Chapter 10
Ruby woke with a jolt, certain for one disorienting second that someone had shouted her name. But it was only a bird outside the thin canvas of the tent—something shrill and chirping far too enthusiastically for this hour. She groaned and rolled onto her back, staring at the faint light filtering through the fabric.
Her entire body ached from sleeping on cold, uneven ground with only a wool blanket between her and the dirt. She’d shared the tent with Isla again, who slept curled like a cat and had somehow managed to steal half of Ruby’s blanket.
Ruby hadn’t slept this poorly since her university days, back when Daniel had convinced her camping was “fun” and she’d spent a long weekend pretending she wasn’t freezing while he snored beside her. She’d sworn never to subject herself to it again. And yet here she was. Camping. In the past.
Absolutely brilliant life choices, Ruby, she thought sourly.
She crawled out of the tent, blinking at the morning light. The camp was stirring around her—men tending to horses, folding blankets, the smell of porridge rising from a pot suspended over a small fire.
She looked around, searching for one person in particular. There. Evan was speaking quietly with Isla’s father. Ruby rubbed her eyes and yawned so hard her jaw cracked. Evan noticed. Ofcourse he did. His mouth twitched with what might have been amusement.
“Sleep well?” he asked, sauntering over to her.
“Is that a trick question?”
“So that’s a no?”
“A resounding no.”
After yesterday, the guards had doubled their patrols and many of them looked grainy-eyed and pale this morning. No one trusted shadows anymore—not after bandits had appeared seemingly from thin air. Ruby had lain awake listening to every snapping twig and sigh of wind, half expecting another attack.
Another yawn stole over her and Evan stifled a grin.
“Long night,” she muttered.
“For everyone,” he replied. “But some folk hide it better.”
Somebody pressed a bowl of porridge into her hands and she mumbled a bleary thanks as she slumped onto a log by the fire. The porridge was wonderfully warm as it went down and helped wake her up. At least a little.
By the time she’d finished her breakfast, most of the camp was packed up and ready to leave.
Isla came over and grinned at her, looking way too sprightly. “Ready for another day on the road?”
Ruby forced a smile. “As I’ll ever be.”
She climbed to her feet and followed Isla to her wagon, glancing around for Evan. He’d positioned himself parallel to Isla’s wagon as though posting himself as an additional guard. He met Ruby’s gaze and gave a slight nod.
Ruby nodded back as the caravan lurched into motion. Last night, Isla’s father had declared that at dawn they would take a new route—one less predictable, deeper inland, away from the more commonly traveled track. It was wilder terrain, but safer. Supposedly.
Ruby wasn’t convinced. She doubted any route was safe in this wild, treacherous landscape. But they moved smoothly and without difficulty as the sun rose higher, chasing away the last of the early-morning chill. But gradually, the land grew rougher—rocky ridges, dense patches of woodland, gullies carved by rainwater. The sky clouded over too, threatening rain. She didn’t like the look of it. Wet ground meant slick roads and slippery slopes.
The caravan slowed to a crawl. After another hour of slow progress, she heard something in the distance—a low rumble. Not thunder. Water, she realized. Lots of it.
The caravan rounded a curve in the track and up ahead a river came into view. It didn’t look deep but was wide and rushing fast. Very fast.
Ruby’s heart dropped into her stomach as the caravan made straight towards it. They weren’t going to try and cross that were they?
It seemed they were. The caravan halted and a number of the guards rode up to the water’s edge, inspecting the river bank. Ruby jumped down and hurried over to Isla’s father at the head of the column.
“We’re not crossing here, surely?” she asked.
“Aye,” he replied. “It’s shallow enough, and there’s no other crossing for a league in either direction.”
Ruby stared at the hissing torrent. She might not be an outdoorsy person, but evenshecould see that the level was already rising. It must be raining somewhere upstream. Her brain started calculating the risk.
“The water’s rising too fast,” she said. “The ground underneath might be unstable. If the wagon hits a rut or the horses panic—”
