by Jocelyn Fox
“I don’t know,” said the Princess musingly, glancing about the shady forest. “I like the trees. I feel surrounded by life. By leaves and the wind and all the small creatures moving about that we can’t see.”
“Or the large creatures moving about like the garrelnost?” Lady Rose asked with a giggle.
“That’s hardly something to joke about,” said the more serious Lady Guinna.
“Oh, Cory, I was just joking,” replied Lady Rose, flicking her braid over her shoulder. Lady Guinna rolled her eyes at the hated nickname but held her silence. “Besides,” continued Lady Rose, “we have Knight Finnead and our valiant Guards to slay any creature that dares attack us.”
Finn felt a prickle of uneasiness at the lady’s cavalier mention of the strange creatures, but he forced himself to smile as Lady Rose looked over her shoulder at him expectantly. “Indeed, my lady, your safety is our entire purpose for coming along on this journey.”
“Safety and closeness to the Princess,” murmured Lady Rose saucily.
“Rose, must you really try to provoke me?” asked Andraste.
“I’m not trying to provoke you, my lady,” said Lady Rose with an exaggerated expression of injured innocence. “I’m just stating what’s plain to everyone.”
“Well, you can take your observations up to the front of the column with the Guards,” Andraste said, her tone brooking no argument. Rose pouted slightly but touched her heels to her faehal’s sides.
“I swear, I’m waiting for her to call me Andy, and then I can properly yell at her,” Andraste murmured to Finn.
“You could properly yell at her any time you wished, my lady,” said Guinna from ahead of them.
“Just because I can doesn’t mean I should,” replied Andraste. “Just as you shouldn’t insert yourself into the conversation I am attempting to have with Knight Finnead.”
“Yes, my lady,” said the steady Guinna, turning to face ahead.
Andraste sighed.
“Is everything alright?” asked Finn, even though he disliked asking such a question. Lately, it felt as though every question had the potential to begin a conversation that would spiral out of control in one way or another.
“We have less privacy here than we did at Darkhill,” Andraste replied unhappily. She glanced at him. “Would we be able to go hunting as Ramel and Rye did?”
“The Guards will not let you out of their sight, unless you’re in the tent during the night,” Finn pointed out almost gently.
“They would if you told them to,” said Andraste.
“That’s not exactly how it works,” Finn replied cautiously, feeling as though he were blundering into some sort of trap.
“No,” Andraste said with a surprising amount of vehemence, “you just don’t want to tell them that we are going somewhere alone together, because you’re afraid of the damage to your precious reputation.”
“Perhaps it isn’t my reputation that I’m concerned about,” he said in a carefully neutral voice.
“And perhaps I don’t want you to be concerned about mine,” replied Andraste hotly.
Finn took a deep breath. He noticed that Lady Guinna had sped up her mount, giving them space, and he sighed. “I don’t understand how you expect me to disregard all rules of courtesy and respect.”
“That’s not what I’m asking,” retorted Andraste. “I’m just asking you to have a bit of a spine and not let your damn rules and regulations hamstring you!” She shook her head, pressing her lips together. “Perhaps that’s why my sister chose you for me. You’re too bound by your precious rules to ever be a threat.”
Finn stared at her, stunned by her words and trying hard not to show his surprise and hurt. After a few moments, he said stiffly, “It is not your sister’s choice. It is yours.”
“And perhaps I should make a different one,” Andraste snapped. Then she sucked in a breath as though she had just realized the meaning of her words, and her lips trembled as she set her heels to her faehal’s sides and rode up alongside Lady Guinna.
Finn tried to brush away the hurt inflicted by Andraste’s words, but his chest felt bruised by their impact. Nothing is assured, he told himself, especially not the affection of so beautiful a woman as the Princess. She had every right to change her mind, though the prospect of seeing her with another consort wrenched his heart.
Behind him, he heard Lady Rye quietly speak to Orin as she guided her mount past his on the path. She drew her faehal beside his, matching his pace. They rode silently for a few moments before she spoke.
“Lady Andraste is young and high-spirited,” Rye said, “which does not give her leave to act so. But she does not know any other way, growing up as the heir to the throne.”
“She wishes to make her own choices,” said Finn wearily. “If I was chosen for her by the Queen, perhaps she’s right to turn away.”
Rye sighed. “If she said that, Finn, I’m truly sorry. Sometimes she doesn’t think about the hurt she’s inflicting.” They rode for another few moments in silence and then Rye continued. “For what it’s worth, I think she loves you, and that scares her. She wants to rebel against her sister, but she feels what she does for you, and that makes her angry at herself.”
Finn shook his head. “I don’t pretend to understand the inner workings of the heir to the throne.”
Rye smiled. “Oh, I don’t either. I’m just offering things as I see them.” She tilted her head. “For all her talk about choice, Andraste forgets that you have a choice, too.”
“And sometimes that’s the problem,” replied Finn with a sigh. “I love her, Rye, but I fear that I’ll have to choose between her and my sword.”
“No one should expect you to give up what you’ve earned,” said Rye quietly.
“Just because it shouldn’t happen doesn’t mean it won’t,” Finn said.
“That’s all too true. And the inverse as well,” said Rye. “Just because something should happen doesn’t mean it will.”
“Something like allowing women to train?”
“That’s a deft change of subject, so I’ll allow it,” she said with a smile.
“I’ve been thinking about it more and more lately,” admitted Finn. He still ached from Andraste’s words, but the pain receded as he turned his thoughts to another subject.
“Don’t flatter me by saying it’s because you watched me throwing an axe,” Rye laughed.
“It’s only flattery if it’s not true,” he rejoined. “And besides, it would be rather callow of me to try to speak sweet words to my squire’s paramour.”
“Oh, we are far from paramours,” chuckled Rye. “Though it’s certainly headed in that direction.”
“I don’t want to know details,” said Finn, putting up a hand.
“I don’t’ want to know details about you either, but I don’t have a choice in the matter,” said Rye teasingly. “I suppose that’s the price of being the Princess’s confidante.”
Finn groaned. “I would have been perfectly happy never knowing that.”
“All good things,” said Rye encouragingly. “Well, besides the fact that you won’t, you know, pluck the Princess’s flower, if you know what I mean.”
“I do, and I’d also be perfectly happy if we never speak of it again.”
Rye chuckled but then abruptly fell silent, her face quickly wiped of its humor as she gazed into the shadows about the path in sudden concentration. Finn instantly straightened and searched the forest on his side of the path. Rye’s instincts were alarm enough for him.
“Something’s following us,” she murmured, her sharp gaze still roaming the trees.
Finn put two fingers to his mouth and sounded the short, shrill whistle that served as the warning call between him and the Guards. Halin and Elias didn’t stop, but he saw them shift in their saddles, their heads swiveling as they alertly watched for any threats.
“I’m going to ride with the Princess,” he said, but as he put his heels to his mount’s sides, Rye grabbed h
is shoulder roughly with one hand and pulled her axe free with the other. She almost jerked him off his faehal as she wheeled both their mounts; his hand found his sword hilt as a garrelnost burst from the undergrowth, its claws raking through the air where he would have been if Rye hadn’t stopped him. His charger whinnied in challenge as the creature snarled and gathered for another leap, its scarlet eyes fixing on Rye. She grinned and maneuvered her faehal with her knees as she drew another blade with her other hand, standing up in her stirrups as she threw her axe.
The axe buried itself in the creature’s shoulder and it howled in rage. Finn’s charger shouldered Rye’s smaller mount aside, and Finn heard the shouts from farther down the path. His blood ran cold. Was there more than one of the beasts? Elias and Halin were with the Princess, he reminded himself firmly, focusing on the snarling creature in front of him. It was only slightly bigger than the Queen’s hunting hounds, but it stank of death and decay in a way he wouldn’t have believed possible of a living creature. He watched as it crouched, ready to spring, and only his years of working with his charger warned him in enough time to grab the great black war steed’s mane as his mount reared and struck the garrelnost in midair with its hooves.
The garrelnost crashed to the ground, stunned, and Finn leapt down, thrusting his sword through the creature’s chest. Two arrows thudded into its side in rapid succession. It shuddered and then lay still. Finn wrenched his blade free and turned to find Ramel with his bow still raised. He nodded to his squire, then leapt back onto his mount and urged him forward.
The two Guards had dispatched another, smaller garrelnost that had jumped onto the path between them and the ladies. Lady Guinna attempted unsuccessfully to calm a hysterical Lady Rose, and Princess Andraste sat pale and silent on her mount. The travelers converged in a tight knot on the path, Ramel wheeling his mount to face the rear, his bow still in his hand.
“That’s the first time I’ve heard that two of them have worked together,” said Halin. Elias nodded grimly and then went back to binding a bloody scratch on his forearm.
“Is anyone injured gravely?” asked Finn in a voice loud enough for the entire party to hear.
“Just a shallow cut,” replied Elias.
“The ladies are all fine,” said Halin.
“How can you say we’re fine?” wailed Lady Rose. “Those creatures could have killed us!”
“And they may yet, if you keep up your caterwauling loud enough to lead them to us,” snapped Andraste. Lady Rose looked at her in shock. Andraste shifted her gaze to Finn. “We’re all fine,” she said firmly.
“I was mostly useless during that altercation,” said Orin sheepishly. “I didn’t even get close to the beasts.”
“No wounds for me or the rearguard,” said Rye.
“We should keep moving,” said Finn. “There may be more of them.”
“More?” said Lady Rose in a quavering voice. She took a deep breath.
“I swear, if you scream again I’m going to slap you,” said Lady Guinna severely. Lady Rose satisfied herself with a whimper.
“Ladies, please remain calm, and if there is another attack, do your best to stay out of the way,” said Elias. “Guard Halin and I will still ride first, but please stay close behind us. Lady Rye and Knight Finnead, if you could ride either side of the Princess, and then the Walker and squire will bring up the rear.”
Finnead briskly cleaned his sword of gore and maneuvered to Andraste’s side. She looked dissatisfied with the arrangements, but her approval was not his concern right now – her safety was. Rye drew even with her on the other side, still holding her blood-streaked axe; it was a tight fit riding three abreast, especially with his large charger, but he ignored the snorts of the faehal and focused on watching the shadows. Andraste’s mount shied and balked at stepping over the second carcass, and he grabbed its reins. It squealed in protest as he dragged it unwillingly forward.
“You don’t have to hurt her,” objected Andraste sharply.
“A bit of discomfort for your mount is better than putting you in jeopardy by letting its antics slow our progress,” replied Finn firmly. Though his senses were on high alert, his mind was also racing. Halin was right: it was the first time they’d seen more than one garrelnost in the same vicinity, much less launching a coordinated attack. What did it mean, and why had they attacked now?
Perhaps they knew the Princess was traveling in this party, said Kieran’s voice speculatively. Finn dismissed the thought. It was ridiculous to think that the strange beasts possessed the intelligence necessary to single out a target…his heart sank as he realized that the two garrelnost had indeed tried to separate the Princess from her protectors. One had leapt behind the two Guards, and the other in front of him and Rye, leaving the Princess and her two frightened ladies caught between them. He swore under his breath. The faster they reached the White City, the better. He would only feel assured of Andraste’s safety once the gates of the City closed behind them.
“They were targeting Andraste,” said Rye in a low voice, glancing at him.
“I know,” he replied.
“That’s ridiculous,” protested the Princess, shaking her head. “They’re just foul creatures that attack anything moving through their territory…aren’t they?”
“That’s what we assumed,” said Rye. “But if they’re anything like wolves, they could work together to target specific prey.”
“Prey?” repeated Andraste, her voice much less assured. “But why? Why would I seem more attractive to things that just want to kill and eat us?”
“Perhaps they don’t want to kill and eat you,” replied Rye bluntly.
“Finn, what is she talking about?” demanded Andraste.
“Keep your voice down,” he told her, thinking hard. She pressed her mouth into a thin line and stared forward. They rode in silence for a tense hour, their faehal snorting in protest when they were jostled by one of the other mounts.
“Do you sense anything more?” Finn asked Rye quietly.
She shook her head. “Not that I hear. Everything went silent before that last attack. But it’s still possible there are more out there.”
Finn nodded and then raised his voice. “Let’s halt for a moment. Ladies, if you’d like to dismount, stay right by your faehal. Elias and Halin, let’s discuss our path forward.”
“I’ll keep watch near the ladies,” said Rye, hefting her axe. Finn nodded his thanks as the small party came to a stop. Rye remained mounted, taking the watch from the two Guards with a nod.
Finn didn’t waste any time. “That was a coordinated attack,” he said. Elias glanced at Halin, who was already nodding. “They tried to cut away the protective detail from the Princess.”
“What do you propose we do?” said Elias.
“Two of us on either side of the Princess at all times. One forward, and one as rearguard. Orin is trained in the basics of self-defense, isn’t he?”
“My brother is less than talented with a blade, but he can manage,” replied Halin.
Finn nodded. “Lady Rye is more than capable, so if we need to rotate her forward or rear that would be fine. We’ll double the nightly watch, and if there are no objections, I’m going to include her in that as well.”
“Five in the watch rotation is better than four,” said Halin.
“Long as she and your squire don’t distract each other,” said Elias.
“That won’t happen,” Finn said firmly. “Tonight, we will send Orin to report the incident to the head of his guild, who should then report it to one of the Queen’s Three.”
“Should we send him right now?” Halin asked, frowning.
Finn considered. “We aren’t asking for reinforcements, and none of us are injured. I’d rather keep covering ground. Elias?”
“Agreed,” said the other Guard. He shook his head slightly. “I don’t like it one bit, though.”
“I don’t think any of us do,” said Finn, “but we dealt with the situation. The creat
ures are dead, and we just need to be vigilant.”
“But why were there two of them, and why were they singling out the Princess?” Halin asked. “It just doesn’t make any sense for the beasts.”
“Unless they’re being controlled by some other force,” said Elias quietly.
“Some other force? Like what?”
“If I knew, I’d be the first to say,” responded Elias.
“Regardless of why the attack happened, our mission remains the same,” Finn said firmly. “We’re here to protect the Princess at any cost. I say we continue on the road to the White City rather than turning back.”
“I agree,” said Halin. After a moment, Elias nodded.
“We will push the pace harder, take fewer breaks and cut our training sessions short in the morning. I don’t want to cause the ladies undue hardship, but I’d rather they were sore than dead.”
“More like they’ll hate you,” said Halin with an attempt at a grin.
“If they can hate me, that means they’re alive,” Finn replied grimly. The Guard’s smile faded. “All right. Let’s get moving again.”
“I’ll take forward,” said Halin, already mounting.
“I’m going to go speak to my squire, and then I’ll join you with the Princess,” said Finn to Elias, who nodded. As he passed their Walker, Finn clapped the shaken man on the shoulder. “You have a dagger, yes?”
“And a short sword,” said Orin unsteadily. “But I’m afraid Halin got all the talent for fighting.”
“If a creature leaps at you, just remember, shove the pointy end toward it,” said Rye over her shoulder. If the situation hadn’t been so dire, Finn would have chuckled at the look on Orin’s face.
Ramel steadfastly guarded the rear of the group, not even turning at Finn’s arrival. He did nod slightly and murmur, “Sir.”
“Those were two well placed arrows,” Finn said, standing beside his squire and staring back down the path they’d just traveled. Sunlight filtered down across the path, illuminating floating motes of dust and burnishing the leaves gold. Birds chirped and rustled in the trees, and occasionally a small animal scurried through the undergrowth. It was hard to reconcile the idyllic forest with the foul creatures and their sudden violent attack.
