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Having already travelled it twice recently, Thea didn’t pause to marvel at its eeriness. She set the pace hard, so Cal and Kipp could not interrogate her about her familiarity with the king until they reached the Wesford Road. But as soon as they turned onto the wide dirt road that linked the kingdoms of the midrealms, the questions came.

‘What did Esyllt mean about you and King Artos?’ Kipp said immediately. ‘I mean, I know you petitioned the rulers, but…’

‘That’s what I want to know,’ Cal added.

‘If you’d shut up, I can tell you,’ she said.

And she did. She told them of the journey with the Warsword and how they hadn’t used the main road. She told them of nearly missing her audience with the rulers of the midrealms and their initial rejection of her. When she got to the part about the feast and the poison, both young men were gaping at her from their horses.

‘Yousaved the king?’ Kipp’s mouth hung open.

‘That’s what I said isn’t it?’

‘But… You… Saved him?From certain death?’

‘Yes - from Naarvian Nightshade. It would have been a nasty death too. The poor cupbearer showed us that. I’d never seen the effects in action before.’

‘He died right in front of you?’ Cal asked.

Thea nodded, the memory making her shudder.

‘But you saved the king…’ Kipp repeated, in awe. ‘That’s how you got his approval to train with us…?’

‘Yes. He convinced the other rulers to let me.’

‘What happened after that?’

‘We left.’

Kipp’s brows furrowed. ‘What do you mean, you left?’

Thea shrugged. ‘Hawthorne said we had to leave, so we did.’

‘He left a king’s feast midway through? After you’d just been granted the very thing you’d travelled all that way for?’ Cal asked.

Thea shrugged again, squeezing her horse’s sides and urging it into a canter. ‘Warswords belong to no territory but Thezmarr,’ she called back to her friends as she left them in the dust in her wake.

The three days ride passed quickly, full of the unbridled joy and freedom of travelling with friends. As ordered, they travelled by the Wesford Road by day, stopping at dusk to hunt. With his family background, it was no surprise that Cal excelled at finding the best small game for them to cook over the fire each evening. He shared his hunting techniques with Thea who was eager to learn, while Kipp fantasised aloud about the roast boar at the Laughing Fox as he tended to the horses.

Though Thea worried a little about the training she was missing back at the fortress, from her travels with Hawthorneand now the days spent with her friends, she had come to understand that the lessons on the road were just as important.

As another dusk settled, they set up camp by a river flowing south, intending to fish for their evening meal. With the horses already settled and grazing, they soon realised that for whatever reason, the fish were keeping to the far riverbank, out of reach.

Spurred on by a flagon of ale, Kipp invented a game that had them launching themselves across the river on sticks. It involved selecting a stick that would bear their weight, taking a massive run-up to the river’s edge and planting the stick in the ground at just the right moment before using it to propel themselves over the body of water. Thea had never laughed so hard, particularly when Kipp ended up waist-deep in the icy current after his stick snapped.

That evening, the trio debated the contents of the letters in their charge, but not once did anyone suggest breaking the wax seals and taking a look for themselves. No matter how curious they were, not for one moment did they think Esyllt’s threats were idle.

In the dark hours of the night, Thea’s mind turned to Hawthorne and the journey they had shared together – the start of something that would never come to pass now. She tried to understand the hurt she carried in her chest, but could make no sense of it. Instead, she resolved to harden herself, to lock those thoughts of him away at the back of her mind.

It was late afternoon when the capital city of Hailford appeared on the horizon and Thea could hardly believe how quickly time had passed. She had so lost herself in the conversation and the companionship that the days had melted away, but now as the city gates came into view, anticipation buzzed between them. They were to have a night in the city to themselves and the joy of this temporary freedom was not lost on them.

Once they had passed through the gates, Thea turned to her friends. ‘I suggest we get these letters delivered as fast as possible,’ she said. ‘And then we’ll meet at this Laughing Fox tavern Kipp is always on about.’

‘Sounds like an excellent plan!’ Cal said with a wry smile.

Thea turned to Kipp, but he was already riding away.

Giving Cal a wave, she urged her horse forward; she needed no directions to the Heart of Harenth and she wouldn’t keep King Artos waiting.