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Story: A Cage of Magic and Darkness
PART THREE
I’m awake before the sun rises.
The monumental task that lies ahead of me has made it nearly impossible to sleep. I think I might have dozed for an hour or so, but then my racing heart woke me again. I could feel it thumping through my whole body, as though the mattress beneath me pulsed with the beat.
I pray to the gods I’m not making a huge mistake, but what other choice do I have? Being afraid is not a reason not to do something. If I do nothing, it’ll mean the end of the kingdom. I refuse to be a coward.
From outside comes the clop of horses’ hooves in the courtyard, followed by the call of one man to another to ensure everything is ready for the journey.
A light knock taps at my door.
“Enter,” I call.
Skylar pops her head inside. “Do you need help dressing, Princess?”
“No, I’m fine today, but thank you.”
I won’t be dressing in my usual corseted top and long skirts today. They wouldn’t be practical at all. Instead, I’ll wear my riding gear—jodhpurs and boots, and several layers of long-sleeved tops.
Skylar doesn’t leave but busies herself gathering items for my journey. I use the bathroom then dress in my chosen outfit.
In front of the full-length mirror, I look transformed.
If it weren’t for my hair, I could pass for a man.
My curves are disguised under layers of clothes.
They are necessary. It’s bitterly cold in the wildlands, no matter what the season, and it’s exposed out there, too.
There are very few trees and nowhere to shelter.
We’ll be taking camping gear with us, but a few sheets of canvas won’t be much protection against the kind of danger we’ll face.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to join you?” Skylar asks. “I feel terrible staying here while you do something so dangerous.”
“I’m sure. I don’t want to put you at risk.”
She blinks back tears. “But you’re putting yourself at risk. I couldn’t stand it if we lost you.”
“I’ll have Balthorne to protect me.”
My words don’t help, and she covers her mouth and lets out a sob. Could it be that she’s more worried about something happening to Balthorne than she is me?
I put my arms out to her, and she steps into them, and we embrace. I squeeze her and kiss the side of her head.
“I need you here to keep everyone in line,” I tell her as I release her. “Make sure Ruarok doesn’t get up to any mischief.”
“I think Ruarok does what Ruarok wants,” she replies.
I give a small laugh. “That’s what worries me. ”
“You will be careful, though, won’t you? I’ll be worried about you the entire time.”
I don’t say what I’m thinking, which is that we’re not safe anywhere anymore. Only a couple of nights ago, the king and queen lost their lives while sleeping in their own bed.
I sit at the dressing table, and Skylar brushes my hair then puts it into a long braid which hangs down the middle of my back.
Though my stomach is in knots, I force a hot breakfast of porridge down me. I need both the warmth and the sustenance. I assume Balthorne will have arranged that we take a small stove or what we need to make a fire, but there is the possibility this will be my last warm meal in some time.
From my research, it’s said the Mage lives in a secluded cave in a hillside, north from the boundary of Askos, approximately a day and a half ride away. Assuming our journey isn’t interrupted, and the Mage willingly gives me the answers I need, we should be back within three days.
The sun has finally lifted above the horizon, lightening the sky and spreading its rays across the city.
It is time to leave.
I go down to the courtyard, where my men are already waiting.
It smells of horses, straw, and steaming horse shit.
For some reason, I find this comforting.
My horse—a gray mare called Arsher—has already been saddled, and I go to her and stroke her nose, murmuring a few words of reassurance.
I’m aware I’m asking her to go on this journey with me, and tell her not to be afraid.
Despite myself, I look around for Ruarok. I’m sure he’s still sulking about my refusal to allow him to join us, but I’d still hoped he would have come to see us off and offer us his best wishes.
I question why I should want him here, when all we ever seem to do is fight…or feel like we’re about to fuck. I should be glad he’s listened to my instructions for once and isn’t still trying to press me to join us.
He needs to stay in the city. If something were to happen to me, he’d need to be here to help the kingdom navigate its way into whatever came next. He wouldn’t be my first pick for that role—so far, the only thing Ruarok seems to care about is himself—but he’ll be the only one left.
“Are you ready, Princess Taelyn?” Balthorne asks.
I nod. “As I’ll ever be.”
I’m grateful he doesn’t try to convince me to change my mind. He respects my decision as final. Cirrus wasn’t happy about not coming on the journey either, but I need him here to keep Ruarok in hand, if such a thing is possible.
If our party doesn’t return, at least I know the kingdom will have people at its helm.
I mount my horse and settle in the saddle. Several of the guards will be leading the way, Balthorne riding beside me, while several more will bring up the rear.
The castle gates are opened, men shouting to one another. The clatter of hooves on the cobblestones fills the air.
The first part of our journey will take us through the city, beyond the city walls, and across the remaining kingdom and countryside of Askos. We will then reach the borders of Askos, where we will pass over into the wildlands .
Even as we leave the security of the castle, I find myself looking over my shoulder, wondering if I’ll spot Ruarok watching us leave, but he’s nowhere to be seen.
I let out a sigh and focus on the journey ahead.
It’s mid-afternoon by the time we reach the borders of Askos. We haven’t seen either a person or house for some time now. All that surrounds us are fields and woodland. But, ahead, the landscape changes. The trees vanish, and the grass becomes rocky ground and peat bogs.
The border is magic, designed to keep the creatures that live in the wildlands out of Askos. We don’t need a tall wall or gates. My stomach churns with nerves. I can still give the word, and we can all turn back, but I can’t do that.
We press on.
Less than an hour after passing into the wildlands, the temperature has dropped noticeably.
The wind howls around anything it can find.
Where the hills rise to a point, strange, pale stone structures are silhouetted against the gray sky.
Are these monuments made by nature, or some other force?
What do they mean? What have they been used for?
People used to live out here, before the temperatures dropped and it became too difficult for even the hardiest to survive. Perhaps the stone structures—like huge squares of rock cut out and then stacked on top of one another—were used as places of worship?
The solid body of my horse shifts reassuringly beneath me, hooves clip-clopping across the uneven ground.
It’s barren out here. The only trees are solitary, their limbs bare, their trunks bent against the harsh, cold winds that tear across the moorland.
We can’t even trust the ground beneath our feet.
Too often, it looks as though it’s just another moss-covered piece of land, only for the horse to take another step, and its front legs vanish into several feet of bog.
There are so many things out here that could kill us.
If not the land itself, then the wild animals that fight for survival upon it, or the gangs of outcasts who have been convicted of some heinous crime or another and banished from the kingdom.
If they were to see the kingdom’s flag flying, they’d surely try to cut us down.
It occurs to me that I’d believed Prince Ruarok to have been living this way all these years. Why hadn’t I ever questioned it?
A pang of guilt stabs through me. I didn’t speak up for him, not once.
I just allowed the king to make his decision to banish his only son and stood by and said nothing.
My mother didn’t fight for him either. How could we have done that?
Just been okay with believing the prince had been sent out here for the rest of his days?
We’d taken the king at his word that Ruarok had planned to kill us, and never questioned it, even though there was no proof other than the king’s word.
I tell myself that I was young—and who questions the king’s decision, anyway?—but that doesn’t make me feel any better.
Does Ruarok hate me for not fighting for him? Perhaps he has every right to. I won’t even try to put myself in his place because I can’t, even for a second, begin to understand the kind of suffering he’s experienced over the past ten years.
I think of how passionately he kissed me, of how his touch sent bolts of electricity shooting through me. My emotions war within me. He seems to desire me, but how does he not want to wrap his hand around my throat instead?
I’m ashamed of myself.
After a couple of hours, we stop to eat a simple meal of bread, cheese, and cured pork, and allow the horses to rest. We can’t stop for long, though. Time isn’t on our side.
Though the wildlands are desolate, we don’t come across anything that is threatening. The biggest danger is in the very land itself—in hobbling a horse or sucking one of us into a bog. That danger only grows as the light starts to bleed from the sky.
“We need to stop here for the night,” Balthorne says. “It’s soon going to be too dark to see the way, and we need enough light to put up the tents.”
We pull the horses to a halt. There is nothing around that can offer us any shelter, and it feels horribly exposed up here.
Balthorne turns to the other guards. “Princess Taelyn’s tent will be in the center of ours. Position ourselves around her so nothing can get past without us hearing it.”
I shiver at the thought of lying alone in the tent, straining my ears for any creatures that might come sniffing around in search of an easy meal during the night.
Balthorne continues. “We’ll start a fire to cook food and heat water, but we’ll need to put it out before it gets fully dark, or the flames will make us easily visible to any marauders.”
Though I want the comfort of the warmth and light of the fire, I realize he’s right. We don’t want to attract any unwanted attention .
Night seems to fall on us like a curtain, with sudden finality. One minute, I can make out the faces of the men around me. The next, I can only see from the light of the fire. We huddle around it, and eat and drink, and try to warm ourselves the best we can.
Each of us is aware we’ll need to put it out soon. The longer we allow the fire to burn, the more likely we’ll be spotted. But none of us wants to sit here in the dark and the cold, unaware of who or what might be moving in the darkness around us.
The rhythmical clop of horses’ hooves comes from a distance away, drawing my attention. The others have heard it, too, and we fall silent, craning our necks in that direction. Balthorne and the other guards get to their feet.
It’s not coming from the direction where we’ve tied up our own animals. It seems to be getting closer. My stomach lurches.
“Someone is coming,” I hiss, standing as well.
Balthorne immediately places himself in front of me.
“Who goes there?” he calls.
My heart thuds against the inside of my ribs. I hold my breath. Every muscle in my body is tense with anticipation about who or what is going to emerge from the dark.
Now all I can hear is heavy breathing, and, in the dark, I make out white plumes on the freezing air.
“Princess,” a familiar voice comes out of the dark. “It’s only me, Prince Ruarok. Please don’t be afraid.”
My shoulders sag, and I huff out a frustrated breath, and push past Balthorne.
Ruarok has followed us here. How long has he been behind us?
The entire way, I guess. No wonder he wasn’t there to say goodbye.
He must have left the castle earlier and positioned himself somewhere along the route so he could follow when we’d passed.
“What are you doing here, Ruarok? I told you not to come.”
He climbs off his horse and leads it around to be tied up with the others. “And I told you that I was coming, no matter what. You need as many people around you as possible to keep you safe.”
“I have plenty of guards to keep me safe. If I’d wanted more people, I would have brought them along. You have deliberately gone against my wishes.”
He shrugs, and I want to smack him.
“Well, I’m here now. You might as well make the most of me.”
I point in the direction he’s just come. “No, you can turn back.”
His eyebrows raise. “What? In the dark? Alone? You can’t expect me to do that. It would be a death sentence.”
I growl my annoyance, but I know he’s right. As much as Prince Ruarok frustrates me, I don’t want to see him dead.
Table of Contents
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- Page 25 (Reading here)
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