Page 45

Kes and I search everywhere for him, but to no avail.

I was certain he would return to his chamber and I even waited there for him while Kes searched the library and other parts of the castle he likes to frequent.

Alas, there is no sign of him and I fear he has somehow managed to slip away from the castle and its grounds.

This fear is confirmed when the Captain of the Night Guard returns to my chamber and informs me that before the patrols had been alerted, the prince was seen leaving the castle by the rear gate.

My heart falls to the floor at this news, and even though every bone in my body screams at me to run through the castle and out the rear gate in pursuit of him, I know I need to take a breath and think how I'm going to approach this problem rationally.

Kes returns just as the captain is leaving, and when I update her she immediately pours two tumblers of Ardvallan whiskey.

“You look like you could do with one of these,” she says, as she hands me the tumbler.

I knock back a sizeable gulp and am grateful for the warming sensation that soon follows, chasing the chill from my veins. “What just happened?” I ask Kes.

She shakes her head. “I don’t know, my Queen. However, it's obvious there are things about the prince and his past we are unaware of. Things, it would seem, that have caused him a great deal of pain.”

I drink some more of the whiskey and stare into the flames of the fire, trying to shake the vision of the prince’s tormented eyes from my mind. “He looked so broken, Kes. We need to find him. We need to find him and help him.”

She lays her hand upon my shoulder. “We will, Elinor. I promise you. I once was broken too, and you helped put me back together. We will find him, and between the two of us, we will help him heal.”

I close my eyes and lean back in the chair as I drain the last of the whiskey from the glass.

“But how do we begin to find him?” I ask, trying to keep the note of despair out of my voice.

Then an image of Aaran comes into my mind along with the prince’s words, “gifted tracker” and I know what I must do.

I jump from my chair. “Come,” I urge Kes, “we need to make our way to the Khaleeni camp. Aaran and Barra will be able to help us. Aaran is a gifted tracker and should be able to pick up the prince’s trail and track him.”

Kes is beside me in an instant and I can see from her expression she is as buoyed by my idea as I am. “Yes,” she agrees, “they should be able to help us.”

We waste no time making our way to the camp and soon arrive at the door to Aaran’s quarters, only to find him standing there, as if waiting for us.

“Something has happened with the prince,” he states in a matter of fact voice, causing myself and Kes to stare at him in surprise. “Has he fled the castle?”

“Ye...yess,” I stutter, “but how can you know that?”

He doesn't reply to my question but instead asks one of his own. “How long is it since he fled?”

“Not long after the midnight bell,” I reply.

His expression doesn't change and I'm wondering what he's thinking when he suddenly moves and starts walking towards Barra’s quarters. “I'll take Barra with me,” he announces. “If we leave now, we have a good chance of picking up his trail before he gets too far.”

I grab his arm. “Wait!” I command him. “What do you mean? Do you mean to track the prince and to take Barra with you?”

He looks at my hand resting on his arm and then he fixes his intense gaze on my face, those ice blue diamonds he has for eyes boring into my own. “Yes, that's exactly what I intend to do. Fear not, Queen Elinor, I shall bring the prince back to you.”

I return his gaze and try not to crumble under the intensity of his. “Kes and I are going with you,” I inform him.

This time there’s a marked change in his expression and it's clear he doesn't approve of my plan to accompany him. “No offense, Queen Elinor, but time is of the essence and you and the commander will only slow us down. Barra and I are accustomed to tracking and will move quickly. If we leave now there’s a chance we can catch up with the prince before the cock crows in the morning.”

He goes to walk away but I tighten my grip on his arm. “I can assure you, Sire, I and the commander shall not slow you down and we are going with you.”

He turns to look at me again, his face tight with frustration.

He looks me up and down and it’s obvious he’s weighing up his options – argue with me and waste time or do as I ask and face the possibility of being slower.

Finally he releases an exasperated sigh.

“Fine,” he states in a clipped voice, “since you are already dressed in your Khaleeni uniform and are ready to go then let’s make haste.

I’ll waken Barra, if you and the commander would be so kind as to grab some provisions from the kitchens we can meet at the stables as soon as you’re ready. ”

I nod. “Very well then, it is agreed. We shall meet at the stables forthwith.”

***

“Greetings, Queen Elinor,” Barra says in a soft voice as Kes and I arrive at the stables. He already has four horses saddled and ready to go. However, I immediately note the absence of Aaran.

“Greetings, sire,” I reply, “Pray tell, where is your fellow soldier, Aaran?”

Barra looks away, as if slightly embarrassed. “He has already left, your Majesty. He felt time was of the essence and he needed to leave as soon as possible in order to pick up the prince’s trail.”

A feeling of anger flashes through me and now it's my turn to be frustrated.

I suspected when he suggested Kes and I go to pick up some provisions it was a trick, and instead of trusting my intuition I fell for it.

“And pray tell,” I ask, “how are we to pick up his trail? How are we to know in what direction he went?”

Barra grins. “That’s not a problem, Your Majesty. He intends to start his search at the rear gate, the place where the prince was last seen. Should he pick up the trail from there, he will leave signs for us to follow. If he is unable to pick up the prince’s trail from there he will wait for us.”

“Fine,” I say in a terse voice as I mount Maneeha. “Follow me. There's a shortcut from here to the rear gate.”

We follow the outer path of the castle to the rear gate and, as I expected, Aaran is nowhere to be seen.

I watch as Barra looks for a sign to tell us in which direction he has gone and try to temper my annoyance at Aaran.

I have no idea how he expects us to follow him with only the faintest of moonlight to aid our eyes.

However, miraculously, it seems Barra has found the sign he left for us.

“This way,” he announces and Kes and I immediately fall in behind him.

We have travelled a few miles and are in the thick of the forest when the path ahead splits and Barra needs to dismount and look more closely for Aaran’s sign.

I also dismount and join him. “I’ve no idea how you’ve managed to find his signs thus far with only the barest amount of moonlight available to you,” I say, as his eyes scour the ground around us.

“I'm used to it, Your Majesty,” he replies. “Both Aaran and I have trained extensively in tracking at night and I’m accustomed to his system of leaving signs to mark out his trail. It's much easier when you know what to look for. Aaran has the harder part of it trying to track the prince.”

“Yes,” I muse, “I cannot understand how he is doing it, especially in the darkness.”

“That's where his unique abilities set him apart from other men,” Barra says in a low voice, but I don’t miss the slightly reverential tone. He stops. “Ah, here we are,” he says as he points at a rudimentary arrow made from sticks and stones pointing in the direction of the left path.

We quickly mount our horses again and follow the arrow. “Tell me, Queen Elinor, where does this path lead?” Barra asks.

“It soon ends as a defined path and turns more into a trail, getting less defined the further we go, but it will take us through the Craglands and ultimately to the foothills of the Black Mountain.”

“Is that the mountain one can see from the castle? The one whose peak was recently dusted with snow?”

“Yes. That’s the one.”

“Ah,” is all he says in response and then falls into silence.

“Ah?” I ask.

He turns to look at me in the dark. “I fear that is where the prince is going.”

“Why do you think that?” I ask.

He drops his head slightly and there’s no mistaking the sorrow in his voice when he answers.

“Because he may think it’s home. He may think it’s the white mountain that lies behind the castle in Ellerban. That’s where Aaran and I would find him before…”

His voice fades away and it takes a moment for his words to sink in. “Wait,” I say, “the prince has fled like this before?”

He is silent for a few moments but then, in a quiet voice, he answers, “Yes.”

“How many times?” I ask.

His head falls a little further towards his chest as if he is reluctant to say any more. “Three.”

“And did you have to bring him back each time or did he make his way back on his own?”

“Aaran and I retrieved him twice, Your Majesty. The time you met him at the castle he must have made his way back on his own.”

I think back to when I first abducted the prince and his assurance that no-one would come looking for him, as if his absence wouldn’t be noted.

I thought it a strange thing for him to say at the time, but now his words make sense, and it also explains why we weren’t followed by search parties of Ellerban soldiers.

They were accustomed to him being absent.

I think upon this and am even more concerned as to what causes the prince to flee. What terrible event has caused him such agony?