Carlo held his arms up to the sky and laughed wildly, not even seeming to see the horses galloping toward him.
James lifted his sword and dug in his heels, the primal desire to kill surging through his veins. He was going to take off this monster’s head and rid the world of his villainy for good.
Carlo lowered his face, his remaining eye glittering as he leveled a finger at James. “Let the chase commence!”
Then he sprinted into the trees and into the darkness.
James gathered his reins, readying to veer Maven off the path in pursuit, but Ahnna shouted, “James, no! You’ll never find him in the dark! We need to run!”
There was logic to her words, but the thought of letting Carlo go went against every instinct in his body.
As if sensing his thoughts, Ahnna shouted, “I will not wait for you,” and then she leaned over Dippy’s neck and urged the racehorse for more speed.
As fierce as his desire to kill Carlo was, James wanted Ahnna more. So with a curse, he galloped after her.
Moonlight illuminated the thin layer of snow on the trail, but it was still reckless to ride this fast on the bad terrain. Ahnna didn’t seem to care. She balanced easily on Dippy’s bare back, sword and reins held in her left hand and her right arm held to her stomach. Her long hair blew out behind her in the icy wind, and her skin seemed to glow in the moonlight. The most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. He urged Maven alongside her. “You might have hinted that you planned this and spared me all those beatings.”
“I needed you to keep them distracted, especially Carlo. Besides, why would I have wanted to spare you from suffering? It was a pleasure to watch.”
James knew that he had no right to pursue her forgiveness. That he should aid her escape and then let her go her own way. But her wild and relentless tenacity in the face of all adversity was alluring in ways he could not explain, even to himself. Ahnna was untamable. Unclaimable.
Yet even with death readying to hunt at their heels, he wanted to make Ahnna his again.
“We don’t have the supplies we need to backtrack down another trail into Harendell,” he said, shoving away the thought. “Our only chance is to head into Amarid and up through the Lowlands. We can go to Cardiff and seek the aid of my uncle.”
“There is nowe.” Ahnna’s eyes remained fixed on the trail. “Go where you will. I’m heading to the coast and then back to Ithicana.”
“Carlo will know that’s your goal,” James protested. “You won’t be able to fool him twice, Ahnna. If Carlo catches you, Katarina will put you in a hole so dark you’ll never see the light of day. Better to go north and get help from Cardiff.”
“Even if I was willing to consider going anywhere withyou,there’s not enough time for anything but the most direct route.” She gave a sharp shake of her head. “Carlo wasn’t wrong. Edward’s murder and everything that has happened since might not have been my fault, but there is no denying that Alexandra used me, and is continuing to use me, to achieve her ends. There is no risk I won’t take to try to save my people, and if I have to die, so be it.”
For that to happen, he’d have to be dead first, but James said nothing.
Her eyes shot to his. “You put the lives of my people on the line. You and Edward aimed to use me to steal my brother’s crown and put it onyourhead. You manipulated and used me to try to make yourself a king!”
James reached down and caught hold of Dippy’s reins, pulling both horses to a stop.
“We don’t have time for this!” Ahnna objected.
“I’m making time,” James snapped. “What Carlo told you about my father’s plans for a coup in Ithicana was true, but I had no part in their creation. I didn’t even know his intent until after you slammed your door in my face and I went to call him out for how he’d treated you. When he revealed his intentions for Ithicana, I told him he’d misjudged your feelings toward Aren. Told him you’d oppose it on every level, and that no one, least of all me, would be able to convince you to turn on your family. And I never intended to try, Ahnna. I never asked to be king. Never wanted to be king. That was my father’s dream, and as much as I grieve his death, there is a part of me that rages at him because there was no one he used more as a pawn than me.”
“Don’t pretend you’re innocent.” She thumped her heels against Dippy’s sides to try to get her horse to pull free. “Bronwyn and Taryn were innocent, and you went after them. My cousin is a prisoner of war because ofyou,James. You can’t blame Daddy for that one.”
“Don’t take this out on your horse,” James snapped. “Bronwyn is safe in Ithicana, and Taryn—”
“Is being forced to relive the trauma that nearly killed her!” Ahnna lifted her sword. “I brought Taryn to Harendell to give her a chance. To help her find a haven to heal, and I can only imagine how you’ve destroyed that. And separating her from Bronwyn? Why? Why would you do that to her?”
“Because I knew it would hurt you!” Maven squealed and pinned her ears, but James barely noticed the mare’s reaction. “Obviously I regret my actions knowing what I know now, but I can’t undo the past.”
“Would you have regretted it if I’d been guilty?” she demanded. “Would you care that you’d destroyed Taryn’s life even though she was innocent?”
“The Beast of Amarid is on our heels and you want to quarrel about hypotheticals?” James gestured behind them, fully aware of his hypocrisy given that he was the one who held the horses still.
“Answer the goddamned question, James,” Ahnna snarled. “Answer it, or we part waysnow.”
“Fine. If you were guilty, I would have been glad to hurt Taryn in order to make you suffer,” he shouted. “And the suffering wouldn’t have stopped at her. Is that what you want to hear?”
“Better I know the truth. Better I know who you really are!” she shouted back. “You might pretend to be the civilized prince but it’s all an act, just like Carlo said!”
