He put his hand on the small of her back, escorting her out. In the entryway, Reid hugged her grandparents, bidding them farewell.
Outside, Dexter’s men waited, already mounted. Reid went over to her horse, attaching her bag. After climbing onto the saddle, she adjusted the reins. Her grandparents were framed in the doorway, and Reid studied them.
“I’m surprised you’re traveling with so few men,” Gregor said, addressing Dexter.
“It’ll allow us to travel faster. There’s no need to worry—I’ll protect your granddaughter.”
Gregor smiled. “I have no doubt you are more than capable of caring for Lady Reid. But please make sure to take care of yourself as well. Axian needs you.”
“I have four of my most skilled men with me,” he assured Gregor. “We’ll be fine.”
With that, Dexter nudged his horse and they set out. Dexter and Reid rode side by side, two men in front, and two men behind.
“Your most skilled men?” Reid said. “I would have thought that included Markis and Gytha.”
“I lied to your grandfather,” he admitted. “I left in such a hurry I didn’t have time to find Markis and Gytha. Instead, I grabbed the first four soldiers I encountered and ordered them to come with me.”
She chuckled. “Then I’m surprised those two didn’t come after you.”
He smiled ruefully. “Even though you haven’t been in Axian long, you seem to know and understand a great deal.”
“I saw their loyalty to you the moment I stepped off the boat.”
“Speaking of that day,” Dexter said, “I want to apologize for the way I treated you.”
Why was Dexter being nice to her now? Did he finally trust her or was he only trying to gain information? She needed to proceed with caution. “When King Eldon informed me I’d be marrying you, I was furious. Given the fact I’d snuck into your home and tried stealing from you, I hadn’t expected a warm reception.” She spoke softly so the soldiers escorting them wouldn’t overhear.
“I’ll admit, when you first arrived, I feared you were here to assassinate my father.”
Yet, he’d still ended things with Gytha. Interesting. “You know that’s absurd, don’t you?” Reid was many things, but an assassin was not one of them.
“Is it absurd?” He eyed her. “King Eldon sent you here to acquire an object for him. That speaks volumes about what he thinks of you and what you’re capable of.”
Because Eldon didn’t employ women. “But stealing is very different from murder.” She’d only ever killed someone once—when they’d been ambushed by assassins in the forest. And even then, she’d only done so to stay alive. Rubbing her forehead, she banished all thoughts of that night and what she’d done. It was too hard to think about.
“After watching you,” Dexter said, adjusting his reins, “I could tell you weren’t interested in my father. When you formed a friendship with my brother, I thought maybe you’d been sent to assassinate him. But that didn’t seem logical. You had nothing to do with me, so I figured you weren’t out to kill me.”
“Why do I have to be killing someone?”
“Once I realized you weren’t an assassin, then next logical reason was you were a spy.”
“I’ve already admitted to that. The king wants me to spy on your family. I assumed that was obvious.”
They rode in silence for a few minutes. “I feel like there is something I’m missing,” he admitted.
Well, there was the part about her being a Knight tasked with discovering where Dexter went at night. How was she supposed to gain this man’s trust when he was so distrustful? And did she have the right to go behind his back? After all, she would only be a Knight for a couple of more weeks, whereas she’d be married to Dexter for the rest of her life.
“So, Lady Reid,” he said, her name rolling off his tongue like water, “where did you go on your way to your grandparents’ house?”
She pursed her lips, trying to decide what to say. “Why do you think I went somewhere?”
“Because you should have arrived the day before me, not at the same time.”
Good point. “I’m not familiar with these roads. I’m not sure which way Victor took me.”
“Ah, yes. Victor.”
She cringed at the way he said the man’s name.
“Why would you leave the palace with a man you don’t even know?” he asked.
Well, she wouldn’t have. The only reason she’d gone with Victor was the confirmation of his Knight mark. Ackley had told her to trust any Knight she encountered. Instead of saying that, she replied, “Your father told me that my second cousin was in the stables, waiting to escort me to my grandparents’ house. I trust your father.” Because Henrick was a Knight.
“I plan to speak with my father about that.” Dexter looked sidelong at her. “Mark my words, Lady Reid, if you’re hiding something, I will discover what it is.”
Leaning toward him, she lowered her voice. “Mark my words, Prince Dexter, I’ll discover whatever it is you’re hiding.”
If she hadn’t been staring right at his face, watching for a reaction, she would have missed the slight twitch in his lips, a sure sign he was also hiding something. Straightening, she focused on the road, shocked she was finally getting somewhere with Dexter. He was starting to make sense to her, and she was no longer scared of him.
The group of six continued riding until the sun began to set. Then Dexter gave the order to pull off the road. They set up camp in a spot nestled between two huge oak trees.
Dexter approached Reid. “I’d like a moment of your time. In private.”
She followed him about thirty feet away from his men.
“We can’t keep secrets from one another,” he said. “We have an opportunity to work together to achieve something.”
“I agree.” Her father’s army was mighty. With the backing of Ellington and Axian, she could implement positive changes. But none of that would happen if she was constantly butting heads with Dexter. They had to start working together.
“Tell me what you’re hiding.”
“You tell me what you’re hiding,” she countered.
He ran his hands through his hair. “This is what I mean. We have to stop bickering.”
Reid hesitated. Ackley had told his siblings about being a Knight. She could probably tell Dexter. At least he knew how to keep a secret. “I agree. But one of us has to go first, and we are both too stubborn.”
“Of all the women my parents could pick from, they chose you!” He stalked back to camp, shaking his head and mumbling the entire time.
“Trust me,” she called, “the feeling is mutual.”
The next day, neither Reid nor Dexter spoke as they made their way east toward the palace. Reid yawned, exhausted from not having slept well. Not only was the leather armor vest uncomfortable to sleep in, but so was the particularly rocky ground Dexter had chosen to make camp on for the night.
“There’s something blocking the road up ahead,” a soldier in front said. “Looks like a wagon.”
“The two of you in back, go see what it is,” Dexter ordered.
They immediately veered off, then headed toward the wagon.
“Looks like the wheel came off,” Reid said, halting her horse. “Strange it’s angled across the road, not pushed to the side instead.”
“Agreed,” Dexter mumbled, scanning the trees on either side of the road. “Let’s backtrack and go around just to be safe.”
Reid nudged her horse to turn it around just as a whistle rang through the air. A dozen men burst from the back of the wagon, bows and arrows in hand. The two soldiers who went to investigate withdrew their swords. The men raised their loaded bows, arrows striking the soldiers before Reid could even blink.
“Ride low,” Dexter commanded as he positioned his body alongside his horse’s neck.
Reid did the same, urging her horse faster to keep up. The two remaining soldiers rode close behind them. A hiss cut through the air, fol
lowed by two sickening thuds. One of the soldiers cried out. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw arrows protruding from both soldiers’ backs. One fell from his horse while the other slumped forward, barely hanging on. More arrows sailed through the air, aimed at Reid and Dexter.
Terror filled her. They wouldn’t be out of range for another twenty seconds—more than enough time for another round of arrows to find them. Something hit her back, the force almost knocking her from the saddle. She clung to her horse, realizing an arrow must have struck her. Her mother’s armor had saved her life.
Dexter wasn’t quite as lucky. An arrow protruded from his left arm. He broke the arrow off, tossing it on the ground. Blood soaked his sleeve.
They rounded the bend, finally out of striking range. Dexter halted, dismounted, and hit his horse’s rump. The animal took off, not needing any more encouragement. Reid slid from her saddle. The second her feet hit the ground, Dexter swatted her horse’s rump. It quickly followed the other horse.
Dexter ran up the slope on the left, into the cover of the trees. Reid chased him, almost losing her footing on the slick, leaf-covered ground.
“There,” someone shouted.
Reid glanced back. Two riders approached. The right one pointed at Dexter. The left one raised his bow and aimed.
Without thinking, Reid sprinted to the prince. She threw herself at him, covering as much of his torso as possible. An arrow struck her upper back, the impact making it hard to breathe. Between her weight and the force of the arrow that hit her, Dexter fell forward, Reid landing on top of him.
“I got her,” the man crowed. “She’ll be dead in no time.”
Dexter twisted around, his eyes wide with panic. “You’re hit?”
“I’m fine. I have armor on.” Her voice came out squeaky.
He reached behind her, pulling the arrow free from her armor, then he examined the tip to make sure there wasn’t any blood. “We need to go before they come after us.”
She slid off him, and they crawled the remaining three feet to the top of the rise. Once they were certain they were out of sight from their pursuers, they scrambled to their feet and ran, dodging between the trees.
After a mile, Dexter stopped. They’d reached a section of the forest covered with thick ivy. “Let’s hide here until we’re sure we’re not being followed.” The blood from his wound had soaked through his sleeve all the way down to his wrist.
Reid scanned the area for a good hiding place. The ivy reached her knees, trailing over rocks and up tree trunks. She approached one of the larger boulders and stretched out on her side, nestling below the ivy. The likelihood of a horse trampling her this close to the boulder was slim. She settled in, assuming she would be in this position for some time.
A moment later, rustling sounded to her right, about five feet away. “Are you okay?” she whispered.
“Yes. I ripped a section of my tunic off, then tied it around my arm to stop the bleeding. Once we’re safe, I’ll need to remove the arrowhead.”
The mere thought soured Reid’s stomach. She breathed in and out through her nose, trying to remain still and not make a sound. Her back began to throb where the arrows had struck her. Bone-deep bruises would no doubt blossom by tomorrow.
Birds chirped overhead. The wind rustled the leaves. The sun slowly moved across the sky, casting eerie shadows through the trees. Hours passed.
“I think it’s safe,” Dexter finally said.
“They’re probably looking for our bodies.” She carefully sat up, scanning the area for threats. Not seeing anyone, she stood and stretched.
“We need to return to the City of Radella by a different route.” Dexter sat, leaning against the boulder.
“I figured.”
“And we’ll have to walk.”
“How far is it?”
“Thirty miles.”
That wasn’t too bad. “We can’t go anywhere until we remove that arrowhead.”
He examined his arm. “It’s up high in the muscle. No major damage.”
Reid knelt at his side. “Take your shirt off so I can see what I’m dealing with.”
He raised his eyebrows. “I’m perfectly capable of removing the arrow.”
“Really? I thought you were right handed.”
“I am.”
“And you can use your left hand to remove an arrow from your right arm?”
“Sure.”
She rolled her eyes. “Come on. Let’s find some water to rinse the blood off.”
“Okay.” Dexter stood. “But we need to travel south, then to the east. I don’t want to deviate from that and end up lost.”
Reid agreed, and they set out. They trekked through the forest, neither talking in case the assassins were nearby.
“Is that the sound of water?” Reid whispered.
“It is. I have a vague idea of where we are.”
After a quarter of a mile, they came to a ten-foot-wide river, the water moving rapidly over rocks. “It doesn’t look very deep,” she said.
“It’s pretty shallow here. In other sections, you can’t even see the bottom.”
It was deep enough to clean Dexter’s wound. “Go ahead and remove your shirt,” Reid said as she squatted on the riverbank, thinking about what she needed to do. She hated this sort of thing. Back home, whenever her father or one of her sisters fell ill, Kamden always tended to them. Never Reid. “If you can’t, I’ll just rip your sleeve off.”
Not only did she not have the necessary tools to start a fire, but also starting one when they didn’t know the location of the assassins was probably a bad idea. In that case, heating the tip of her dagger and placing it on Dexter’s wound to cauterize it wasn’t an option.
Pulling out a dagger, she stuck it in the water to clean it.
Dexter removed his shirt, then tossed it on the ground.
Throughout Reid’s life, she’d seen plenty of men naked. When she’d sparred, most of her opponents had been shirtless. Even when she traveled with Ellington’s soldiers, she’d seen hundreds of men strip. They’d always assumed she was a he, so it never mattered. But this was different. Dexter knew she was a woman. Somehow, seeing his bare chest felt intimate. And Reid didn’t like intimate.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, sitting on the ground beside her.
“I’m just thinking about what needs to be done.” His shoulders were broad, his skin tan, and, holy kingdoms, the well-defined muscles of his stomach appeared as if etched from stone. She swallowed, mentally chiding herself. Now was not the time to drool. She needed to focus.
Imbedded parallel to his arm instead of inward, the arrow couldn’t be very deep. Using the tip of her dagger, she gently placed it at the edge of the arrowhead. “I’m going to try to push the arrow out.”
“I’ve never had a woman tend to me like this.”
“I’m sure Gytha has stitched you up once or twice.” Reid couldn’t believe she’d mentioned the warrior woman. As if she were jealous. Which she wasn’t.
He chuckled. “Oh, she has. She’s just not…how should I put it? As kind as you are?”
Reid felt her face heat at the compliment. At least she thought it was a compliment. Maybe it wasn’t. Taking a deep breath, she carefully pressed the dagger into his skin, then sideways, pushing the arrow out. It fell to the ground, blood spurting out of the wound. She grabbed Dexter’s shirt, dunking the bloodless sleeve in the water before cleaning the area around the wound. The blood kept oozing out, so she tore off a piece of fabric and pressed it against his arm.
“Hold this here,” she murmured. He did as instructed. Reid ripped off another piece of fabric, wrapping that piece around his arm to hold the fabric in place. “Hopefully, the bleeding will stop.”
“Reid.”
She peered into his eyes, wishing she hadn’t. A million questions and emotions swirled inside them.
“Why did you throw yourself in front of that arrow for me?” His low, rumbly voice made her shiver.
“I had to save you.” If she hadn’t, he’d be dead now.
“Why?”
She shrugged. “Because it was the right thing to do.” This close, his eyes were mesmerizingly beautiful. She couldn’t look away.
“And now? Why are you helping me?”
“I don’t know.”
“You could have let me fend for myself.”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. You couldn’t have removed the arrow without me.” Then, to ease the building tension, she picked up his shirt and rinsed the bloody sleeve in the water. When she finished, she handed it to him.
“Your turn.”
“What do you mean?” She wasn’t injured.
“Let me see your back. I want to make sure the tip didn’t cut you.”
“I’m fine.” It was the truth. She was sore, but fine. “We need to get moving.” She offered him a hand up.
Dexter grabbed her hand, using it to rise. “Did you get a look at their faces?”
“I did.”
“And did you recognize them?”
“Yes.”
Chapter Fourteen
The men who’d tried to kill Reid and Dexter had looked like the miners from Bridger. They had the same build, hair, and accent. As they trekked through the forest, Reid told Dexter about her previous encounters with the men, starting with the assassination attempt when she was with Ackley and Gordon and they’d been ambushed in the middle of the night. She thought it strange two dozen men had been sent to kill two princes, yet they’d failed. Which led her to believe that maybe they weren’t trained assassins. She explained how she spied on the men staying at the inn in the City of Buckley, telling Dexter how she found the journal indicating they planned to kill Ackley, Gordon, and Idina. Then, she finished with how she’d seen men resembling the assassins working in the mines in Bridger.
At first, she’d assumed Eldon must be working with Duke Bridger, employing the miners as assassins. However, some things didn’t add up. The men had a distinctive look, accent, and skin color. In all her studies about Marsden, she’d never learned about any county having such differences. “Do you think the men could be from another kingdom?” Reid asked.
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