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He studied Amaris out of the corner of his eye. The black cloak she’d borrowed was wrapped tightly around her and pinned to keep it from streaming behind her in the wind. Between sneaking out of the castle and securing two of the Erdurian horses from the stables, they had gone to Lord Lachlan’s estate so she could change out of her finery. She now wore fitted black pants—which she must have stolen from Riona’s wardrobe—and a pair of leather boots. Her braids were twisted and pinned atop her head.
“We should let the horses rest,” she said as they passed along the edge of a lake, already slowing her horse to a trot. “Keep pushing them, and they’ll keel over before we get anywhere near Crafford.”
“We don’t have time to waste.” He glanced at the faint rays of sunlight bleeding across the eastern horizon. It wasn’t quite dawn yet, but close. Riona had been missing for almost a day and a half. “Besides, we’re over halfway there.”
“But we will ride for hours yet while we search the Howling Mountains. Dismount, Prince Auberon,” Amaris commanded, the words laced with all the authority of the future queen. “Now.”
He huffed a breath and dismounted. His poor horse’s sides were dark with sweat, its mouth frothing. After offering Amaris a hand down from her own mount—which she accepted with reluctance—he removed his horse’s tack and led it to the water’s edge. It drank as if it hadn’t seen water in days.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured, patting the mare’s neck. “After we find Riona, I’ll treat you to the finest apples money can buy.”
While Amaris doted on the horses, Auberon wandered toward the road, stretching his legs. He would never admit it, but she had been right to stop them. His muscles ached from so many hours of riding, and his fingers were stiff from clutching the reins as tightly as he had. He flexed them, wincing, as he gazed in the direction of the Howling Mountains. Riona was somewhere in there, he could feel it. He only hoped they would find her in time. Even if the miners didn’t kill her, there were sinkholes, cave-ins, Rennox…
“I’m worried about her, too,” Amaris whispered, joining him by the roadside. She followed his gaze north, and they stood in silence for several minutes, consumed by their worries. Finally, she said, “I’ve been thinking about what you said last night. Riona and I may not be related by blood, but she is more dear to me than a sister. If you do not tell her the truth about your feelings for her, you must allow her to marry Valerian or Eamon. If she does not have a husband who loves her at her side, she will find no happiness in Erduria.”
A stab of pain shot through his heart. “She will. Once she and Drystan are married, she will have a wing of the palace and her own staff of servants and guards. She will have every luxury the Empire can provide at her fingertips. Anything she desires will be hers. And Drystan will be a good husband to her.”
“You think you can bribe her into being happy? If you believe that, you don’t truly know Riona at all.”
Auberon opened his mouth, then closed it. The words had felt wrong even before they’d left his lips. The truth was, he couldn’t imagine Riona walking the bright, mirrored halls in the palace or wandering through Torch’s maze-like markets. He couldn’t imagine her enjoying the relentless sun and sparkling beaches. Innislee was in her blood; she was a girl of lashing rain, biting winds, and raging storms. When she let her court mask fall, she was a tempest.
“No,” he reluctantly admitted. “In truth, I don’t believe she would be happy in Erduria, either.”
She turned to him, her brows rising. “Prince Auberon, I believe that is the first time you’ve ever been honest with me.”
He made a face. “My time in Innislee has forced me to adopt some bad habits. I’ll endeavor to lose that one as soon as possible.”
“Yes, I’m sure you will,” Amaris responded, sounding almost disappointed. She studied him for a few long moments. When she eventually spoke, she said, “If you truly mean to hide your feelings from Riona, I want you to swear that after we return to Innislee, you will stay away from her. Soon, she will marry a man she does not love and leave everything she has ever known behind. There is no reason for her to endure any more pain. You and your people have already hurt her enough.”
His heart splintered in his chest. She was right. He had been manipulating her and lying to her since the day they met. And even now, he would do whatever it took to secure an alliance between their countries. If he had to use whatever information Riona had uncovered to blackmail the king into accepting the betrothal, he would do it without hesitation.
How could he possibly bear to hurt her more than Erduria already had?
How could he love her, knowing that he would destroy every facet of her beloved kingdom if it meant saving his people?
He was spared having to answer by the sight of someone riding toward them at a gallop, his horse kicking up a cloud of dirt from the road. Due to the early hour, they had passed few traders and travelers on their ride toward Crafford. This stranger, Auberon quickly realized, was neither. He was a lone rider, no cart or wagon, and his urgency immediately aroused Auberon’s suspicion.
He turned to Amaris and hissed, “Go to one of the horses. Pretend it’s hurt.Now!”
She shot him a strange look, but obeyed. As the rider approached, Auberon stepped into the middle of the road and waved his arms over his head, affecting a distraught expression.
“Help, please!” he cried, putting on the rolling accent of Rivosi nobility. The man slowed to a stop before him, and Auberon hastily smoothed the wrinkles in his doublet as he rushed over, grateful he hadn’t bothered to change after the banquet. “Oh, thank the Creator you came along when you did, my friend! I’m supposed to be in Crafford in an hour to check on a shipment from the Isles, and I fear my horse has gone lame. Could you take a look? I’m not much of an equestrian myself.” He gestured apologetically at his finery, wordlessly explaining his ignorance on the subject.
“Sorry, but I can’t help you.”
The man started to guide his horse around Auberon, but he reached out and snagged the reins. “I beg of you, it won’t take but five minutes of your time. As you can see, we’ve another horse here. I just need to know whether it’s worth tending or if I should simply cut my losses. Just one look—two minutes—and you’ll be on your way,” he said, nodding encouragingly at the huge beast of a man. This close, he could see that the stranger was not just fair-skinned, but deathly pale, as if he hadn’t seen the sun in ages. Calluses covered his hands, and grime was caked around his cuticles and under his nails.
He had come from the mines.
“I’ll pay you for your trouble,” Auberon continued, ignoring the man’s objections. He offered the stranger a sly grin. “You’re heading to the capital, are you not? Let me buy you a pitcher of ale and a hot meal. When you’re finished, I expect you’ll have enough left over to sample the other…luxuriesthe city has to offer. A night in a woman’s arms, perhaps?”
He let the words linger, watching temptation chase away the wariness in the man’s expression. Finally, he huffed and dismounted. “Fine, I’ll take a look.”
“Oh, thank you, friend. Thank you kindly.”
Auberon led him over to where Amaris was crouching, pretending to examine one of the mare’s back legs. “I think it’s something to do with her shoe, but I’m not sure,” she said.
As the man bent to study it, Auberon pulled out his dagger and buried it in the side of the stranger’s thigh. The miner let out a roar and fell to his knees, one hand flying to the wound in an attempt to stanch the bleeding. Amaris recoiled in horror. Auberon paid her no heed as he stepped behind the miner and pressed the bloody blade to his throat.
