“Oh, good evening there, Rafe,” she said, plastering a bright smile on her face. “I’m so sorry--I didn’t see you there. Are you having an ale? Some mead, perhaps?”
“I thought I told you to stay in the room,” he said with his teeth grinding together.
“Yes, yes, I think you did,” she said. “But as I was lying there staring up at the ceiling, it occurred to me that someone in this tavern might have some information about the group of marauders that stole my cousin.”
“They don’t know anything.” He shook his head. She noticed that his hands were fisted at his sides. When she looked from his eyes to his hands and then back again, Rafe turned away and drew in a deep breath through his nose, his nostrils flaring slightly. Kaylee bit her bottom lip. Why was she thinking about how handsome he was at a time like this when he was clearly angry at her?
“How do you know they don’t know anything?” Kaylee whispered. “We won’t know unless we ask.”
“I know,” he said, turning back to face her. “I know everyone in this tavern, Kay--Kent.” He caught himself before he said her true name, which seemed to aggravate him even more. “I want you to go back to the room and stay there.”
“And I want to find someone who can help me identify who might’ve taken my cousin,” Kaylee insisted.
Rafe leaned in even closer to her so that his warm breath tickled her ear. She assumed he would smell awful having been traipsing through the woods for who knew how long, but he actually smelled like the best part of the woods--the pine trees and fresh rain. She tried to focus on what he was saying because he was so irritated, but it was difficult when he was standing so close to her that she could feel every exhale on her cheek.
“Princess, I am fairly certain that no one in this room is fooled into thinking that you are a man. Do you not remember what Freida said about the bastard who’s staying in this hotel right now? If he discovers you, I’ll have to beat the shite out of him to keep him away from you. Considering he usually travels with a band of brutes and is twice my size to begin with, I’d rather not have to do that.”
Kaylee opened her mouth to protest again, but the barkeep was back over near them now. “Too late,” he said. “Walter Gladstone just walked in.”
Rafe turned his head to look behind her. Kaylee almost did the same, but she remembered what he’d said to her and didn’t want this man to see her face. Maybe from behind, she looked a little more like a man.
Rafe took a step away from her, perhaps so that he didn’t look so strange, standing so close to another man. “We are going to wait for him to get his drink, and then, we are going back to the room, and you’re going to stay there.”
Kaylee knew he was right. She wished she hadn’t come into the tavern, but what else was she supposed to do? Sitting around waiting for someone else to take action was almost impossible for her.
The floor shook a bit underneath her feet as Walter Gladstone made his way to the bar. He pounded his hand down and demanded a mug of brew. The barkeep immediately went into action.
Stealing a peek out of the corner of her eye, Kaylee saw that Rafe hadn’t been exaggerating. The man was large with bright red hair that stuck out around his head like he was a sheep in need of sheering. Beside him were several other brutes. Kaylee turned toward the wall on the other side of her and rolled so that her back was to him as she headed for the exit.
Rafe walked alongside her, blocking her from Walter’s sight as best he could. They made it about halfway to the hallway that led back to their room before Walter roared, “Rafe! Is that you?”
Kaylee kept walking, thinking that she was close enough to the hallway now that she could probably sprint for it and make it back to the room and lock the door. The brute might just be strong enough to knock the door down, but it was her only hope to escape.
“Keep walking,” Rafe whispered. “Don’t run.”
She nodded, but she wasn’t sure his idea was as good as her own. He spun around and headed back into the tavern. “Ah, if it isn’t Walter Gladstone himself!”
Kaylee pulled the key out of her pouch and moved forward keeping her speed at a hurried walk. She kept her head down, but she could hear footsteps ahead of her coming in her direction. The possibility that it could be someone equally as horrific as Walter made her pick up the pace. She reached the room and flung the door open just as she heard the two men speculating as to whether or not she was a man.
Inside of the room, Kaylee put her weight against the door, in case they tried to push their way in, and hurriedly locked it.
Once it clicked, she took a deep breath and turned around. The room was empty; the sun was going down outside, casting long shadows into the space. Kaylee pulled the tattered curtain closed, but she didn’t close the window because of the horrible smell.
The princess threw herself down on the bed and covered her face with her hands as hot tears sprung free. As foolish as it might be, she could no longer keep her tears in. Everything she did was wrong. From sneaking out of the castle ,to chasing the kidnappers instead of going back to get her father, to following Rafe to the tavern, she had made a series of blunders all day long that proved that her parents’ worst fears were true--she simply wasn’t cut out to lead their kingdom.
Overwhelmed, she buried her head in the musty pillow and cried until she couldn’t anymore, and then, she drifted off.
A knock on the door roused Kaylee. She hadn’t even realized she was asleep until she heard the tapping. Sitting up, she swiped at her eyes. They were swollen from the tears that had fallen earlier. The room was dark and a bit chilly from the open window. “Wh-who is it?” she asked, making her voice as deep as she could.
“It’s me--Rafe,” he said. “Can you unlock the door, please?”
The key was in her pouch. She pulled it out, but then she paused. “How do I know it’s you?”
“Because it is me. Don’t you recognize my voice?”
“I think so. But what if you’re with someone else?”
“I’m not,” he insisted. “Open the door. I have some food for you.”
Kaylee inhaled and realized he wasn’t lying. She hadn’t eaten anything all day. Pulling the key out, she stuck it in the lock and opened the door to find Rafe standing there with a plate in his hands. He came into the room, took the key, and quickly locked the door behind him.
Kaylee took the plate he offered to her as Rafe lit the lamp by the bed. The smell of roasted chicken and potatoes was delightful. She couldn't help but tear into it even before she sat down on the edge of the bed.
“Did you get any rest?” Rafe asked, sitting down on the floor across from her.
With the savory chicken in her mouth, Kaylee could hardly answer, so she just nodded. She hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but she realized that it had happened. She wanted to ask him if he’d discovered anything of use, but she was too busy eating to do that.
Luckily, he offered an answer before she could ask. “No one in the tavern had seen your cousin, I’m afraid. But one fellow from the outskirts of town saw two men he did not recognize come flying by on horses a few hours ago. I asked him to describe them, and it did sound like it might’ve been your companions.”
Kaylee stopped chewing for a moment, taking a deep breath. The thought of Marcus and Gregory riding around out there in the forest at night, because she had dragged them there, made her stomach flip flop. “Did they seem… well?” she asked, hoping he couldn’t see any food in her mouth.
“From what he could tell,” Rafe said with a nod, “they looked to be uninjured.”
“And you don’t suppose he happened to see two other fellows?”
“It’s possible,” Rafe admitted. “But highly unlikely. I do believe they were your friends.”
“One of them is my cousin, Marcus, and the other is my father’s head consultant's son,” she explained, still picking at the chicken but not quite as hungry as she had been before.
Rafe only nodded as if to say he didn’t care who they were. In the dim moonlight filtering in from the window, he looked even more mysterious than he did in the daylight. There was a lot more to this man than he was willing to tell her, which bothered Kaylee. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t poured out her entire life story to him.
“Walter Gladstone is drunk off his ass and should be sleeping late into the morning. I will take you to a hired carriage at dawn and make sure that you get there safely. Then, you’ll be on your way back home. Your father and uncle can organize their troops to hunt down your cousins.”
Kaylee swallowed the bit of potato she’d been chewing. The thought of leaving without Jenna made her appetite go away immediately. She didn’t want to go. She needed to stay and find her cousin.
Taking a deep breath, Kaylee set the plate on top of the dresser and wiped her hands on her pants, something her mother would’ve scolded her for if she’d seen it. Without a napkin, her choices were limited. “What if… I hired you and your men to help me find my cousin?” she suggested.
“Hired?” Rafe repeated. “Princess, I just paid for your dinner and your room. I’ll pay to put you on the coach tomorrow. You have no means of paying me.”
“I do have means,” she corrected him. “I just don’t have anything with me presently. But I assure you, once I return to Arteria, I have plenty of ways to repay you.” She thought about all of the jewelry she had in her armoire and the coins she’d tucked away over the years. There was plenty of treasure to give him back home, but he was correct in saying she didn’t have anything with her of any value.
Rafe was shaking his head. “I’m sorry, Princess Kaylee. That’s not the sort of work my men and I do.”
“And what is it that you do? Rob stagecoaches, I’ve gathered. Do you take the coin and jewelry from the wealthy and hand it over to the citizens of this village and others?”
Rafe shrugged. “Something like that.”
“And if you were to come across me in a stagecoach, would you have taken my coin and jewelry?”
“Most assuredly,” Rafe said. “Thankfully, I know now that you have nothing to take.”
Kaylee narrowed her eyes at him. He was impossible to figure out. “Why do you take from some but give so generously to others? I’m not a poor villager who has been wronged by the wealthy for my entire life.”
“You were a female in danger of having more than just your heirlooms taken, Princess.” A shadow passed over Rafe’s eyes as he spoke. “Do I need to describe to you what the Ketchelians do to women they find in their territory?”
Kaylee’s breath staggered in her throat. She shook her head. “No. I’ve heard the stories.” Images of women being tied to trees and taken by savage men over and over again until they could handle no more and died filled her head. She’d never seen any of those poor women, but she had heard the stories. A shudder went down her spine.
“I assure you, they’re not just stories.”
“But what if… how do I know that my poor cousin isn’t in a similar situation?” The idea of Jenna being abused in such a way made Kaylee’s stomach twist and turn so that she thought she might lose the food she’d just consumed.
“I explained to you that I do not think that the men who took your cousin intend to hurt her. They will return her once the ransom is paid.”
“How do you know that?” Kaylee wanted to believe him, but she needed proof.
“I just do,” Rafe said. “I’ve had some experience with their type.” She stared at him for a long moment, wondering if he was saying he used to be one of them. But he didn’t say more. “You should rest, Princess. Tomorrow will be a trying day.”
Again, the urge to argue with him pressed her to open her mouth, but Kaylee knew he was right. She just wanted to bury her face in the mattress and wake up when this nightmare was over
Except, it wasn’t a nightmare, and it wasn’t going to be over. And burying her face in this mattress would result in having many pieces of straw poking into her flesh.
“What about you?” Kaylee said, knowing he wouldn’t want to have the same conversation again, but she couldn’t help it. “You can’t sleep on the floor.”
Perhaps just to prove her wrong, Rafe stretched out across the dirty, hard floor. He wasn't going to be persuaded to sleep anywhere else, she could see.
Giving up on this particular battle, Kaylee lay back down on the uncomfortable mattress and closed her eyes, trying not to cry again. She didn’t need to waste her tears; they would do no one any good. In the morning, she would have a clearer head and could reevaluate the situation.
In the morning, she’d know what to do. It was the only thread of hope she could hang on to.