5. Jess

Chapter 5

Jess

I stared at the signet as I spun it absently around my finger. I’d always thought it so massive on my father’s hand. Now, it felt like it belonged on my slim finger even though the weight of what it represented pressed against my spirit far more than the golden band did against my skin. I had been preparing to rule my whole life but had not expected to actually wear the crown for another twenty years or more.

After leaving home, I expected I never would.

There was plenty of time to be a teenager and rebel, to have a normal life—as normal as life could be for the Crown Princess. Until my mother—

An urgent knock at my door snapped my head up. I straightened my blue blouse and stood before calling out, “Come in.”

Sheriff Wilfred burst through the door with Keelan and an old man close behind.

“Your Majesty, we need you to leave— now .” The Sheriff’s normally placid voice carried near panic as he rushed forward and began tossing my riding clothes into a satchel.

“What? Why? Sheriff, what are you doing? I just got here.” My gaze shot from Wilfred to Atikus, then Keelan.

“Your Majesty, please. There’s no time. We’ll explain on the way,” Wilfred urged. When I didn’t move, he added, “Your life is in danger. We have to go.”

Atikus stepped forward and offered me his hand. “Your Majesty, my name is Atikus Dani. I am a Mage of Melucia sworn to keep you safe. There is no time for explanations, but I assure you, we will explain everything one we are free of this place. Please come with us. Keelan will lead us out. The Sheriff will follow with your things.”

I was too exhausted and stunned to argue.

Keelan turned on a heel, and I followed. As we marched down the narrow hall to the back stairs of the inn, I was surprised to find it empty. There had always been at least two men of the Royal Guard within shouting distance when I was only the Crown Princess. There should’ve been far more protecting the Queen.

“Where are my guards?” I stopped walking and clutched my chest with my arms.

Atikus bumped into me from behind.

“Sorry, Majesty,” he muttered.

“The Royal Guard is waiting for us in the stables. The Captain arranged for his men to be elsewhere. Please, Your Majesty, we have to go now ,” Keelan said.

I eyed Keelan, searching for any sign of deception or deceit, then reluctantly followed him down the stairs and out a back door. We hustled to a small wooden stable across the alley. Stalls for ten horses lined the interior of the old wooden barn. The far corner was hidden by stacks of baled hay. More hay littered the ground, but the place appeared well kept.

A massive armored man’s head appeared from within one of the stalls where he was buckling a horse’s saddle.

“Your Majesty.” Captain Proctor snapped to attention and offered a shallow bow.

“You? You are in on this?” Jess stammered.

He nodded but didn’t speak. His silence somehow set my blood boiling, and I stormed over to the stall where the giant stood, hands on my hips. “ You agree? You think I should go with these men? These Melucians ? What have you not told me? I am not moving until someone explains everything right this moment.”

The man didn’t hesitate. His eyes didn’t waver. “Your Majesty . . . Jess , I held you in my arms the day you were born. I watched you grow. I’ve protected you, and your family, every day since. Protecting you is my life. I would gladly give mine to save yours.” Rare, unchecked emotion marred his normally chiseled features, and his voice faltered as he spoke. “I can’t keep you safe right now. My men are . . . compromised. I . . . don’t know who to trust. I believe Atikus and Keelan are good men. Go with them—for your safety, as well as the Kingdom’s.”

My mouth fell open, but I couldn’t speak. The Royal Guards had been my family’s most trusted knights for generations. There had never been a single incident of treachery or betrayal, at least not one that resulted in a member of the royal family’s death.

The idea of such infidelity was beyond disbelief.

Then I thought about how all this would look, how my people would see things. I’d only worn the royal signet for a few hours, and here I was skulking through storeroom basements under muddy streets and running away. Worse, I was doing it all with foreign—whatever Keelan was.

The whole thing was senseless.

I stiffened my spine and turned to Wilfred. “Sheriff, I cannot do this. I will be handing the Crown to my mother. She will not need to kill me because the people will beg her to take power from the frightened girl who abandoned them with two of their enemies. I command you to take me back to the inn right now.” My hands flew back to my hips, and I tried to imitate my mother’s best icy stare.

Proctor stepped forward, but Wilfred raised his palm. When he spoke, his voice was quiet, almost somber.

“Jess, if you stay here, you will die.” His eyes fell away, and his words cut deeper than any blade. “Isabel will probably kill me the moment her feet touch the shore. You will surely follow.”

I glanced at the Captain. The giant nodded slowly, then lowered his gaze.

Wilfred gripped my arm, something he had never done before. If we weren’t fleeing for our lives, he might’ve lost a hand for touching the Princess, now Queen. “Please, Jess. If they kill you, we won’t be able to stop any of this. The Kingdom will go to war and thousands, hundreds of thousands , will die. Your people will suffer. Keelan’s and Atikus’s people will suffer far worse. You have to leave to protect them, to give them a sliver of hope for the future.”

Whatever ice was left in my eyes melted at his plea. The man standing before me now wasn’t the High Sheriff. This was Uncle Sebastiano . The truth of his words wormed their way in, and I felt my rage evaporate.

I whispered, “Where will we go?”

“I don’t know—and you can’t tell me. Who knows what powers your mother may command if the Mages fall in behind her? They could pluck information out of my head, and this would all be for nothing. I trust Keelan and Atikus to keep you safe.”

From behind me, Atikus spoke. “We need to get as far from here as possible before Queen Isabel gets here. We need to go.”

I spun, finger pointed accusingly at the Mage. “She’s just Isabel. I am Queen now.”

Atikus inclined his head. “You certainly are, Your Majesty.”

Moments later, as Keelan and Atikus walked their mounts to the stable’s back door, I found my courage. I nodded to Captain Proctor and turned to the Sheriff. Wilfred surprised me again by wrapping me in a tight hug. He was the father of the traitor who’d turned me over to Isabel, but something in the embrace told me he also carried the burden of his son’s betrayal. I squeezed him back and gave him a peck on the cheek.

When I turned to follow Atikus, Captain Proctor handed me Dittler’s reins. The magnificent beast nuzzled my neck and licked my ear.

“I’m glad to see you, too,” I said, stroking his ear. “How did you get away, boy?”

“We didn’t find him. Seemed more like he found us. Remarkable horse.” Captain Proctor abandoned protocol and lifted me by my waist onto the saddle. “Up you go.”

When I looked down, shocked the guard would dare “handle” his Queen, he gave me a wink and a bow. “Just protecting Her Majesty. Now go.”

I trotted my horse out of the stable to find Keelan and Atikus mounting their own horses, a bay and a mottled gray respectively.

The strangeness of another escape through the back door of a stable sent a shiver down my spine. I thought I trusted a good man then, too.

He betrayed me.

But this seemed to be my only choice if I wanted to live.

It didn’t take long for us to wind our way past the northern border of town. Getting through the endless sea of soldiers camped in the fields outside without being recognized was more challenging.

By the time we made it into open fields, I was struggling to stay upright. Events of the past few days were finally taking their toll. If Dittler had been any other mount, I would’ve ended up in the dirt. The Cretian stallion had grown up with me on his back and felt my exhaustion through our bond. I knew he’d sooner die than let me fall.

Four hours into our journey, Keelan called a halt. Atikus looked little better than me, and his own horse needed a break. The mounts had been worked into a lather.

“Thank the Spirits,” Atikus groaned as he struggled to dismount.

“Don’t get too comfortable,” Keelan said. “We had a head start, but Isabel will throw everything she’s got at us once she takes control of the town. We’re sitting ducks out here.”

I watched as Keelan surveyed the landscape.

There wasn’t a tree or hill in sight, just an ocean of grass clinging to its last vestige of life before winter arrived in earnest. Things had been so harried lately I hadn’t noticed how morning started a few moments later each day. The sun’s drowsy arrival that morning reminded me that winter pursued us as much as my mother and her troops.

I hopped off Dittler and caught Keelan staring. He offered a smile, but I ignored him, spread my cloak on the ground, and curled into a ball, pretending to rest. A dozen moments later, the pair began to speak in hushed tones.

“Any idea where we are, or where we are headed?” Atikus asked. I heard the sloshing of his waterskin as he drank.

“We went north out of town. That’s about all I know. I studied some maps before we left but remember little north of the King’s Road. Our plan didn’t exactly call for a royal escape through the countryside.”

Atikus chuckled. “I’d almost think that was humor in your voice if I didn’t know you so well.”

I began to drift—or maybe I actually drifted. A pained groan escaped my lips as the warmth of a hand shaking my shoulder roused me.

“Your Majesty,” Keelan half whispered. “It’s just a dream.”

It took a moment for my eyes to flutter and lock onto his.

I jerked back. “What are you doing? Don’t touch me.”

Keelan raised his hand in surrender but didn’t stand or leave my side. “It looked like you were fighting pretty hard in your sleep. I was just waking you. I meant no offense.”

I wiped my eyes and sat up, then wrapped my arms around my legs, now folded against my chest. I stared at the ground, unable to meet Keelan’s eyes again. He started to stand when I didn’t speak, but my quiet voice froze him in place.

“I dreamed of Justin on the balcony. He called my name, and I looked up in time to see the men around him fall. There were so many masked men. They were everywhere.” I put my face in my hands, fighting tears that didn’t come. “I know it did not happen this way, but in the dream, my brother took the bolts, over and over. I saw him slam into the wall. A moment later, he fell over the railing. I could hear the sickening thud as he struck the stone floor. Then, somehow, he rose and stood in front of me with bolts sticking out of his chest and blood pooling around him. He fell to his knees, struggling to stay upright, before dropping face down. He kept dying in front of me . . . over and over. He kept crying my name.”

Keelan sat on the cold grass beside me.

“Do you think he is alive?”

He stared into the distance as he spoke. “I don’t know. I saw his guards fall, but then he ran into the hallway. I don’t think he’d been shot at that point, but . . . I didn’t see him again.”

“He’s dead,” I said flatly. “In my heart, I know they killed him. She killed him.”

“She?”

“My mother. The woman in the red dress and the mask made of skin.” I shivered at the memory of the blank mask, hate-filled eyes glaring through holes torn in flesh. “I know it was her. I know she did it.”

Atikus finally joined us and sat crossed-legged across from me. “Why would your mother want to hurt the Prince?”

I shook my head. “That’s just it. She wouldn’t. I don’t—I can’t explain it. Justin has always been her favorite. We all knew it. We even joked about it. She wanted to throw me off the roof of the Palace most of the time, but she would die for her baby boy . That’s what she called him.”

Atikus placed a weathered hand on my ankle, patting it gently. “Your Majesty, we cannot imagine how you feel right now, but we are going to help you. At least, we are going to try.”

The old Mage’s tight smile and wrinkled brow reminded me of my father, and my heart lurched from gratitude to helpless grief. I choked back tears.

“Why would she kill my father? They were married more than twenty years. They ruled together. They did everything together. Why kill him?”

Atikus ran a hand down his beard, as if searching for answers in his wispy hair. “I do not know why she would kill either of them. The only thing that makes any sense is that their deaths played some role in her ceremony, or whatever she hoped to accomplish by performing the ritual. We do not even know what that goal was. Your Majesty—”

“Jess,” I said a little more sternly than intended, then softened. “Please, call me Jess. I’m not Queen of anything out here.”

Atikus smiled again. “You are the Queen of the Kingdom of Spires, Jess. You are the ruler of the largest, most powerful nation in the world. It doesn’t matter where you are, how many people are watching, or anything else. You are, and always will be, the Queen . . . but we will call you Jess when no one else is around. We have no royalty in Melucia, and all of your titles get confusing to an old man.”

Keelan laughed. “Like you’ve ever forgotten anything.”

I looked at Keelan, then back to Atikus, confused.

“It is my Gift,” he said, offering no explanation.

Keelan stood and brushed off his breeches. “Jess, whenever you want to talk about what happened, we’ll listen. I want to hear everything you remember about your capture and time with the Children. You may remember clues that can help us unravel some of this; but right now, we’re sitting in the middle of an open field for anyone to see. We need to get somewhere safe, and you know this countryside better than either of us. Any ideas where we should head next? I’d guess we’re three or four leagues north of Cradle.”

Before I could answer, Keelan dug into his pocket and handed me a folded piece of yellowed parchment. “I’m pretty sure these have been distributed in every town and village throughout the Kingdom. That rules out hiding in a crowd.”

I stared down at the sketch of my face. The artist made me look younger and cast me with a frightened expression. I looked so fragile and helpless.

Fire flashed within me.

Atikus cleared his throat. “They’re trying to make you look like a poor, innocent child to drum up anger and support for their war. These are more about recruiting soldiers than finding you.”

My head snapped up. “War? What are you talking about?”

Atikus looked to Keelan, then shrugged. “Read the flyer. Your family pinned your kidnapping on Melucia and is using it as an excuse to invade. Troops are pouring toward the border. You could not go near any major road without seeing men in uniforms everywhere.”

I stared blankly at the page. “I refuse to believe my father did all this without telling me anything about it. I mean, there is plenty I never knew, but we talked about most of his major decisions. He said it was part of training me for the throne.”

The heat within me vanished, and my shoulders slumped. First my mother tried to kill me, then she succeeded in killing my father, and likely my brother. Now, the Kingdom was going to war, and I was the last to learn of it. I wanted to scream or throw something . . . or cry.

I shook my head, then caught Keelan staring into my eyes.

I blinked.

He blinked.

I blinked again.

He looked away.

“Sorry.” He ran a hand over his scruffy face. “Uh, Jess, Atikus, we really need to move. They’re probably already hunting us, and we only have a few hours’ head start.”

I nodded. “They have a whole army on the move, none of the towns are safe. My face is plastered across the Kingdom. Even if it wasn’t, everyone knows what their Princess looks like.”

Keelan turned to the Mage. “What do you think, Atikus?”

“I don’t think anything on your map will help us at this point. Jess is right. Between the army and whoever Isabel has working for her, we can’t trust the anonymity of a town. I don’t like the idea of trying to cross the border again, even if we went all the way around to the southern end. Right now, we just need somewhere safe to hide and rest until they lose our trail.”

The skies chose that moment to release the first flurries of the season. Keelan reached a hand out and watched the tiny wet flakes disappear against his skin.

“Add ‘warm and dry’ to your list for this hiding place. Winter’s finally here.”

“I have an idea, but you might not like it. I am not sure I do.” Atikus frowned at the watery snow. “The year before Irina tried to conquer the East, she started purging Mages from the Kingdom. They were hanged or burned as enemies of the state.”

“Atikus, we don’t have time for—”

The Mage cut Keelan off with a glare.

“The Mages knew Irina had the border sealed, so many headed for the coast, the one on the peninsula locals call ‘the Shoe.’ If you had your map, you would know why. Anyway, they found a cave on the coast and hid from Irina’s soldiers. Our histories tell of Mages reinforcing the cave with scripts and magical engravings to further hide them from detection. If we could make it to that cave, we should be safe.”

I couldn’t stop the flurry of questions that spilled out. “That was over a thousand years ago. How can you be sure it is still there, and is still warded? How would you even hope to find it? And how do you even know any of this?”

Keelan leaned down and whispered conspiratorially, “His Gift is annoying. He remembers everything .”

Atikus smiled and wiggled his brows.

I wasn’t amused. “Fine. Assume you could find this magical cave. We are more than a hundred leagues from the town of Bo. There is nothing but fields and farmland in between—and then we have to go another fifty leagues to the coast. In case you have not noticed, it’s snowing !” I didn’t mean to get angry, but the absurdity of what Atikus proposed deserved a bit of yelling.

Atikus didn’t flinch. “You are right. It will be a hard trip that will take three, possibly four, weeks, and we are not exactly well stocked for a journey.”

“I wish Declan was here,” Keelan added. “A Ranger would be a lot better at this kind of thing.” Then something flashed in his eyes. “Wait. That’s it. Declan talked about us having agents—I mean, Merchants here.” He glanced apologetically at me, then turned to Atikus. “Could you contact the Arch Mage and have some of our people offer shelter along the way?”

Atikus nodded. “That’s a good idea. Unfortunately, unless there is a Telepath nearby, he will not be able to respond or coordinate a meeting point.”

“It’s worth a shot. If the land is as flat and barren as Jess says, they won’t have to know our exact location, just a general area. They should be able to spot us from pretty far off.”

“That’s unsettling, given who else could see us, but it is worth a try.” Atikus crossed his legs, ignoring the snow gathering on his head and shoulders. “Give me a minute.”

As Atikus closed his eyes and lost himself in his Gift, I turned to Keelan.

“Do you think I am terrible?”

“Terrible? Why would you ask that?” His brows knitted.

I looked down and fiddled with the royal signet. It fit perfectly but still felt like something foreign on my finger. My voice was quiet when I spoke. “I was named Queen hours ago, and my first act was to run away. I am running away from my people.”

As I looked back up, my eyes begged Keelan for reassurance, for encouragement, for anything other than the scorn I gave myself.

“You can’t help them very much if you’re dead. Throwing yourself onto your mother’s sword wouldn’t help your people very much, would it?”

I shook my head, gave him a tight smile, then turned away, afraid to speak lest my voice break. The weight of the Crown and the responsibilities from which I now fled bore down on my conscience. I wanted to make my father proud, to do justice to the faith he’d always placed in me, but how could he be proud looking down on his little queen on the run?

I was failing him , and my heart ached for it.