“Sarah is extremely useful,” she said, attempting to live up to this resolution. “Just not when it comes to anything involving injury. For things like that, Evelyn is your girl.”
“Aldric tells me you’re a guardswoman,” said Mathilde to the merchant. “However did that come about?”
Evelyn seemed pleased to have her strengths recognised and even bent a slightly less angry scowl on Ava, which the princess saw as positive progress. When Evelyn began relating her story of growing up in a merchant caravan and always gravitating towards the guards, Ava took the opportunity to join the other royals.
“I appreciate what you’re doing for me more than I can say,” she said to Max and Alyssa. “I promise that if I win the Trials, there will be nothing but friendly cooperation between Arcadia and Rangmere for the duration of my reign. And I will do everything in my power to ensure that your people return to you safe.”
“You’d better,” said Alyssa lightly. “Mathilde was my first friend when I arrived at the Winter Castle and she still keeps me updated on all the servant gossip.”
Alyssa’s words reminded Ava of her own childhood friendship with Hanna and her eyes moved involuntarily to Hans. He was holding the bridles of both of their horses and looking back at her with an expression that made her think he was pondering the same thing. Only he had no guilty knowledge eating him up. She looked away quickly.
After a quick round of general good byes, it was time to mount up. Hans gripped Ava lightly around the waist and threw her up into the saddle. He didn’t maintain the contact a second longer than the action required but Ava felt the phantom sensation of his touch lingering long after he had let her go.
Dawn still hadn’t broken as they made their way down the cobblestones of Palace Way. A few people were up and about on early morning business but the street was mostly empty. Ava was wearing a new cloak, supplied by the Arcadians, with the hood pulled up over her head and she kept her eyes fixed on her horse’s ears. When Sarah and Evelyn had arrived, they had brought with them a gift. Cinnamon.
Ava was ridiculously glad to be reunited with the horse and she felt as if she had now had two old friends returned to her. She would just have to keep working away at Evelyn. One way or another she would earn back the other girl’s good opinion.
As soon as they were out of the city, they broke into a gallop. They rode single file down one side of the wide road, leaving room for the small trickle of farmers who were already making their way towards the capital with goods for the various city markets. How strange, Ava thought, only yesterday morning I felt so nervous to pass through those gates and now I feel almost equally nervous to leave.
She wondered briefly if the emotional freedom was worth the weight of nerves and anxiety that seemed to come with it. Then she remembered the feel of Hans’ hands lifting her effortlessly into the saddle and she decided that it was. Regardless of how impossible the two of them were together, she couldn’t wish away the sense of excitement and possibility that she was starting to feel around him.
After a while they reined in their horses to a more moderate pace. They needed speed but they also needed their mounts to last the distance.
They were a motley group so Ava was pleased at how quickly they fell into a travelling routine. Ordinarily she would have been forced to admit that she was out of her element and of no use when it came to camping. However, she had been on the road for weeks now and had picked up a number of practical skills along the way.
Evelyn seemed determined to treat her as just another member of the group, and a despised one at that, but the Arcadians kept attempting to wait on her. Mathilde, in particular, seemed to find it hard to set aside her years of service.
“Enough, Mathilde,” said Ava, at last. “When we arrive in Rangmeros we’ll need all the pomp and ceremony we can muster. But for now, speed is paramount and we can’t afford to be carrying dead weight. I’ll do my part.”
Mathilde seemed to accept Ava’s words and Ava was pleased to note that Evelyn seemed mildly impressed. None of her protestations were enough to move Hans, however. He insisted that the night watch duties be shared exclusively between him and Evelyn.
“It’s not just a matter of staying awake,” he said, “and, in the middle of the night, even that requires training. I won’t risk having us taken by surprise because a sleepy, untrained civilian is ‘keeping watch’.”
“But if we’re attacked, we’ll be relying on the two of you to keep us safe. And how will you do that if you’re sleep deprived?”
It was a good point and Hans had no argument for it. The matter remained at an impasse all through the first evening as they prepared food and set up camp. But then Hans and Aldric went to collect water from a nearby stream together and when they returned, Hans announced that Aldric would also be a part of the watch rotation. With this compromise Ava had to be content.
It only raised her curiosity about the Northhelmian man, however, and left her more certain than ever that there was more to his story than she had yet heard. He certainly didn’t look like someone who had ever been a guard but Hans seemed convinced of his competency.
Travelling at speed, the group made it to the Rangmeran border in a week. It had taken Hans and Ava twice that time to cross the same distance on the way to Arcadie but they had been moving slowly on purpose. The journey through Arcadia had been uneventful but Ava once again found herself feeling nervous as they approached the border. In Rangmere they would be in much greater danger.
And, on top of that, the border itself brought back a host of unpleasant memories. She could almost hear the shouts and the ringing of blades overlaid by the frightened whinny of the horses. She glanced quickly at the two merchant girls and saw that Sarah’s face was unusually blank. Evelyn on the other hand, looked downright stormy. Ava was afraid that she had lost the small bit of ground she had made up with Evelyn in the preceding week.
At the border crossing, Ava and Hans hung at the back of the group while Aldric and Mathilde took the lead. They chatted in a friendly way with the border guards on both sides while their royal papers were examined. The group was claiming to be a diplomatic convoy heading to Rangmeros for the upcoming coronation. Max and Alyssa had provided all the necessary documents so they were passed through without a hitch.
As Aldric waved them across, Ava allowed Cinnamon to brush up against Dusty’s side. Reaching out, she placed her hand on Hans’ where he gripped the hilt of his sword. His eyes had been fixed on the Rangmeran border guards but at her touch he started and glanced down at her. She gave him a reprimanding look and he smiled at her, allowing his hand to relax and drift away from his sword.
With a start, Ava realised how long it had been since she had seen Hans smile with real amusement. Not since she had first proclaimed her determination to take on her brother. Her discovery of his humorous side was so recent that she hadn’t noticed its loss at first.
Now that she had, however, she wasn’t sure if she could bear it. How much more would she take away from her most loyal supporter?
She had been too internally focused to pinpoint the change in his demeanour during their journey to Arcadie. And in the last week she had been distracted by the good humoured chatter of Sarah and Mathilde. All she had noticed was a lingering darkness and heaviness that had been absent during their time with the merchants.
It now seemed obvious that the missing ingredient was Hans’ smile and joking sallies. She immediately determined to do everything in her power to bring back his good humour.
Her first opportunity came that night as they sat around their small campfire in a clearing just off the road. Sarah was joking about life in a merchant caravan and was even managing to elicit small smiles from Evelyn who kept insisting it was nothing like as interesting as Sarah was painting it.
“Interesting or not, it definitely wasn’t the life for me,” Ava said, entering the conversation for the first time. “I made a truly terrible merchant!”
“You
weren’t that bad,” said Sarah.
“Oh, come on.” Ava grinned at her. “Surely you wondered why I was so clueless.”
“Well,” said Sarah, smiling back at her, “I just figured you must have had the most indulgent father in the world. One who never made you lift a finger.”
Ava laughed a little bitterly. “My father was anything but indulgent. On the other hand, it’s true that I didn’t have to do many everyday tasks. In fact,” she turned to Hans, “you should tell them about the time you found me by the stream.”
“Are you sure?” asked Hans. She gave him a glare and he held up his hands in mock surrender.
“If you insist,” he said and already his wicked grin was starting to resurface.
Ava felt a surge of satisfaction.
Hans resettled himself against a log and put his arms behind his head in a relaxed storyteller pose. Everyone else was watching him curiously and he remained silent, apparently enjoying the suspense he was creating.
“Get on with it!” Ava threw a pine cone at him.
He glanced at her with a mischievous twinkle.
“Whatever you command, Your Highness.” He turned to the rest of the group. “I’m sure you’ve all washed many a dirty dish while traveling.”
They all nodded. Even Aldric.
“Well, someone made the mistake of asking ‘Anna’ to wash the dishes one evening on our way to the border.”
“Oooh, I remember that,” said Sarah. “I wondered why you looked so reluctant Anna. I mean Ava,” she corrected herself quickly. “We were camped next to the perfect stream so it was an easy job.”
“It was the perfect stream,” said Hans. “And when I came looking for her, she had found the perfect patch of sand…” He paused and Ava knew that he was giving his listeners time to make the obvious assumption about sand and washing dishes. She reminded herself that she had volunteered for this mocking.
“…to stand on,” he finished with a verbal flourish.
“What?” asked Mathilde. “She was standing on a sandy portion of the stream bank?”
“Yep,” said Hans with satisfaction and Ava actually felt her cheeks burn as the other members of the group smiled in her direction.
“She was perched on the sandy bank and was trying to clean the dishes by dipping them into the water,” said Hans.
“Did she fall in?” asked Evelyn and Ava got the distinct impression that a dunking would improve the story from the guardswoman’s perspective.
“She would have, if I’d breathed in her direction,” said Hans, grinning again. “And I came very close to doing it, too.”
“Hans!” said Ava, horrified and unable to help herself.
“Sorry, sorry,” said Hans, his laughing eyes belying his words. “It, of course, never occurred to me in any way to impinge on the dignity of Your Worshipfulness.”
Ava threw another pine cone at him which he deftly caught before it could hit his chest.
“But the dishes all came back clean,” said Sarah. “And I’m sure she never managed it with that method.” She was taking as much delight in the story of her royal friend’s incompetence as her cousin was. Although for kinder reasons.
“I, a highly trained guard, had to lower myself to wash them,” said Hans, looking around for sympathy.
“It was kind of you to show her how,” said Mathilde. Ava knew she meant it sincerely. Her history as a servant would have gave her a comprehensive understanding of the rigid hierarchy that usually existed in the lower ranks of a palace.
“Oh, I didn’t show her how,” said Hans, “she lay on the grass and gazed at the sky while I did the work.”
“Ava!” Sarah gave her friend a light blow on the shoulder. “That’s terrible!”
“It is kind of terrible, now that he says it like that,” said Ava. “I must have picked something up though, because I managed to do it myself the next time I was asked. First I scooped up some sand from the streambed, then I found a nice, solid, grassy patch of bank to kneel on and I scrubbed each dish one by one.” She actually felt a little proud of this accomplishment and looked around the group for affirmation.
For some reason, however, the others found this contribution the funniest part of the whole conversation and began to howl with laughter. She turned her gaze on Hans and he immediately assumed a mock solemnity.
“That’s very impressive, Princess,” he said. “You’ll be rivalling the rest of us soon.” And then he couldn’t seem to keep his amusement in either and he began to chuckle, his whole body shaking with the movement.
Seeming him reminded Ava of why she had brought up the incident in the first place and she began to laugh as well although she still didn’t quite understand what they were all laughing about.
Her willingness to put herself forward as an object of humour seemed to please the rest of the group and soon they were all following her example; each vying to put forward the most embarrassing story.
It was the longest they had ever sat up talking and when they finally separated to climb into their bedrolls, Ava felt a glow of satisfaction. It seemed she was learning a new type of leadership.
Chapter 20
Caravan Hargrove had been pushing itself at full speed in its final rush to the border but even at its fastest pace, a large group of wagons couldn’t compete with the speed of six people on good horses. They passed the campsite where the dance had taken place not long into their second day in Rangmere.
Ava felt pleased with their progress but it didn’t stop her from wishing they could reach the capital more quickly. They didn’t dare stop and talk to any travellers they met and they skirted around every village they passed. Since their primary goal was to remain unnoticed, they couldn’t risk stopping for news about the planned coronation.
Throughout each day, they alternated between a canter and a walk, covering as much distance as possible while giving the horses adequate time to rest. When they walked, Ava often found herself riding beside Hans and conversing with him. They talked about what they could expect to find at the gates of Rangmeros, the likely attitude of the court and city towards Konrad and their own strategy. Ava wasn’t surprised to find that Hans had a detailed understanding of Rangmeros, from the state of the guards to the attitude of the populace. He had plenty of sensible suggestions to make as well, and the two were able to theorise for hours about their best strategy for countering Konrad. Ava found it useful to talk through her ideas out loud and wished she had thought of doing it years ago.
It would take the Magistrate’s Guild a little bit of time to prepare the Trials once she registered her claim. She would use that time to her advantage. Together they agreed on ways to approach several key nobles.
It took them a week to come to a spot within a day’s travel of the capital and by that time, Ava was beginning to feel mildly optimistic about their chances. It helped that they had been moving at a good pace and had seen no sign of danger.
They made camp for the last time knowing that they would reach the city by the noon meal the next day. The mood around the fire was more sombre than any of the preceding nights and they were all quick to move towards sleep. Hans insisted on taking first watch, giving the second watch to Evelyn and the third to Aldric.
Ava lay in her bedroll and watched him where he sat by the dying fire, his posture alert. As always, his aura of strength had a comforting effect on her and she fell into sleep faster than she had expected to.
She slept deeply, not even stirring, until she was roughly awakened by a familiar sound. It was the whoosh of a flying arrow, followed by the thwack of it hitting the ground. She came instantly awake, rolling out of bed and into a crouch while her eyes searched for the arrow’s landing place. It was buried in a pack that had been lying next to her head and it stood out starkly in the light of the almost full moon. She shivered.
Taking quick stock of the clearing, she could see no sign of Hans. At first she assumed he must still be on watch, despite how late it felt. But a s
econd glance showed that his empty bedroll had been slept in at some point.
Moving at a crouch, she went to each of her companions and shook them before rushing on to the next person. It was only when she poked Mathilde that she realised Aldric was also missing.
Evelyn was the fastest to wake and seemed to take in the situation almost as quickly as Ava. She gestured silently, offering to go after the archer but Ava shook her head. If Evelyn left, the remaining three girls would be virtually defenceless. They still had no idea how many attackers there were or what had happened to the two men. All they knew was that since their assailants had chosen arrows over bullets, they favoured stealth and accuracy. Guns were becoming more popular amongst certain circles but they were too prone to malfunction and inaccuracy. Assassins still favoured bows and arrows.
Assassination. Ava shook her head to clear it. She had known what this was from the first moment of seeing the arrow. It was best not to dwell on it, however.
She motioned for Sarah and Mathilde to saddle the horses and the two girls moved as quickly as they were able, still shaking off sleep and giving the lone arrow a wide berth. Evelyn remained on alert, her sword drawn and Ava moved to take up a position at her back, the knife from her boot in her hand. Evelyn glanced at her once, taking in the blade with begrudging respect, before returning her attention to the surrounding forest.
For several long moments there was only silence. It was broken by a sudden flurry of sound and movement. Before Ava could do more than note the direction of the noise, an armed figure erupted from the trees. After the briefest of pauses, he leapt towards the princess but was halted by Evelyn’s raised blade. He lunged wildly at her but she parried him easily and with one clean stroke, ran him through the heart.
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