Amaskan's Blood, Raven Oak [read me a book .TXT] 📗

Which one?

The nagging uncertainty returned by way of a knot in her stomach and dull ache behind her eyes. The next riverbed they encountered was no trickle. Its currents chopped the water in areas, and Adelei dismounted to test its depth with a few tossed rocks. “The saddlebags will need to be raised, but the horses should cross easily enough. We’ll get wet though,” she said and found Ida stripping off her leather mail.

They hoisted the saddlebags into the saddles and tossed their clothing above that. Both women took their time crossing, neither speaking as all their concentration focused on the movement of their horses and the river’s flow as they swam across.

After both women sat safely astride their horses, Ida said, “This isn’t somethin’ King Leon wished me to tell ya, as he wished to discuss this particular topic with you himself. But seeing as how this information could prove a liability for ya, I’ll tell ya what ya need to know. As much as I can at any rate.”

Good to know she’d commit treason when reason called for it. Midnight whinnied and Adelei tried to relax her thighs and her grip on the reins.

“You’re worried.”

It wasn’t a question but a statement of fact, and Adelei nodded. “Most people aren’t so willing to commit treason. I know that I asked for answers, but—”

“What if I were to tell ya that those rumors ya heard were wrong? That the second princess had been hidden away all this time from even her own father?”

"Hidden? Or sold?”

“Sold?”

Adelei smirked. “The other princess was sold in secret to buy the peace treaty, and her sister sold by way of this… marriage.”

The mare danced in place as Ida stared at Adelei. “I-I don’t know why they’d perpetuate that tale. Actually, I do. That sounds just like the bullshit Master Bredych would tell to ya. I hate to break it to ya, but he was lying. Princess Iliana Poncett was kidnapped while being sent to safety.”

She ignored the jibe at Master Bredych and asked, “And who kidnapped her?”

“We think the Shadians were behind it.”

She was lying. She knew a liar when she saw one. The frown had crossed Ida’s face after the fact, and the warrior had shifted her weight forward a few inches in the stirrups. Patience. Adelei listened to the internal voice and filed away the questions.

As the trees grew denser, both women gave their horses free rein to find their own footing. Adelei leaned across the pommel to duck under a low hanging branch as thick as her waist. The familiar movement sent a tremor through her. These trees. There was darkness, just like this. Hanging over the saddle.

“…Was kidnapped.” Adelei shook off Ida’s words.

“How much travel will be through thick forest like this?”

“Quite a lot. Alexander is heavily treed land—certainly not sparse like Sadai.”

Adelei’s eyes scanned the thick brush ahead, and she caught the captain doing the same. It would be the perfect place for an ambush. They’d left the junipers and sagebrush of Sadai far behind as thick evergreens stretched far up into the sky. The occasional deciduous tree helped populate the forest, and between the two, little sunlight reached them at the forest floor. The transition had been gradual enough that Adelei only noticed now that afternoon brought a shift in the sun’s placement. Even in the summer’s day warmth, Adelei shivered.

“I know ya were raised by Amaskans,” Ida said, her eyes never leaving the forest. “But what do ya remember of your life before the Order?”

“Not much. I was very young when I was taken in. Five, I think, but obviously you knew since you asked.”

“Do ya remember your birth parents?” At the shake of Adelei’s head, the woman continued. “It’s funny that ya almost gave me your birth name when we met rather than your Amaskan name, as is customary.”

Adelei flushed. “Leaving was… difficult. This job. Coming back here. I don’t think I was thinking all that clearly.”

“I guess it makes sense that you’ve forgotten your time before the Order. Bein’ so young.”

She tugged on the reins, and Midnight danced in place. “Can we stop playing this game now? We both know who I am.”

Ida dismounted, her back to Adelei. “Ya know?” she whispered. “Ya know, and yet ya left your father thinking ya were dead? What type of person does that?”

“What kind of person sells their child to the Amaskans?” Adelei retorted, her skin hot with anger. “I’m what he wanted. He sold me to keep his kingdom and his peace, and I don’t owe him a damned thing. The Order took me in, and Master Bredych adopted me. Not just in thought, but on paper. He saved me and loved me and brought me a family that your king never could.”

Adelei urged Midnight forward until he stood before the captain, and Adelei lowered her chin to look down on the woman. “I am Amaskan, tattoo or no, with a family who loves me. I’m not some damned princess. Certainly not Iliana P-Poncett.”

Ida gave Adelei a long, pained look before her gaze found the forest floor. She tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “I knew Master Bredych could convince a snail it was a race horse,” Ida whispered, “but I never thought ’im capable of such deceit. Whether ya believe me or not is your choice, but your father never ‘sold you.’ He didn’t give ya up willingly. In fact, it was only at the persuasion of those he trusted that he sent his family away at all.”

“You expect me to believe all this? Not just that my father is a kidnapper and liar, but that my birth father is somehow a victim?” Adelei laughed, a panicked sound made of half-wounded-animal and half-incredulity that shook her voice and her shoulders. “He bargained with the Shadians over… my sister’s hand. If he sold her away to his enemies, what makes me believe he wouldn’t do the same to me?”

Adelei kneed her horse forward, leaving