Page 90 of Once Upon a Crown
“She has gone out, Your Highness,” he confirmed, with a bit of a stutter. “But I don’t think she’s coming back.”
“What do you mean, she’s not coming back?”
“She, uh.” He hesitated. “I overheard her talking to Bessie as she was tacking up. She mentioned something about Norrandale, and she had a satchel with her, which looked quite full.”
I didn’t respond to him. I merely ran out of the stables as fast as my legs could carry me. She couldn’t be gone. She just couldn’t be.
A flash of her light hair, which glinted with a bit of red in the sun, came into view. She stood in the courtyard with a servant who held on to Bessie as Gwen fastened her cloak.
“Have you gone mad?” I called out loud enough for Bessie to get a bit of a fright. Gwen looked up with surprise.
“Lance. What are you doing here?”
“What am I doing here? Why are you stealing my horse and leaving for Norrandale without so much as a word?” I didn’t know if I was angry or sad or both.
“I’m not stealing your horse, I’m just borrowing her.” Gwen corrected me. “And I was going to say goodbye.”
“When?” I asked with exasperation.
“Well.” She looked down at the ground, somewhat ashamed. “I left a letter with one of your servants. I’m guessing it’s probably in your room somewhere.”
“You were going to say goodbye in a letter? After you hated me for years because of what happened in Norrandale. Now who’s the hypocrite?”
“That was different.”
“How was that different?”
Gwen looked away with a sigh. “I just didn’t know how to say goodbye, all right?”
Something in her tone softened the anger inside me.
“It’s the middle of winter. You don’t know the way. You’ll die out there.”
“I’ve made the journey once before. And the weather has finally turned enough for me to travel. I can’t wait any longer.”
“What about your things?” I asked. “You hardly have anything with you.”
“I’ll send for them once I’ve arrived at Mistwood.”
This girl was insane.
She took the reins from the servant, and I grabbed them from her.
“Go and fetch my carriage.” The servant boy gave a silent bow and scurried off.
“Lance, what are you doing?” Gwen turned to face me with a scowl.
“I’m coming with you,” I said with determination.
“You can’t come with me to Norrandale.”
“Well, I can’t send a group of guards with you. I need every able-bodied man here to protect the palace in case things go awry with Argon.”
“That’s exactly why you need to stay,” Gwen argued.
“I’ll have the council summoned again. They will keep things under control until I can return.” With war on the rise, I knew I was not the right person to protect this kingdom. Even if I cared about the monarchy and our family line. This was Elara’s battle.
But the thought of living in the Palace of Levernia on my own again... Before I knew Elara was still alive or any of this stuff happened, I was used to Eloisa spending much time in the country, my father always being occupied in his study before he got ill, and the little company I had were the few people who lived, on and off, at court. None of them were truly my friends in any sort of sense, as any time they spent with me was because I was the heir to the throne and then, for a short time, their monarch. And then Elara was there with a small army of people who all cared about her. They were noisy and often a little obnoxious, but they looked after each other, and even though I couldn’t particularly say I liked all of them, I’d grown accustomed to their presence.
