Page 13 of Legacy of Thorns (Kingdoms of Legacy #3)
Daphne
D aphne had thrown her head on her knees and forced her eyes shut as soon as she heard Archie’s demand of his brother, but the sleepiness wasn’t entirely faked. She had barely been holding off sleep since the moment she stopped running. It had been a while since she felt the pull so strongly.
She slept longer than usual as well, if the crick in her neck when she woke was anything to go by. How much time had passed? It was hard to tell beneath the forest’s canopy, but she suspected it had been hours.
She stretched, startling more than one of her companions.
“You’re awake!” Archer sounded joyous, and he spoke at normal volume, confirming her suspicion that plenty of time had passed.
“What about our pursuers?” she asked the group in general. “Have you heard anything more from them?”
“They’ve passed us three times,” Nisha answered. “But they’ve been further away each time, and we haven’t heard anything for over an hour. We’ve just been discussing if it’s safe to leave the brambles.”
Despite herself, Daphne smiled. She always woke up at the right moment. In this case she’d escaped several hours of simultaneous tension and boredom.
“Excellent.” She stood. “In that case, why don’t we get out of here?”
“Assuming we can,” Finley muttered.
Daphne felt a twinge of unease. Was it possible the strength of the Legacy had faded so significantly in only a few hours? If the brambles no longer responded to her touch, they’d have a long, unpleasant job trying to cut their way out.
She reached out her hand without speaking, brushing it against the closest leaf.
A strange awareness blossomed inside her mind, a connection to the greenery that allowed her to send it a silent command to part.
For a moment nothing happened, and then the branches in front of her quivered and moved.
Their progress was slower than it had been the previous time, and she watched the tangled mass in front of her intently.
Finally the branches and thorns had pulled back far enough to allow a narrow passage to freedom. She gestured for the others to pass through it, keeping her fingers on a nearby thin branch.
“Hurry,” she said quietly, and they moved faster in response.
Even so, she could feel her connection to the greenery fraying, and she gripped the branch harder, pushing out her silent command more fiercely.
When Finley stepped free of the bramble patch, she finally let go and ran after him.
She leaped past the last of the brambles just as they closed behind her with a snap. She really had woken up just in time.
“Apparently that strategy won’t work again,” Finley murmured.
“But it worked when we needed it.” Archer’s perpetual cheerfulness was unabated by the near miss.
For a moment they all stood in silence, exchanging uneasy looks as they considered what had just happened.
“Now what?” Morrow looked to Finley.
Nisha watched him too. Apparently he was the leader of this strange gang, despite being years younger than the other two. What had brought them together? Daphne didn’t want to feel any curiosity about Finley after what he’d done, but it bubbled up just the same.
He gazed up at the sky. “I’d rather not be out in the open tonight.”
The days were lengthening again now that winter was past, but it was still close to twilight after all the time they’d spent in the brambles.
“I once found an abandoned woodcutter’s cabin in this area,” Nisha offered. “If I remember rightly, it wasn’t too far from here, and our pursuers have no reason to connect it with you. I doubt they even know it exists.”
Finley nodded decisively. “That sounds perfect. We can at least spend the night there and reassess in the morning.”
Nisha took the lead, Morrow assuming her old position in the rear, his body tense and alert in a way Daphne hadn’t yet seen. After the unexpected terror of being chased, she was glad to have his bulk between her back and the descending night.
They moved quickly, but it was still almost full dark by the time a building loomed out of the forest ahead of them. It was neater than Daphne had expected, with wooden slats and a wraparound porch. Was it really abandoned?
But when Finley tried the door, it swung open easily beneath his hand.
And the inside showed clearly that no one had been there for some time.
The windows were all still intact, so none of the forest had blown inside, but everything was so dusty that Daphne sneezed three times before she’d made it all the way in.
“How tiresome,” she said to no one in particular.
It didn’t take much rummaging to discover a broom that had been abandoned along with the cottage, and she began to sweep with long, flagging strokes.
Despite her long nap, she was already exhausted again.
Was it the excitement and emotion of the day sapping her energy?
Or was something else going on? The uneasy thoughts slowed her sweeping even further.
Archer intercepted her, wrestling away the broom. “Let me do that!” He plied the tool with far more enthusiasm than she had.
She let him take over, turning her attention to the furniture and shelves instead. Thankfully Nisha unearthed a couple of cleaning cloths from her pack and dipped them both into a bucket of water Finley had managed to produce by working a small, manual pump in the wall.
Nisha nodded toward the water pouring from the spigot. “The well beneath the house is the reason I remembered this place. Very convenient.”
“As the one who usually carts most of the water, I appreciate that,” Morrow said with a rumbling chuckle.
He had finished clearing the fireplace and was lighting a fire, coaxing it into a small, cheery blaze that gave light to the room. Finley finished with the pump and stepped to Daphne’s side, gazing into the fledgling flames alongside her.
“Don’t worry,” he said, although she hadn’t spoken. “The smoke from the chimney won’t be visible at night, and we’ll put it out well before dawn.”
Daphne hadn’t been worried. The comfort, light, and warmth of a fire outweighed any small risk—at least in the darkness.
“Enough talking.” Nisha thrust one of the wet cloths at Finley and the other at Daphne. “The sooner we get rid of this dust, the better.”
Daphne took the cleaning implement without complaint, in complete agreement with Nisha. She was willing to sleep in the dirt when camping outside, but she had no desire to do the same inside the cabin.
While Daphne and Finley dusted, Morrow took over the pump, rinsing the cloths as needed and periodically dumping the dirty water outside.
Nisha, meanwhile, went on a search for anything that could be used as a chair or stool, managing to find several old crates and even two abandoned stools that needed only a small bit of repair.
The larger items of furniture, such as the table and beds, had been left when the house was abandoned—most likely because they were too large to fit through the doorways and too heavy to be easily transported. But all the smaller items, like chairs, had been taken.
Daphne cared more about beds than chairs, however.
While she wouldn’t admit it, she missed her bed back in her cousin’s palace, and was already thinking of the large bed in the room she and Nisha had claimed.
The other room had only two narrow beds, but there was room enough on the floor for a bedroll, so the men would fit, even if one of them was relegated to the floor.
By the time the cabin was at an acceptable level of cleanliness, Nisha had found five makeshift seats to place around the table, and the last hints of daylight had disappeared, deep dark falling.
Between the forest canopy and what had to be cloud cover above, there was no hint of either stars or moonlight.
Daphne shook out her cleaning cloth for the final time and closed the door firmly behind her. The fire inside burned warm and inviting.
An empty spot in the main room had likely once held a stove, but that had been taken by the departing occupants. The open fireplace stood as a substitute, however, and Morrow had already started preparing the evening meal.
“Why was a neat place like this abandoned?” Daphne asked, as they finally took their places at the table.
“There are dwellings like this scattered throughout the forest,” Finley said, “and a reasonable number are abandoned. It isn’t easy living such an isolated life, and many people eventually decide to move back to more populated areas.”
“I heard Lord Castlerey outlawed woodcutting in this part of the forest years ago,” Nisha said around a mouthful. “The inhabitants were cutting from a valuable grove to the west, and he wanted time for it to regrow, so he ordered all the residents to relocate east of the town.”
“In that case, there should be little to no traffic around this area,” Daphne said hopefully. “It sounds like a perfect place to stay.”
Finley frowned. “You want to stay here?”
Daphne took a spoonful of stew. “It sounds more appealing than endless walking.” She gave a shudder. “Or worse—running.”
“And the people without compunction or morals who are dedicated to hunting us down?” Finley asked.
Daphne swallowed her mouthful, unconcerned. “From what I can gather, they’ve been chasing you across the kingdom for years. Running around doesn’t seem to have done you any good so far. Maybe you should try staying in one place.” She took a mouthful.
Archer chuckled. “When you put it like that…” His amusement died away. “It’s true that we haven’t been able to shake them, no matter what we’ve tried. Every time we think we’ve succeeded, they reappear. We once lost them for six whole months, but then…” He shook his head.
“Given your past behavior, they won’t expect you to stay in this area.” Daphne reached for a slice of bread. Staying would mean fresh bread to replace the single, stale loaf remaining from Ethelson.