Page 17

It seems like I have just fallen asleep when Kes is standing over me, prodding me awake.

I force my eyes open to see the first golden tendrils of the sun warming the bleak landscape.

We spent the night in a low river valley and the ground here is mostly made up of craggy grey rocks and shale.

The only note of beauty is the river itself, which is a cool aquamarine colour.

“Apologies, my Queen,” Kes says in a low voice, “but you did say to wake you at sunrise.”

“Mm...hmm,” I mumble, “I did, didn't I? It just seems this sunrise has come around quicker than the others.”

She offers me a mug of morning ale with a piece of bread and I gladly take them from her, thankful for the feeling of warmth that moves through me as I swallow the ale. The morning is cold and I wonder how the soldiers have fared throughout the night.

“Have you had time to check on the Ellerban soldiers?” I ask Kes.

“Yes, my Queen, they are fine, at least insofar as their condition has not deteriorated. However, let's hope the rest of our journey is without incident and we make it to Ardvalla in the shortest time possible as their need for a master healer grows greater by the day.”

“Agreed,” I say as I drain the last of the ale. “And the prince, how fares he this morning?”

“He fares fine,” a deep male voice says behind me, “and he is eager to get our journey underway.”

I turn to see him standing a few feet behind me. He has cut a hole in the blanket and wears it like a tunic, secured at the waist by his belt. He is holding a mug of ale in his hand and looks as fresh as a man who’s had a full night’s sleep, not the few hours I know he’s had.

I rise from underneath my blanket.

“Good morning,” I greet him. “I trust you are well this morning. We’ll get underway just as soon as I have consulted with the front riders.”

“Very well,” he says, as he drinks the last of the ale from his mug and hands it to Kes. I watch him walk back to the cart and marvel at how, even wearing a modest blanket, he still looks every inch a prince, if not a king.

***

The front riders reported seeing more patrols in the area we are about to travel through than we have done on all of our journey through Greythorne’s province so far.

However, they are mainly broken down into two-man patrols, which is fortunate as it means there are fewer of them to detect us, but it also means they will be harder for us to spot.

As a precaution I appoint a number of outriders to keep a close eye on our flanks.

We are about an hour into our journey when the sound of the curlew’s call goes up on our left flank – three calls in succession – the sign that one of the outriders has spotted a patrol. Kes, Ailish and I immediately pull away from the main party and join Brighida, the outrider who alerted us.

Pulling away from her, urging his horse to pick up speed at about two hundred yards out, is one of Greythorne’s men.

There's no doubt he has seen us and is off to report to a main patrol. Kes and Ailish swing into action immediately. Kes jumps onto the back of Ailish’s horse and they take off across the heather-covered hill in pursuit of the rider.

“There's no way they're going to catch him with two of them on one horse,” Prince Ronan states from behind me, his tone mocking and derisory. I’ve suspected from the beginning he has had doubts as to the skills and expertise of the Khaleeni and perhaps sees them as lacking the killer instinct of male warriors.

He's about to find out just how deadly they can be.

“They don't intend to catch him,” I inform him, “they intend to kill him.”

His silence tells me he is more than a little surprised at my response and he fixes his gaze on Kes and Ailish as if he is wondering if what I say is really going to happen.

After my own steed, Maneeha, Kes and Ailish have the two fastest horses in the Khaleeni.

The prince is about to find out why. Seek and skewer is their particular skill.

It doesn't take them long to advance upon the rider, and when they are about seventy yards away from him Kes readies her bow. They’re going at full speed now, Ailish expertly handling her horse. Kes loads an arrow, aims and fires.

Seconds later Greythorne’s man has an arrow running through his neck. His horse slows and he falls to the ground, the horn he was getting ready to blow rolling across the heather.

I turn to look at the prince and feel a small sense of satisfaction at the surprised expression on his face.

“Impressive,” he says, as he watches Brighida chase down the dead rider's horse and Kes and Ailish throw him on the back of it. Brighida brings the horse back to where I and the prince wait, and minutes later Kes and Ailish join us.

Kes immediately gets back on her horse. “Permission to track down the other rider, my Queen?” she asks.

“Permission granted,” I reply and seconds later I watch as three of my best Khaleeni ride away.

“God help him, whoever he is,” the prince wryly observes from beside me. “He's already a dead man.”

“Not necessarily,” I reply. “If they manage to separate him from his horn before he can blow it, then he has a chance. Kes will want him alive for the information he will be able to provide on how many patrols are in the area and where they are.”

“So, these Khaleeni are your own private guard?” the prince asks.

“Yes.”

“And why does the Queen of Ardvalla, with one of the mightiest armies in all the realms, feel the need for a private guard?”

“The queen of Ardvalla may be young, but she is not stupid, and when she has a subject like Lord Greythorne she thinks it prudent to take all necessary measures to ensure her safety.”

His generous lips stretch into a smile, and it does wonderful things to his face and strange things to my insides.

“I think there are those much older who could learn a thing or two from you, Queen,” he declares, as he turns his horse and makes his way back to the main group to take up his position beside the cart.

I look out across the barren landscape and spot four riders in the distance. Three forms I recognise as Ailish, Kes and Brighida. I’ve no doubt the fourth is the other rider from the two-man patrol. Unfortunately for him, he seems to have an arrow through his arm.