Page 67 of Unbetrothed

Laude shrieked. “How can the wards be down? The scoundrel who betrayed us must be powerful too. Oh, Princess! We need to move faster. It would have been nice if you had received the gift of quick travel.”

How dare she mention the gift! I stifled the quip ready to roll off my tongue. Pulling on the reins and pressing my legs into Muck’s sides, I shouted, “Pick up the pace.”

Laude was right about one thing. A regular person could not have brought down the wards. Whoever betrayed us must have attended the ball. That person must have been able to manipulate wards.Could it be my brother’s friend? What’s his name? Yes, I remember. Sir Lucas.

Twisting anger stormed through my blood. A turn in the path nearly caught me off guard. I balanced myself, panting. Since the treaties in my grandparents’ days, no one had dared threaten the eight allied kingdoms. Even the least-liked and most southern kingdom, Aldrin—from which Princess Alexa hailed—would not dare to break away from such a strong alliance.

Unless … these plans were the machinations of a few kingdoms. No, that was absurd thinking and would require too many mouths to stay shut. People were far too eager to share secret information for a pretty coin. No, the betrayer was most likely someone like Sir Lucas who dealt in wards.

The path slithered along, rattling my nerves. My fingernails dug into my palms as trees flew past us.

Bu-pum. Bu-pum.I shot a glance over my shoulder. The clomp of distant hooves pounded the road. Did I imagine this?

Sore in mind and body, I pressed forward. Laude sat upa bit, slowing when a fork in the road required us to choose a path. No marker indicated where each led. I bit on my bottom lip, holding in a scream.

“Do you know the way home?” Laude brought Jaime’s horse to a steady jog.

Gonzalo and Zichri had mentioned a road. Did they say to go left or right? Where were the patrols? The men made it seem like the patrols waited nearby. We didn’t have time to wait. I pulled on Muck’s reins, slowing him to a halt, and I heard Laude’s horse come to a stop behind me.

My palms sweated, making the reins slippery, so I wiped them down on my damp pants. Both roads appeared similar with scattered trees. A forest loomed in the distance ahead on the left while hilly grasslands cut into the landscape on the right. An ache fired from the back of my head toward the front.

“Do you hear that?” Laude lifted an ear to the sky.

I stared at the snaking path behind us. Leaves rustled almost thunderously, and branches snapped overhead. Then, I registered the sound of horses galloping toward us.

“It could be the patrol,” I said.

I glanced at Laude, who sat upright like a statue. The moonlight caught on her fiery curls whipping in the wind.

Two horsemen appeared around the bend, and I wanted to cower. Their cloaks billowed behind them. The closer they got, the more my entire body tensed with doubt. They wore dark cloaks, and dull light illuminated white tunics underneath. The patrol wore green.

I called to Laude, “We can outrun them.”

Laude didn’t budge.

“Laude! Come now, they aren’t the patrol. Don’t you see that?”

Instead, she guided her horse in the direction of the two figures speeding toward us. I could have wrung her neck for such foolishness. There was no time to hide anymore, so I pressed my shoulders back and moved my horse next to hers. I hoped whatever hunch motivating Laude proved true.

“Princess, trust me. I heard it on the wind.”

I’d heard this phrasing a million times by those who hoped to convince me to do as they bid. It always chafed against my will.

But Laude said it with such conviction. I daresay she believed she heard the wind speak.

The galloping of the horses meshed with the beat hammering in my temples. It was Zichri and Jaime. I’d recognize Zichri’s face anywhere.What could they possibly mean by chasing us down? Are they upset?Each muscle coiled tight enough to crack a bone.

Zichri came to a stop and dismounted in one swift movement. A glimmer reflected off the hilt sheathed at his side.Is he here to detain me?He drew nearer, and the forest blurred in my peripheral. I held my breath, keeping my head high.

“Princess Beatriz.” The breathy way Zichri said my name awakened goosebumps all over my skin. He petted Muck, nuzzling up to his neck. Muck wrapped his head around Zichri in a hug.

I ground out between my teeth, “I overheard everything. About how you helped plan an attack. About how the war is imminent. Did you follow me to take me captive?”

“Yes. Would you have me betray my father, brothers, and people? I am a man of my word.” Zichri massaged his brow. “What did you hear? Gonzalo said you looked distressed.”

My throat thickened. “You came all this way to ask me what I heard?”

“I came because I did my duty, and I said I’d come for you.” He placed his rough hand on mine.

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