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My stomach drops. I didn’t walk her to her room. She demanded I leave her alone, and I complied. Stupidly, foolishly, carelessly— I complied. I run both hands through my hair, threading my fingers together behind my neck as I begin pacing the small space. Would she have gone on her own? Run away maybe? No. Never.
“I have to ask, Captain. Did you see anything amiss after I left her in your charge last night?” Lady Margaret asks, her eyes searching my face for any hint of a lie or foul play.
I grind my teeth at the implication. “No. Nothing was amiss.” I meet her stare for just a moment before darting my eyes to the wall behind her. “But…” I hesitate, knowing my fault before I even speak it. “I didn’t walk her to her room. She demanded that I leave her. Commanded me to go. So I did.” Lady Margaret pinches the bridge of her nose at my revelation before taking a deep breath.
She looks somewhat composed as she shares the rest of her information, but I don’t know how. Lena is more like a daughter to her than a neice. Suddenly, her red eyes make sense. “We questioned the guards stationed at each gate. Those on the north, east, and south entrances saw nothing, relaying everyone who passed through in the night by name, description of their person, and where they were headed.” Nothing seems off by this report. My men having followed protocol to exactness.
“Except for the west gate. When I arrived to question the night patrol, they were all asleep.”
“Asleep?” I almost yell the word.
Where before I couldn’t breathe, now I only see red. My men, asleep at the gate? Never. I shake my head, rubbing away the throb at my temples as I try to make sense of it all.
“To be fair, it seems they were also drugged. Groggy and incoherent as I kicked them awake,” Lady Margaret says.
“So why do I feel like a child about to be admonished?” I ask, not bothering to hide my growl.
“There were two empty bottles of wine at their feet. Which means they not only accepted it from one of the conspirators, they decided to drink it on duty.” There’s a flicker of satisfaction while she tells me this news. My men failed. And therefore, I failed.
“You could’ve led with that information, as it now seems obvious which direction they traveled.” I frown, my sudden need for fresh air sending my head into a brief, dizzying spin. When the room straightens, my gaze takes in her mud covered shoes for the first time.
“Not exactly. The other three gates also received this gift of wine from a mysterious patron. They just didn’t accept it,” she says.
Three out of four. Not the perfect report it needs to be, and will be in the coming months.
“So they tried to take out each gate, but the west is the only one that fell for it. Giving them the perfect exit.” My words are said to no one in particular, more for the benefit of saying my thoughts out loud as I desperately grasp for answers. “I’m assuming you scoured the palace and surrounding forest,” I say.
“Of course.” Lady Margaret’s annoyance shines through her answer. “I found some footprints at the edge of the west entrance, loose dirt and burnt bits of wood further down in the forest.”
“Did you follow the path, find anything that would signal Lena was with them?” I ask, impatient.
“No,” she admits.
“Why? Why didn’t you follow it through, Margaret? She could’ve been just around the corner!”
My lack of title isn’t what earns me a fiery rebuke. “Don’t you dare scold me, Roan Montgomery.” She sticks a lone finger to my chest. “I’m reeling with this, just as you. Trying to make sense of it. Trying to understand just what in the Four Kingdoms happened here last night. How someone could have gotten passed the Palace Guard and into our home. That alone should have been impossible.” She pauses— an equal, burning glare emanating from us both.
The palace guards begin as a recruit in my program, but finish their training under the direction of Lady Margaret. She personally picks each one, most of them cousins or other relations to the lords and ladies who are in support of crown and country. It’s both strategic and diplomatic, helping to indoctrinate a love and genuine desire to protect the royal family, while also maintaining financial and political backing for House Chattan.
I have a couple years with these guards before they’re taken. But after they leave my barracks, it’s rare for them to come under my direction again. The conspirators’ infiltration into the castle is a personal hit on Lady Margaret and the Palace Guard. For the first time this morning I realize the circles under her eyes aren’t only from lack of restful sleep. They monumentally failed. And most likely have a traitor among them.
The thought sends a shiver up my spine, and my frustration softens ever so slightly. “If you take into account the gate they used to exit, and keep moving in the same direction of the footprints and doused fire, the West Passageway seems their most likely course. They are headed to Fort Lowsan. And maybe to theborder of Thenstra.” My mind is moving faster than my words can keep up with.
“Most likely.” The worry in her face instantly doubles.
Felshan’s ties with Thenstra are riddled with difficulty. The king of Thenstra abruptly shut down the border without word or reason. We’ve all heard the story. Only few people alive today can boast having visited the country, let alone give us any great details of the land that might help to find Lena. “It must be someone in good standing with King Brekan, if he’s even the one still in power. That’s the only way they’d be able to cross the border.”
“That’s not exactly true,” the thief speaks up, her voice firm but emotionless. Lady Margaret and I turn to her in unison, waiting for her to explain. “I don’t know how reputable this is, but I heard that Thenstra has a black market. Some people were whispering about it. I don’t know if it exists. But if it does, there has to be a border opening somewhere in order for that news to have reached Felshan.”
“I have not heard such a thing,” Lady Margaret says, perplexed.
“Nor I,” I reply, my focus now resting solely on this thief.
“I don’t have any details. Like time or place,” she says. “But if it is real, it might be their ticket across the border, and ours to follow if they get that far.” Heavy contemplation fills the air.
“They won’t get that far. Captain Montgomery, they must have her hidden somehow. It’s at least a week’s ride to the Thenstran border, twice as long in a wagon and even longer on foot. They won’t want to draw attention to themselves while they are still within the borders of Felshan. And a kicking, screaming, or knocked out girl across a horse would definitely draw attention,” says Lady Margaret.
I finish her thought. “Which means they are in a wagon, and will have to ride steady.” The wheels are turning wildly in my head. “They have maybe a half a day’s lead, assuming they rode all night. Probably minimal breaks since they know we would catch on and start the search by early morning.”
