A Princess Who Defied Kings Read online

  I threw one last look over my shoulder. Curiosity sometimes got the best of me, even when I shouldn't have let it. Like a man who thought that the rest of the world was made up of butter with him as the appointed knife, Gewthur was slashing his way through a wave of outlaws, hacking joyfully and rallying the guards to him like the beacon of death-dealing he was.

  Wait to get recaptured or plunge into the unknown. Not a hard choice, Naji. Bronwyn and I forced our horses under the canopied shadows of the trees and kept our horses at a steady but not grueling pace. It wouldn't do much good to have one of the horses stumble and throw us clear of the saddle. A good way to break bones, ours or the unfortunate beasts we rode, but not good if we wanted to have even a hope of escaping.

  As the ground sloped up again the sounds of battle faded behind us. We continued at a brisk yet not killing rhythm until our horses cleared the trees. Then we were off, the hooves of our mounts pummeling the earth beneath us as the wind caressed my cheeks with the first teases of freedom.

  You can't celebrate when you're dead, Naji. My brother's sobering saying intruded on my brief spell of happiness. Naked on a horse with no provisions and one equally handicapped companion was no condition to brag about, let alone celebrate. I tried to look around and get my bearings. Luckily Bronwym seemed to know her way around a horse. The animal already had relaxed noticeably, same for mine, and neither of our four-legged friends were the worse for wear. We rode them hard, though, and by the time the sun was dipping behind the distant horizon there was labored breathing from our entire party, two-legged and four-legged beings now equally exhausted.

  "Have we lost them?" Bronwyn asked, her chest heaving as she pulled her reins up beside me.

  I gave her a grim smile. "Ask me that in another week if we aren't bird food." I looked at the distant sky where vultures circled, their wingspans as wide as a horse was long. They'd eat a hearty meal tonight, and I wanted to be as far from that meal as humanly possible.

  We stumbled along in the fading light until things started to get ridiculous. Breaking a horse's leg would seal our fate, and the benefit of an extra few feet of space between us and our pursuers wasn't worth the risk. I motioned at a clump of trees. They were big, mature oaks with outspread branches. I maneuvered my horse between them, jumped down and looked for something, anything sharp and gray. I finally found a decent-sized rock, just slightly bigger than my fist. It had a jagged edge. Although it took me forever to get the rock wedged between some roots and propped at the proper angle, I finally got it to where I could rub my bound wrists across the edge at a nice, even pace.

  It took me a while, sweat pouring into my eyes. Bronwyn watched my progress greedily after she'd sampled several worthless rocks too smooth for her purposes. Just then the sky blurted out thunder, its echoing booms oddly comforting to me as the rope, worn ragged on my wrists, finally tore through.

  "Infinitely better," I muttered, rubbing my raw skin. I turned and held the rock extra steady for Bronwyn, which made her process go by that much quicker than mine had. With a sparkling smile she raised up both hands in triumph once the cords snapped apart.

  "Now what?" Bronwyn said, looking around uneasily as the thunder boomed again, the sound moving closer.

  A light rain began to fall. I couldn't help myself, and I grinned, opening my mouth to drink up the drops. I motioned toward where the trees were thickest, and we maneuvered our way over, managing to find a dry place despite everything. We let the horses wander a little. I had a lot of experience riding them, but caring for them had always been the servant's duty.

  Fortunately Bronwyn seemed to have the experience I lacked. She showed me how best to tend to the beasts, and we ended up huddling together with them to wait out the storm. I leaned against a dry tree trunk with Bronwyn's body pressed against mine, our warmth surprisingly good as the temperature plummeted through the night. We'd taken a blanket from the saddlebags since it was the only clothing we had, and in no time we had ourselves cocooned in it.

  Given some time Bronwyn said she could make us some decent clothing. We did have tools, after all. Knives. Other odds and ends.

  As we sat huddled at the base of the tree, our blanket snugly wrapped to encase us in the best warmth I'd ever felt, I found at one point that I couldn't go back to sleep. Bronwyn's breathing didn't sound as deep as it had earlier, so I risked giving her a jostle with my elbow.

  "You awake?"

  "If I wasn't before, I am now," she replied. She looked over at me then, and her weak attempt at humor evaporated.

  "Princess Najika, I'm scared. What are we going to do?"

  "First off, you aren't going to call me 'Princess' ever again. Call me Naji."

  The blond girl gave me an apologetic look, but the terror in her eyes hadn't lessened one bit.

  "Secondly, we take this one day at a time. Every day we stay a step ahead of Sir Gewthur, that ups our chances of them giving up and turning back, right?"

  Bronwyn gave me a slightly reassured nod. Okay…now to reel her in.

  "More importantly, for all we know the bandits killed most of them. Sir Gewthur may be strong, but he's still just one man. If he doesn't have the support he won't keep coming after us." That last part was probably wishful thinking. If he went back without us he would probably need some evidence that we had died in the wilderness. To do anything else would make him the dishonored laughingstock of the Conclave. No, the more I thought about it, the more I understood that the Blue Knight would probably not give up unless things became extremely desperate.

  Fear niggled at the back of my mind. I needed to change my frame of thinking, and fast.

  Something rustled in the bushes. We both tensed as a hooded figure leapt out of the shadows. In the flash of moonlight dappling between two branches all I could see was that he had an eye patch and a dagger glinting in his hand.

  Eye-patch was on us before I could move, and he pressed a blade to my throat.

  "Well, if'n it isn't two lonely ladies out in the woods on a dark and stormy night. May curses rain on the Boss's head. He said it'd be easy. Easy, queasy says I! Pick up a few slaves and be on with things, take 'em to market out in the Great Woods where the cruel Knights and their mindless little soldiers don't come'n ruin our fun." One-Eye's speech was slurred, and that was when I noticed that some kind of trauma to his face had left him permanently disfigured.

  He leered at us, sizing us up despite the fact that only the tops of our slim shoulders and faces were visible above the blanket. He should've been paying more attention because I used that flimsy distraction to maximum benefit, ramming my knee upward into his groin area.

  The bandit made a gurgling sound which rapidly died off when my second kneecap thrust connected with the side of his head. The pain lancing up my leg was worth it. He soon lay at our feet looking almost peacefully asleep with his tongue lolling from his half-open mouth.

  Brownyn looked at me, aghast. "Is he…?"

  "Dead? No," I said with disappointment.

  "If he caught up to us, though, it probably means that our pursuers can't be far behind."

  I nodded in agreement with Bronwyn, but what else could we do? We could walk on foot in the night, but all that would accomplish would be to make our feet totally useless by morning, assuming we didn't become hopelessly lost and disoriented. Judging from the character of the bandit, he seemed the cowardly sort. He'd probably run at the start of the battle, which meant that maybe, just maybe, we were clear of most of the men, bandits and guards.

  Still, I didn't want to count on it. There were a lot of things I didn't want to have to count on, luck being one of them. But fallen princesses couldn't be choosers, so…

  I tried to remember Gewthur's reputation. What would he be likeliest to do? He was a vain young stud—my father's words, not mine. Once he set his mind on something, he was known to be obsessive. I thought back to whispered words between my parents when I was young, something about one of the servants addicted to a certain 'medi
cinal' herb. That was the kind of obsessive addiction I imagined was part of the Blue Knight's personality.

  "I think…" I chewed on my lip as the thought fully formed. "I wouldn't be surprised if Gewthur spent the entire night trying to gain ground on us. He's probably furious that we escaped. He's young and impetuous, probably willing to take risks where an older Knight would be patient."

  Bronwyn and I talked between ourselves about the few options we did have, and the solution we came up with was an unconventional one to say the least.

  ***

  They found us at dawn. Gewthur and his men, bone-weary, finally discovered our two shivering forms at the foot of the oak trees. The Blue Knight looked down on us, his breathing ragged, and raised the visor of his helm.

  "Do not attempt to flee."

  "Does it look like we're in any condition to flee?" I said, and then I pointed to One-Eye tied up and gagged a stone's throw away. "We tied that one up for you to bag, our way of contributing to the greater good. Will you have some mercy on us at least? We can hardly walk." I turned up my feet, revealing the puckered skin and blister-filled geography from my soles to my toes.

  The Blue Knight looked at us with a glimmer of concern. At the outset of the journey he had cared only about efficiency. As long as we were still breathing, he'd pointed out, that was what mattered.

  Despite the fatigue clearly setting in, though, Gewthur seemed more ready to sympathize. It was as if his own body's pains were making him more aware of others' hurts. He sighed, as if we were two sisters refusing to play his favorite game.

  "You can rest. Fine."

  "And bathe. There has to be a spring near here. We heard loud splashing when our horses wandered off earlier this morning." I waited to see if my bold demand would gain any traction. To my surprise the Blue Knight nodded. Given the signs so far, I decided to push my luck.

  The next thing I tried I did out of desperation. Although I regretted it even as I did it, this was still part of the plan, and I couldn't let fear rule me now.

  I dropped the blanket and boldly walked up to the Knight, putting my hands softly against the hard breastplate of his armor. "Perhaps you would let me show my appreciation for your kindness in letting us rest?" I gave him what I hoped was an alluring look. I imagined what he was seeing—the curve of my breasts, the shoulder-length, raven black hair which probably looked just about as disheveled as a bird's nest. Some guys find that sort of thing sexy, and more than a few are idiots. I calculated how much armor he would have to strip off in order for me to incapacitate him with a shot to the groin or a finger-stab to the eye sockets if my main hope failed.

  Meanwhile his men were so exhausted they'd practically fallen to the ground wherever they could find a flat space the moment after we'd been found. The Blue Knight had been driving them hard throughout the night. After fighting bandits and watching many of their friends die, they were at the end of their stamina and it showed. I'd never seen so many men fall asleep almost instantly.

  The Blue Knight seemed to look longingly at me, tantalized by my offer. His gauntleted hands curved to my rear, and I mentally prepared to strike like the pet snake my father had sometimes let me feed rabbits to. I let him go so far as to put his visor up higher, tipping my mouth upward as our lips joined for a tentative kiss. I deepened the kiss, and my plan soon reached the critical point.

  Just a few more heartbeats, Naji. He drew back abruptly a few seconds later, frowning at me.

  "My fatigue must be clouding my wits. If you could slay Pordric, my Red Knight brother, I shudder to think what you would do to me. Gorgeous as you are, I don't think I'm willing to lose my life for a false promise, no matter how…tempting."

  I looked at the Knight with a sad smile. The fool didn't realize that I'd dabbed poison on my lips from one of the vials in One-Eye's pouch.

  Bandits loved coating their weapons in poison since it tended to even the odds against a better armored foe, and it didn't hurt a girl to adapt that to her own purposes. The only question was…how long would it take to circulate though the Blue Knight's body, and how severe would the reaction be? Would it be enough to kill him?

  The Blue Knight's body jerked as if replying to the unspoken thoughts in my mind. Gewthur opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He clawed at his throat as if the airway there wasn't wide enough.

  I looked back at Bronwyn, who had already quietly started preparing the horses. She gave me a hand up. We had just urged our mounts forward when the first cry of alarm went up from one of the guards. I looked back just in time to see four men crashing towards us. I wanted to get the horses moving, but we weren’t clear of the oak trees. I panicked, kicking the horse into a gallop with the space still too tight.

  A leafy tree branch swatted me out of the saddle like a fly, and I lay dazed with Bronwyn screaming my name.

  "Naji! Get up, now! We have to GO!" I looked up in time to see the first of four men reach me. He had a ring through his nose, and his eyes were a dead grey, sort of like ash. He grabbed me by my hair, lifting me up with rage in his eyes. My scalp stung and my eyes watered, but I tried to focus.

  "You've killed him, you stupid—" He probably meant to say more, none of it complimentary, but you don't mess with a lady's hair, and especially a princess's. I head-butted him in the nose, which I think came as a surprise to him because I probably had to sacrifice a few strands of hair in the process.

  The dazed look in his eyes and the proximity of the next three onrushing figures told me that I had maybe five heartbeats to start getting mobile or who knew what these guys would do to me. If the Blue Knight really did die from the poison, I seriously doubted that these men would escort me the rest of the way to my appointed date with death or torture at the Black Knight's hands.

  So I did the only thing I could do. I ran and then I leapt. There was no time for me to jump onto my own horse because it had wandered too far after the branch-swatting fiasco. But Bronwyn had wheeled her horse back around and brought it close, and now I easily jumped up behind her and screamed for her to move like lightning.

  "Hold on!" she cried, and we did just that—the horse zigzagging through the thinning trees until we were back out on the open grasslands, a swaying canvas which seemed to beckon toward more freedom on the horizon. That was when I heard a second set of hooves drumming the ground behind us, and I turned back with a sinking feeling.

  The guard I'd head-butted had regained his senses, and what was more, he'd hopped onto my horse and spurred it into a full gallop. In the distance I could see more guards who'd finally recovered senses lost during their brief beauty sleep, and they were now bearing down on us from several angles.

  Seven pursuers in all, including the hair-grabbing maniac who was hot on our trail. My heart ricocheted inside my ribcage. I didn't see us getting out of this one. I shuddered at the thought of what these men might do to us. At the moment, though, I was just grateful that Bronwyn seemed to be holding it together. No, she was doing better than that. She was all business, her focus all on the terrain ahead of us, threading one treacherous gap to the next and then the next.

  The chase became a test of endurance. Whose horse would tire first? Fortunately six of the guards seemed to have taken particularly poor care of their mounts in recent days. Riding them all night probably hadn't helped either. Gradually they became fuzzy, less distinct figures as we glanced back, but the hair-grabbing guard with the enraged eyes was a thorn we couldn't quite shake.

  He was getting very close now. The sun glinted against his chainmail as he drew his blade with a flourish. His teeth clenched with anticipation, triumph—the joy of an impending kill lighting up his eyes. I was clinging to Bronwyn for dear life, praying for a miracle. I didn't get one, at least not in the way I hoped.

  A spear leapt through the air, punched through cartilage and bone right between the guard's eyes. At the same time I felt an incredible wall of force, my neck feeling the whiplash as a net enfolded us between two trees. The horse whinni
ed and thrashed, which only further ensnared us as the net tangled in my hair. I screamed as the horse bucked, forcing me and Bronwyn to slip clear of the saddle. Then the stomping hooves were a dangerous hand's width from our prone bodies as the beast continued to panic, its nostrils flaring.

  Getting stomped to death by a frightened animal wasn't how I'd envisioned my life ending, and I twisted desperately, trying to carve out a pocket in the net and somehow separate me and Bronwyn from the whirling hooves of death. My eyes widened in horror as I saw another spear impale the horse through the side, but at least its struggles tapered off and the bone-crushing hooves stopped flailing. I hugged Bronwyn tightly, tears slipping down my face as I told her, "SSHHH. It's okay. They're not guards. We're going to be okay."

  The truth was, whoever had captured us, they could be anyone, worse than the guards for all I knew. I wracked my brain for which Kingdoms bordered the Brown Kingdom.

  I remembered slowly, the colors gliding into my mind. Yellow. Green. Black. I froze as shapes, each enshrouded with loose-fitting ashen wraps, huddled eagerly around our prone bodies. We lay in the grass, just panting, clinging to each other. I looked into Bronwyn's blue eyes, strangely distracted by how beautiful they were even in her fear.

  Of all the stupid things to fixate on, Naji. If these are going to be your last moments on earth, at least make them count.

  I diverted my attention, noticing that the hooded faces peering at us were covered. They had on masks which were not normal at all, almost insanely disproportionate. The masks protruded outward with long, hooked noses and gaping slits for eyes. Yes, the eyes behind those masks were huge. They couldn't be human.

  "Just let me die." That was all I could mutter under my breath as hands reached out to untangle us from the netting, and I closed my eyes.