He had no intention of letting Thana slip from his grasp that easily. Farin turned to struggle back up onto his horse. “Oh, I will find her, Sorna. You need not worry about that. I’m not about to be outrun by some damn girl.”
***
Thana rode throughout the day, but the pace had been slow. The fact she’d not ridden much since she’d been a child made her progress difficult. By the end of the day, she’d followed the obvious signs of Keiran’s army as far as the Maris Trading Post. The horse had been particularly patient with its inexperienced rider, plodding along obediently as Thana fidgeted and writhed in the saddle.
With a light snow beginning to drift through the trees above and the darkness growing, she slid from the saddle one last time. She staggered around for several minutes, trying to get feeling back into her legs again. Her entire body ached from the long ride, and Thana wondered how she would manage to keep going the next day.
When she was able to walk properly again, she pulled the saddle and bridle off the horse. It was left confined to a makeshift corral the soldiers had set up the day prior. There was a small amount of hay left in one corner of the pen, and the horse happily began to eat, shaking the snow off each mouthful. There was also a small trough filled with some water, but she had to break the ice on its surface so the animal could drink.
Thana lugged the horse’s tack and her own travel bags into an abandoned house adjacent to the corral. The soldiers had been inside the building and left a small amount of firewood near the fireplace. Being adept at fire starting, she had a respectable blaze going before long.
Thana sat there, letting the chill slowly dissipate from her body as she ate a small dinner of dried meat. With all the evidence of Keiran’s group around, she was confident of being on the right track.
If she reached where they had camped the day before every night, Thana knew she would be with Keiran soon. Getting to him and away from Farin was her only priority.
***
In the morning, Thana awoke to find the sun already up. She’d slept longer than she’d anticipated, being tired from the sheer stress of her situation. There wasn’t much for her to do other than get her horse saddled up again and leave. As she stood tucking away her last supplies, she heard a noise down the road in the direction she’d come from.
The girl froze and closed her eyes, listening as best she could with the snow-covered landscape muting all sound. There were hoof falls, and the sound of someone huffing as the horse he rode trotted along. Without being able to see who it was, Thana flew into a panic, knowing it was Farin.
She forced her still-aching body into the saddle and picked up the reins, urging her horse forward. Thana only took one glance back as she picked up speed, spotting Farin rounding a corner far behind her.
After riding most of the night, Farin was relieved when he spotted the girl ahead of him. With his own horse tiring and not able to carry his sizeable girth as quickly as Thana was going, he didn’t push it. If nothing else, he knew where she was headed, and there was still plenty of distance between them and the king’s entourage. He knew if he kept going slow and steady, he’d catch her again when she had to stop.
Racing down the road, Thana’s doubts about her ability to ride were brought to the forefront as she nearly fell from the saddle multiple times. Eventually, she let the horse slow down, knowing it couldn’t run forever. Though they never stopped, she kept her head turned, listening for the sounds of Farin’s pursuit.
She scanned the dense forest on either side of the road as she moved along, noticing the lack of snow on the ground there. Riding amongst the trees would make her tracks less obvious than moving down the center of the road.
She turned her horse to test this plan. Thana moved far enough away from the road, so she was relatively well hidden. Still, she remained within eyesight of the road, not wanting to risk getting lost in the forest.
She didn’t have an honest concept of where she was heading, just knowing it was south. If and when the road forked, she knew she’d still be able to determine which way the army had moved even with the snow falling.
She pushed on until well after dark, always fearing Farin would show up at some point. The snow continued all day, but the trees had kept her relatively dry.
When she encountered a small creek, she stopped for the night and set up a very basic camp. She dreaded making a fire, not wanting to show Farin where she was, but she had no choice. Thana would freeze to death without one.
Her sleep was uneasy, and she sat up after every sound in the forest. Thana began to hope desperately she’d come across Keiran the next day as the realization of how dangerous her situation was grew.
***
Farin hadn’t done any better. Traveling along the main road had been miserable. The snow soaked through his cloak and clothing, forcing him to stop.
He let the horse rest and graze while he built a fire and tried to dry out. His exhaustion from riding all night overtook him, and he slept for several hours until his fire burned out.
He awoke with a start and wondered how far ahead Thana had gotten. Farin got back on the road and tried to urge his horse along at a faster rate than before. Though he kept his eyes fixed on the path before him, he lost her tracks before late morning. He assumed they’d simply been covered by the increasing snow, not realizing she’d traveled off the road.
By evening, he gave up the chase for the day, believing Thana was somewhere close by. At least, he hoped that was the case. Conditions didn’t seem to be improving, and he couldn’t imagine Thana possessing many useful survival skills.
He set up camp in an abandoned roadside shack. Farin was starting to give serious consideration to his situation. As excited as he’d been about having Thana, his basic desire to survive was starting to eclipse his sex drive.
The longer he sat there thinking and shivering, the more he wondered about Thana’s chances. Maybe he’d lost her trail because she’d already died of exposure. He saw no evidence of her camping near the road. If she’d not managed to start a fire, surely the cold would finish her off.
His eating habits were burning through his provisions quicker than expected. Farin knew there wasn’t anywhere along the route they were on where he could get more supplies. All the towns between Edinau and Tordan Lea had shriveled up and died once shipping coal along the river had become popular. Little other traffic came up the trade road in their depressed economy.
Farin didn’t get any measure of quality sleep at all. Things seemed to be moving in the forest around him. Several times, he got up to stoke the fire. Each time, he would end up stepping from the shack to look around, thinking he heard something moving. While he chalked it up to his discomfort and misery, there was something scaring him about being alone.
By the time the sun appeared, the guard couldn’t take anymore. His food supply was decimated, and the weather showed no signs of improving. Farin reluctantly saddled his horse to start back toward the castle. He saw absolutely no way for Thana to have survived the night.
He still planned to retire from the guard, but he would wait until Keiran returned. Perhaps it would make him less of a suspect when Keiran discovered Thana was gone.
As he retreated, Farin grew certain Corina knew what he’d told Thana. If Thana was dead out in the forest somewhere then Sorna and Corina would be the only ones linking him to the young woman’s disappearance. Farin didn’t take any particular joy in the idea of killing Corina, but it was something he felt prepared to do.
In regards to Sorna, he believed she would be easy to control. She had given him her blessing to remove Thana from the castle, so she shared the blame. However, he had no issue with killing her if he began to question her ability to keep quiet.
Farin was willing to do anything he needed to keep the vampire from suspecting him. He regretted getting involved, realizing he’d been ill-prepared for the plan he’d concocted. Saving his own life was his only remaining goal.
***
On the fourth day of the trip out, Keiran’s scouts met up with his party. They were still half a day’s travel from both the destroyed military outpost and the town, but it was a buffering distance worth keeping.
Kanan and Keiran decided they should stop and set up camp while further reconnaissance was carried out. They needed proper estimations of how many Sadoris there were and what sort of equipment they had on hand.
Keiran was in the tent set up for him, flat out on a blanket and staring up at the fabric overhead. Jerris was within, sitting near him and watching over the small fire they had going. It was bitterly cold out, and the wind and snow were picking up outside. The tent stopped most of the wind, but it was still drafty within.
The young king wasn’t feeling well. The exertion of riding straight through for multiple days in the cold had sapped his strength. There had been no blood for him since they’d left, and it was starting to affect him.
On top of it, he was depressed from his separation from Thana and unable to get his mind off their last encounter. That wasn’t something he could admit to Jerris or anyone else, however. He was on the brink of a fight that would cost men their lives. His love life should have been the least of his worries at the time, and he was frustrated with himself.
Jerris remained at his side throughout. It was his duty to make sure Keiran was safe, though he didn’t feel like they were in any immediate danger. Perhaps the Sadoris were aware of their presence, but they’d not yet seen any sign of them.
Not that Jerris was eager for there to be any sign of the Sadoris. The impending fight was the last thing he wanted to engage in. It served to make him rather withdrawn and pensive. Much of the time, neither he nor Keiran had a lot to say. They were mutually comfortable in their silence.
Jerris studied Keiran closely and noticed the vampire wasn’t doing particularly well. The tent was warmer than outside, thanks to the fire, but with the hole in the top to let the smoke out, cold air was constantly pulled within. Keiran was covered with a few blankets, but he looked pale and was shivering.
“Do you think you’re going to be up for whatever will happen as soon as the Sadoris realize we’re up here?” he asked.
The cold made Keiran slow to respond, and when he did, his voice was quiet. “I don’t know. I wasn’t really sure what I was supposed to expect out here.”
“You need blood, don’t you?”
“Aye.”
Jerris drew in a long breath and reached up with his free hand, running it through his hair. “We have to get you some before things escalate. You won’t be any good in a fight like you are right now.”
Keiran narrowed his eyes and rolled onto his side, propping up on one arm. “I’m not that bad off. I’ll be fine.”
“I’m not so—” Jerris stopped midsentence and stood up quickly, turning toward the tent door.
Keiran, his senses dulled from thirst and cold, took a little longer to register the sound of men shouting in the distance. He scrambled up as well, and both he and the redhead moved outside.
In the darkness and snowfall, there wasn’t much to see, but there were men calling out to one another in the forest around their camp. The sentries had spotted Sadoris nearby, and everyone in the camp was going for their weapons, but no one knew exactly what was happening.
***
The third night after Thana had run from the castle found her again camped off the main road. Her progress had slowed further due to the worsening weather, and she wondered if she was even on the right path anymore. Her constant fear of Farin catching her had prompted the young woman to stay amongst the trees. While she’d been fairly careful to pay attention to the road, the evidence the military had passed by had been finally erased by the snowfall.
Traveling alone, snow or not, she’d covered a good distance. Thana would have been surprised to learn that she’d made it within an hour’s ride of where Keiran’s men had set up camp.
She continued to give thought to Farin sneaking up on her at any time. A part of her now worried he was simply going to keep a distant eye on her and watch her die alone in the forest. Perhaps he’d already turned back, knowing she’d succumb to the increasing cold. Whatever the case was, Thana wasn’t giving up on reaching Keiran.
It was much harder that evening to find wood dry enough to start a fire with. A genuine worry over her survival crept in as the hours passed without a fire being made. She knew failure would inevitably result in her death, and her hands shook more out of fear as she worked than from cold.
Just as the last hint of daylight faded, one of her attempts actually worked. Thana kept her entire body slumped over the small flame, trying to keep the frigid wind and snow from killing it. Several minutes passed by with all of her attention focused on the growing blaze, but then she heard something.
Her head snapped up, and she jumped to her feet, looking around the darkened forest. Thana knew where the horse was tied, and the sound had distinctly come from somewhere else. There was another sound, faint, but in her heightened state of fear she turned toward it immediately.
Someone was out there, walking. Though they were trying to be quiet, the pine needles and snow littering the ground made stealth difficult.
A twist of panic seized her chest, and Thana quickly pulled the knife Corina had given her from where she’d hung it on her belt. She turned and started to run through the trees, hoping to disappear into the forest. The horse had already been unsaddled, something she immediately regretted as it limited her escape options.
Running further, she came to a small clearing between the trees and halted. There were multiple sets of prints in the snow around her. While Thana initially worried Farin had found her, now she knew it wasn’t the case at all. She sensed multiple men hiding in the forest, every instinct in her body pushing her to escape.
She darted through the clearing and back into the trees on the other side. Surely, if these were Keiran’s men they would have announced themselves. She gave passing consideration to them being Church Knights, but that didn’t seem likely, either.
As she ran, she glanced over her shoulder, but she couldn’t take her eyes off of her path long, or she’d trip. The trail she left in the snow was glaringly obvious to anyone in pursuit. All they needed to do was look at the ground to follow her.
Though she was physically fit, she was faltering and losing the strength to run any further. The terrible cold made her breaths agonizing. The dry air leeched all the moisture from her throat and mouth.
She was forced to stop, trying to ward off a bout of coughing, brought on by the cold air. Thana tried to listen for anyone approaching, but her ears were filled with the white noise of her blood rushing and heart pounding.
After several moments, she calmed down enough to slow her breathing and ease the pain in her chest. Thana continued to listen for movement but neither heard nor saw anything. Nothing appeared to be moving in front of her, so she silently leaned to the side to look around a tree.
A hand was quickly put over her mouth, and an arm tightened down over her neck from behind. Thana tried to scream in her terror, but the hand was clamped down hard enough to keep any real sound from coming out. Her arms were still free beneath her cloak, and she stabbed back with the knife, feeling the blade hit something with resistance before sinking in.
The man immediately let go, a dull grunt of pain coming from him. Thana moved forward several steps before looking back to see who had grabbed her.
He was dressed in black and stooped forward, both hands pressed against his stomach. He was leaning heavily against the tree she’d hidden behind. He lifted his head for a moment before calling out something in a language that she didn’t understand.
Out of the darkness around her, men appeared from nowhere. She slowly turned around in a complete circle, seeing she was surrounded by four others, and they were all holding blades forward much more substantial than hers.
One of the men stepped forward and eyed her before speaking to her
directly in the foreign tongue. She had no way of comprehending what he was saying, though his quick hand gestures toward her knife and then the ground were clear enough.
Thana didn’t drop her blade, however. These men weren’t Tordanians, and she wasn’t about to surrender to them. She tightened her hold around the knife’s handle and held it out before her, unsure of what to do but remaining in complete defiance.
The man grew annoyed and raised his voice, taking a few more steps toward her, undeterred by her bravado. While he approached and had her attention, another of the men behind her moved forward as well.
Thana was struck in the back and reeled forward, falling to the ground. The kick had been hard enough to knock the wind from her lungs. As she lay sprawled in the snow, the man before her rushed forward and stepped down on the hand she held the knife in. The sudden weight crushing her hand made her want to cry out, but she couldn’t find her voice.
The man bent down and wrenched the knife from her hand. He stood up and looked at it before saying something that made the others laugh. His black eyes focused down on her, and he barked out another sharp series of orders she couldn’t understand.
Though she was scared, she was also incredibly angry. Thana might not have known exactly where she was, but she was damn sure she was still in her own country, and these men had no business there.
The one who’d kicked her in the back said something to the injured man leaning against the tree. He then stepped forward, grabbed her braid at the nape of her neck and jerked her up to her knees.
Her hands came up and reached back to grab the shirt of the man behind her. She desperately tried to take some of the strain off of her hair. Thana stopped struggling, however, when she felt the man’s curved knife press against her throat.
There were several more curt words between the man holding her, the one against the tree and the other before her who’d taken her knife. Thana wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but she was almost certain she was about to be killed.
The Queen Maker Page 10
