It was more an accusation than a question. Anne smoothed her skirt and composed herself.
“We were fond of each other.” Best give him as much truth as possible—it was more believable that way.
“Did you intend to marry?”
Anne glanced at Goler. Had he provided this man with such personal information about her and Trask? No doubt. She sent him a glare, eliciting no remorse, before returning her attention to Dagren.
“He asked. I declined.”
Dagren’s eyes bored into her. “Why?”
Anne straightened a little. “Because he was too impulsive and immature. I think you might agree, considering the present circumstances.” A twinge of regret passed through her middle to speak of Trask in this way. Yet, knowing him, he would likely find it amusing. Besides, he would want her to do anything to avoid suspicion.
“If he had not been, would you have accepted?”
Anne paused for only a moment. Goler would love this. “Probably. He was the baron’s son, after all. Why would I not have considered such an offer?”
She glanced at Goler again, entertained by his petulant expression.
Dagren’s eyes narrowed slightly, probing. “And how do you feel about him now?”
Did he suspect her? He certainly wouldn’t be blinded by any romantic feelings. Anne’s palms turned clammy, but she resisted the urge to wipe them on her skirt.
“As you’ve said yourself, Captain, he is the leader of a group of outlaws. How do you think I feel about him?” Hopefully the ice in her voice would convince him.
He peered at her and gave another slow blink. Anne’s insides squirmed, but then his gaze shifted to Elanor.
“And what is the purpose of your stay here, my lady?”
Anne looked over at her friend, who sat poised, but her dark eyes glittered hard.
“I became acquainted with Lady Anne last summer. I have no sisters so my mother thought I would enjoy her company.”
“Does your father not have any prospects for you? You are of age.”
Elanor went rigid, and Elian shifted behind them. Anne fought the temptation to smack the captain herself and let Elanor handled her own affairs.
Her voice prim, Elanor replied, “Captain, I don’t believe my family’s personal matters are any of your business, and I can’t see how it has anything to do with your hunt for rebels. If it is really of so much a concern to you, I’ll let my father know you inquired.”
Anne caught the subtle threat of bringing Rothas into this and was quite sure Dagren did too. After all, Sir Rothas had Daican’s ear. He may not actually be on their side, but the threat was enough.
“No need,” Dagren responded smoothly. His scrutiny returned to Anne. “You were out riding. Do you take the forest roads?”
Anne nodded slowly. “Yes.”
“Do you ever see signs of the rebels?”
“Of course not. They are obviously very well hidden if you have not yet caught them.” It was a strong jab, but she didn’t regret it.
Goler grumbled, but Dagren just gave her the first hint of a cold smile. “That will change very soon.”
Anne pasted on a smile of her own. “Then allow me to offer you early congratulations on your success.” Inside, her stomach knotted like tangled embroidery thread.
Now her father stepped in, and Anne let her breath out quietly.
“Captain, are you through with questions for my daughter? I’m sure I can provide you with any information you require. Let’s leave the women out of this business, if you please.”
“Of course,” Dagren replied, but his cool glance at Anne warned her that she hadn’t heard the last from him.
“Annie, are you sure you should go?” her father asked, following her toward the stable. “Dagren and Goler could have men watching the roads.”
“I won’t take the roads.” Anne glanced at the sun. Evening would soon descend. She’d waited all day to make sure none of Goler’s men had hung around, but she couldn’t set aside her unrest. “Trask needs to know about this.”
“It’s dangerous.”
“I’ll look after her.”
Anne looked over her shoulder. She hadn’t heard Elian following. She nodded at him, and he continued toward the stable while Anne turned to face her father.
“If you ask me not to go, I won’t, but I really feel the need to warn Trask. Goler and Dagren are up to something, and we must be prepared. A lot of lives depend on it.”
Her father breathed out a slow breath. “All right, but be careful. And don’t be gone long. You know how your mother will worry.”
And you.
“I’ll be careful.” She stepped closer and kissed his cheek.
He clasped her shoulders. “You’re far too brave for your own good.”
Anne grinned at him. “You know where I get it from.”
A few minutes later, Elian returned with Anne’s white mare and his gray gelding. They mounted up, and Anne caught Elian trading a look with her father. A promise to protect her. He had become almost as much her bodyguard as Elanor’s.
They rode away from the house, straight into the forest. As Anne had said, they avoided the roads and used extreme caution whenever they came near one. Almost an hour later, they arrived in camp. It appeared the men were just gathering for supper. She spotted Trask among them, and he broke from the group to meet her as she dismounted.
Normally, the sight of her would have lit his face up with a grin, but not tonight.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “As much as I’d enjoy it, you wouldn’t be out here this late in the day unless something was up.”
Anne scanned the men again. “Where are Rayad and Warin? They’ll want to hear this too.”
Trask turned to the gathering men and called to Jace to get Rayad and Warin. With a nod, Jace hurried toward one of the cabins.
Trask focused again on Anne as if he could gather information just by reading her face, but he didn’t have Kyrin’s skills. “What’s this about?”
“Elanor and I returned from a ride this morning to find Goler had dropped by for a visit. He brought a friend. A particularly nasty friend.”
Trask made a face, but Anne waited to give him the specifics until Rayad and Warin joined them.
“I met an old acquaintance of yours today,” she told them. “Captain Dagren.”
The two older men exchanged a look, their eyes growing. Though she wouldn’t call it fear, apprehension settled in their expressions.
“Dagren,” Jace said, lingering nearby. “The man responsible for Kalli and Aldor’s murders?”
Rayad winced and gave him a short nod in confirmation. He looked at Anne. “He’s here in Landale?”
“Yes, he arrived yesterday. The emperor sent him to help capture you. He knows you and Warin are here.”
“How did he find that out?”
Trask shook his head. “Thanks to Falcor, I’m sure it wasn’t difficult. No doubt the emperor had all our names circulated through Arcacia.”
Anne gave them all a solemn look. “You must be careful. He is very confident in his plan to locate you. He’s dangerous. Not that Goler isn’t, but he’s predictable and a fool most of the time. Dagren is cunning. I could just feel him weighing my every word.”
Rayad scowled. “Yes, that sounds like Dagren.”
“He had questions, but I think we managed to satisfy him for now.” Anne paused, anticipating the future. “He’ll surely return though.”
“Is Elanor all right?” Jace asked.
“Yes. He started to question her, but she shut him down quickly. You’d be proud.”
A flash of a smile appeared on Jace’s face, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
“I just wanted to let you know,” she told Trask, “so you could be prepared and watchful. I’d better go now so I don’t worry Mother and Father too long.”
She turned for her horse, but Trask caught her hand.
“Walk with me. Just for a few minutes.”
It wa
s on her tongue to insist on hurrying back, but his eyes conveyed such earnestness that she couldn’t say no. She let him pull her closer and followed him away from the horses. He remained unusually quiet until they were out of earshot. Then he turned, taking both of her hands in his.
“Marry me.”
Anne’s brows shot upward. It wasn’t so shocking that he asked. Heaven knew it was probably the fiftieth time, and he had just tried two days ago, but this was different. The concern in his eyes sank right into her.
“Come live out here with me,” he pressed on. “You’d never have to contend with Goler or Dagren again.”
Ah, he was frightened for her safety. She recollected her earlier conversation with Elanor. “The moment I do that, they would know I’m part of the Resistance. What would happen to my parents? Or to Elanor and Elian?”
“They can come too. They’re more than welcome.”
“As of right now, they’re free. How could I make them fugitives? And even if they were willing, what about all the servants? Most of them have family in the village. We can’t just turn their lives upside down. They didn’t ask for any of this.”
Trask’s forehead pinched, his jaw twitching, but then a mischievous little light kindled in his eyes and lifted the corners of his mouth. “I could kidnap you.”
“What?”
“I could kidnap you and bring you out here to the forest. Goler would never have to know you came willingly.”
Anne shook her head. What was it she had said about impulsive immaturity? “That would make you a fugitive and a kidnapper.”
Trask shrugged and drew her a little closer. “So? Whatever it takes to protect and be with those I love.”
A smile tugged at Anne’s lips. Why did he have to make it sound so appealing?
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
“I’m trying to decide how romantic it is.”
“Is that a yes, then?”
“No.”
His face fell. “Why not?”
“Because I don’t want you branded as a kidnapper. Not everyone will understand your motives.”
“I don’t care.”
“But I do. Elôm willing, you will be Baron of Landale someday. Kidnapping wouldn’t be a very flattering reputation.”
Trask hung his head, and Anne couldn’t hold back a soft laugh at his sulking expression. Such a little boy sometimes.
“There must be a way we can make this work,” he said, almost pleading.
“Prayer.”
He winced. “Ouch.”
“Sorry, I wasn’t scolding.”
“No, you’re right,” he admitted. “I’m just impatient.”
Anne loosed one of her hands and laid it on his cheek. “So am I, but I know it could lead to trouble if we don’t think this through and act cautiously.”
He perked up. “You do want to marry me then?”
She laughed again, smiling up into his eyes. “Yes, I do.”
“So…does this mean you are actually accepting my proposal?”
“Yes, I am accepting.”
He grinned widely. “Well, as long as I know that, I can wait forever.”
“Hopefully not that long.”
He drew her into his arms, and she tipped her chin up just enough for him to give her a kiss before she pulled away.
“I have to go home.”
He took her hand again. “I’ll ride with you and make sure you get there safely.”
“No you won’t. It’s too risky. That’s why Elian is here.”
Trask blew out a hard sigh. “You just can’t make this easy, can you?”
Anne bit back a grin.
He tugged her toward her horse. “Well, I can at least have one of our dragon riders fly over and make sure there’s no one around.”
And report to him when she was safe in Marlton, no doubt.
Most of Auréa Palace rested in darkness as late evening overtook the city. Prince Daniel used the deep shadows to his advantage, creeping along carefully to avoid any echoing footsteps in the quiet halls. While most of the servants would be in bed or gathered in the Servants’ Hall at this hour, he didn’t wish to happen upon any guards making their rounds. And he certainly didn’t want to stumble across his father coming from his office. That would be most unfortunate.
He reached a back door without detection and let himself out into the cool, damp air. Only ragged slivers of Aertus and Vilai shone through the thick cloud cover. A faint flicker of lightning lit up the sky to the west. He scanned the still courtyard. Though no guards were in sight, he slunk across the open ground cautiously. He had done this dozens of times, and could surely talk himself out of trouble; however, he’d just as soon his father not find out he had been sneaking around at night. Too much depended upon secrecy.
The palace temple loomed up as a dark, foreboding structure above him. He pressed himself up against the wall and waited, just to be sure. When no one followed, he snuck around the backside, where he had to work to squeeze between the temple and Auréa’s surrounding wall. Here, hidden by many years’ worth of tangled vines, stood one secret barred gate. Even his father didn’t know about it. If he had, he would have had it filled in a long time ago. Besides Daniel, only one other person knew it existed—his old friend Alex Avery, son of the late Baron Arther. This little discovery as children had made them undisputed hide-and-seek champions back in the day. Now it was useful for more than simple games.
He pressed through the thick vines. The lock and top hinge of the gate had rusted away to leave it hanging at a precarious angle. Only the vines on the other side prevented it from falling.
And his father liked to think Auréa was impenetrable and inescapable since he’d blocked off the tunnel Kyrin Altair had used to escape.
On the other side of the wall, a rocky slope led away from the palace. He picked his way down, careful not to disturb the rocks. Raindrops pattered around him when he reached the road running along the palace toward the shore. He pulled up the hood of his cloak to shield his face more from curious eyes than from the drizzle, and headed deeper into the city.
Darkness cloaked the streets, which were mostly empty save for an occasional shady-looking figure. Though lanterns cast light at regular intervals, they were spaced too far apart to offer adequate illumination of every street. This wasn’t Daniel’s first foray into the city’s nightlife, but he kept a cautious hand around the hilt of his sword in case of trouble.
Just ahead, a commotion of voices, raucous laughter, and out-of-tune singing drifted from a tavern. Someone entered, bathing the street in a momentary glow as the door swung open. It closed again, stifling both the light and the rowdiness inside.
Glancing at the door, he passed by. A couple of years ago, he would have eagerly stepped inside, especially since it held some interesting…well, hazy memories. He and Alex had snuck out the same as he just had and spent the night in the tavern. How they even returned to the palace afterward, he would never know, since he didn’t remember any of it.
He shook his head to himself. What he did recall vividly was the splitting headache the next morning and believing he would die of an exploded skull from his father yelling at them. He wasn’t keen to repeat the experience ever again. Those wild days would stay in the past where they belonged.
After several blocks, Daniel arrived at a row of wealthy merchant homes. One of the largest was spacious enough to have its own walled courtyard and garden—rare luxuries in a crowded city like Valcré. At the gate, he paused to look up and down the street. Nothing stirred. Satisfied, he slipped into the courtyard and up to the front door. Dim light shone through the windows and in a thin strip under the door. With one more glance over his shoulder, he knocked—three quick taps, a pause, and then two more.
The rain fell more heavily as he waited, but in just a few moments, the door opened and spilled light into the courtyard. A well-dressed man with iron-gray hair stood on the other side.
“Daniel,” he said
with a welcoming smile as he opened the door wider and motioned him inside.
He stepped across the threshold into the warm house. It had taken almost a year to get the man to call him by his first name.
“I’m glad you made it.” The man closed the door against the damp weather. “We missed you last week.”
Daniel turned to him, shrugging off his soggy cloak and hanging it alongside a dozen others. Ben was one of the most successful merchants in the city, with his own large shop, warehouses, and several trading ships that transported goods all along the western coast of Arcacia. But more than that, he was one of the first people Daniel considered as a true friend.
“My father had a dinner he wanted me to attend,” Daniel explained. “He wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
Ben nodded in full understanding and gestured toward a door across the room. “Almost everyone is here, and we even have three new members tonight.”
His interest piqued, Daniel followed the man deeper into the expansive house and stepped into the drawing room. Though large, it only just contained the group of more than thirty people gathered there. His gaze touched on each face—men and women of varying ages, and even a few young children. Most were familiar to him, though three he had not met before.
“Daniel!” a warm and rich female voice came from across the room. A lovely woman Ben’s age with olive skin and dark hair bustled toward him. Her large brown eyes exuded delight. “Thank the King you could join us tonight.”
Daniel grinned as she put her arms around him and squeezed him tightly. “It’s good to see you, Mira,” he greeted Ben’s wife. “Just keep praying that my father doesn’t catch me sneaking away one of these nights.”
“Every day.”
Daniel had meant his words lightheartedly, but her face portrayed seriousness as she pulled away.
He squeezed her shoulders with a grateful smile and looked about the room again. The new members—a young couple and an older man—stared at him. He supposed he would do the same in their place. Everyone new reacted similarly. The last thing they expected was to see the prince of Arcacia in a secret and highly illegal meeting of Elôm believers.
Ben motioned to the newcomers. “Let me introduce you.”