I paced the tent as Wista prepared a bath.
What would happen to Eleanor if madness took me? Who would help her? Guide her?Protect her?
Who’s to say the king would continue to follow through on our agreement if I wasn’t there to demand it. If I was too mad to comprehend anything but my own insanity.
It couldn’t be an option. Failure wasn’t an option.
Just in case though … I had to have a plan. Something in place to protect Eleanor.
“Wista?” I called to my new friend.
“Yes?” She peeked out from behind the privacy screen, and I moved closer to her.
“Tomorrow, if the worst happens,” I whispered, then swallowed thickly as the possibility washed over me. “When I return, if I’m not the same, can you take care of Eleanor? Do what you can to help her, to send her away from here.”
I wanted to say more, to beg her. To tell her to take Eleanor to Hutteran, but I’d said too much already.
There were questions in her eyes, questions I couldn’t answer. Even asking this of her was risking so much, but if I returned not of sound mind, she had to be taken care of. I had to plan for the worst because her survival was imperative.
“What aren’t you telling me?” Suspicion coated her words, but I would be disappointed if it didn’t. I knew in my bones I could trust her, and maybe one day, I would tell her the truth. Not today. Today, I needed to secure her help. I prayed to Vanimalis, Wista would give it to me blindly.
“I have a small sack of coins hidden in a pocket of my bags. Take some for yourself and give the rest to her. Help her get out, please.” Emotion clogged my throat, but I held it together. It was a precaution only. I would make it out.
I had to.
“I’ll do what I can,” she said cautiously, “I promise.”
Her agreement freed the tightness in my chest, even if it had been a little reluctant. I released a breath, moisture spilling from my eyes in relief.
“Thank you.”
Even if she couldn’t get Eleanor out, at least she would be an ally and watch over her if the worst happened. I would do everything in my power to make it back to her and protect her. Because that’s what I promised my mother all those years ago when she took her last breath in my arms.
Chapter 9
The next morning, I found myself once again riding through Ferveem Forest. The crisp air was frigid, and fog covered the ground like a blanket, only disturbed by our horses striding along the thin path.
My fatigued body slumped in the saddle. I barely slept the night before, my mind a constant stream of concerns and wonderings. I received no instructions or expectations for this trip other than it was to break the curse. The unknown bit at me, gnawing on my conscience. I’d asked the king the moment we set out, but his vague response gave me nothing, and I’d been too nervous to push for more.
It was still dark when we left, and though the sun rose over an hour ago, light still barely filtered through the thick canopy overhead. We headed in a different direction to my last visit into the forest and were now so deep into the trees there was barely room to fit between the trunks in the single line ourprocession made. The usual sounds of the forest had long since disappeared, only the horse’s hooves echoing around us.
The constant prickling under my skin was an indication of the foreboding excitement that had filled me since the moment we arrived. A thrumming anticipation embedded so deeply, my body hummed with it. With every sense heightened, it was like I could feel my blood pumping through my veins, feel my lungs inflate with every breath. The farther we traveled into the darkness, the stronger it became.
It was an urge to force my horse faster, to push past the men in front and speed to an unknown destination. I had to focus on the king’s back in front of me to stop the impulse. Rhythmically counting each flick of his horse’s tail. Back and forth. Back and forth.
The guard behind me shifted, diverting my attention. Each of the men accompanying us bore a crossbow, their arrows aimed into the trees. I didn’t know what we would encounter this deep into the forest, but they must be worried about something to be so heavily armed.
I started counting again.
The gelding’s tail swished.
Our procession slowed, the guards dispersing into a clearing up ahead. I leaned forward in my saddle to get closer to whatever it was we sought. When Terym guided his horse out of the way, a large rock face came into view, sheltered by two gnarled trees leaning to form an archway over the stone.
The king helped me from my horse before he approached the natural wall. Someone had already cleared the granite surface of the wandering vines choking the tree trunks.
Terym placed his hand over the exposed stone. He closed his eyes, tipped his head back, and inhaled deeply, mouthing words I couldn’t hear. Then he gestured me to him, his eyes unreadable in the same way they were when we first met.
“Come here, my dear.”
