Farborough, so they may feel safe enough even to be back on the road.’
The man called Marstan nodded once and moved in the indicated direction and the others quickly followed.
Ty waited until they were gone then said, ‘Glad I picked up and not downhill.’
‘Where do we go?’
Ty smiled. ‘We follow them. The one place they won’t be looking for us is behind them.’
‘Is that wise?’ asked the Princess.
‘Not very, but it’s less risky if we know where they are. Less chance we’ll blunder into them or give ourselves away by accident. Just be as quiet as you can and ready to run if I tell you.’
Lady Gabriella and Hal nodded.
‘Good,’ said Ty. ‘Let’s go.’
Into the now-driving rain they moved, following the pirates who were seeking them.
The afternoon wore on. Ty stayed as close as he could to the pirates, keeping the back of the last pair trudging through the mud in sight, and the others lingered far behind the young noble from Opardum. He felt confident of being able to avoid detection should the pirates double back to check if they were followed or otherwise proved problematic for the fugitives from Roldem. He held up his hand and turned behind a bole, and Hal moved in the same direction, the two young women a moment behind.
One of the pirates had glanced over his shoulder and now stood motionless as if he had seen something. He was on the verge of speaking when a shout from ahead caused him to turn. Hal could barely make him out but had no doubt he was pulling his sword and running forward. Turning to the women he said, ‘Stay here and don’t move.’ He nodded to Gabriella to emphasize she was responsible now for the Princess’s safety, then hurried to where Ty waited. By the time he reached him the sounds of combat were unmistakable. The two young men moved as quickly as the terrain allowed, and came to a small rise where they both fell to the ground, ignoring the mud, and crawled forward to observe the conflict.
A dozen horsemen in the royal tabard of the Kingdom, wearing badges familiar to Hal, were cutting through the pirates like a scythe through wheat. The pirate leader, Marstan, was face down in the mud, his blood pooling around him, while five others also were dead or dying on the ground. The last two pirates were attempting to run downhill, never a good idea with horses in pursuit, and died before they got out of sight.
Ty grinned and was about to say something when Hal put his hand over his mouth. He pulled himself close so that Ty’s ear was less than an inch from his lips and whispered, ‘Boots.’
Ty looked and his eyes widened in understanding. The riders were dressed as Kingdom light cavalry, but sported a wide variety of boots, some not even proper riding boots. The riders who had cut down the last pirates returned and as they reined in, the entire unit showed no sign of military discipline. One man said, ‘Well, you know the orders. If that idiot Marstan didn’t have her, she’s somewhere up in those woods.’
‘You sure, Gravan? Maybe they headed back towards the Eastern Kingdoms.’
‘You get paid to kill, not think, Colver. If what I was told is right, she’s with two pups from the Kingdom — one’s some duke’s kid — and a bodyguard. Don’t take that one lightly. She’s a woman, but she’s a killer.’ He stood up in his stirrups and looked around into the trees. ‘If we’re going to search, we need better weather.’ He pointed to the bodies on the road. ‘Let’s clear away the trash and pull back a way. If they think it’s clear ahead to Farborough, they may just come wandering in without any help.’ He sat back down and said, ‘I’m going back to report. Finish up here and take a quick look, but I’ll be surprised if you find anything. Get back and I’ll start organizing a proper search.’
The lead rider put his heels to his horse and set off down the road while the other eleven men dismounted, three taking reins, and leading the horses away, while the others began gathering the dead. As they started carrying the first two downhill, it was clear the closest thing to a proper pyre they’d come across was a sailor’s burial at sea, or being tossed off a cliff into the surf.
Ty signalled and led Hal back to where the two women waited. ‘Someone’s taken Farborough,’ said Hal.
‘What do you mean?’ asked the Princess.
‘The pirates are dead, killed by horsemen wearing Kingdom garb, but it’s all a sham. They talked, they’re all in it together; maybe the riders were pirates, too. They killed Marstan and his men for failing to find you.’
‘They have different boots on,’ said Ty.
‘Boots? I don’t understand,’ said Stephane.
‘They got the uniforms off of dead Kingdom soldiers, no doubt,’ said Ty.
‘No,’ said Hal. ‘If they were stripping corpses those tabards would be bloody. And they would have taken boots.’
‘Fair point,’ conceded Ty.
‘No, someone supplied them those uniforms, but couldn’t supply boots.’
‘If we can’t go to the town of Farborough,’ asked the Princess, ‘where do we go?’
Hal looked at Ty who said, ‘I have no idea.’
CHAPTER TEN
Ty threw a rock.
He gathered in the makeshift sling as the rock struck the rabbit on the head, killing it instantly. The still-wet ground sucked at his boots as he made his way to the kill. It was the third coney he had felled, using slinging skills he had learned as a boy. He was well pleased that he had retained the knack of it and knew the others would be more so for the soon to-be-cooked rabbits. He glanced at the sky as he turned to head back. It looked as if the rain was finally over. The air had a heavy feeling to it, hot and swampy, but it wasn’t as sultry as it had been as the sun set, and his mountain-bred weather sense told him it was getting dryer.
As he trod the game trail, he hoped Hal had managed to get a fire started so that they could quickly dress and cook the rabbits. It had been three days since they’d left the ship and escaped the pirates and what little food they had carried in their belt pouches was long gone. What had started off as a quick hike to a safe village had now turned into a rigorous overland trip into dangerous territory.
Ty reached the clearing they had elected to use for a camp for the evening. While hunting he had looked for signs that anyone was on their trail again, but it appeared as if the false Kingdom soldiers who had been searching for them were far enough away that they could risk smoke from the cook-fire. Hal helped Ty dress out the rabbits and while they were cooking, he went to bury the hides and offal. ‘No sense in having carrion eaters circling overhead and calling attention to us,’ he said.
As the rabbits cooked, Princess Stephane asked, ‘What do we do now?’
Ty said, ‘I’ve been thinking. It’s probably more dangerous to double back to the east and head for the border states. Moreover, we can’t be sure any of the Eastern Kingdoms haven’t allied with one side or the other. We blunder into Prandur’s Gate or Maladon, you could be held for ransom or turned over to Lord John Worthington’s agents for your “protection” as soon as we surface. No, we strike for Ran. Unless it’s fallen, we’ll be safe there.’
Hal said, ‘If Ran’s fallen, we’ll have more to worry about than ransom, Princess. It would mean a Keshian presence on the Kingdom mainland in the Eastern Realm, for the first time in history.’
Ty nodded. ‘Those false soldiers were almost certainly Kingdom men, from their speech, not Keshian, and they were in league with those Ceresian pirates, so we have no idea whom they serve.’ He sighed. ‘I know my father is taking care of my mother, and as a minor Kingdom noble he’s probably being watched, but it’s unlikely more than that.’ He glanced at Stephane. ‘I know you worry about your parents.’
She nodded. ‘And my brothers.’ She looked from one to the other. ‘My parents have loyal followers. I know Lady Franciezka is important in all this intrigue, but she would die to protect my family. She’ll ensure they’re safe and it’s not in Lord John’s interest to harm them. He just wants me married to his son.’
‘Which means you’re worried about your brothers.’
