AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Ari, let’s go!” Shiren shouts from somewhere in front of us.
The sound of her name triggers his attention to lock onto Ari, the thief who bested him in the market square. His smile fades into something dark, something sinister. He recognizes her.
Her breaths come fast and shallow, the horse continuing to prance anxiously around as she stares at him. “I’m coming for you,” Ari says, her voice neither a shout nor a whisper.
“I do look forward to it,” Reynauld replies, the corner of his mouth ticking upward ever so slightly.
And with those final words Ari nudges the horse forward, and we ride away underneath the lightening sky of dawn.
39
Ari
“I’msosorry,”Isay once we slow and guide our horses to the forest edge, the road meeting an incline of land. The storm passed quickly, the smallest sliver of blue sky poking through the clouds as I dismount.
John and Shiren look mostly untouched, though dried blood stains the front of Shiren’s dress and down one arm. Not her blood, I realize. But the first man I killed tonight. The one holding her. The second being Silas. No remorse comes for the death of those men at my hand.
The innkeeper says nothing, rummaging through the saddle bags for anything that might be helpful. “We knew what we were doing when we agreed to let you stay,” Shiren says, helping John gather whatever supplies they can find.
I help Roan get down, scowling at his bloodied shirt. Shiren follows my gaze, something akin to concern showing through her eyes. “Once we cross into Thenstra I can get more suturing material. It’s not ideal to wait, but we don’t have much of a choice I'm afraid.” Roan will have to go the rest away with a gaping cut across his stomach. I try not to wince as the realization hits me.
“How’s your leg?” I ask, looking down to see if blood soaks his pant leg as well. It looks clean, and I want to sigh with relief.
“The stitches mostly held somehow,” he says, propped against his sword. I find a sturdy stick close by, just long enough to help him keep his balance. I break off the smaller branches from the fallen limb, handing it to Roan. He leans into it, taking more weight away from his injured leg.
“We need to get going,” I say. “If they haven’t rallied themselves yet, they will soon. We should thank the Four Kingdoms that most of them were drunk.” At least, everyone but Reynauld. His eyes were clear as they bore into mine, all his malevolence shining through with absolute clarity. I try to push his image out of my mind, the way he smiled at me, the way he looked at Roan.
My rain dampened shirt blows against me in the breeze, the cooling mountain air sending a shiver through me.
John eyes me and Roan before turning his attention to Shiren. “You may have to help the captain as we go. Ari won’t be able to hold him on her own the whole way.” There’s no emotion in his voice, only a matter-of-factness that makes me flinch. “We will need to tell,” he looks at me again, lowering his voice, “we will need to tell Sutter that the inn is compromised. We won’t be able to go back.”
Sutter. That was the name Shiren had given me. I was to say he sent us if Roan and I had been caught trying to make our way into Thenstra. John gives me a wary look, but I hold his gaze.
He had warned me, warned her. Told Shiren she was in too deep. Told me he wouldn’t risk the girl. And here they are, running for their lives without any context as to why. My stomach twists as I see him regard Shiren with anxiousness in his eyes. Those eyes then move to me. I don’t shrink under his scrutiny, but I find myself wanting to beg his forgiveness. I was wrong to ask them for help, to put them directly in the path of Silas and his men. And now Reynauld.
John starts walking up the mountainside, leaving the road and horses behind. As if sensing my confusion, Shiren says, “Here we must leave the horses and travel on foot. The gates are a morning’s ride ahead, but they haven’t opened for anyone in over twenty years. If you want in, you must go up.” She points upward, and I look toward the ascending land.
Her meticulously drawn map dawns through my mind. Up through the mountains, up the rocky cliffs, and through a tunnel inlaid straight through the side of the Prythan Mountains. That’s our way into Thenstra. I look to Roan, and I can't keep the pity from my gaze as I stare toward the patch of blood on his shirt and the wound that lay beneath it.
We move up the incline, a steady walk to keep the man next to me as comfortable as possible. As much as is possible in his condition anyway. I look ahead, the foreign land crunching underneath my boots. Who knows what will come as we move toward Thenstra, a country as unfamiliar as my feelings for Roan.
The slope of our journey rises rapidly. Each jolt and sudden move sends Roan’s features into a sharp grimace. There’s not much that can be done in that regard, unfortunately, besides go back. And going back is not an option. Not with Reynauld behind us now.
Our ragged breaths add to the cadence of our steps, but the silence weaving between us gives me ample time to think. Time to figure out how Reynauld and the princess fit together. He almost has full run of the city of Turin— with only minor set backs from King Cassus. So, what could Reynauld possibly gain from taking the princess that he didn't already have? And what about Silas and the Cranes? What role do they have in all of this?
Again, Evander tugs at the corner of my mind. Roan called me by the prince's name, and for whatever reason that moment continues to nudge at the corners of my consciousness. Until now, I haven’t had the time or boldness to bring it up. But seeing Reynauld this morning and feeling his unearthly presence, I disregard any of my previous caution.
“Roan,” I say quietly, not wanting to ruffle John and Shiren anymore than we already have today.
“Yes,” he huffs back, his pained face the only confirmation I need that every step for him is a struggle.
An uneasiness I don't fully understand brews around me. “Do you— do you remember when I found you the other day, after the mountainside gave way?”
“Yes,” he breaths, his eyes darting to me.
My heart is suddenly pounding in my chest. “Do you remember what you called me?”
“I’m hoping… I called you… Ari.” He chuckles a little, as much as his injuries will allow.
