They were following her. Kaylee could hear enough hooves behind her to know that no one had turned back to the castle. After twenty minutes or so of sprinting off by herself, she came to a meandering brook and pulled Storm up, dismounting, and letting him quench his thirst. A few moments later, Gregory came through the trees, followed by Annetta, and then the other two. None of them looked pleased, but Kaylee couldn’t let that bother her. She was out on a ride, and if they wanted to be sour, they would have to keep it to themselves. Nothing was going to spoil her day.
“Ah, a rest at last,” Jenna said, starting to get down from her saddle. Marcus was there in an instant to help her. Kaylee thought she tasted bile in the back of her throat.
Jenna straightened her skirts once her feet were on the ground. Kaylee imagined she’d also like to rub her backside since she wasn’t used to riding like that, but she was too much of a lady to do so.
“Your Majesty,” Annetta said, also off her horse and leading it over to the babbling brook, “perhaps now is a good time to turn back. Haven’t you had enough fun for one afternoon? Your parents are right to fear the evil King Leopold after what he put them through.”
Kaylee rolled her eyes. “Not again.” She pet Storm on the neck, and the horse whinnied before sticking his snout back in the cool water. “Annetta, if you will recall, Leopold is actually responsible for killing his evil cousin, King Philip, the one who would’ve had my mother’s hand. The one who kidnapped King Matthew. He can’t be all that bad.”
“Leopold also kidnapped my father,” Marcus said, stepping around his horse so that he could look her in the eyes. “And tortured him, nearly to death.”
“Before he demanded your mother be traded for the king and then waged a war against all three of our kingdoms, and the kingdom of Nadoria, where my father and your mother are from,” Jenna concluded. “He is all that bad.”
Narrowing her gaze, Kaylee glared at both of them. She understood that Leopold was no saint, but the fact that her father and his allies had not located the man in almost twenty years had her convinced he was nothing to worry about. “He must be awfully old by now if he’s even still alive.”
“We don’t expect the king himself to come barreling through the trees, Princess,” Annetta exclaimed. “The other princesses that have been taken have likely been carried off by his minions, not he himself.”
“Kaylee, we’re just worried about you.” Gregory’s tone was softer than the others. “You’ve had a good ride. Let’s return to the castle before our parents begin to search for us. They’ll likely want the three of you for the midday meal.”
He had a point. Since Uncle James and Aunt Helena were visiting, they likely would be summoned to join their families in the dining hall. The urge to climb up on Storm’s back and take off again was overwhelming, but instead, the princess found herself saying, “Fine. Let’s head back to the castle then. We may as well escort ourselves to the dungeon and chain ourselves to the walls.”
“Stop being so overly dramatic!” Marcus insisted, huffing at her. “Once the scare is over with, I’m sure your father will lift the ban on you leaving the castle.’
“Just think of those other poor girls, carried away from their homes. Who knows what’s happened to them?” Jenna added. No one knew for certain if Leopold was to blame or someone else.
“And their families left to wander and search.” Annetta was already attempting to get back in the saddle, and Gregory came over to help her, giving her a hand.
Kaylee noticed Jenna looking at him admiringly as if she thought he was such a gentleman for helping her lady. Despite her resolution not to care, she felt her chest tighten. Since when did her cousin have the right to be proud of Gregory’s good manners? Doing her best to look as if she could care less if Jenna was interested in Gregory, Kaylee stuck her boot in a stirrup and flung her other leg over easily without any assistance.
She’d been so distracted at watching Jenna watch Gregory, she’d almost forgotten she formulated a response to the comments regarding the other princesses. “I’m not at all convinced that these aren’t just wild rumors meant to keep us frightened and inside our abodes,” she said, watching Marcus help Jenna up. The princess seemed put out as if she wished it were Gregory with his hands on her waist, but she said nothing but a quiet thank you to Marcus. He smiled and headed to his own horse, which was bothered at having to take its snout out of the freshwater.
“You can’t really think that, Kaylee.” Gregory’s voice had that disapproving tone. She turned Storm so that she was facing him, daring him to continue with a penetrating gaze. “The threat is real, whether you choose to believe it or not.”
“I don’t,” she said with a shrug. “And even if it is, they’d be suicidal to come here. Even outside the castle walls, they’d be caught and executed on the spot for stepping onto Arterian soil in a threatening manner.”
“You have an infinite amount of faith in your father’s forces,” Jenna noted, her horse growing restless beneath her and jostling her a bit.
“Of course I do,” Kaylee agreed. “They are the strongest forces in the world.”
“And yet a pack of juveniles has managed to sneak past them multiple times,” Gregory noted.
“He has a fair point.” Annetta was also fighting with her ride, which seemed in a hurry to get home to some hay and rest. “If we can sneak out….”
“They can sneak in.” That worried look was back on Jenna’s face, and her voice cracked a bit as she spoke. “Let’s go, Kaylee.” The girl looked around her, staring off into the thicker part of the woods for a moment. “I want to go back to the castle.”
“Very well then, let’s go.” Kaylee shook her head, not willing to argue about it anymore. Next time, she’d just go by herself. It would be more pleasant that way. Kicking Storm, she headed off toward the path that had led them here and listened to the others fall in line behind her. She didn’t sprint ahead this time, though. Rather, she kept only a short space between them. All of the fun of flying off through the trees had been whisked away by the foul dispositions of her guests.
Kaylee rode on, lost in her own thoughts, until they were almost to the first clearing. Noises in the trees caught her attention. At first, she assumed she was simply hearing the echoes of her party’s hoofbeats behind her, bouncing off the trees, but then, she thought it sounded as if it were coming from in front of her, not behind. Kaylee pulled up on the reins, wanting to listen, and signaled for the rest of her group to stop as well.
Before any of them realized what was happening, a loud rustling in the trees in front and behind them had their horses spinning anxiously. Then, Kaylee heard a whizzing noise and a scream. Panic overcame her as she tried to make sense of what was occurring. Storm whinnied, rearing up on his hind legs. She held onto the reins with both hands as she heard a sharp scream and realized it was Jenna. Another whoosh flew past her ear, and Kaylee recognized the sound of an arrow, aimed at her head. They were under attack by assailants hiding in the trees, and whoever was firing on them was shooting to kill.