AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Soldiers—Soldiers in town." Sharp breaths broke up his words. "Looking—"
"Menz, slow down. We cannot understand you," Dani said, joining them.
They were all huddled around the farmer as they waited for Menz to regain his breath. The man was keeled over, one hand on his hat, the other on his chest. Kallie twisted her ring back and forth. Even though the kingdoms were at peace, she had grown up seeing soldiers patrolling Ardentol, protecting it. So then why did a few soldiers spook Menz so much?
Fynn crossed his arms. "We need to go, now."
Fynn made to move but Graeson threw out his arm, stopping him in his tracks. "Will someone tell the rest of us what is going on?”
Having regained control of his breathing, Menz finally said, "When I was at the market, there were soldiers and whispers spreading among the people."
"Whispers of what?" Graeson asked, his hand falling to his side.
Freed, Fynn weaved past them. His hand brushed his side where Kallie had stabbed him. For a moment, Kallie felt guilty about the wound she had dealt to her supposed brother.
The feeling was fleeting.
Menz's gaze flicked to Kallie, then back to Graeson. "They are on the lookout for Frenzia's stolen bride. They found the carriages. There are search parties forming everywhere. They're rumored to be going house to house to see if someone is hiding her. Fynn is right, you need to leave.Now."
In an instant, everyone began shuffling around her, but Kallie stood paralyzed. Her vision blurred. At some point, someone spoke to her, but she did not hear anything besides the ringing in her ears. She shouldn't have been surprised that soldiers were searching for her. She wished she could have believed that her father—no, theking—trusted that she could handle this on her own. But even though he had trained her himself, he didn't. He didn't trust her. He didn't believe in her.
Had he ever?
Domitius knew she would fail. He didn't even bother to give her the chance to succeed. After all, if Fynn was right, she wasn't his true daughter anyway, so why would he?
She ran her fingers through her hair, her nails scratched against her skull. Her mind was split in two, and she needed more time to figure out who she believed. Yet, the ticking of the clock was nipping at her heels.
She was out of time.
"Kallie." Graeson's voice dragged her back from her scattered thoughts. He pointed to Calamity, and she shoved the divided thoughts down as she mounted the horse.
"Scoot back," Graeson ordered.
Her eyebrows scrunched together, the deep crevices in her forehead meeting in the center. "Sorry?"
"Move back." His words were clipped. "If something happens, I'll need full control over the reins."
Kallie scoffed. "Oh. So now I'm in the way?"
He rubbed his face with his hand in exhaustion. "Just move, Kallie."
"Fine." Kallie scooted back, and Graeson filled the space she had vacated.
Fynn brought his horse around, stopping in front of Menz who stood next to hishorse with the reins held loosely in his hand.
"I'll do what I can to lead them off your trail," Menz said.
"Much appreciated," Fynn said. "Until next time, my friend."
"Give my best wishes to the queen." Menz tipped the brim of his hat.
Fynn nodded at the man and turned his attention to his crew. "Let's move."
* * *
With every turn they made,with every snap from within the dark depths of the forest, tensions grew. The Pontians knew they were not safe until they had put enough distance between themselves and the soldiers. However, they could only push their horses so far before they tired them out. And that was the last thing they wanted to do. As a result, Fynn opted for a steady pace.
They rode with a blanket of silence covering them, which left Kallie with too much time to think about the new information she had been told. She still didn’t know how it impacted her plans. If what Fynn claimed was true, her captors were her family, her flesh and blood. And King Domitius was not.
