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ANNA WOKE AT SUNRISE on a soft downy bed with Kandace tucked under a warm blanket by her side. Grateful to Eileen the seamstress and her husband, Randal—strangers who brought her and Kandace in from the cold two days ago—she enjoyed her stay, but grew restless having no word from Barin. Surely, the man proved himself to the emperor as king! Why hadn’t he tried to find her? The soldiers who released her saw Eileen take her to her home. Word of Anna’s whereabouts could easily have gotten to Barin by now. Did he leave Rigelstaff without her? Had he decided he could no longer trust her and just abandoned her?
She sat up on the bed and surveyed her surroundings. It was not a poor home that sheltered her. Unlike the village homes in Kolada, this one was comfortable with furnishings enough to make life easier. She grunted. Any home would be more comfortable compared to sleeping in a dark cave under the earth. At least no Influencers were chasing her here!
She had rested enough, though, and today she would actively seek to find Barin, or news of him. She preferred an early start and thought of waking Kandace, but then she decided to let the girl sleep. Poor child had been through such terror. That Anna had caused a part of that grieved her, but she couldn’t let guilt snatch her. She hadn’t acted on her own. None of this had been her idea and resisting her father had been impossible. It was as though he controlled her every movement, even if she didn’t want him to.
And she really did love Barin, though he would never believe her. Not now.
The cry of a baby in another room reached her ears, and she smiled. Eileen had recently delivered a newborn girl, Tilly by name, whom Anna and Kandace both spent time with. It seemed the baby was a pleasant distraction from her circumstances. Perhaps too much of a distraction. Anna thought to go help the mother while Kandace slept, but as she pulled the covers back, Kandace woke.
“Where is King Barin?” the girl asked.
“I don’t know. We’ve been here long enough, though. I thought we’d try and find him today.”
“I had a dream,” Kandace said, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. Anna kissed Kandace’s hair and took a brush from the nightstand.
“Let me comb those tangles out of your hair while you tell me about your dream,” she said. “Was it a pleasant one?”
“No! I dreamed King Barin was captured by Influencers and was being dragged through the river to an island. He was gasping for air and drowning. I wanted to grab him, but I couldn’t.” She breathed in and shivered. “I don’t want him to die.”
Anna felt the girl’s forehead but there was no fever. “Where were you?”
“On the island. And it was floating downstream into white waters. We were rocking back and forth, and I almost fell into the water, too. King Barin kept calling for us to help him. It was horrible.”
Anna fell silent. The floating islands were a creation of the Influencers. She never told a soul about them. No one in the Neverworld spoke of them. The islands were meant for children who might leak out important information about the revolution or who refused to perform the duties for which they were trained. They were a carefully kept secret. Kandace wouldn’t know about the floating islands, but there was a grave possibility that were she captured, she would end up on one.
“It’s just a dream, sweetheart,” Anna told her and gave her a hug. “Just a dream. I’m sure the king is fine. We’ll meet up with him soon.”
#
Anna meant to walk the streets of Rigelstaff with just Kandace, but Eileen insisted on going with them and taking the baby.
“Randal left early for the shop, and I don’t feel like staying home alone. Tilly and I need fresh air, despite the cold,” she said, wrapping the baby in extra blankets and tying the bundle like a sling that cradled the infant in front of her. “You don’t mind, do you? Another set of eyes will help you find the king. I’m sure you’ll meet up soon.”
“I don’t mind,” Anna said.
“We would like you and Tilly to come along,” Kandace added. “Maybe I can hold Tilly for a while a little later?”
“Maybe,” Eileen agreed.
Rock-walled cottages lined the cobblestone streets of Rigelstaff, and the damp of melting snow emitted a refreshing scent along with fresh mountain air. Everything about the city was clean and invigorating, from the ivy creeping along the houses to the red-tile roofs steaming in the sunshine. With so many hills, one could walk to viewpoints in the neighborhood and admire the tallest mountains on the continent, Casda de Moor to the west, or look south to the cerulean blue of Lake Grenwild, and further in the distance on the horizon, a hint of another stretch of blue. To the east of Rigelstaff were miles upon miles of grassy plains that were currently coated with a soft blanket of snow.
“What’s that other stripe of blue?” Kandace asked. “Is that the ocean?”
“No, love, that’s Lake Benata,” Eileen answered.
“Benata?” Kandace turned and looked at Anna. “Isn’t that where—”
“What a beautiful city you live in, Eileen,” Anna interrupted Kandace and touched her lips with a finger to quiet her.
“We love it here. But I envy you and your world travels, Anna. You’ve come such a long distance. All the way from Kolada! Did you arrive by boat?” she asked.
Anna clammed up and gave Kandace a nudge when the girl was about to speak. She cared not to tell Eileen about their trip through the Neverworld. It seemed the more anyone knew about that wicked place, the more they would become involved. Anna’s interests had changed since the beginning of this journey. No longer did she care about her father’s intentions, nor about a war. Exhausted and tired of resisting the pull her father had on her, Anna wanted only to live in peace, and if she could keep Kandace safe, then perhaps she would be delivered from all the appalling things she had done in the past.
The baby fussed, curtailing the conversation to a subject more at hand. Once Eileen managed to quiet Tilly, she looked up.
“Shall we go down to the market?”
They followed Eileen downhill. It would make sense that they might find Barin at the market, if he were roaming the city looking for her. Anna kept her eyes open while Kandace and Eileen explored the food booths.
“Let’s get some apples,” Eileen suggested and gave Kandace her bag to fill while she pulled coins from her purse.
Shopping did not interest Anna. The more people she came in contact with, and there were many in the market, the more she yearned for Barin. So, she regarded every face that passed by, watching for light-colored hair, or regal clothing. Surely the emperor would have given Barin a change of clothes. For a split second, Anna thought she saw Hadley, and her mouth dropped open. He couldn’t be here, could he? The boy looked directly at her. It was him. Before she called out to him, he scurried around a bend and disappeared, leaving Anna’s heart beating a little bit faster. He hadn’t waved nor did he acknowledge her, leaving Anna gravely concerned.
Eileen took the fruit, and at her request she let Kandace hold the baby.
“Just for a little bit,” Eileen told her.
Eileen tucked the bag of apples over her arm, and they walked farther into the market. Kandace bounced the baby gently against her shoulder. As the day wore on, the square became busier, and moving through the crowd proved difficult. People bumped into one another often, and so Anna thought little of it when someone collided with her. She tripped but fortunately caught her balance before she hit the ground. In the time it took to stand again and straighten her skirt, Eileen screamed, and the flash of Kandace’s cloak vanished among the horde.
“My baby! They took Tilly!”
Anna’s heart stilled and she stood in shock for a brief second, and then took off at a run through the throng of people—past the many merchant booths, the cobblers, the hatters, the fruit and wine, and vegetable vendors. She eyed Kandace’s coat once. But the girl was small and the crowd thick. Where the market widened, she lost sight of Kandace altogether. Chaos ensued at the fish vendor, so Anna pushed her way through a circle of people who had gathered, their voices all chattering above each other. One man stood in the center of them, his face red with embarrassment and worry.
“This baby was in my cart! Where is the mother?” he asked the crowd.
“This must be reported!”
The man held Tilly, his lips trembling, his eyes aghast.
“I know the mother,” Anna said. Eileen had followed her, fortunately. The poor woman’s face was bright red, tears streaming down her cheeks. She walked right up to her baby and took Tilly in her arms, weeping.
“Which way did they go?” Anna asked.
“Who?”
“The people who tried to steal the baby? They have my...daughter.” Anna swirled around, looking every way she could that wasn’t covered with merchants, shoppers, tents, wagons, donkeys, and oxen.
“The baby was in the cart, Milady. No one saw who put her there.”
Eileen hugged Tilly tightly against her chest and pushed past Anna. “I’m sorry about your girl but I need to go home. This is too much for me. My poor baby!” She left, weeping, not even inviting Anna to follow. Not that Anna would have left. She continued to ask questions that no one seemed to know the answer to.
Soldiers marched into the crowd, adding to the chaos. Witnesses began to explain what had happened all at once, so the soldiers had to quiet them to get the story. Oddly no one had seen the person who had put the baby in the ox cart, and they only noticed Tilly once she started crying. Flustered, Anna turned from the madness and gasped. There was Barin leading two horses and walking with a group of soldiers. She rushed.
“Barin!”
“What’s this? What’s happening?” he asked, partially holding her when she embraced him.
She wiped her face and stepped back. “Forgive me, I’ve lost myself, Barin I’m so sorry. Kandace is gone,” she trembled, afraid of him and afraid for Kandace.
“What?” He turned pale.
“Can we go somewhere quiet so I can explain?”
Barin consented, nodded to the soldiers, and followed her with the horses. She led him past the multitude of people away from the market and up the cobblestone road to Eileen’s house. She would tell him everything with Eileen as a witness. He had to know she was not the cause of Kandace’s disappearance.
Eileen’s husband was home and answered the door. When he saw Barin he bowed and after an awkward greeting.
“We have a stable around the back for your horses and a spare room should you care to spend the night.”
“We’ll not be staying,” Barin said before Anna could say a word.
“You’re welcome to, nonetheless. We’re both extremely grateful that Anna found our child. I don’t know what we would have done if she didn’t act when she did.” He spoke for Eileen as the woman caressed her baby, still tearful.
“Anna did what?” The look he gave her sent a cold chill down her spine and she stepped back away from him, certain he suspected her of ill doing.
“She found my little Tilly. I thought she’d been stolen for sure!”
“May I see her?” Barin asked. Eileen handed him the child, wrapped and comfortable in new blankets with a soft wool bonnet. The king eyed Anna once before he took the baby in his arms, holding her as if she were a jewel. He cradled her for a long moment. The remorse on his face stung Anna with guilt. He kissed the baby tenderly on the forehead.
“You’re fortunate, indeed,” he whispered. “May this child be blessed with her mother’s beauty, her father’s talent and the kingdom’s prosperity.” He returned Tilly to her mother and Anna thought she saw a tear in his eye, but he avoided looking at her so she couldn’t tell for sure.
“Now tell me what happened.”
Anna took a long breath, about to explain, but Eileen spoke up before she could.
“We were buying fruit, Kandace and I. Anna was preoccupied looking for you. Kandace wanted to hold the baby, and so I let her. It was only going to be for a moment or two. I don’t normally let Tilly out of my arms, but the girl is so loving—” She paused. “It must be hard for you, Anna. That poor child.”
“What happened? How could Kandace be there one minute and gone the next?” Barin asked.
“That’s what Randal and I have been asking ourselves. I had my back turned for one moment and then she was gone. We saw only a glimpse of her cloak in the crowd.”
“Did you hear anything?”
“Oh yes. Kandace muttered ‘no’. But I thought she was talking about the carrots I was buying.”
“Any other voice?”
Eileen hesitated, about to shake her head, but then she looked up. “I heard a young man behind me. He said, ‘we’re not done with you.’ I didn’t think he was talking to us, so I didn’t turn to see.”
Anna cringed when Barin looked at her. “And you heard and saw nothing, Anna?”
“Someone bumped into me when it happened. I barely had time to get my balance before I heard Eileen scream.”
“That’s the truth, Vasil,” Eileen said. “Please don’t blame her. Anna’s heart is torn enough as it is.”
Barin drew a long breath and looked out the window. “I’m committed to leaving tonight. I’ve borrowed horses from the emperor. But I can’t leave Kandace. She—” He cut himself off and glared at Anna.
“If it helps, I can gather a search party for the child. When we find her, she can stay with us until you return.”
Barin remained silent for a long while, and Anna kept her distance from him. She hated to leave the fate of Kandace in the hands of a foreign nation and an unfamiliar city. If the girl were found, she’d be in good hands. But what were the chances of that? The image of Hadley in the marketplace haunted her. He had something to do with Kandace’s disappearance, she was certain. He had to have been the one Eileen overheard. Of course, they weren’t done with Kandace. She knew too much. The girl would end up on a floating island to keep her from talking. She’d be taken back to the Neverworld where she’d either live in a cage, or go through more rituals than any child should have to bear.
Anna would tell Barin about Hadley’s presence, but not with Eileen and Randal present.
“If you want to ride tonight, I’m ready to go with you,” she whispered to him. “There is more I need to tell you.”
Their eyes locked and he nodded.
#
A cold moon looked down on the horse with two riders, its reflection rippling on the lake as if it had made strings of pearls with the water. Cottonwood trees bent low with frost, and the grass crunched under the horse’s hooves. It was warmer here than in Rigelstaff, though, and the snow had melted around the lake. Hadley had only one blanket. He had no idea he’d actually find Kandace. It was like a dream come true, living up to his responsibilities once again! He pulled the gray mare into the shadows, slid off the horse, and pulled the girl to the ground.
“Untie me, you dit!” Kandace said, kicking dirt at him and fighting with the rope that bound her hands together.
“No,” Hadley returned. “In fact, I’m going to tie your feet together too, so you don’t run off. I might even gag you if you don’t shut your mouth.” Hadley pulled the saddle off the horse and laid it on the ground.
She screamed, and he plugged his ears and laughed. The little imp had fire. Too bad Lord Sylvester couldn’t convince her to be on their side. He could make use of those lungs! He spread the saddle blanket across the sand.
“There’s no one here for miles, Kandace.”
“Why did you steal me, Hadley? You know I don’t want to be anywhere near your Neverworld. I hate you.”
“Do you hate your brother, too?” He chuckled because he knew what she would say.
“Yes!”
“Well, if you must know, I had orders to find you.”
“Why? I’m not going to be any help to you. I’m not doing anything you or any of the others tell me to do. Not even if you throw me to your ghosts.”
“We’re well aware of that. That’s why I was sent to find you. Lord Sylvester can’t have you running around free after all the things you know. You’re a marked woman, Kandace. You’d best behave from this point forward. Now sit down and let me make something to eat. It’s a long way to Benata, and we can’t travel there tonight.”
“I don’t want to be seen with you.”
Hadley shook his head and pulled a tin pot from his saddlebags. “Don’t worry. You won’t be—unless I find it necessary.”
He built a small fire and heated some lake water for tea. He had bread and cheese in his pack and offered some to Kandace. The girl was gutsy, but she was also hungry and didn’t argue with him, instead, she ate the food with no complaint. She wouldn’t whine the rest of the night. It was a long, cold walk back to Rigelstaff, and as strong a spirit as she had, Kandace was going nowhere on her own. He grinned at her, knowing he had her now.
The castle tower could be seen from Lake Grenwild. A sturdy structure on top of a hill, which made it look all the more magnificent. Torch lights sparkled along the curtain walls and in windows, making the whole city glisten like orange stars against the dark. He was glad he was out of the city, though, and his mission accomplished. He’d been following Anna ever since Rinbard, and soon it would be time for the tide to change and her and the king to follow him! Just a little bit longer. Hadley figured once they got to Benata he’ll make their presence known.
A clever plan the baron had, placing Anna with the king of Potamia to draw him into his trap. Much better than just having her steal the sword herself. Now they had both the sword and the king, and Hadley got half the credit, and the reward!
“Whatever you’re planning on doing, Hadley, it won’t work.” Kandace told him as she scooted up to the fire.
“Who says it won’t work?” Hadley snickered.
“I do,” she mumbled. “Please, untie me. These ropes hurt.”
“Mm,” Hadley mumbled as he made himself a bed with his blanket.
“Are you going to make me freeze all night?”
He sighed, took off his coat, and brought it to her. “Lie down.”
Kandace did as she was told, and Hadley covered her with his coat. “Your brother doesn’t want you hurt, so I won’t rough you up. But it would be better for you if you did what you were told when we got to Benata because people are getting restless. All this talk about war and prepping for it has made some of us like bees in a honey jar with stingers out.”
“You’re all afraid.”
“Some of us.”
“Cause you know you’re doing wrong.”
“Nah. What’s wrong and what’s right? It’s the outcome that matters. When this is over, the world will be ours to shape how we want. And as far as I go, I want horses and a big house like Lord Sylvester.”
“You’re no better than him.”
Hadley crawled under his blanket and looked at the moon—the heaven’s big eye staring down at him. “Lord Sylvester’s a good man. He takes care of things. Look what he’s doing for us.”
“He’s daft,” Kandace replied.
Hadley chuckled. “Why do you say that?”
“Because he thinks all of you are going to get him what he wants. And you think the same thing, but the truth is none of you are going to get anything except a good paddle on the behind when you get home!”
Hadley laughed, rolled over and went to sleep.
He woke just before sunrise to the sound of riders across the lake.
“Good holy idols! Who’s that?” He didn’t bother to look. He shook Kandace awake. “Get up,” he whispered.
“What?” the girl complained but he had no time to argue with her. After he saddled his mount, which he did quicker than he ever had before, he lifted Kandace onto the horse and swung himself in the saddle behind her.
“There is someone across the lake, isn’t there?” she asked.
“Quiet,” Hadley ordered.
“Help!” Kandace tried to scream but he muffled her mouth with his hand and took off at a gallop. He heard horses behind them. That was all well indeed. It might just be the people he wanted to lure into Benata anyway. Hadley left the road staying hidden enough that his pursuers knew he was there but not visible enough to be caught.