“I know.” Leaning forward, I swung my leg over the back of the horse and promptly lost my balance. The horse threw its head up, and I let go, falling on my bottom with a thump. I lay on the ground, the breath knocked out of me until Romulus dragged me up. Wincing, I attempted to stand tall as he tied up the horse.
“Look, what’s done is done,” Romulus said, his anger fading. “I want to fix this, but…you’ve made it impossible.”
I limped over to join Takari, who was rolling out bed rolls. She tossed me one.
“I’m not giving it back,” I told Romulus. “It was locked away, but it came when I called it. It belongs to me.”
Romulus gave a grim nod. “Queen Iris knows it too then. That’s likely why she gave you strict instructions not to take up the sword, but you’ve surprised me, Aofie.”
I lay on my back, folding my hands on my chest, knowing it would be wise to set a watch, now that we were away from the safety of Anon Loam and I’d angered the elves. Instead, I closed my eyes. “Will they continue to chase us?”
“There’s only one way to find out,” Romulus replied.
Takari asked what happened while Romulus filled her in. There was silence, but I sensed her displeasure and as I drifted off to sleep, I wondered what had possessed me to steal the sword.
It was Takari who shook me awake. I blinked, and from the angle of the sun assumed it was midmorning. Although short, the few hours of sleep refreshed me enough to bring me to my feet. My ankle was tender to the touch and my thighs screamed in protest at the idea of riding again, but I wanted to put as much distance as possible between myself and the elven.
We rode at a steady gait the rest of the day, following a rutted road. It was wide and looked as though wagons had been pulled down it once. Now, grass grew over it, a sign of disuse.
“Where are we?” I asked Romulus, who seemed to know what he was doing.
“We’re headed west, toward Dun’Gilly,” Romulus called over his shoulder. “But there’s one place we need to visit before we press on to the hills.”
Dun’Gilly, where my father dwelled.
“Romulus?” Takari interrupted, her voice sharp and high.
“She should know,” Romulus returned.
“Know what?” I stared from Takari’s gentle face to Romulus’s hard expression and a sinking sensation twisted inside of me. Had I been tricked?
Romulus held up a hand. “Aofie, we’d like you to meet with the defenders.”
A current of emotion churned within me. I opened my mouth, closed it, and opened it again. All along I’d assumed the defenders were in Anon Loam with the elven. Had I been wrong? But I’d assumed instead of asking, because I wanted nothing to do with it. Yet just when I thought control of my fate and future was back in my own hands, I was being steered by two people I assumed were my friends.
Numbness coursed over me, and I took a deep breath to evade my gut reaction. “Why?”
Romulus opened his mouth, but it was Takari who spoke up first. “Just to meet them, nothing else.” Her tone was gentle, persuading. “The leaders of the defenders heard of you. For so long, many wondered what had happened to the queen’s firstborn, for many knew she was with child when the kingdom was overthrown. Many searched, but the centaurs of the Beluar Woods are known to keep their secrets close. Now that you are alive and have returned to the kingdom of men, they want to meet you.”
To meet me. I tuned out the rest of her words, wresting with my own thoughts. First, they’d want to meet me, then they’d want something—probably my loyalty, my sword, my magic. Others always wanted something from me. The wanting, the needing, the pleading and manipulation never ended.
Bile rose in my throat and I searched the landscape, but there was nowhere to hide with the open road and scattered trees. I’d have to bide my time and wait, for magic lessons had taught me one truth. I had power others wanted to control, and it was up to me to lead unless I wanted to become subservient, yet my weaknesses kept getting in the way. Had I escaped from the elven only to fall under the control of the defenders?
I did not speak again until we set up camp for the night. Takari sent worried looks my way, and when we stopped at a clump of trees, she was the first to dismount and join me. My legs cried out against the ride and while I knew I needed to walk it off, instead I crumbled on my bedroll, exhausted, angry, and weary.
Takari sat across from me and touched my knee. “We weren’t trying to deceive you, Aofie,” she said. “You wanted to leave so quickly, and it only makes sense to stop with the defenders for supplies and news of our route. Few travel west. The lands are dangerous, more so than here, and any land where the gods dwell is fraught with wonders and monsters.”
I sighed, finding it impossible to be angry with her. “I just wish you’d mentioned it earlier.” I shrugged. “What if I don’t want to go there?”
Takari glanced at Romulus. “There is safety in numbers.”
“I’m not upset with you, just frustrated with my situation,” I explained.
Her gaze flickered over my shoulder to the sword, and her lips thinned. “I would assume so.”
“Tell me about the sword,” I said, hoping to salvage our friendship.
“I cannot, but if you value your life, you will keep it wrapped up. Don’t use it, if you wish to live.” Standing, she dusted off her hands and moved to unroll her bedroll.
