People normally listened to her. She frowned. This disturbing premonition had popped up—that John would not listen to her, and princesses were supposed to be listened to.
The northern branch of the road meandered ever nearer the mountains before climbing into them in a weaving, winding manner, lazy as a python ascending a tree. The air grew cooler, drier. The trees became scarce and the grass was lush and dotted with pretty wildflowers.
As the air cooled, so did her enthusiasm for this adventure.
She had done this on the spur of the moment, seconds after waking. Ugh. Despicable. Where was her plan?
The maps of her kingdom had long ago been committed to memory and so she knew when John turned off onto a smaller path that they headed for Endless Falls, the longest waterfall in Bitzocoin. It was where she and Xander had first discovered their love for each other. That time, she had been accompanied by a small caravan of servants and a squadron of her light cavalry, for the border with the Hegemony of Kostan was only another hour of riding along the main road.
“We are resting here?” she said over her shoulder when the roar of the falls was unmistakable.
“Rest, eat, and if you wish to, there is a small pool where you can wash. It will be cold.”
Of course she knew this, having dabbled her bare feet in it while talking to Xander only a month ago. How much did John know? It was a question she wasn’t sure she wanted answered.
“You will have to stay back then. I will not be observed. It would be indecorous. Rude,” she added, in case the big word was not known to him.
John snorted. “Just don’t try running away.”
“As if I would do such a thing. Where would I go?”
She’d need a horse to outrun him, and only one track led to the pool, though she did remember Xander remarking on a way to climb the rocks to where the horses had been tethered, as long as one avoided the wet section. But then she’d also need to hobble John’s stallion or take the steed with her. Why was she making plans like this? Because John was going to refuse her request? She had sat in the saddle in front of him, all the way up here, and could have said something already.
She should calmly offer to keep the search for Xander in motion after she returned to safety. Yes. She took a deep breath.
She was, she must admit, a little afraid. Afraid of being denied, for once, of being used as a trade item. Afraid of going onward. Just… afraid. Being afraid was also new.
Any ruler had to be concerned about assassins, wars, and general violence in the populace, yet there was always someone to ward off the blows or stand in her stead—guards, spies, counterspies and assassins, soldiers.
Every day people risked their lives for her.
Here, there was only her and John.
CHAPTER FOUR
seemed odd that only a month ago she’d been sitting here with Xander, discussing love and other things. The rainy season had tailed off and though the water still poured down the cliff from far above to their right, the volume of water was less, and as a consequence its noise was less thunderous. Princess Po grimaced at the gristle in the smoked meat John had given her, stuck between two slabs of bread with jam. The combination was gruesome.
Behind them the horses were yanking out clumps of mountain grass and loudly munching.
She laid the remains of the sandwich aside on a rock and wiped her fingers on a tuft of grass. A yard ahead, the land fell away. If she were to crawl forward and peer down, she would see a pool of dark, churning water waiting below. The top of Endless Falls was another quarter of a mile above. Mist and the shadow of the mountain shielded them from the sun.
Ruff ambled up and sat on his haunches at the very edge.
“Do you know why Xander was kidnapped?”
“If he was kidnapped. I cannot recall much of the day. I am still not sure why he was, if he was. Because he is your intended partner?” He glanced at her, took another bite of his food, then a swig from a canteen. He’d given her a metal cup.
“I have been wondering if they think he’s the cause of Bitzocoin’s success on the stock markets.”
He answered slowly. “Why? Why would anyone think that?”
“Because I let it be known. I thought it more likely to be believed than the truth—that I engineered it. I like studying the markets and once father was gone…” She shrugged. “The future price of pirates in the Caribbean, of eggplants in Asia, all the interconnections are fun to work out. It’s like chess with live octopuses…”
That made him grunt then scowl, while looking out over the chasm in a contemplative way.
“Do you believe Xander’s alive?”
“Don’t know. I hope so.” John turned to look fully at her. The dark circles of his spectacles blocked most of the flame light, but his cheeks flickered with their color. The heavy darkness of his shoulder-length hair framed his face. He wore it longer than most and sometimes tied it back, which she guessed was his way of thumbing his nose at fashion.
He didn’t seem the type of man who worried over clothes or hairstyles. She supposed black on black and then a splash of gray made it easy to match things and concealed most dirt?
Laundry was a mystery to her.
“Who is this Storyteller you mentioned while we were in the forest?”
“You remember that?” He threw the crusts of his bread into the void and shook his head. “He was in charge
