. He was as scared as she was. “Lower levels of the castle. We are in the servants’ quarters. In an old room, I think.”
“Rest. We should be safe here for a moment.”
Rose might’ve mumbled something. She stared to drift off when she shook herself. “No, we must continue.”
She forced herself to stand and she swayed. Micah stood quickly and caught her. “Rose, you must-”
“No. I’ll be fine. Where are we supposed to meet Aaron?”
Micah held onto her a little longer before letting go. He looked worriedly at her, his eyes drawn and pinched. “Come. It’s in the cellars.”
Micah cracked open the door and peered into the hallway. He turned back to Rose. “It’s empty.”
They slipped out into the hallway. Micah led the way with Rose watching through the shadows for people. The whole place seemed to be deserted. Either everyone was hiding or dead or . . . .
They made it all the way to the stairway leading down to the cellars before they encountered soldiers. They pressed themselves against the wall, not daring to breathe until the soldiers has passed. Micah pressed his mouth against Rose’s ear. “If soldiers have made it this far, they’ve already taken the throne room.”
Rose nodded and turned her head. “They were going to the cellars.”
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