Before my father’s execution, he’d been labeled a traitor to the kingdom. He’d fought for years to put King Hazlitt on the throne, and then one day he stopped fighting for the king. People said it’s because my father had gained just enough support in the ranks to want power for himself, but that it wasn’t enough to actually win, and for that, they said he was mad. If the king knew who I was, if he knew my surname and my family history, there’s no way he’d hire me to find his daughter. He might even throw me in prison just because he could, because I had a traitor’s blood.
Silas gave me a long look at the question, and though I knew him well enough to recognize the hesitation in it, he wouldn’t risk my life to lie. He was my best friend, and I trusted him.
“No,” he answered, “I only told him that I know the best hunter in the kingdom.” He watched me for a long moment after that, studying the continued reluctance on my face. “We’ve lost brothers to this war,” he said, breaking my intense gaze at him and looking around at his soldiers, all of who mumbled ‘no man is an island’ in response. “Good men. Honest men. We can’t lose on account of a reckless princess. For the sake of the realm, Kiena.”
“Have I got to go to the castle?” I asked. Part of me thought if this ended badly, if the princess got hurt before I could find her or if she was able to avoid me, then it might be easier to run if the king had never seen my face.
“It’ll be alright,” Silas assured me, sensing my concern. Then he added, “You always wanted to go to the castle.” But we both knew I’d never wanted to go to see the king. Silas studied me for a minute while I thought about it. Still, I don’t know why; the choice wasn’t mine. “You should like to go before word gets out.”
I met his eyes with my own, staring while I took in his warning. Once word got out, there would be others searching for her, and I might be killed so someone else could return her for the reward. This job wasn’t an opportunity. It was a death warrant. I didn’t want to be upset with Silas, but I felt as though he might as well be here to take me straight to the gibbet. Regardless of that, I stood.
“Let me gather my things,” I told him, and he filtered out of the cottage with the rest of the soldiers.
I’d been on the hunt for days, and though there was no time to bathe, I could at least try and make myself look presentable and capable to the king. I took off my leather vest and dirtied beige tunic, wrapped my bare chest in the binding linens I’d left at home the last few days, and then put on the only fresh long-sleeved tunic I owned. I put my vest back on and pulled my dark red hair out of its braid, threading only my long bangs together to one side so they were out of my face. None of it made much difference in the end, but at the very least, I felt more presentable.
I pulled my heavy furs back on for warmth as I strode outside, where I made sure everything I’d need was strapped to Brande’s saddle—my bow and arrows, my sleeping furs, some food. Then I strode to the quartering rack to explain it to my mother.
“Can’t you clean up a bit?” she asked, scrutinizing my hunt-tarnished leather trousers, my fur boots, and my hooded fur coat.
“He wants a hunter,” I told her with a defeated chuckle, because I had tried to clean up. “Not a lady.”
My mother’s eyes grew watery, and she pulled me into a tight embrace. “Come back,” she sniffled. “With or without the gold. Come back.”
“I will,” I assured her, pressing a kiss to her cheek. When she let me go, I ruffled my fingers through Nilson’s long, sandy hair. “Keep your hands off things you haven’t paid for.”
He giggled, but he hadn’t been paying attention to my conversation with our mother, because he peered up at me and asked, “You’re leaving already?”
“I’ve got to help find a princess,” I said, squatting down to be more at his level.
“A princess?” he repeated, hazel eyes widening with fascination. “Is she pretty?”
“I imagine so,” I said, my lips curling with a smile. “Ain’t princesses always pretty?”
He leaned in closer to me, cupping his hand to the side of his mouth and whispering as though it would keep our mother from hearing, “Are you going to kiss her?”
I couldn’t help but laugh, especially when I heard my mother chuckle behind me. “Not if I can help it,” I told Nilson with a sly wink, and he returned it like he truly thought I’d ever kiss a princess, and we were sharing that secret. Not having anything else to say, I poked him in the ribs, reminding, “Behave yourself.”
All he did was giggle again and shy away from my hand, so I pulled him close and kissed the crown of his head. After a final, loving look at the both of them, I returned to the soldiers.
Silas was watching me from his horse as I reached them, and while I mounted Brande, he said, “She’s just a girl.” I assumed that was supposed to be reassuring. “Barely older than you. You could find her before the sun sets.”
“She’s educated,” I argued. Maybe she’d outsmart me. Foxes weren’t educated. Then, knowing she could bribe people to help her, I added, “And rich.”
“Tutors and books can’t teach someone what you know,” he observed. He tugged his reins to the side, telling me with a smirk before he kicked his horse, “Think about the gold.”
“Albus!” I called for the dog so he’d know to follow, and then took off after the retreating soldiers.
I tried to think about the gold. The whole twenty-mile gallop to Guelder, through war-barren farmland and poverty-stricken towns, I tried to think about it. Really, all I could think about was the icy wind whipping through my hair, tingling my nose and ears and making my eyes water, and hope I’d get to feel it for years and years to come.
The sun had gone down by the time we reached Guelder, and I thought to point out to Silas that I wouldn’t find the princess by night after all. It was the first time I’d ever been to the stone city, but it was too dark for my eyes to explore. We trotted right up to the castle gates, and then beyond them to the massive royal stables. I didn’t even have time to make sure Brande was properly taken care of because we were in such a hurry. Silas knew me well though, because while he led me into the castle, he assured me that Brande would be spoiled compared to usual.
The brick walls of the narrow passage we were tramping through were completely bare, except for the occasional torch outside of a door. The only source of constant light was another single torch, carried by the soldier at the head of our caravan. The knights’ armor made an obnoxious clanking on the stone floor with each step. It was so loud that after winding through hall after hall, we came to a massive door, and it was opened before the lead man had a chance to knock.
“Enter,” permitted the Chamberlain, richly dressed in red and gold garb. Following Silas, I began to walk through, but the man sneered, “Not the beast!”
I turned to see that he was talking about Albus, who’d been loyally on my heels. Or… at my back, I should say, seeing as the dog’s head almost reached my chest. “Stay,” I told him, though it was more of a nervous whisper. I was going to meet the king, and suddenly I didn’t feel presentable enough in my dirtied hunting clothes. So I tugged off my coat, laying it over Albus’s back so I wouldn’t have to hold it, and could greet the king in what was practically my best attire.
The door closed between Albus and me, and after receiving an impatient glare from the Chamberlain, I followed Silas farther in. It wasn’t just any threshold we’d crossed. We’d walked straight into the throne room, the king and queen visible at the long end of it. The high walls were decorated in brightly colored tapestries. Moonlight shone in through tall windows near the ceiling, the strength of it muted by the torches and candles scattered throughout the room. It took everything in me not to turn and run. I’d lived in the country all my life, no one ever taught me how to act in front of a king. All I knew was to call him ‘Your Majesty,’ and what I had of common sense told me to kneel. Kneel I did, as did Silas, at the foot of the throne.