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Promise
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TEMEN (JULY) 30, 1538
149 days into Prince Terosh’s Kireshana journey
Kireshana Path, nearing the City of Rammon
After getting horses from Lieutenant Fericin, Terosh and Reia rode toward the capital, knowing the Kireshana would soon end. Terosh saw the Royal Guard fires burning at even intervals around Rammon. The fires burned for him as a part of a long-standing tradition. His heart beat faster as each step brought him closer to home and back to fine food, lazy days, and every comfort he had foregone the last few months. At the same time, each step also brought him closer to the end of his time with Reia.
Minutes later, as they came within sight of the West Gate, they halted the horses. Terosh let his gaze linger on the elegant spires of the cathedral, the solidness of the peasant apartments in the Southern Quarter, and the thousands of lights illuminating the palace. The fading sun still hung in the sky behind them. The weakening sunlight shone off the countless rooftops, bathing them in the illusion of fire. The last several hours had slipped by in silence, lost in the rhythm of pounding hooves. Both had far too much to say to begin. Terosh’s throat felt dry and thinking became difficult. He turned his horse to face Reia and swallowed several times.
“Reia, I ... I’ve enjoyed traveling with you,” he said.
It sounded pathetic. The words he really wanted to say stuck in his throat.
I love you.
Reia’s expression remained neutral for a second, and then she grinned.
“So have I.”
“How will I find you?” Terosh asked, trying not to sound desperate. The horse shifted under him, carrying him back a step. He patted the horse’s neck and urged him to recover the step.
“I’ll be around for a few weeks,” Reia promised. “I didn’t get to see much of the capital the first time.”
“What will you do?”
“Heal people. There’s always—”
“I love you!” Terosh burst out. He smiled shyly as relief and mortification battled across his features. “I ... have for a long time, practically since you ruined that ambush in the Ridens. You’re beautiful and compassionate and wonderful. And I’m probably making a mess of this, but you should know how much you mean to me.”
Did I say that out loud?
Aye, ya did, laddie, said the anotechs.
Terosh stared intently at Reia. She fell quiet, but he suspected the sudden glistening in her eyes might be tears. He studied her face, trying to glean what he could, but her expression matched his muddled feelings.
“Please say something.”
A single tear slipped out and slid down her face.
“My Prince, I cannot ...”
Reia’s formal tone struck Terosh harder than her fist might have. She wiped at her eyes and drew a deep breath. Her face flitted through several unfathomable expressions but finally settled on sadness.
A ray of hope ignited in Terosh.
Reia closed her eyes as if pushing down pain. When she opened them again, the sadness had vanished, but she still seemed shaken.
She loves me!
Told you so.
“It would be impossible to—”
Impulsively, Terosh dismounted, stepped close, and gripped Reia’s right hand.
“Could you love me?”
***
I ALREADY DO!
Reia buried the heart cry so the anotechs wouldn’t broadcast it. Her face did a fine job describing her inner turmoil. What could she tell him?
Silence stretched between them.
“We’ve been through—”
“No! I see your answer and feel it. How can—”
“It’s forbidden,” Reia broke in, squeezing his hand with aching force. The words sounded feeble.
“I know,” Terosh said, squeezing back. “You told me, but it can be done.”
“How?” Reia asked, surprised at her desperation.
A light of hope dawned behind Terosh’s deep blue eyes.
“I’m younger than Tate. I don’t have to be king!” He sounded deliriously happy. “Don’t you see? Tate will marry and carry on the family line and rule Reshner. And we can marry. We’ll go to the mountains or wherever you want to go. I could be a Ranger if they’ll have me.” He wasn’t shouting, but in the still evening air, he might as well have been.
Bowing her head, Reia tried to believe things could work out. Their love had been born of shared trials. They knew most of each other’s faults and flaws, hopes and dreams. She wanted to travel the Riden Mountains with him. Terosh wouldn’t be the first Minstel to lay down the title of “prince” in favor of “Ranger.” Then, reality intruded, and the dream slipped away. Reia had seen his expression upon spotting the Royal Guard campfires and recognized the joy of homecoming.
You belong in Rammon, and I belong in the mountains.
“No, Terosh, we—”
“Reia, I understand how you feel about the Rangers, but once we marry, they’ll—”
“Don’t pretend to understand what—” Reia cut herself off violently, pulled back her hand, and dismounted. It gave her an excuse to look away. She would not hurt him this way.
I’d have to leave the Rangers, but that’s my problem, not his.
Trying to steady herself, Reia faced Terosh again.
“It’s ... better this way,” she whispered. As he opened his mouth to reply, Reia raised her hands to ward off words. At the last moment, she placed a single finger against his lips. The finger slipped.
Terosh pulled her close, trapping her hands against his chest.
“Give us a chance, Reia.”
She couldn’t resist turning her head and resting in his embrace.
His heart beat as wildly as a colana trapped in a hunter’s net. He kissed the top of her head and breathed into her hair.
It felt so gentle she almost cried. A sob burned inside.
Terosh cleared his throat.
“I’ve got to tell my father and brother about the attacks on us. They must be warned, but then, I’ll announce my intent to leave the palace.”
Reia spoke, but her words were muffled against his chest. Grateful for the excuse to step back, yet battling a terrible sense of loss, she surprised herself by having a steady voice.
“I do love you, Terosh, but doing anything about it will change everything for both of us. Are you sure you want this?”
“Tell me how to find you.”
Reia slipped into formal speech.
“Think carefully, my Prince. I will stay near Rammon for a month. If you need to find me, light a purple fire.”
“I will.”
Hope and caution blasted through Reia.
“Take this,” she said, unclipping her banistick. “It’s a promise to wait for your decision.” As she handed him the weapon, Reia rested her hands on his, squeezed one last time, and quickly mounted her horse. She let the tears fall as soon as she had galloped away.
***
“WE SHOULD TAKE ’EM now.” Lieutenant Adrik Bentanner lowered the spotting scope. Only a hint of his soft Charan accent seasoned his speech. He kept his voice low, though little chance existed that their quarry would overhear them. His voice vibrated with youthful energy.
“We’d never make it in time,” General Ariman Keldor said, his voice calm. Keldor never made his men do anything he wouldn’t do himself, and that included scouting hostile territory. He wouldn’t tell his superiors, but he preferred the open plains and action over their boring meetings.
“Why not?” The way Bentanner tilted his head reminded Keldor of a korver pup. “I could signal the others, and we could swoop down on ’em—”
“Keep your voice down,” Keldor ordered. He narrowed his eyes at the young man, but the effect was lost to the darkness. “That’s why,” he added, shifting the vidscreen so the boy could see the mass of yellow dots clustered about two kilometers beyond their target. Royal Guards had been camping on the Kevil Plains for weeks, watching for Prince Terosh’s return. “We could reach them first, but we’d never take them quietly,” Keldor explained. “We want them alive.”
“We could stun ’em,” Bentanner suggested.
“Yes, and have every Royal Guard within five kilometers on us instantly.”
Keldor smothered the urge to cuff the boy. Adrik occasionally let his mouth outrun his sense. The kid had the same bright-eyed enthusiasm Keldor had last seen in his son, Talyon. Unfortunately, Adrik had only half of Taly’s intellect. From the back or side, Keldor could almost imagine Adrik was Taly.
“Guess they might see the flash, but if we get real close—”
“You ever try sneaking up on a Ranger?”
“No, sir, but—”
“It can’t be done.”
“They’re—”
“Very good at what they do,” Keldor cut in. “Besides, she rode away from him.”
“It’s just a girl,” Adrik said sullenly.
That’s a fight I’d like to see, Keldor silently admitted. He stared into the semi-darkness. The Ranger didn’t look like much of a melee fighter, but he had learned to never underestimate Rangers. Rumors of strange powers didn’t spring from nothing, and he had seen those powers. A Ranger had once healed Taly from a venomous snakebite, placing Keldor deep in her debt.
Bentanner shifted uncomfortably.
Keldor let him stew a little longer, using silence as a weapon.
“Let’s go,” he said finally.
When they returned to camp, Keldor slipped into his tent and sent a report to the Lady, pondering his conflicting orders. Donovan Meetcher wished the prince captured and the Ranger killed. The Lady believed their relationship could be exploited, and Keldor agreed. Since he valued his life, he counted the Lady’s order as binding, but the others were committed RT Alliance men. For the moment, he needed to keep them thinking he would obey Meetcher. Keldor had no plan for completing his mission, but that had never stopped him before.
In preparation for this assignment, he had spent hours learning Ranger customs. Lucas Telon’s voice returned to Keldor with bitterness intact.
“You can count on a Ranger to be predictably, honestly, stupidly noble. They can’t help it.” His obvious disdain told Keldor that Lucas possessed no such flaw.
Keldor didn’t know which way this Ranger would lean, but her recent heart-to-heart with the prince gave him much to consider. Generally, princes too could be predictably stupid when it came to women in danger.
The TT-189 gave Keldor a close look at the Ranger. Upon adding artificial lighting to the frozen image, he saw she possessed an attractive face. Her neat eyebrows curved slightly, leading to a gently sloping nose. Light brown hair perfectly complimented her green eyes, and the lines of her face were smooth and clean. The face looked too soft for a Ranger.
A sense of familiarity stole over Keldor. He stared at the picture for five minutes, mentally replaying the conversation. Then, he added the sound and let the conversation play another four times. Some sections were inaudible even with enhancement, but enough remained to stir his curiosity. Over the years, he had fought quite a few Rangers.
I’ve never met her.
He knew that for certain. Keldor rarely forgot a face, and any man would be hard-pressed to forget this woman.
Have I heard her speak?
He played the conversation twice more and concluded he had never heard her voice.
Have I seen her before or heard her name?
He studied the woman’s face again. Aside from the impression that she wore her name well, Keldor could get nothing more distinct. Grunting, he paced his tiny tent.
The woman said she’d be around for a month.
Despite knowing her name, he preferred to depersonalize her. If instinct panned out, the woman would become a target. She likely possessed the weakness Lucas Telon had mentioned, but to be safe, he would have Adrik and Einer watch her.
A chime told Keldor he had a new message. He read the orders and turned his mind to the details. The Lady agreed the Ranger should be captured but absolutely forbade him from killing her. In the end, he decided that choosing the right bait would be key. While half his men shadowed the Ranger, Keldor and his two remaining men would scout nearby farms for good targets. Once they had the Ranger, the Alliance people inside the Rammon Palace would summon the prince.
Let’s hope they’re both predictably stupid.
