Caspian spurred on his horse. He was a fool. He should have been with her last night, shouldn’t have let her out of his sight. She’d told him that she was worried about being found.
He’d promised to protect her.
He’d failed.
What was he doing last night instead of protecting her? Catching up with a childhood friend and ignoring her. How could he have allowed himself to be distracted?
After such a wonderful evening, he’d gotten distracted, and now she was gone.
They must have taken her when she left him, because he’d excused himself to look for her shortly after she wandered away.
If she hadn’t left him, if he had been focused only on her, she might still be with him.
This was his fault, and he needed to fix it.
What was she thinking right now? Was she being treated like a prisoner? Was she being forced to walk, or given a horse? Was she being forced to ride with another man? Jealousy churned with the anger in his gut and if he hadn’t been so upset, he might have laughed at himself for being jealous over a hypothetical situation.
He needed to find her.
The road stretched long before him, and he couldn’t stop thinking about how she must have felt when she realized she’d been found. When she realized she was being taken back to Riyel. When she realized she would be back in Lady Manning’s power.
After a few hard hours of riding, the flat land of the Northlands transitioned to more rolling hills, a forest running along the eastern side of the road. He had to be careful here. He didn’t want them to see that he was following them.
As he crested a hill, he noticed riders in the distance. He slowed his horse and turned, riding back down the hill. The last thing he needed was for them to notice that they were being pursued.
He made his way to the forest, heading far enough in that he could barely see the road, before riding south again.
He let himself catch up enough to see a carriage, six guards, and a wagon through the trees.
His Sophia was sitting in the wagon, her hands in her lap in a position that made him think she was bound. His heart sank as he watched her, sitting motionless amidst the jostling.
What was going through her mind?
Was she blaming him for not being there?
Did she think that he had abandoned her?
Was she afraid that she was going to die?
He couldn’t take on six guards by himself. Not during the day. He had to wait for nightfall and hope they hadn’t made it to the city or hope that his brother would catch up to him by then.
As the day wore on and the carriage continued its sedate pace, he followed just out of sight.
Would Kellan make it in time? Would they have seen the signs that he did and followed the tracks as they left the main road?
When they stopped for the evening, he tied his horse to a tree and settled down to wait for nightfall. He felt guilty eating some of the food that Cook had sent, not knowing if Sophia was being fed, but he needed energy to rescue her and ride home through the night.
When would his brother arrive?
Were they even coming? Was he on his own to rescue Sophia?
It didn’t matter if he was. He would rescue her no matter what the cost. As a guard, and as the man who loved her, he couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t.
As dusk fell, he crept closer so he could see what was happening. He watched as Sophia was taken to the edge of the woods and allowed a moment of privacy.
He itched to run to her and steal her back, but there wasn’t enough time before she was brought back to the wagon. The guard who had led her to the woods handed her something and she began to eat.
Thank goodness they were giving her food and water.
