Before my trip to Seaspire, a knock at the door had always meant a visitor from the village, a friendly face I’d known all my life.
Now, my world was much larger—and much more dangerous.
Anyone could be out there, from Sorcha to a battalion of royal soldiers. I clutched my stomach, which was rolling with cold dread.
Just in front of my face, the rapping started up again and turned to pounding, making my body jump and my heart thrash in my chest.
This time the racket was followed by Katricia’s voice.
“Hello? Wake up in there. Hello?”
I finally took a breath and heaved it out with relief before opening the door to my best friend’s face. The fear returned instantaneously as I took in her troubled expression.
When she saw me, her eyes went round, and her jaw dropped.
“Raewyn,” she exclaimed, throwing her arms around my neck in a fierce embrace. “You’re alive! You’re back.”
I patted her shoulders. “Yes, yes. I’m okay.”
Drawing back, she said, “Oh no, now I fear it may be worse.”
“What is worse?” I asked. “What’s going on?”
“Harrell made an early supply run to Ardenmoor,” she said, naming the village next to ours. “He came tearing back home on his horse. He said the King’s soldiers are there, going door to door. They’re looking foryou, Raewyn. Apparently they’re searching all the villages in the region.”
My hand came up to cover my mouth. I could feel my breath moving against it rapidly.
“So soon,” I wheezed.
I’d known this was a possibility. It was exactly what Pharis had said might happen. I just thought we’d have more time.
Though enough time had passed for Pharis to make it back to Seaspire Castle, I knew he hadn’t revealed my location. If he had, the troops would have come directly here.
They must have been working their way through the villages surrounding the Fae lands from nearest to farthest.
If they’d already made it to Ardenmoor, they must have started very early this morning.
Waterdale was next.
Katricia’s voice was distraught. “They’re ransacking each cottage. Harrell said when people asked why, they were told the King was looking for a human fugitive named Raewyn.”
“It has to be you,” she reasoned. “I’ve never heard of anyone else with your name, and you’ve been to the royal city.”
I nodded in agreement. “It is me they want.”
Leaning out of the doorway and looking down the road leading into the village, I tried to think.
How long did we have? Was there time to grab any supplies?
Running with a blind man and two short-legged little girls was bound to be a slow-going affair. Could we even make it to the woods bordering the village before the soldiers arrived?
They were traveling on horseback. We would be on foot.
Though I now had money thanks to Pharis, there was nowhere to buy a horse and not enough time to procure one even if I did know of a horse-seller nearby.
Was there somewhere we could hide instead? Our cottage had no cellar—but Katricia’s did.
“Will you hide us?” I asked, desperate for a solution. “In your cellar?”
