Kingdom of Sea and Stone
Despite my anger, I was afraid I’d gone too far and Talin wouldn’t answer. But finally, he looked at me. “I know she isn’t perfect, Nor. I know she’s made mistakes and her methods for building an army were questionable at best. But I still believe in her cause. I still believe Zoi belongs on the throne and Ilara will be far better off under a female ruler. We’ve all seen how well things have gone with men running the kingdom for hundreds of years.”
He wasn’t wrong, and someday Zoi might make an excellent ruler. But in the meantime, I wasn’t sure Talia was all that different from Ceren. Would a woman who had been prepared to endanger the lives of all Varenians really see to it that they had somewhere safe to live? Would the united, stable Ilara so many had dreamed of really become a reality?
When we reached the River Ilara, I was hopeful we’d find some sign that Ceren and Zoi had come this way. While we dismounted to let the horses drink and rest, Talin went in search of information from the soldier at the nearest bridge.
“Go on, girl,” I said to Titania, releasing the reins so she could drink. I estimated we were farther north than when I had first gone to Ilara, but whether we were as far north as Riaga was impossible to guess.
“No one fitting Ceren’s description has crossed the bridge today,” Talin said when he returned. “But the soldier thinks it’s entirely possible Ceren crossed the river during the night. There are places where crossing is relatively easy on horseback.”
Talia mounted her mare and started toward the bridge. “Come on, then. We’re wasting time.”
We crossed without incident and followed the road through Pirot, where we were soon surrounded by pine forest. There were plenty of fresh hoofprints in the soil, but that meant little, with such an oft-used road. It was late afternoon, and the sun was already beginning to set. I was starting to worry that my guess had been wrong after all.
Suddenly, Titania tensed, her ears pricking forward in alarm. I raised a hand, signaling for Talia and Talin to stop.
“The sun will be down soon,” a voice said in the distance. “We should stop for a few hours, get some rest.”
The man who answered was clearly in charge. “We’ll ride until we reach Old Castle,” he said. “We can water the horses at the river.”
I recognized the stubborn tone immediately. Without explaining myself, I urged Titania forward through the trees.
“Someone’s coming,” a female voice said. “Arm yourselves.”
“It’s me! It’s Nor!” I came around a bend in the road to find a dozen crossbows trained on me, but I was too happy to see who was holding them to worry.
“Nor?” Roan leaped from Kosmos’s back and hurried toward me. “What in the world are you doing here?”
“It’s good to see you, too, Roan.” I pulled him into a hug, grateful for this reunion.
When I finally released him, his eyes searched mine. “I mean it, Nor. What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at Old Castle?”
“Shouldn’t you be in Galeth, enjoying your independence?” I raised my eyebrows pointedly, still a little hurt that he had left when we needed him, although I was no longer angry. He had been right to question Talia’s motives.
“I would be, if we hadn’t run into one of Ceren’s patrols on our way home.” Roan pulled a waterskin off his saddle and took a long drink. “They had Landrey. Ceren’s soldiers must have captured her at some point, probably when she was in Riaga. She had one of those bloodstones on her neck. We tried to convince her to come back with us, but she didn’t even recognize us. Then the other soldiers attacked, and we fled.”
I felt relief for Landrey and Roan, as well as a tiny bit of disappointment that Titania’s rider would likely be asking for her back. “Where is she?”
He shook his head. “We don’t know.”
“Why didn’t you go to Galeth after that? Staying in Ilara couldn’t have been the safest decision.”
“Of course not. This place is crawling with men who work for Talia or Ceren, and none are happy to see a Galethian this far south. But after witnessing what those bloodstones did to one of our own...” He shuddered at the memory. “We’ll never acknowledge Talia as a monarch, Nor, but you were right. This affects all of us.”
“I managed to break the blood bond with Ceren before the fighting got too bad,” I explained. “The bloodstones don’t work anymore. There’s a very good chance that Landrey is safe.”
I relayed everything as fast as I could, ending with the fact that we were pursuing Ceren. Or that we hoped we were, anyway.
“We haven’t crossed paths with him,” Roan said when I’d finished. “But we’ll help you look. Won’t we?” he asked the others.
The Galethians nodded their assent, and I turned to where Talin and Talia waited from a distance, waving them forward.
“Talia,” Roan said with a tight nod. “We’ve offered to assist in the search for your daughter, if you’ll accept our help.”
She surprised me by bowing her head in response. “We will do so gratefully. I’ll repay you however I can. I just want to get my daughter back.”
32
We stopped for the night when it grew too dark to see the road, the moonlight diminished by a thick veil of clouds. The Galethians camped with their horses, and I did the same, grateful to have Titania as long as I could. If Landrey came to claim her, keeping her might not be a matter of choice. Roan had said a horse would never forsake its First Rider, and that was something I could never be for Titania.
I was tired from so many hours in the saddle, but it was a relief to have the Galethians with us and to know that Roan and I were on solid footing once again. I left the others talking as they settled down for the night and went to refill my waterskin at a small creek meandering through the woods.
A branch snapped somewhere close by, and the skin on my arms prickled as I straightened and looked around. Ceren could still have men patrolling these woods. As quietly as possible, I headed toward the firelight and safety of camp.
A figure emerged on the trail ahead of me, nearly causing me to drop the waterskin. In the darkness, it was difficult to make anything out, but as my eyes adjusted, I realized they were wearing skirts, unlike all the other members of our party.
“What do you want, Talia?” I asked, resuming my walk back to camp as if she hadn’t just scared the wits out of me.
“I wanted to talk to you alone,” she said.
I snorted. “The last time we talked alone, you asked me not to pursue my relationship with Talin and held the safety of my family over my head. I think we both know how that worked out.”