Page 12

Chapter 12

Haunting My Mind

R aewyn

As soon as we were out of sight of the village, Pharis directed Cimmerian off the road into a field. I glanced back to make sure the mare and her riders followed us.

Our pace stayed at a gallop for a couple of miles before slowing to a canter so the horses didn’t tire too quickly.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“I’ve been trying to decide that,” he said. “I’m thinking eastern Sundaris, the land you claimed to be from when you masqueraded as an Elven noble.”

“To Altum?” I asked, remembering the unique name of the southern stronghold there.

Stellon had said its lord—I couldn’t remember his name—was rather independent, daring to defy the King when most others wouldn’t and refusing to send a representative to the Assemblage like the others did.

“Not to Altum itself,” Pharis said. “But the region, yes.”

“The Elves there keep to themselves,” he explained. “They don’t mix with the humans and would pay no mind to a human family moving into the area. It’s quite a distance from Merisola as well, so it’s the safest spot I can think of, apart from taking you across the Great Gray Sea to Valtameri or Solmeria or Marindros.”

He took a moment, perhaps considering that option, then I felt his head shake behind me, stirring my hair.

“No, there’s too great a chance of being recognized on board a ship. The two of us could evanesce, I suppose, but even if we happen upon someone with evanescing glamour, it wouldn’t work for this many people.”

He looked over at my father and sisters, whose horse ran alongside ours now. Though smaller than Cimmerian, she carried a lighter load and seemed to be doing well.

Never a tall man, my father’s form had shrunken in recent years thanks to disuse.

Until recently, he’d been too crippled to even walk very far, and the muscles he’d honed as a blacksmith had atrophied.

My little sisters were light as feathers, though I was gratified to see they’d continued to put on weight in my absence.

They were both smiling at the exhilarating speed of the ride.

“How would you convince someone with that sort of glamour to transport us in the first place?” I asked Pharis. “This… Evanescer, or whatever they’re called, would report us to the King, I would imagine.”

Pharis hesitated before responding. “Quite right. So we ride for Sundaris then.”

“How long will it take?” I asked.

“The horses can travel about forty miles in a day—mine anyway, we’ll have to see how Ruby fares. And eastern Sundaris is close to nine hundred miles from here, so let’s see, that’s twenty-two days, give or take a few?”

Twenty-two days on horseback. I wasn’t sure how I was going to stand it, much less my father and two small girls. I still felt saddlesore from the ride between Seaspire and Waterdale.

Better than death, though.

“Of course if there’s bad weather, that’ll add some time,” Pharis said, “and we’ll be traveling by night, so that might slow us down a bit. Keep your eyes open for a place to wait out the daylight hours, by the way.”

I started looking around, though Pharis’ sharper Elven vision would locate a likely spot far sooner than mine did.

Apparently finishing his calculations, he said, “Let’s say a month to be safe. If it takes less time, it’ll be a pleasant surprise.”

“Will you not be missed?” I asked, surprised at his blase attitude toward leaving his pampered royal life behind for a month—and being willing to spend that long on the road with us.

“I mean, you must have duties at the castle or something, and Stellon said you and he are very close with your sister.”

“Stellon and Mareth know what I’m doing,” he said. “And I don’t care whether anyone else there misses me.”

“It’s the final day of the Assemblage. You didn’t locate any suitable candidates for bonding?” I asked, though I wasn’t sure why since his love life was none of my business. I was just curious.

“I wasn’t really looking,” he said. And that was all he said.

“But Stellon said you are both of bonding age now, and that’s what the First Night Ball and all those socials that followed it were for—finding suitable Elven noblewomen to marry.”

“Got Fae high society all figured out, have you?” he asked.

I didn’t respond, chastened. Right. None of my business.

I had to know one more thing though.

“I suppose he’s getting married today… to the daughter of that lord—I can’t remember which one.”

“Degan Lalor. Lord of Windros.”

“Is she beautiful?” I asked, though really, was the answer going to make me feel any better?

“Lady Glenna? Of course,” Pharis said. “She’s Elven.”

A sudden hollowness in my chest made it difficult to breathe.

After a pause he said, “But not as beautiful as you.”

The hollowness filled with tingling shock. My head jerked around, but all I could see looking back over my shoulder was the underside of his jaw.

Pharis didn’t look down at me, and he didn’t laugh to indicate that he was joking, just kept his eyes trained on the horizon.

Weird. A strange, fluttery sensation raced across my midsection.

“You said Stellon knows where I am?” I asked.

Pharis’ tone hardened and darkened. “I didn’t say that. I said my brother and sister know what I’m doing. He doesn’t know where you are, and he never will.”

Softening his tone again, he said, “Stellon made me promise not to tell him where you were, so he—”

I cut him off, saying it before he could. “So he can get over me. I know.”

It was over. It was really and truly over.

Blinking rapidly, I tried to stem the flow of tears I felt threatening to overrun my eyelids. I would not let Pharis see me cry.

Already, I was so far in his debt it made my stomach ache—I didn’t want to also humiliate myself in front of him.

We were quiet for a while as he searched the untamed terrain for a hiding spot. Pointing to a tight clump of trees, he said, “There. That’ll do,” and urged Cimmerian in that direction.

Ruby followed until we reached it.

“But won’t the search party be able to spot us in here?” I asked.

“Not as easily as they would if we stay out in the open any longer.”

He dismounted and helped me from the horse then pulled something from the saddle bag.

“And not with this.”

It was a large piece of fabric. When he shook it, there was a slight popping noise, and it formed itself into a triangular shape. He set it on the ground between the trees.

“It’s a tent,” I said in surprise.

“Not just a tent,” he said. “A camouflaged tent. It’s made of a special weave that allows it to blend in with the surroundings. You’ll wait inside it with your family until nightfall.”

“And you? And the horses?”

Drawing more fabric from the saddle bag, he draped each of the horses. He made a noise and gave a hand signal, and Cimmerian lowered himself, lying on the ground on his belly with his legs tucked beneath him.

After Pharis helped my father and sisters dismount, Ruby followed the stallion’s lead, making me wonder if horses could communicate with one another mind to mind, as Elves did.

“What about you?” I asked.

“I know how to stay out of sight,” Pharis informed me. “Don’t worry about me, Wildcat.”

“I wasn’t worrying about you,” I began, but he interrupted.

“Of course not.” His smile was tight. “All your thoughts are reserved for the Crown Prince—as are everyone else’s.”

He pointed to the tent. “Get inside and stay there. I’m going to scout and try to get an idea of where our pursuers are, find out if they’re sticking to the roads or fanning out into the countryside. I’ll be back soon. Keep your voices low. Better yet, don’t talk.”

Following his orders, the four of us climbed inside the tent. Since we weren’t supposed to talk, we all napped a bit.

Papa and I woke before the girls did. It was good they were sleeping—Tindra at least would have to stay awake through the night to help guide my father’s horse.

I peeked out of the tent flap and saw it was dusk now. Pharis hadn’t returned yet.

“What’s between you and that Elf, Pharis?” Papa whispered.

“Nothing,” I said. I hadn’t had the chance to tell him all about the ball and meeting Stellon and his enigmatic brother.

“Something, I think,” Papa said. “I may not be able to see, but I haven’t lost my hearing. These old ears pick up more than most. I heard you two talking. Since he mentioned the Crown Prince, I’m guessing Pharis is Pharis Randalin, the King’s second son.”

“Yes,” I confirmed. “I met them both at the royal ball. Actually, Stellon was the Elven man I met at the Rough Market, though I didn’t know it until I arrived at Seaspire.”

My father shook his head. “After all your mother and I did to protect you, you still wound up embroiled in Elven business.”

“I know, I’m sorry. I know you sacrificed so much during the rebellion—and Mama gave her life to help keep our people safe. But Stellon and Pharis were just boys then. It isn’t their fault. Stellon is so different from his father, the King, and Pharis, well he…”

I stopped there, realizing for the first time that Pharis was nothing like his sire either. He must not have been, otherwise why would he be helping a group of fugitive humans?

In spite of the disgust he’d displayed at catching me in Stellon’s suite, he’d gone out of his way to keep me safe.

And now? He’d risked his father finding out that he was helping me evade capture.

That would do more than irk a man who was used to getting everything he wanted. It would enrage him.

What would he do to his son when this was all over and Pharis returned to the palace?

“How long has he been in love with you?” Papa asked.

I gasped. Not only was his hearing still sharp, he could apparently hear between the lines of conversation, picking up even things that hadn’t been spoken outright.

“I’m not sure. It happened at some point during the time I spent trapped in his suite.”

“Pharis Randalin held you captive in his suite at the palace?” my father asked, his voice growing angry.

What?

“No. I spent the last two weeks hidden in Stellon’s suite—with him. Pharis doesn’t love me,” I assured him.

“If you say so.” Papa didn’t sound convinced. “So Stellon kept you prisoner?”

“No,” I said at the same time Pharis opened the tent flap, and said, “Yes.”

“And I thought I told you to keep your voices down,” he said. “Come on, troops, time to mount up.”

Papa and I roused the girls from slumber, and everyone loaded up onto the horses. We left the cover of the trees and began crossing the open field again, Pharis’ shadows shielding us from view.

After we’d been riding a few minutes and I’d turned it over and over in my mind, I asked, “What did you mean back there, saying ‘yes’ when my father asked about Stellon keeping me prisoner? He was keeping me safe from discovery while my ankle healed.”

“That’s what he told you,” Pharis said. “He told me he knew he could have gotten you out of there and back to your family much earlier, but he was selfishly keeping you to himself. He felt bad about that— after you were captured and thrown in the dungeon a second time.”

“You’re lying,” I said.

“I’m not. If you were Elven, I’d tell it to you in a way you’d have no doubt.”

“You’re talking about mind-to-mind communication,” I said. “About that… can only Elves do it?”

“No, other Fae have the same ability.”

“And humans?” I asked then clarified, “I mean I know we can’t do it with each other, but would it be possible for an Elf to speak to a human that way?”

A small laugh moved Pharis’ chest behind me. “My tutor was a good one, but I don’t know everything about everything. What do you think?”

“I think it might be possible. I—”

Here I cut myself off. I couldn’t be certain what I’d heard in my head had actually been Pharis’ voice.

It could have been my own mind chatter that night trying to convince me of what I already knew—that I had to tell Stellon the truth about my identity.

And that Pharis saw right through me and wanted me to leave his brother alone.

When it happened again this morning at the cottage door, and I’d heard the words there’s no time , that was what I’d already been thinking.

But the thought was in his voice, not mine.

I shook my head. After spending a day and night in his presence, of course Pharis’ voice had lingered in my mind. Who knew how long it would take me to be rid of his memory after this month-long ride was over?

I certainly wasn’t going to tell him his voice was haunting my mind.

“You what?” he prodded, sounding highly interested.

“I think… actually it’s not possible. Humans can’t do that.”

“Anything’s possible,” Pharis said. He looked over at my family riding next to us. “But there’s no point speculating about such unlikely things, I suppose.”

“Did you see the King and his troops while you were out scouting?” I asked.

“At a distance. They seem to be keeping to the road for now,” he said. “There might be other groups of them, but honestly, I didn’t range that far. I had to crash for a few hours of sleep—I had no choice. When I got to the palace this morning and went to see Stellon, he told me our father was leading a hunt for you. I turned back around and rode for Waterdale again.”

“So you never went to bed last night,” I said. He must have been dead on his feet.

I hadn’t heard him return to our camp. “Where did you ‘crash’ and sleep?”

“In the grass not far from the tent,” he said. “I could have slept on jagged rocks and shattered glass by that point.”

“Our cave nap yesterday was the last time I stopped moving, and the ‘sleep’ there left something to be desired,” he added.

“Really? I slept well in the cave.”

He chuckled. “I know you did. You were snoring.”

My mouth fell open, and I smacked his thigh bracketing mine. “I was not.”

“You were,” he insisted. “Loud enough to wake hibernating bears.”

I slapped his leg again, and he laughed and then made a low groaning noise and shifted in the saddle behind me.

His thighs on the outsides of mine tensed, pressing my legs harder against Cimmerian’s sides.

Pharis leaned forward, his mouth close to my ear.

“Stop that, Wildcat” he whispered. “Or I shall have to return the favor and make good on my threat to give you a spanking.”

Shivers raced across my skin, and I put my hands back in safer territory on the pommel where they would remain for the next month.