Page 12 of To Ride the Wind

She hurried over to join her. “I’ll help you leave. If someone spots you on the way out…” She trailed off, reading in the girl’s face that she didn’t need a reminder of the danger she was in.

What Gwen didn’t add was that accompanying the girl out would benefit Gwen as well. Despite the late hour, she didn’t feel in the least sleepy. Usually, her eyelids would be drooping by that point, but the surge of energy from the girl’s unexpected appearance had driven away the fatigue. And surely creeping through the corridors and grounds would only continue that effect.

Gwen gestured the girl back and opened the door, peering outside into the corridor. There was no one in sight, so she slipped through, signaling for the girl to follow. She obeyed, tiptoeing behind with a thrilled look on her face that made Gwen want to laugh. How many of the girl’s childhood imaginings were being fulfilled in that moment?

But Gwen was no longer prone to the dramatic swings of emotion that plagued children on the edge of youth, and she had a clearer idea of the danger. If the son of courtiers could disappear without a trace, how much more easily could the queen dispose of a girl from the city? Gwen couldn’t let herself forget it wasn’t a game.

They had almost made it to the closest exit when she heard voices. Sweeping the girl along with her, she fled through a nearby door. It led into a small storage space filled with cleaning supplies. Gwen knew the closet was there because she had seen the captives use it—she was just glad it hadn’t been locked.

With the door closed, it was completely dark inside, and Gwen stood with her hand over the girl’s mouth. It was probably an unnecessary move, but she couldn’t help the tension flooding her. She had already been afraid for the girl, but being enclosed in the dark closet sent fear flooding through her at unmanageable levels. Only the contact with another person was keeping her from falling off the edge and plunging into uncontrolled panic.

Somewhere, distantly, she registered that the voices had faded. But her limbs remained locked in position, her mind too occupied with holding back the panic to manage proper thought. It was so dark, and she could feel the shelves pressing in tightly on her.

But she wasn’t alone. She clung to that thought, hearing the scrape of the girl’s breathing in the darkness and feeling the warmth of her presence. She wasn’t alone. She wasn’t being punished.

The girl pulled away, startling Gwen from her stupor. A crack of light appeared as the girl inched the door open, and Gwen’s panic receded, leaving her feeling foolish.

“We need to keep moving,” the girl whispered, sounding nervous. “I have to be home before dark.”

Gwen nodded, hoping the girl hadn’t noticed anything odd in her behavior. Shaking herself, she pushed the door the rest of the way open, taking the lead again.

The corridors stayed clear the rest of the way to the external door, and when she pulled it open, the girl rushed through. She paused to wave farewell to the princess, but Gwen shook her head and followed her outside. The girl wasn’t safe until she was out of the extensive gardens that surrounded the palace. And the cool air of early evening would help drive away the sleepiness that had settled in the wake of Gwen’s earlier panic.

As they walked along gravel paths between carefully sculpted bushes and beds of flowers, she glanced back at the building. Everyone always referred to it as a palace, but it had none of the lightness of the palaces in the storybooks of her childhood. It had the necessary size and turrets, but no bright flags waved at the top of them, and the dour gray stone gave it a stern look she had always hated. It seemed better named as a castle—or even a fort—than a palace. But her mother called it a palace and everyone else followed suit, playing into the fantasy her mother liked them all to enact—the one where she was a beloved monarch, her servants had chosen their positions, and Gwen was her loving, cosseted family.

Distracted by her thoughts, she nearly didn’t hear the crunch underfoot as a patrol of guards neared their position. They were so close to reaching the palace boundary, but they weren’t quite there, and there was no time to conceal them both.

Acting without thought, she shoved her companion hard. Caught by surprise, the girl staggered sideways and fell between two bushes. The greenery grew close enough together that the shadows covered her in the darkness. Turning in the same movement, Gwen reached for an early rose bud, a smile fixed on her face.

The guards came into view, both halting for the span of a breath before hurrying toward the princess. Their hands rose to their sword hilts only to fall away again when they got close enough to confirm her identity. But their expressions didn’t relax.

“Your Highness!” the older of them said, sounding disapproving. “You shouldn’t be out here.”

“But the first of the roses are starting to bloom,” Gwen said as innocently as she could.

“Your Highness, you need to go inside,” he said more firmly.

A slight rustle from the bush beside them made the second guard start to turn. She grabbed his arm, smiling inanely up at him.

“How could I sleep on such a beautiful night?”

The young man threw his superior a panicked look, and the older man pulled Gwen off more roughly than she had expected. But at least his firm hold on her arm drove off the sleepiness that had started to weigh her down.

She still threw him a shocked look, however. “Captain!”

He didn’t loosen his hold. “It’s nearly dark, and you need your sleep.”

A stab of excitement sharpened her senses, driving the sleep even further away. They had strayed onto the topic of nighttime, and though she was sure to suffer for this episode later, it would be worth it if she could reveal another piece of the puzzle.

“There’s nothing dangerous about darkness,” she said boldly. “I’m still within the palace grounds.”

“Your Highness has no idea,” the man said gruffly. “Nowhere is safe at night.”

Gwen raised both eyebrows. He talked as if there were rabble at the castle gates waving pitchforks. Although given what she had just learned about the taxes, perhaps there soon would be. Gwen had helped one family today, but she was painfully aware there had to be many others with equally compelling needs in the city.

She pushed that thought down, however, focusing on the guard. “Please,” she said as sweetly as she could manage, “enlighten me.”

The younger man threw his superior another panicked look, this time encompassing the rapidly darkening sky in his glance.

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