He finished with my horse and moved to his own. A sword sheathed in a plain scabbard hung from the pommel of my saddle, and a shield was strapped to the pack behind it.
I ran my hand along the horse’s soft muzzle. Rafe saw me examining the plain leather noseband. “None of your tack denotes a kingdom. You can become whoever you choose as the need arises.”
I turned, not certain what he was saying.
He refused to look at me, checking his own bag and cinch again. “You’re free to go where you wish, Lia. I’m not going to force you to stay with me. Though I would suggest you travel with the caravan for the first twelve miles. At that point, there’s a trail that veers west. You can take it if you choose to.”
He was letting me go? Was there a catch to this? I couldn’t go anywhere without Kaden. I didn’t know the way. “And Kaden is free to go with me as well?”
He paused, stone still, staring at his saddle, his jaw clenched tight. He swallowed but still didn’t turn to look at me. “Free,” he answered.
“Thank you,” I whispered, though it didn’t seem like the right response at all. I didn’t know what to say. Everything about this threw me off.
“Don’t thank me,” he said. “It might be the worst decision I’ve ever made. Get up.” He finally turned to me, his voice still cool. “And you’re free to change your mind about leaving anytime during those twelve miles.”
I nodded, feeling disoriented. The day I had laid out in my head had suddenly vanished and was replaced with a new scenario. I wouldn’t be changing my mind, but I wondered why he had changed his. He got up on his horse and waited for me to do the same. I looked at my horse, a fine-boned runner, sturdy but swift like a Morrighese Ravian. I unsheathed the sword, testing its feel, the cynical tone of Rafe saying swordplay still ringing in my ears. The sword was of medium weight, well-balanced for my arm and grip. There was no doubt he had chosen every detail of my tack and weapons—from horse to shield. I buckled the sheathed sword to Walther’s baldrick and swung up on my horse.
“There’s one condition I would like to add,” Rafe said.
I knew it.
“I’d ask that you ride beside me—alone—for those twelve miles.”
I glanced warily at him. “So you can talk me out of it?”
He didn’t answer.
* * *
The caravan set out. Rafe and I rode in the middle with twenty yards between us and the riders ahead and behind—clearly a calculated margin that everyone had been forewarned not to breach. Was it to keep others from overhearing us if our voices should become raised?
Surprisingly, he said nothing, and the silence weighed on me like blankets used to sweat out a fever. He stared straight ahead, but even from the side, I could see the storm in his eyes.
It was going to be the longest twelve miles of my life.
Didn’t he think I had doubts and fears about going myself? Damn his stubbornness! Why was he trying to make this even harder for me? I didn’t want to die. But neither did I want others to die. Rafe didn’t know the Komizar the way I did. Maybe no one did. It wasn’t just that he had laid claim to my voice or that his knuckles had slammed across my face. The scent of the Komizar’s lust still clung to my skin. His desire for power would not be stopped by a damaged bridge—nor even a knife in his gut. Just as he had warned me, it was not over.
After a mile, the silence broke me. “I’ll send a note once I’m there,” I blurted out.
Rafe’s eyes remained fixed ahead. “I don’t want any more notes from you.”
“Please, Rafe, I don’t want to part this way. Try to understand. Lives are at stake.”
“Lives are always at stake, Your Highness,” he answered, his tone ripe with sarcasm once again. “For hundreds of years, kingdoms have battled. For hundreds more, battles will be waged. Your going back to Morrighan won’t change that.”
&n
bsp; “And likewise, Your Majesty,” I snapped back, “cabinets will always bicker, generals always threaten rebellion, and kings will always prance home all lathered and puckered to appease them.”
His nostrils flared. I could almost see words blazing in his eyes, but he held them back.
After a long silence, I stirred the conversation again. I needed resolution before I was gone, and I’d heard the way he had bandied Your Highness at me as if it meant just the opposite. “I have a duty too, Rafe. Why should your duty be any more important than mine? Just because you’re a king?”
A frustrated breath hissed through his teeth. “It’s as good a reason as any of the ones you’ve offered, Princess.”
“Are you mocking me?” I eyed my canteen, remembering it could be useful for more than just drinking.
He didn’t answer.