“James? Jamie, are you all right?”
The sound of his name tore James from his thoughts. He lifted his head to find Georgie coming down the steps toward him. “Fine. Is the ship ready to sail?”
His best friend nodded. Gripping James’s shoulders, he said, “You need to get some sleep. We have every huntsman and dog on her trail, and the civilians are forming militias to guard the coastline. Every ship leaving harbor is being searched top-to-bottom by loyal men and bloodhounds that have been given articles of her clothing. It’s only a matter of time until we track the bitch down and make her pay.”
Hanged, and then drawn and quartered,William’s voice snarled.I’ll send her head to her brother on a spike.Despite himself, James flinched, and he silently cursed himself for shying away from a punishment Ahnna deserved.
Georgie’s face softened. “I know how you felt about her, Jamie, so I can only imagine the thoughts in your head. But this isn’t your fault. We’ve all heard how savage the Ithicanians can be, but no one expected a lady to turn to such gruesome violence. No one predicted it.”
“You did,” James muttered. “At first sight, you said Ahnna was awild thing that we could not treat as a pet—that either she’d lash out or her spirit would be broken.” In the end, it had been both. “Has anyone spotted her?”
“Only from a distance.” Georgie gestured to the stairs. “She’s proving surprisingly adept at evading capture, but we know she’s heading south.”
James wasn’t surprised at all. Ahnna had a fast horse and every skill she needed. “I should have gone with the trackers.”
“No, you were right to think she’d head to the conservatory to seek the aid of her cousin.” Georgie shielded his eyes as they stepped onto the ship’s deck. “And even though that proved incorrect, we now have Taryn as a prisoner. If you hadn’t moved as swiftly as you did, all three women might have evaded us.”
In hindsight, it was idiocy to have thought Ahnna would go to her cousin. From the beginning, her goal had been to protect Taryn—to give her a new life—and going to her would have been the nail in the coffin of complicity. For while James suspected that Taryn and Bronwyn were both guilty of espionage and efforts on Ithicana’s part to undermine Harendell, Ahnna’s decision to murder his father had been impulsive and poorly planned. An act of rage, not a strategic assassination, but it was only now that he was coming to see that.
Why can’t I think straight? Why do I keep making mistakes?
“Sleep, my friend, you need sleep, that’s why,” Georgie said, and James realized he’d spoken aloud.
“No matter how fast Ahnna’s horse, there is no chance she’ll beat us to the coast. We’re ahead of her and our net is closing,” Georgie continued, guiding James to the gangplank. “Everyone loved your father—all of Harendell wants vengeance.” He gestured to the sky as they descended from the ship. “And now that the weather has cleared and theVictoriacan set sail, it won’t be long until Ithicana knows we are coming for their blood.”
Their boots thumped against the wood of the docks, and together they headed toward the port. Everyone from the dockworkers to themerchants to the prostitutes was dressed in funeral black in mourning of his father, but—Harendell being Harendell—business carried on. Men doffed their hats as James passed, women bobbed curtsies, and from the taverns, songs exploded forth about “Good King Eddie” along with cries that Ithicana deserved to starve for its crimes.
It was all noise in James’s ears, because with every blink, he saw his father’s corpse. Saw Alexandra’s ruined face. Ginny’s tears. William’s grief. All with Ahnna’s angry words repeating in his head.If any of you come near me again, I’ll kill you all. I swear it.
His anger and grief rose, fuel for the red-hot need for vengeance that had burned in his heart from the moment he’d seen Ahnna bent over Alexandra, bloody knife in hand. No matter how fast she ran, no matter how far, he would never stop hunting.
And when he found her, there would be no executioner, as James fully intended to kill Ahnna Kertell himself.
The sound of pounding hooves caught his attention. James pulled himself from his thoughts as a soldier galloped toward him and Georgie. The man threw himself off his foaming horse before it had even stopped, only James’s reflexes keeping the man from falling face-first into the dirt.
“Major General,” the soldier gasped out. “I’ve got news!”
“Have you found her?” James could barely breathe, his hands fisting and unfisting, the harm Ahnna had caused his family parading through his mind’s eye.
“Yes, sir.” The soldier squared his shoulders. “She was spotted in Sableton and is now on the run. The whole city is hunting her.”
The world seemed to stand still for a heartbeat, then James said, “Saddle my horse. We ride for Sableton.”
And if he had his way, the city’s streets would run red with Ithicanian blood tonight.
2
Ahnna
Ahnna stooped to pick upa small rock, bouncing it on her palm before tossing it at a dense thicket. Pheasants exploded skyward, and she swiftly nocked an arrow, aimed, and then let it fly. Green fletching soared through the air, and then one of the birds dropped.
“I told you I’d get one.” She glanced sideways. “They aren’t the brightest creatures you’ll ever meet.”
Dippy snorted and bobbed his head in agreement, then returned his attention to the thick grass. Ahnna watched him for a moment, noting that the white chalk she’d used to mark a large star on his forehead was starting to fade, though the dirt covering his coat still served as a disguise for his quality. During her journey south, she’d swiftly discovered that no matter how well she hid her own appearance, people remembered a polished thoroughbred. It pained her that he was dirty with burrs tangled in his tail and his coat marked with sweat, but it was better than trading him for a less distinguished mount.
She’d lost enough without losing her goddamned horse.
Leaving Dippy to graze, Ahnna strode to retrieve her dinner, her large overcoat flapping on the cool breeze. Her height, along with stolen clothing, a hat, and a generous amount of grime had served to disguise her as a young man as she fled Sableton, but even with herefforts to put off the bloodhounds, it was only a matter of time until they discovered she had headed to the mountains.
