Page 63 of Crownless King

I didn’t hear the rest. Mistake or not, if they killed the old woman, they could very well kill me, too. I darted down the path, almost running into a huge purple pine up ahead.

“My wagon is just down this path, behind the purple pine tree,”the woman’s words rang through my head.“We’ll be safe…”

Safe.

I hadn’t felt safe for a while now. The concept was too enticing not to whirl around the tree. There was nothing behind it, however, just empty space. Disappointment seized me. Either the woman had lied or this was the wrong tree. I flattened my back against the wide pine tree trunk, catching my breath. My lungs burned from running. My feet hurt in my thin slippers.

Thearienmen’s confused voices sounded from a distance behind me. Then, the far more terrifying sounds came—the questioning, commanding voice of the leader of the High Lord’s guards.

They must be searching for me.

The wide tree trunk hid me from view, but I couldn’t stay here. If they searched the area, sooner or later, they would find me.

I had to keep running.

With a deep, bracing breath, I pushed away from the pine tree and ran right, off the path and deeper into the woods.

There was nothing but trees and shrubs ahead of me. Yet I only made two steps before I slammed into something so hard, the impact sent me backwards and down to the ground.

“Did you hear that?” a guard’s voice came from down the path.

They were close!

Panic sent me up to my feet. I had to run.

But where?

Something was in my way, hard and solid. Only I couldn’t see it, even as my body was still sore from running into it at full speed.

Stretching my arms in front of me, I moved forward slowly. My palms flattened against a hard surface, but I still couldn’t see anything, using my hands to guide me. Taking a step to the right, I tripped over something closer to the ground. My hand slid down and landed on something shaped like a handle, a metal one.

I pressed on it, and it gave. The motion was that of a door opening. Though I saw neither the door nor where it was opening into.

“This way, I think.” The guard’s voice was so close, the fine hairs on the back of my neck stood up as if I already could feel his breath behind me.

Frantically patting with my hands, I found the door opening and the step just above the ground, then climbed in. I felt for the handle on the inside of the invisible door and closed it a moment before two guards rounded the purple pine.

Hugging my knees, I stared at the guards in horror. I could see them clearly. Surely, they could see me, too. I was sitting on something invisible that held me off the ground. But the door and the entire structure it belonged to were as clear as air.

Yet the guards didn’t make eye contact with me. They didn’t even look in my direction, moving along the path.

“I’m telling you, the human fell. The lieutenant saw her jump off the bridge. We can’t toss her into the same river twice, anyway. What are we still doing here?” one of the guards complained.

“Wasting our time,” the other one agreed. “That’s what happens when you get two leaders on the same mission. Each of them is now trying to prove his cock is bigger.”

I released a breath as they moved on. Somehow—I couldn’t even begin to explain how—but they didn’t see me. The thing I was in was completely invisible, but it must have made me invisible, too.

“We’ll be safe,”the old woman had said, talking about her wagon.

That was where I must be, then, in her wagon that turned out to be the best hiding spot ever.

Fear receded a little, leaving my body weak and drained. My legs shook, and my hands trembled. Hugging my knees to my chest, I lay down on my side.

Safewas such a temporary state. But right now, I felt safe enough to close my eyes and allow my body to relax just a bit.

Voron’s guards and the men of the High Lord were searching for me out there. I had to stay quiet to make them believe the order of their new king had been fulfilled.

How could you, Voron?

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