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I reached for it when another alarm sounded. This one came louder, closer, and more insistent than the one Master Aldéric had for the slave quarters.
The city siren. No!
The men shared looks and one backed up, his hand going to the lever that would shut the gate.
“What are you doing?” I demanded.
“We have to lock down the city.” The guard closest to me extended the scroll for my taking. His hand shook. “We’re sorry. When the city siren soun—”
Hard, I kicked my heels into my steed’s sides and hugged my legs against the horse. With astonishing power, he lunged forward. The humans scattered and shouted behind me, but I paid them no mind as I clung to the horse’s neck and rode beyond the city wall for the forest.
Chapter 5
My horse’s hooves did not falter or slow as we raced away from Sangrael. In the forest’s darkness, one hour passed, then two. And still, my steed ran, a testament to the horse’s training and endurance.
I, on the other hand, grew ever more exhausted. I was not fully recovered from the bloodletting I’d undergone the previous day, and that meant riding was taking a larger toll than it would have normally. Stars, had I been back to normal, the journey still would have been difficult enough.
I needed to walk, to enliven my limbs, or soon enough, I’d fall off the horse. To be sure we weren’t being followed, I took one more look behind me. I saw nothing and no one, so I pulled back on the reins.
“Whoa.”
The steed snorted loudly and slowed to a stop.
“Good boy.” I patted the side of his neck, as soft as soft velvet and damp. The poor thing needed water and food too.
“I’m sorry I don’t have anything for you to drink,” I whispered. “Maybe we can find a stream?”
The horse let out a huff, turning the air around his nostrils white. It was the middle of an autumn night and the temperature had plummeted.
“I’m going to get off,” I added to the horse. “I need to walk.”
The process proved as elegant as mounting the horse had been, and in the end, I nearly face-planted, catching myself seconds before I would have hit the forest floor.
“Burning stars.” My hands gripped my aching thighs for support. “This is worse than I thought.”
The horse snorted. I chose to believe that he was not laughing at me, but rather, telling me to toughen up.
“You’re right. I can’t complain. Thanks again for your help.”
He looked away, as if to say that he had no choice in the matter. I grabbed the reins. “Let’s find a stream.”
We’d gone due east, and the Red Mist Mountains loomed large to my right. I knew from books about the history of the Blood Kingdom that a large river flowed from that very mountain range separating the Winter Court and the Vampire Court. It flowed all the way to the sea in the far north. The area had many tributaries too, many of which orc tribes on the fae side of the border lived by.
As I walked, I took in my surroundings. I found it a miracle that no one had come after me. I would put coin on the theory that the city guards were too scared to tell anyone about me. Given how I’d left, it wasn’t unfathomable for one of them to suspect that me leaving the city might be related to the siren. Their fear had bought me time, but eventually, tales of an escaped slave would reach them, and the city guard would crack, whether on their own or from compulsion.
One hand went to my dagger that hung off my hip. As a seamstress, I’d never been trained in how to use the weapon, but at the very least I could stick an attacker with the tip. Or slice. Like hacking into meat. Either way, I felt better having the weapon and if I needed to use it, I’d have to learn quickly because the only other option was to perish.
However, as the dagger wasn’t large enough to decapitate a vampire it wouldn’t save me from them. To be sure of my safety against the bloodsuckers who would come for me, I needed to whittle a stake.
My chin dropped, and I scanned the ground for a stick to carve into a weapon. The waning moon loomed ahead, and Autumn, in all her glory, rioted across the kingdom. Some of the leaves had already fallen, creating a thin blanket of color on the ground.
That would soon change. The closer I came to Winter’s Realm, the colder it would get. It would also become more likely I’d encounter deeper snow. The thought of snow was not welcome. Already, I was sure that vampires would hunt me, but snow made that hunt far easier because it left tracks.
All the more reason to get whittling.
With each step, my body loosened a bit more. We walked for another twenty minutes when I spotted a fallen tree limb in the woods that would do nicely for my project.
“Hold up, boy.”
