The following morning, many of us woke early to join the hunt. Sabine, now back in her old chambers, insisted upon going despite her frail state.
“If I am going to be the future queen, the people will need to see me and know that I am not a monster.”
I bit my lip and refrained from answering. I feared she was pushing herself too hard.
The journey to the forest, a pleasant trip through the rolling countryside, was only an hour’s ride. I reflected on my last journey outside the confines of the palace and lamented the fact that I felt no closer to the truth than I had before.
Duke Wodell had joined the party, and he sang an off-key drinking song as we rode. Adair and a few other young men joined in at the chorus. Birds in the trees scattered from the racket they were making. Some of the older men scolded them, saying they would scare away all the game.
“We are just having a bit of fun.” Adair smiled at the nobleman who had complained. “Is there any honor in sneaking up on your opponent anyway?”
The man opened and closed his mouth without reply and then trotted off and away. The young men laughed and continued their song. The path widened as we drew upon a clearing within the copse of trees. Servants who had come ahead had prepared a picnic area for us, and they laid out an assortment of breads, meats and cheeses. Royal servants hurried forward to help us from our mounts and to care for the horses.
I hovered over Sabine, intent on making sure she did not strain herself. We took a seat on the blanket set aside for Sabine and her ladies. Servants brought us platters of food and goblets of wine. I was watching Sabine, making sure she ate her food, when a shadow loomed over me. Layton stood above us.
“Ladies, might I join you?” he said.
“It would be a pleasure, your grace,” Sabine said, motioning to an empty space upon our blanket.
Adair, some few feet away on a blanket set aside for the hunters, called out, “Layton, you incorrigible flirt, leave the ladies alone and impress them with your prowess on the hunt like the rest of us.”
“I, unlike you, brother, know women are not amused by blood sport but prefer a listening ear.”
Adair fell back as if struck to the heart. The other young men shouted and catcalled in response. A few chastised him about the way of women, reminding him he, too, would have a woman to answer to soon.
Sabine looked down at her plate during this proceeding, and I placed my hand over hers to comfort her. She gave me a small smile.
“I apologize for that,” Layton said.
Sabine nodded, but the cheer had evaporated from her countenance.
“I came here to congratulate you on your betrothal, Princess.”
“Your grace is very kind.”
“If my mother were here, I am sure she would say the same.” Layton gave me a poignant look. A servant handed him a platter, which he took. I straightened and tried to decipher what he wished to tell me without being too obvious.
“She is a kind woman. Have you heard word from her since she left court?” Sabine said. If she suspected the underlying message to me in Layton’s words, she made no indication of it.
“Very little, I fear she will forget her only son.” He laughed, and Sabine forced a few half-hearted chuckles.
As he spoke, my mind sped through my thoughts. He was trying to tell me something about Damara, but I could not fathom what.
“Maea, have you chosen a champion?” Layton said.
“No, I have not.”
“If you have not chosen, would you do me the honor of letting me wear your favors? My wife is not here, and I would hate to be the only man without one.” He smirked, but the message was clear. He wanted to talk alone.
“It would be my pleasure.” I bowed my head.
I glanced towards Adair. He would surely be Sabine’s champion. It was not as if I had any other man to give my favors to. I thought of Johai and felt a pang of unwanted longing. If he and Earvin were one and the same, I had failed to prove that fact. He had not made a repeat appearance. I glanced also towards Earvin and Beau, who hovered not far from us. I startled at seeing them whispering to one another. Beau caught me staring and nodded his head abruptly in my direction.
Earvin came over to me and kneeled beside my blanket. “My lady?”
I squirmed at our close proximity, but I did lean forward enough to whisper in his ear. “What were you and Sabine’s guard talking about so seriously.”
“Nothing of import, my lady. If that is all, I should get back to my watch.”
I dismissed him with a wave of my hand, though I watched him from the corner of my eye. He and Beau moved a step farther away, and they turned so I could not see their mouths. I resolved to keep an eye on the pair of them just to be certain.
Once the luncheon was over and the servants cleared away our dining things, the huntsman brought out the bows and arrows. The master of kennels brought out the hounds. They bayed and tugged at their leads, eager to begin. Maidens loosed ribbons and trinkets to serve as tokens for their champions. Sabine removed a crimson ribbon she had around her wrist and tied it around Adair’s bow. Layton stood and bowed deeply to me.
“My lady, I shall fight for your honor.”
I forced a laugh. “As you should.”
“Might I have the honor of your token?”
I removed a broach from my bodice. I moved in close as if to pin it to his lapel.
“Tell me quickly. What is going on?” I said under my breath.
“I fear Sabine’s life may still yet be at risk. My mother has enemies all around, and they are not pleased to see a Neaux bride succeed to the throne.”
I attempted to keep my expression neutral though my stomach dropped. “Thank you, but why are you willing to betray your mother so?”
I looked up into his face, so similar to his mother’s. His green eyes closed as he said, “Because she is a murderer.”
My hands fumbled on the pin, and I pricked my finger.
“Layton, hurry up before we leave you behind,” a young man shouted for him.
“I must go. We shall speak more on this later.” He squeezed the top of my arm before running off to join the other young men.
Tokens exchanged, the men jumped into the saddles.
The dogs, sensing the start, grew into a frenzy. Servants rushed forward, handing out the bows and arrows to the men astride. Each man had a different colored arrow to mark his kills. A servant with yellow-fletched arrows bustled past me, and I watched his progress. He hurried over to the group where I had last seen Beau and Earvin standing. I had to get to Beau and warn him. I was impeded however when Duchess Magdale stepped into my path.
“Lady Diranel,” she greeted me.
“Your grace, I am sorry for my impropriety, but I am in a bit of a hurry.”
That moment’s delay, however, was just enough time for Beau to slip away. I watched his retreating form with a quiver of yellow arrows on his back. The dogs were unleashed, and the hunt began. I hurried after them a few paces before it became apparent I would never catch them. I have to protect her, I thought, the hunt was crawling with armed men. It would be all too easy for someone to double back and dispatch Sabine.
I stared unseeing, my mind working through ten different scenarios, one in which I jumped in the saddle of the nearest horse and went after Beau. Why would he leave Sabine so? What possible motive would he have to join the hunt? Someone had to warn him. I wished Layton had not left for the hunt. I knew he would protect Sabine. I turned when I felt a hand at my elbow.
“My lady, you seem pale. Perhaps you should return to the shade.” Earvin held me by the elbow, not moving.
“Earvin, Sabine is in danger. You must help me protect her.”
“You have had too much sunlight,” he insisted.
I stared at him, wondering why he was so insistent on pulling me away. That is when it dawned on me, Beau disappearing into the forest was no accident, and Earvin knew it. I thought Beau cared for Sabine. There was no w
ay he would harm her, at least that’s what I wanted to believe, but Earvin had been in Damara’s charge, and if Damara did not want Sabine on the throne…
“I am fine,” I said tartly, and I strode back over to where Sabine was sitting chatting with Vian and Odell.
When I returned, she looked up at me and gave me a half smile.
“You should relax. The men may be a while yet.” Why was everyone insistent on me resting? I did not have time to relax. Sabine’s life was in danger, and I had no one I could trust to protect her.
“I’m fine, really.”
I could not easily dissuade her, and she would not hear otherwise until I sat and had some more wine. I did so mulishly, all the while scanning the horizon for a possible assassin. I had saved her once, I reasoned, and I could do it now. Though I had to admit, I had help last time. Despite that fact, I was determined to protect her, no matter the cost.
The minutes dragged by with agonizing delay. The women left behind circulated, chatting and nibbling on pastries. At some point, the duchess came over, and I introduced her halfheartedly to Sabine. They chatted for a while about the cultural differences between their respective countries and with the cultures of Danhad. I sipped my wine, my mind elsewhere.
Time passed; I grew more restless.
There were few men left behind aside from Earvin and a few personal guards. There were royal servants as well, including Darton, the queen’s head guard. I considered appealing to him for help before realizing Damara was in her pocket, and I was certain what Damara did was at the queen’s behest.
Conversation stilled, and the three of us sat in strained silence for a time. I considered a series of conversation starters—an inconspicuous way of taking Sabine aside and addressing my concern—none seemed prudent.
Duchess Magdale broke the silence. “Lady Diranel, perhaps you can resolve a debate between us?”
“Oh?”
“Yes. It’s about our dear prince, you have been… intimate… with him, have you not?”
My cheeks colored at the insinuation, and I wondered if Sabine caught on. I peered at her from the corner of my eye and noticed she was a darker shade than normal.
I recomposed myself and answered, “That is the rumor, isn’t it?”
Duchess Magdale checked herself only for a moment. “Well, Sabine and I have a wager. We’re in agreement the prince will return the victor of the hunt, but we differ on how he shall return victorious, with the most sport or the biggest? Which do you think?”
I saw through her unsubtle taunting. She hoped to trip me up. No matter which I chose, I am sure she would have had a sharp retort, which would have made me out to look the harlot, therefore I chose neither. “I think the manner of win matters not to him; merely that he wins.”
If she hoped to humiliate me in front of Sabine, she had chosen a poor time to do it. I was of no mind for games.
“You and the prince must be close for you to answer so confidentially,” she replied.
“I have found learning about someone is the best way to earn their confidence. It works much better than undermining them.”
It was her turn to color. She cleared her throat and said, “Well, it was delightful speaking with you ladies, but I must return to my darling husband. He must be bored alone with all these women.” She smiled and flipped her hair before sauntering away.
The clatter of hooves made my heartbeat quicken. It was much too early for the men to return. Three men broke into the clearing. Adair had a blanched Layton in the front of his saddle. A yellow-fletched arrow lodged into his chest just below his shoulder. Blood streamed from the wound, covering him in crimson. All the feeling drained from my body. Not Layton. I ran forward as everyone jumped up at once. Voices overlapped one another, giving advice and shouting orders.
Layton grimaced as they lowered him into a lying position on the ground. I kneeled beside him, my hands hovering over his bloodstained torso, and tears fell from my eyes. I stared at the crimson blood staining the broach I had given him, then reluctantly up to the yellow-fletched arrow.
“What happened?” I demanded.
Adair, pale faced, kneeled beside me. “The fool jumped in front of me and took the arrow.”
I had never seen Adair the way he looked at Layton.
All of his defenses came down in that moment, and I saw a scared boy afraid to lose his best friend.
“Someone call a magiker!” he shouted.
“The party was scattered by an over-large boar. Arrows were flying, people panicked, the boar injured at least five men, and then…” Duke Wodell’s voice carried over me, and I listened with half an ear.
Layton opened his eyes and groaned as he attempted to shift into a more comfortable position. “Beau shot me,” Layton croaked. “Adair and I were separated from the others, and he came out of the forest with his bow drawn. I acted as quickly as I could.”
“You’re a fool,” I admonished.
“He is our future king.” Layton laughed and then winced. The stain on his lapel was growing at an alarming rate.
“I am not sure we can get the Magiker here in time. He is losing a lot of blood…” The voices washed over me as I held Layton’s hand.
“It does not make you any less of an idiot.” I felt my throat grow tight.
“Maea, I was wrong. They were not after Sabine. My mother, Johai, and Beau, they were after Adair. She was going to kill him to put me on the throne.”
“Hush now.”
“I guess I’ve foiled her plans.”
I brushed away the tears with an angry hand. “Quiet, you are not going anywhere.”
“I can heal him.”
I turned my head to see Earvin standing above Layton and I.
“You—” But before I could finish my sentence, Earvin’s countenance grew blurry as if I were looking at him from underwater. The color of his hair and eyes changed, the shape of his body contorted, and then suddenly Earvin was gone, and Johai stood in his place.
Men gasped, and one woman screamed. I could only stare at him, feeling a poignant combination of betrayal and joy.
“You lied to me,” was all I could say.
“Maea, now is not the time. A man’s life is on the line.” He gently nudged me out of the way and leaned over Layton. “I am going to have to remove this, and I apologize I do not have herbs to ease your pain.”
Layton nodded his head as if preparing for pain. Johai wrapped his hands around the shaft and pulled. The arrow came free with a sickening pop. Blood gushed to the surface, and I feared Layton would die.
Johai removed a bundle from within his waist pocket and pressed it to the wound. The bundle absorbed the blood, but it quickly seeped outside of it. He pressed one hand to the wound and muttered something under his breath at the same time.
The air around them stirred, and the hairs on the back of my neck tingled. The speed of his words and the language he used were unfamiliar to me, and for the briefest moment, I thought I saw the face of the specter concentrating on Layton’s wound.
He pulled away his hand and then the bundle and revealed undamaged skin. Adair and the few who were close enough to see and hear stood back at first, but they had heard as I had. Johai was a traitor.
“Seize him!” Adair shouted.
A few guards ran to apprehend Johai, but they flew backwards as if they were child’s toys being dashed away.
“I saved your friend, and this is how you return the favor?” Johai said to Adair.
“You are the son of a traitor, who remained in this kingdom only by Damara’s design. Who, it seems, has betrayed this country as well. You have run out of mercy, Johai.”
“I would not expect any less of you. Do not try to follow me, or it will spell your death.”
Johai spoke an incantation, and a blinding light issued from him. We turned away, and when the light subsided, he was gone.
Adair turned to his guards. “Find him and Beau. Do not rest until they are brought to justice.”
I remained seated on the ground, too stunned to speak. Adair turned to me, and the malice in his eyes frightened me. “He was your guard this whole time, and you did not tell me!”
“I did not know,” I cried, and tears fell.
Layton came and put his arm around my shoulder.
Adair shook himself and then said in a softer tone, “I apologize. It has been a trying day. You, Sabine, and Layton should return to the palace. It is not safe out here any longer.”
I thought to ask him to join us, just so I could be certain he would be safe, but thought better of it. Who was I to make demands of him? Layton led me away over to Sabine, who was pale as linen. She looked ready to collapse. I moved to her side, giving her a supportive shoulder. She looked up to me as I wrapped an arm around her.
“I did not… I never…”
“Don’t worry, I believe you,” I murmured to comfort her.
I felt numb. As much as I tried to deny it, the truth was plain now. Johai and Damara were traitors.
Chapter Twenty-one
Sabine stared at her reflection. While Odell and Vian chatted excitedly, fussing over the silk of her gown and complimenting the beading on the bodice, Sabine continued to stare as if unseeing. She ran a brush through her hair, seemingly lost in her own thoughts. She had every right; today was her wedding day.
“Ladies, will you check that the footmen are prepared for the entrance?” I said as a means to leave Sabine and I a moment alone.
“Yes, my lady.” Odell bobbed her head, and the two exited, taking their excited chatter with them.
I sat in the high-backed chair beside Sabine’s dressing table. “Sabine—” I stopped. I could not force the words. I had done this, I had sealed her fate to a man she did not love, and no apology would change that fact.
She turned in her seat to regard me, as if realizing I was there for the first time. Her eyes grew wide.
“Oh, Maea, do not look at me that way. I never expected to marry for love,” she said as if reading my thoughts. Her mouth downturned, and I suspected she was sparing my feelings.
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