The Empty Crown Page 4

  She nodded, and they walked side by side towards the trees. She stopped then and turned back. He turned with her. In the distance, they could make out the Sheer Rock islands. They were green. As he opened his mouth to offer some comfort, she turned and headed deeper into the trees.

  ‘Are you well enough to walk?’ he asked, and she turned a harsh look on him. He put his hands up in defence. ‘I was thinking of your feet,’ he said. She ignored him and continued on. They made their way through the trees and higher into the mountains. It was starting to get dark when he suggested they stop.

  ‘I can keep going,’ she murmured.

  ‘I can’t.’

  She stopped and turned back, looked him over and then nodded. He could have walked all night, but he needed time to work out what they were doing and where they were going. He had an idea of someone who might be able to help them, an old soldier who had retired in the mountains. But it was a long shot, and the mage might have considered they would try that way. While they had been scurrying around under the ground like rats, the mage might have been leading the men back across the bridges and into the mountains by road.

  He sighed as he looked at the girl sitting on a rock. What am I doing?

  ‘Can we light a fire?’ she asked.

  ‘A small one.’

  ‘Do you need your cloak back?’ she asked, holding it close around her. He shook his head.

  Ana chewed on her lip as she watched him pull together dry branches from around where they stood. With the ground so hard and rocky, he didn’t think they would get much rest. Nor did he think it would be easy to find the old general from here.

  The fire crackled into life and Ana moved closer, holding her hands out to the small flames. He leaned against a nearby tree within the warmth of the flames and watched her. Who is this girl?

  ‘I’m hungry,’ she murmured.

  ‘Me too,’ he agreed, still trying to work out what or who she really was. ‘There will be little here to eat.’

  ‘There might be some plants,’ she said, looking around doubtfully. ‘We aren’t well prepared for this.’

  ‘No,’ he agreed. ‘That is the problem with running away.’

  She gave a sad smile, and he turned back to the flames. After a little while he looked up and noticed her watching him. The sky so far above them had darkened further, and in the shadow of the trees he could only see her by the glow of the flames. ‘Do you want to sleep?’

  She nodded, but continued to watch him.

  ‘Do you want to lean on me? It might be warmer.’

  Ana climbed to her feet and took the cloak from around her shoulders.

  ‘You will need that,’ he said as she sat down beside him.

  ‘We can share it. You won’t be much use to me frozen to death.’

  ‘Have you seen that?’ he asked quickly, as she continued to study his face.

  She reached out and ran her fingertips across his cheek. ‘Did you have a scar here?’

  ‘No,’ he said, lifting her hand from his skin. He took the cloak from her and wrapped it around their shoulders. She pulled her knees in close and then grabbed his hand.

  Hers was so small in comparison, so young, yet it was marked and calloused. ‘What have you done?’ he asked, studying it.

  ‘I work, like you do.’

  His own hands were weathered and worn from carrying and working with a sword.

  ‘You have blood on your hands,’ she said unemotionally.

  He cleared his throat. ‘I’m a soldier.’

  ‘Captain Drayton Sterling,’ she said. ‘What did you do?’

  ‘Whatever they told me.’ He realised then he hadn’t told her his full name, and more questions arose than he could string together. ‘And what is your name, little maid?’ he asked instead.

  She looked up at him with her green eyes. ‘Anaise Merrin,’ she said.

  ‘Merrin?’

  She nodded and then sat back from him. ‘Do you know the name?’

  He tried not to sigh. ‘I might,’ he murmured.

  She looked hopeful, but he shook his head. ‘It is familiar, but I can’t answer your questions.’

  She sat back against him.

  ‘What if they find us?’

  ‘The mage?’

  She nodded against him. He closed his arm around her and held her close. ‘Well, if we don’t freeze to death in the mountains, they will kill us.’

  ‘Why was he looking for me?’ she asked. He had thought she might react to his words differently, but then they had already tried to kill her.

  ‘They have been searching out gifted ones, to help the kingdom.’

  ‘Help them do what?’

  ‘Become stronger? I don’t know. I just do as I’m told.’

  ‘You have done that your whole life, I would imagine. Although, you aren’t doing very well at it at the moment.’

  ‘Your point?’

  ‘Why do something different now?’

  ‘I’m not so sure that what they are doing is helping the kingdom.’

  ‘Do you think I’m gifted?’

  ‘I thought you were just a maid.’

  They sat in silence for some time. She huddled closer, and he leaned his head on her hers. She was very much like a little sister, he thought, if he could remember his own. Then he ran a hand over his cheek, where Ana had traced along a line that wasn’t there.

  ‘I saw the scar,’ she said. ‘The moment I entered the lord’s office, I saw it deep and red. And when you took my arm and dragged me from the room, I saw the blood on your hands, smelt the bitter coppery scent of it.’

  He looked beyond the small fire into the darkening trees. ‘What did the mage smell like?’

  ‘It was familiar, but I can’t quite place it. It will come to me,’ she said, trying to stifle a yawn.

  Her dark hair had slipped from its ribbon and fallen about her face. Despite her determination, her eyes wouldn’t remain open. He pulled the cloak around them and then looked at his hands. In the dim light of the fire, he couldn’t see anything but their outline. He wondered at the blood Ana was so sure was there.

  Chapter 6

  Despite the rain and wind hammering the side of the building and the cot that wouldn’t have been fit for a soldier, Ed had slept solidly throughout the previous afternoon and into the early morning. He stretched and sat up slowly, his cloak and shoes still damp. The cold stew still sat on the table. Although his stomach grumbled, he didn’t touch it. He pulled his small bag over his shoulder, gave the room a quick glance over and sat the key on the table.

  There was no one in the main room of the tavern when he reached the bottom of the stairs, and although he thought she might be watching from some corner, he couldn’t see the innkeeper either. The sun hadn’t yet started to light the sky as he stepped outside, but he knew it wasn’t far away. Although the rain had stopped, the air was damp and the road wet.

  He pulled his cloak tighter around him and regretted not taking the opportunity to wash. But the layer of dirt he had acquired helped keep him warm. The mountains were still some distance away, and he headed off quickly, wondering how long it would be until he found another bed.

  The road cut through the dark landscape like a pale snake, and his boots crunched too loudly on the gravel in the near silence of the early morning. He walked until the sun slowly began to light the sky. He heard a stream, or at least running water, and before long he was standing on the edge of a narrow stone bridge.

  He looked down into the clear water, adjusted the bag over his shoulder, then crossed the bridge and followed the small path down to the water. The stream was icy cold as he submerged his water skin into it, but he kept it still in the flowing water as he watched the world around him. Despite the warming sun, he hadn’t seen anyone. Although that was a lucky thing, it seemed odd.

  He took a small sip of water, secured the skin in his bag and then headed back up to the road. Within a few minutes, while trying to determine how many mo
re days of walking until he reached the mountains, a cart rattled up behind him. He moved across to the side of the road to allow it room to pass, and it stopped beside him.

  ‘Where ya headed to, lad?’ the older man at the reins asked. He was dressed simply and his clothes were worn.

  ‘North,’ Ed said.

  The man raised an eyebrow and then looked off to the distant mountains.

  Ed made to keep walking, but the man put out a hand. ‘Climb up. North is a long way, and I could do with the company.’

  ‘I can’t afford to pay you,’ Ed said.

  The old man shrugged. ‘Is no matter. Talking would be payment enough, and I’m headed that way.’

  Ed looked over the edge of the cart, where there were some lumps beneath a rough canvas cover. He pulled his bag off and dropped it in the back, then climbed up into the seat beside the man. He was never going to make it there if he continued trying to walk.

  ‘What is your name?’ the old farmer asked.

  ‘Ed. Ed Forest.’

  The man gave a nod of his head and tapped his chest. ‘Phillip Poales. I hail from the grasslands. And I’m taking grain to trade in the mountains, or beyond.’

  ‘Beyond?’ Ed asked.

  ‘Sheer Rock. I understand they grow their own grains, but I’m hoping they might be wanting something different.’

  ‘It is a long way to travel for a sale that might not happen.’

  ‘I have little else to occupy my time.’

  ‘Don’t you have crops to grow?’ Ed asked, trying to look at him without appearing to. Who is this man?

  The man shrugged and flicked the reins, and the old horse moved into a slow walk. Ed thought he might have moved faster or done just as well on his own. Phillip flicked the reins again, and the horse surprised him by moving into a fast gait. Ed was thrown back in the seat.

  ‘She takes a little to get going, but it would be better for you if we didn’t take all day.’

  ‘Would it?’ Ed asked, glancing at the man. Perhaps someone had been sent to find him after all.

  Looking back over the cart, Ed couldn’t tell what was beneath the canvas, but it didn’t look to be enough grain to make such a journey worthwhile. Even with the horse, he must have been travelling for many days already to have come so far from the grasslands.

  Ed’s hand rested on the sword at his belt. This wasn’t a good idea. He might just have put himself in an impossible position.

  ‘You got any family?’ he asked Phillip, trying to gauge what kind of man he was.

  ‘I had a girl,’ he said, sitting forward and flicking the reins again.

  Ed waited, but he didn’t say any more. Perhaps she had died, he thought, worried the man might slip from the seat.

  After too long in silence, the old man startled him by speaking. ‘She was taken.’

  ‘Who?’ Ed asked.

  ‘My daughter.’

  ‘Who took her?’

  ‘Men thinking I owed them. They took her North.’

  ‘When?’ Ed asked, glancing back again at the cart behind him.

  ‘I could use the help,’ he said.

  ‘I am no help to anyone,’ Ed murmured. ‘I might have a sword.’ He closed his hand around the handle. ‘Yet the best I can do with it is scare myself.’

  The old man laughed. ‘Any fool can use a sword,’ he said.

  ‘Were you going to try to get her back on your own?’

  ‘She is all I got,’ he said.

  ‘Is that why you stopped?’ Ed asked hurriedly. ‘You thought I could help?’

  ‘I wanted to see if you was one of them,’ he said, absently flicking the reins again, and Ed wondered how hard he had driven the horse. ‘Fifteen men he had when he fronted on my land.’

  Ed felt sick, even more than he had at the idea of the watery stew. He looked down at the sword and released his strong hold on the handle. He was going to die—and not for his own actions, but because he had accepted a lift from an old man with a crazy notion that they could fight a group of men. The type of men who stole girls and had probably grown up fighting.

  ‘Do you have a plan?’ he asked, disappointed that he sounded as scared as he did.

  ‘Only to find my girl and get her home.’

  ‘You aren’t worried about what might happen to your land while you are away?’

  ‘Ain’t that much there to worry about.’

  ‘You didn’t consider that they might have taken her to get you away from what they wanted.’

  The old man looked at him with disbelief.

  ‘It is a possibility,’ Ed continued. ‘You would be amazed at what people will do to get what you’ve got.’

  ‘You sound like you got more experience than a boy your age should have,’ Phillip said kindly, and Ed tried not to sigh. ‘I will take you to where you need to go. There is no expectation that you help me get my girl back.’

  Ed nodded thanks, but he felt bad for not being able to help the man, and for looking out for himself first. Besides, they might come across these men before he had a chance to find the man he was searching for. And he wasn’t sure what he could do to help the man if they did.

  ‘Who are you looking for?’ the old man asked.

  ‘A family friend,’ Ed murmured. Or at least he hoped he was.

  The memory driving him was his pale, sickly mother, holding his hand far too tightly, and that had scared him far more than the colour of her skin. She had dragged in a breath that seemed to take everything she had. Even as the small child he had been at the time, he understood what was to happen.

  ‘If anything goes wrong, you must endeavour to go north and find my one true friend.’ Her grip had tightened. And he had wondered where she found the strength when it was so hard for her to breathe. ‘You must endeavour. Promise me.’

  He had nodded wildly, hoping that his promise would keep her with him longer. But he was dragged from the room, and endeavour was the last word on her lips. So here he was, endeavouring to find her one true friend, hoping with everything he had that it was the right decision.

  Chapter 7

  Ana woke with a start, cold and uncomfortable. It took her a moment to remember where she was. At least her pillow was soft, and she was curled beneath a blanket. Then she realised she was curled against Dray’s leg. His cloak was wrapped tight around her, although she was sure they had huddled together beneath it the night before.

  She tried not to disturb him as she sat up. Dray still slept, his hand on his sword and his head upright. The little fire had gone out, and his hands looked blue. As he sat so very still, her heart began to beat faster. She sucked in a deep breath and reached for his hand. It was cold when she rested her fingers on it, but he twitched beneath her hold and then blinked slowly.

  ‘I thought you had died,’ she blurted, a shiver covering her whole body.

  ‘I’m much harder to kill than that.’

  He rubbed his hands together and looked her up and down. She slipped the cloak from her shoulders and instantly regretted the movement as the cold wind wrapped around her. ‘Thank you,’ she said.

  He waved a hand at her as he climbed to his feet, then rolled his shoulders and headed into the trees. She wrapped herself back up and raced to catch him up.

  ‘Do you know where we are going?’ she asked.

  ‘Over the mountain.’

  She stopped and took in the expanse of mountains above them. In fact, she found it difficult to gauge just how large they were. ‘We are going to die,’ she murmured.

  ‘It isn’t that high,’ he called back, increasing the gap between them.

  ‘Yes, it is,’ she said, racing towards him and stumbling over the rough ground. He caught her with large hands. ‘Thank you,’ she murmured. ‘I am not dressed for mountain climbing. Is there a road we could travel that would be easier?’

  ‘Of course, there is,’ Dray said kindly, ‘and the mage and his soldiers will be travelling it too.’

  ‘Oh,’ she said.r />
  ‘We are safer in the trees. No one will see us, and we can make it over the mountains to where we need to be before anyone has any idea of where we went.’

  ‘I hope you are right.’

  ‘Of course, I am,’ he said with a grin, and she shook her head at his mock arrogance. This was not where she had hoped to be, but then she hadn’t considered that she would have stood on the Walk the day before or remembered her father being on it. She had been so sure he had fallen from a bridge and couldn’t remember exactly what had happened until the day before. Maybe someone had put the idea in her head that he had fallen from a bridge. Either way, she didn’t like heights and her father was gone.

  She glanced up at the back of the man she followed. He must have seen all sorts of things in his lifetime and heard more. Would she be able to learn more of her mother? Ana couldn’t remember her at all, nor much of what her father had told her.

  The apathetic look of the lord came to mind, and how she had barely acknowledged Ana all these years yet kept her close. The lord herself had no other family. No husband or children. Ana could have learnt so much, although she didn’t really like the idea of spending time with the woman.

  She looked up again to find the gap had increased between her and the soldier. Worried that someone might be following, Ana looked back over her shoulder and was sure she saw something in the trees behind her.

  ‘Dray,’ she called out.

  He was back by her side in a moment. ‘What is it?’

  ‘I think I saw something.’

  ‘You did, or you thought you did?’

  ‘I don’t know anymore,’ she admitted. He took a step forward and then she pointed. ‘There,’ she whispered as something dark moved between the trees.

  Dray groaned. ‘We are going to have to move faster,’ he said, turning her around and pointing her up the mountain.

  ‘Who is it?’ she asked.

  ‘Not who, what. That appears to be a very large mountain lion.’

  ‘It is dark.’

  ‘What did you hope it would be?’ he asked, pushing her along.

  ‘I just didn’t know they were black. You would think with the snow, white would be better.’