“Oh, no, no, no, hunter. We have no use for prisoners. Once Prince Vito is in . . . it is ours. No bartering necessary. And there is no question we will take the castle.”
Do not react.“So they are dead?”
“As of this morning.” His stomach roiled and bile rose, burning the back of his tongue. Rozaria reached up, and he forced himself not to flinch as she stroked his cheek. “The people in your lands who once oppressed you will now grovel at your feet. The Lashed will rise. You are free of your bigoted rulers now, Paxton Seabolt. Free in every way.”
Nay. He was more burdened than ever before.
“I’ll prepare my things straightaway.”
Paxton was probably pushing his horse too hard, but he was desperate to get to the castle. The only thing that stopped him in the dead of night was the village of Fetchko in his path. He slowed when he saw several men gathered on the path, holding bows.
“I am Lochlan,” Paxton called from a distance as he came closer.
They squinted at him in the lantern light. One bravely brandished a club while another hesitated and then raised his bow, pointing an arrow. Paxton realized he was wearing a Kalorian tunic and was fully armed. He held his hands up.
“I am Lochlan,” he repeated. “Whose land is this?”
“Duke Gulfton’s,” one of the men answered. “If you’reLochlan, why are you wearingthat?”
“It’s a long story,” he said. “But you need to be warned. Kalorian troops are currently at the main estate in the south. They will advance on royal lands sometime tomorrow. Prepare your village.” Their eyes widened in fear. Paxton pointed to the one who’d brandished his bow. “And when they arrive, raise your bow without hesitation.”
Paxton didn’t stop to answer the questions they shouted as he left. He took to the path again and hoped to the seas they would get their children out of the line of the Kalorians, and quickly.
In the light of the morning he crossed the Bay Bridge and took the path northeast to stop at the town of Dovedell before he reached royal lands. It took him out of the way, but it would give his horse a rest, and he couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t warn the people. He accepted offers of food and set back toward royal lands. He was nearly there. For hours his mind had been turning, working. He tried to devise plans to fight the forces that were headed their way, but the thought of Aerity anywhere near Prince Vito made him sick. Nay, the only thing he knew for certain was that he wanted to get her out of there before the Kalorians arrived. They would take what they wanted and kill anything in their way.
Paxton still couldn’t believe King Charles and the queen were dead. He thought of Aerity, Vixie, and the lad Donubhan. Aerity was now queen and she had no idea. They would all be holding out hope that their parents would return. Hehated that he would have to be the one to tell her. But better him than Prince Vito.
Paxton leaned forward and urged his horse due northwest. The sun was lowering. For the first time that day he realized how cold it had become. His ears and face were freezing in the wind, but he felt no pain. All he felt was determination.
Chapter
36
Vixie hated waiting while ominous dangers loomed on the horizon. She’d taken to practicing archery with a vengeance, and patrolling the royal wall alongside Tiern, her trusted bow across her back. Without her parents to order her inside, the guards let her out whenever she wanted. She could see the disapproval on their faces, though. They probably thought she should stay inside the castle like a proper girl. And while she loathed the idea of being that girl and the annoyances that came along with it, she did truly miss the protectiveness of her parents.
They rode beside the stone wall in the dry, yellowed grasses. The walls had been fortified since late summer, built thicker and higher. Now there were platforms along thelength for soldiers to climb and defend. Each scaffold also had a strong pulley system to raise small cannons or vats of hot tar and oil. The sight of war preparations made Vixie uneasy. Danger was on its way.
“Tiern,” Vixie said, “do you suppose my parents are still alive?” It’s all she could think about lately.
Tiern’s spine went rigid as he rode. “I don’t rightly know, Vixie. I wouldn’t put it past the Kalorians . . . but, then again, if they kept them alive, they could use them for bargaining.”
“What could they possibly want to bargain for?”
He shook his head gravely. Vixie exhaled, her stomach churning.
She’d spent the past year fighting against everything they wanted her to be, searching for who she really was, being angry at her father for the great hunt. And now the thought of them gone forever left a gaping pit of desolation in her heart. She’d never imagined a life without them. She’d taken them for granted and never shown her appreciation.
Vixie glanced at Tiern, his face so serious as he scanned the area. They’d never spoken about the kiss. In fact, Vixie had put it from her mind. It hadn’t been a proper kiss. She believed now that he’d only done it for the reason he said: to keep the lads at bay. With all that was happening, romance seemed ridiculous. Still, she enjoyed his company, and trusted him above all others.
“You should have seen Aerity and the coldlands king this morning,” Vixie chattered. She told him everything. Tiernseemed to enjoy her stories as they trotted in the cold sunshine, reacting with all the appropriate shock, awe, humor, and upset that she hoped to convey. In fact, now that she’d stopped pressuring him about his feelings, he was almost his same old good-natured self with her again.
Yet, as they neared the southern gate to royal lands, Vixie heard raised voices. Her head spun to Tiern.
“Something’s happening,” he said. He pushed his horse ahead and Vixie followed. There was a crowd of soldiers and guards at the gates and several horses. They were surrounding someone.
“He’s Lashed!” she heard a guard say, which was followed by more raised voices, shouted questions, gruff responses. She couldn’t make it all out.
Through the moving bodies she spotted a long-haired man with a short beard and dirty face. His tunic was bright blue, Kalorian style.
