She felt full and warm for the first time in days, and the slow flicker of the flames was making her impossibly tired. Either she accepted their offer or she would pass out next to the fire.
She mumbled her thanks, picked up her satchel, and staggered into the soft darkness of the tent, closing the flap behind her.
As soon as she was safely inside, she unbuttoned her cloak and pulled it off with her jacket, followed by her boots. She searched around in her satchel and found a clean shirt to change into, leaving her breeches on. Finally, she was able to crawl into the soft bedroll, pulling blankets and her cloak over herself until she was snug and hidden.
The bedding held a slightly spicy male scent of fresh-cut wood and something warmer, nutmeg perhaps. She nestled deeper into the den she’d made, breathing deeply as her aching muscles relaxed in the warmth, letting the feeling of safety surround her as she drifted to sleep within moments.
Lucilla woke to deep voices talking outside—Tor and Mathos. It sounded as if Mathos had just returned from doing a sweep of the woods, and now they were packing up the camp.
A dim gray light filtered into the tent, and birds sang cheerfully in the woods. She stretched luxuriously, feeling comfortable and rested. It was the best sleep she’d had in days. Longer, even. She couldn’t remember when last she’d slept so soundly.
“We need to get her up,” Mathos was saying. “We’ve got to move. Right now.”
“Yes,” Tor agreed, “I feel it too. Dornar, maybe?”
“Maybe. I don’t know… all these days of searching, first the homes and then the woods, and we haven’t seen him? I don’t like it. We’ve found the queen. Now we need to get our asses out of here while we still can.”
Tor snorted. “We’ll go north then? Get her back to Alanna so she can decide what to do with her?”
Lucilla stifled a gasp. Decide what to do with her? Yesterday they’d promised Alanna was on her side—Lucilla’s side, anyway. And that she could leave if she wanted to. They didn’t sound nearly so convincing when they didn’t know she was listening.
“Yeah. I think that’s best. After last night…” They lowered their voices, and Lucilla couldn’t hear what they said next, despite straining her ears desperately.
All her questions from the night before swirled through her brain like angry bees, reminding her that she could not trust these men. No matter how well she’d slept under their watch.
The low murmur continued softly until Mathos barked out a humorless laugh. “How will she know? Just tell her we’re going wherever she wants, and we’ll figure it out later.”
Lucilla stifled a gasp of outrage as Tor muttered something angrily and then there was a short silence.
“Fine. Gods. It was a joke.” Mathos growled, and she could imagine him rolling his eyes as he continued, “But seriously, we need to decide what to do if Dornar finds us.”
“We should run,” Tor said firmly.
“Agreed. But we need a plan. See, here on the map, there’s a port town, Darant. That’ll be a good place to pick up a merchant ship. We should split up. You go north and get help, and I’ll stay with the queen and take her south and west, make for the sea.”
There was a quiet rumble of disagreement from Tor before Mathos spoke again. “No. I’m not going to argue about this. You go back to the temple, explain everything. Get help. Maybe see Keely and apologize for whatever you did. Someone needs to stay with the queen, and this mission is my responsibility.”
Damn it all. They were planning to take her north no matter what. They didn’t believe that she was Claudia, and they weren’t going to let her go off by herself when they reached the road. Their whole go wherever you want speech had been a lie to keep her quiet.
If she went north, she would be sucked deeper and deeper into their plans until it was impossible to escape. And if she saw the Truth Seekers at the temple, there would be no way she could keep calling herself Claudia—not that they believed her as it was, but at least they couldn’t prove that she was lying. The north was not a good option for her.
Well, she would go along with them, keep up the sweet and insipid act, eat their food and drink their water, and as soon as she was clear of the never-ending bloody forest, she’d make a run for it.
A few seconds later, someone cleared their throat right outside the tent. She immediately closed her eyes and forced herself to breathe softly and steadily. She didn’t dare let them know that she was awake and had been listening.
“Ahem.” The voice was louder. She ignored it.
“Ah… Claudia,” Tor boomed. “Wake up.”
“Wha-What?” Lucilla called back, as sleepily as she could.
“Wake up. It’s time to go.”
She gave a loud yawn. “Okay.”
She got dressed quickly and then swung her satchel over her shoulders before leaving the tent. The day was cool and misty with low gray clouds blocking the sun, and she was glad of her warm clothes.
She made a quick trip into the woods to relieve herself, and then made her way to the log she’d sat on the night before. Tor passed her a lump of bread with dried beef and a waterskin, and she ate ravenously despite the stale dryness of the bread and the tough beef.
