prayed his plan would work. Baltrasard and Willow were inside, the curtains drawn. The king had agreed to leave his men at the church until night fell, and if the Warriors stopped them, they would say that the king had dispatched them to search for his daughter. Surely the Warriors wouldn’t kill men whose mission was the same as their own. And they were the king’s men, not Catchers.
The blazing sun did nothing to soothe Seth’s raw nerves, his eyes searched the shimmering distance east to west, but there was no sign of the Warriors. Still, he wouldn’t breathe easy until he was off the plains. He had been raised as a thief and had learned to talk his way out of any situation, but Caleb frightened him.
He flicked the reins of the two horses that drove the carriage over the hot ground and turned toward the road that led northeast toward Beldar.
It was then that he saw them. At least thirty strong, riding together like a thick ominous cloud across the plains. The Warriors rode ahead of him, crossing the plains from another road. Seth cautioned the king by smacking his palm against the wood of the carriage.
The Warriors rode slowly, and with an air of confidence that brought Seth’s heart to his throat as he approached them. The long blades strapped across their backs flashed like lightning under the sun. There was no way around them, so Seth set his lips in a smile and rode on, straight ahead.
“Greetings again,” he called out, catching up and then slowing his pace just a bit.
“Greetings, Seth of Culderia,” Caleb called out, and inside the carriage Willow stirred. “What brings you to the plains?”
“My father in Beldar promised to give me some provisions for my family, food, some water.” He laughed. “I had to trade six of my best horses in Theshwar to get this carriage so that the food wouldn’t spoil under the sun when I took it back home.”
Caleb turned on his horse and looked the carriage over. “Six horses? You made a fine deal.”
Seth smiled. Caleb didn’t. “Do you require an escort to the border?”
“No, though the offer is kind, the plains are safer now, thanks to you.”
Willow opened her eyes slightly and her father spoke gently in her ear, keeping his hand close to her mouth to quiet her if he needed to.
“Have a good journey, then,” Caleb called out as Seth rode off.
“Caleb.” Willow whispered inside the carriage. She wore a dreamy smile on her dry lips.
“Silence, Willomenia,” her father whispered. “How could you betray me this way?”
But she didn’t hear him.
Martin stepped out of the church and squinted up at the sun. He smiled and waved at it.
It had never crossed his mind that the world had forgotten Willow, because he had never forgotten her. He remembered every single thing she told him. He remembered, because even though there had been a wall between them, he could see her face. He could see the love in her eyes when she spoke of King Caleb. Martin wanted to see her again, and so set his path toward her home, toward Shondravar.
Chapter 30
It took them a week to reach Beldar. When Seth finally saw the king’s palace in the distance, he called out to his passengers and pushed the horses faster.
As soon as they entered the palace, Willow’s father summoned his servants to tend to her. “These two women are healers from Alare,” the king told her. “I brought them back with me. He smiled at them and they both blushed then rushed up the stairs following the servants who carried Willow to her room.
“I will leave you in their good hands,” her father said when they reached her room. “You may remain with her for a little while longer.”
Willow squinted her eyes open. She’d heard them talking.
The sunlight coming in from the high arched windows was painful.
“Close the curtains!” Seth commanded the servants.
Willow recoiled at the tone of his voice. He apologized, but only to her, and looked around her room.
It was just as she remembered it. Almost as big as the entire church. A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling over her four-poster canopied bed.
Seth stepped across the lush golden carpet, passing satin upholstered chairs and a vanity table of fine cherry wood topped with perfumes from every country, in bottles of every shape and size with a full-sized mirror suspended above it all.
Seth reached her bed and took her hand. “I like your room.”