Page 15

I rise before dawn and consult with the front riders who returned sometime during the night. They tell of a number of patrols in Greythorne’s territory and there’s no doubt it's going to be a risky journey. I pray Lady Luck will be on our side.

I go to check on the young soldiers and my captive. He is sitting between them, his expression unguarded, and I'm touched at the tenderness in his eyes as he looks upon them, like a father looks upon a child.

He hears me approach and lifts his head to look in my direction. As soon as he sees me his expression changes to one of suspicion and distrust.

“Well, if it isn't the queen of Ardvalla,” he announces in a voice heavy with sarcasm, and I wonder if he still questions my position.

“Good morning, my Lord,” I reply, in the most regal voice possible. “I trust you got some sleep.”

“You may call me Prince Ronan,” he replies, his tone equally as regal as mine. “And I'm afraid I didn't find my surroundings all that conducive to sleep.”

I ignore his pointed comment and fix my gaze on the two young soldiers. “How are they doing?”

“Still breathing,” he replies. “I doubt journeying all the way to Valensia is going to help them much. I’m not beyond begging you, for their sake, to bring them to the nearest village.

I promise you, no harm will come to you.

You have my word. You can have me and my seed, I don’t care, just bring them to where they can get the treatment they need as quickly as possible. ”

His concern for the two young soldiers and selfless disregard for himself touches my heart and I wish there were a way I could agree to his request, but it simply is not possible.

I, too, am concerned the soldiers might not survive the journey.

However, I am also worried at what might happen to them if, by some chance, the other prince discovers they are still alive.

“I'm afraid that's not possible,” I inform him, “we must break camp and make our way through Lord Greythorne’s lands as quickly as possible.”

The fire starts to burn in his eyes again and it's clear my words have angered him, so I decide to tell him part of the truth about what happened to these young soldiers.

“Also, I have reason to believe your men are not safe if they remain in Ellerban.”

He regards me with an incredulous expression. “What?” he asks. “In the name of the Goddess, why would they not be safe in their own realm?”

I decide to tweak the truth a bit. “Ailish caught sight of some of the men who did this to them and she believes they were from Ellerban.”

He looks shocked to his core and it would seem my words have rendered him speechless. He looks down at the two soldiers and then back at me.

“She is mistaken,” he says in a subdued voice. “There isn't an Ellerban man alive who would do this to another Ellerban man, much less a soldier of the realm.”

I find myself having to repress a wince at the naiveté of his words, and I wonder at how one prince can be capable of such cruelty when the other doesn't even believe such cruelty is possible between his fellow countrymen. I'm starting to question if they're even related.

“I'm afraid she is quite certain, and you may ask her yourself when she returns. One of these men is her cousin, and she has nothing to gain by laying the blame for what happened to him on an Ellerban man.”

He looks puzzled and perturbed at my words but I can see he is starting to think there might be some truth in them.

“We need to leave soon, and I must ask that you exchange the cart for a horse, as we need to put the two soldiers in it to make them as comfortable as possible. I would ask for your word that you will not try to escape.”

“I told you,” he replies, his voice as hard as stone, “I will accompany my men and I will see them recovered. I will know who did this to them and I will avenge them. You have my word, until then, I will not try to leave.”

“Very well, I will have Kes untie you and one of the horses brought to you.”

He stands and approaches me. I notice how he walks with the ease and grace but coiled up power of a mountain lion. Moments later he is towering over me and glowering into my eyes.

“There’s no need to wait for your henchwoman, that's a perfectly good dagger you have on your belt and I believe it will cut through these ropes perfectly. The mark on my throat attests to the sharpness of its blade.”

I know it goes against all the training I've done with Kes and the Khaleeni to even consider untying his bonds myself, but I feel this is an important moment between us.

I've asked for his word, implying if he gives it then I will trust him to keep it.

Now, he is asking me to trust him in return, but to trust him not to break my neck once his hands are free.

It's somewhat different to me trusting him not to flee.

I have a lot more to lose from this trust trade-off.

I withdraw my dagger from its scabbard and look down at his hands. They're powerful and strong, just like him, and I've no doubt they could snap my neck in an instant. I look up into his eyes and I’m surprised to see the hint of a smile lingering in them.

“Your pretty neck is perfectly safe,” he says in a low voice, as he raises his hands and runs his forefinger from the bottom of my ear to my collarbone.

My mouth falls open in surprise, not just because he read my mind, but at the ripple of desire that makes its way through my body at his touch. I slice through the ropes binding his wrists and he rubs at the marks left on his flesh.

“I will get the cart and place my men in it, and I shall ride alongside them for the journey. Tell me, through what lands do we travel?”

A stab of disappointment rushes through me at the thought of him not riding by my side, as I had hoped to make more of his acquaintance throughout the day. However, I push it aside and answer his question.

“We will pass into Lord Greythorne’s lands by early morn and I estimate it will take us two days hard ride until we reach the border with Lord Montague's province. A day’s ride should see us through his lands and within sight of Valensia by nightfall.”

“Lord Greythorne? That brigand?”

“Yes. Have you had dealings with him?”

“Unfortunately, yes, I have, and none of them have been pleasant.”

A frisson of excitement flutters in my tummy as I ponder the possibility that his dislike of Greythorne could play to my advantage. I hope it's a case of my enemy is his enemy, and once he is aware of my situation it will leave him even more positively disposed to my proposition of marriage.

“Regretfully, the shortest route back to Valensia is through his lands and such is my concern for your men that I feel we have no choice but to take it.”

“You said you don't wish to be discovered but aren't his lands heavily patrolled?”

“You're correct, I don't wish for anyone to know about this mission or that I am not in Valensia. And yes, his lands are very heavily patrolled, and it is of the utmost importance that he, of all people, does not know of my presence in his province.”

“You sound fearful of him.”

The prince's tone is questioning and I’m thinking he’s starting to realise there is much he doesn't know.

I'm aware that I will have to inform him of the recent events in Ardvalla and Greythorne’s threat.

However, I'm going to have to consider just how much he needs to know and when to tell him, but for now I decide to give him the nutshell version.

“Greythorne has made a threat against me, and if I don’t come up with a solution to dissolve his threat I must either submit to him or go to war with him.”

His eyes go wide and he gives a slight shake of his head.

“Not even I would relish the idea of going to war with Greythorne but then again I wouldn’t fancy having to submit to him either.”

From the way he says the word submit, I know he is wondering if it means more than just agreeing to something like a list of demands or increased rights as a lord.

It’s clear he’s wondering if I mean submit in the most basic sense, and his frown suggests he’s starting to join the dots as to my predicament and where he fits into it.

Thankfully, Kes’ arrival means he doesn’t get a chance to ask any more questions. She looks at the ropes lying on the ground and shoots me a disapproving glare.

“It’s time to go, my Queen,” she informs me and then, with a withering look, she turns to the prince. “You may come with me.”

***

We ride hard for the next few hours, and thankfully Ailish’s prediction that the patrols of the southern parts of Greythorne’s lands will be sparse holds true.

She explained that at this time of year the Ellerban conduct numerous raids into the northern part of Greythorne’s territory, due to them wanting to stock up on red pig for the winter.

This means Greythorne deploys more of his men in the northern region at this time of year, leaving the southern region short on patrols.

We are not quite as far south as I would like, due to having to shorten our route because of the young soldiers, but I'm happy her prediction has proven true so far.

Given this fortuitous turn of events, we decide to press on for as long as possible to make the most of this opportunity, and I urge Maneeha forward as the sun starts to set over the craggy landscape.

I have to admit, as the sun’s rays illuminate the heather into bright bursts of blue on the surrounding lowhills, there is a stark and savage beauty to Greythorne’s province.

It’s only a pity none of it is reflected in its lord’s character.