Hannah had already spoken to the general about another concern, and he agreed a third group of fifty would split away from the main force before they reached Eagle’s Nest and circle around it to the trail that led to Wren. Their job would be to prevent Elenore and Jeffery from escaping.
A crow as black as coal dived from the top branches of a pine and landed a few steps from Hannah. She expected to hear it speak but didn’t know the words it would say this time. She waited as the crow cocked its head and identified her.
“Hannah, they know where you are.”
The bird repeated it several times, then flew off. Brice said, “They know? How?”
“Jam would be my guess.”
“The sorceress who sent the crow must be nearby for Elenore to know that and send the bird.”
Hannah kept walking, ignoring the sinking feeling in her stomach. It also meant Elenore was near and she had plans in play. She was waiting ahead, Hannah could feel it. Elenore was waiting, probably rubbing her hands together in anticipation.
Another crow flew over, but Hannah ignored it. Instead, she continued walking up the path intent on keeping up with the others while trying to anticipate what her cousin would do. Elenore would want a confrontation and the satisfaction of seeing Hannah die. But that was secondary. The single item she required was to know Hannah was dead—and that there were witnesses. The more, the better.
The trail was too narrow to walk beside and too steep to walk too closely to those in front or behind. She concentrated on each step while her mind focused on her mission.
The words of the crow returned to her mind. What did they know where you are mean? Could it be Elenore knew she was in Peermont? Or that she was heading for Eagle’s Nest? Or something else? She wished the warning was more specific.
The terrain changed as they climbed the side of the mountains, turning into more rocky footing with pines replacing oaks. The air smelled good, if weak. It took more breaths for her lungs to gather the air to continue, and watching those men ahead told her they suffered the same difficulty.
Late in the day, a headache settled in. She became nauseous and paused to upchuck the little in her stomach, but the cramps were the worst. Her legs seized several times, and she nearly fell, but others continued marching, and so did she.
The gullies and valleys were shallow, the far sides always higher and steeper than the last. In shaded places, patches of snow covered the ground. The air bit with cold. The men struggled, their pace slowed to half of what it had been.
Near a small river, the general ordered camp for the night. It was not a clearing, but a flat area with few trees. On the far side rose a rock wall with the path winding into a narrow cleft. They couldn’t see beyond the entrance, and wouldn’t attempt to enter until the morning sun provided enough light.
However, as Hannah unrolled her bedroll, movement caught her attention. Looking up, she found men standing on the tops of the bare rock on either side, but their uniform colors assured her they were Peermont troops. The squads the general had sent ahead were clearing the way.
Brice was at her side. “A good place for a trap.”
“The general had the scouts check it out.”
“I still don’t like it. It’s too narrow.”
Hannah looked to the cleft again, a split between two huge vertical granite walls that stood a hundred feet above the trail. Each side was so steep few plants managed to grow. “Yes, a good place to set a trap if you’re Elenore, but too obvious. Her mind is more devious.”
“Tomorrow, I want you at my side. Never get more than a few steps away, and I plan to walk with my bow ready.”
“Brice, I appreciate your enthusiasm and dedication, but perhaps you’re over-reacting.”
He placed his groundsheet beside hers, then spread out all four blankets. “He said, “It’ll be below freezing tonight. The sky looks clear so no snow, but you can never tell this high up.”
“You changed the subject.”
He sat and crossed his legs. “You’ve spent five or six years getting ready for this, too. I realize that. But, we’re not playing your game, we’re playing hers. I’m not over-reacting.”
“Maybe.”
“Listen, while you lived and studied in Gallium, I sailed between there and Indore a dozen times. I lived in Indore for months and heard stories. I listened to rumors and tavern-talk. I walked the markets and heard conversations about you, Elenore, and Wren. There are things about them I know I never shared. Most are small incidents not important in themselves, but when taken together they scare me.”
“Tell me.”
“You know the worst. Elenore resents you. She planned to be the Queen of Wren since she was a little girl. Then you swept in, and now she may be nothing. Her marriage to Jeffery was contrived because he is wealthy and ambitious. They are a perfect pair.”
“I know all that,” Hannah said without sounding upset or demanding.
“What I kept hearing was how she promised the mages who helped her positions currently only held by royalty. She plans to eliminate or exile any royalty who do not assist and support her, and replace them with her mages.”
“She can do that?”
Brice said, “Those with the gold make the rules.”
“You make it sound like he has more gold than the King.”
“I think he does.”
Hannah felt her pulse quicken as her fear rose. Brice often held insights others missed. He used a little information from one place and paired it with s fact from another place—and came up with a result others never saw. He’d done it a hundred times at Maude’s, usually to defeat the girls at some game or another, but she trusted his skill and intuition.
“How can he have more than the crown?”
Brice pointed up at the mountains in front of them. “I may be wrong.”
“Go on.”
“There are rumors about the monastery. One is that no one ever stole the statues there because they are so heavy a thief cannot lift it. Not even two thieves can, let alone carry them away, at least with any speed.”
Hannah realized there was more Brice hadn’t told her. She waited for him to talk again, almost enjoying his discomfort at telling her something she might scoff at.
He said, “The rumors say the statues were not coated in gold, they were solid gold.”
“Where could monks acquire that much wealth?”
“There is a blacksmith in Indore who says his father, also a blacksmith, earned a good living selling tools he made to the Eagle’s Nest monks—tools for digging in mines.”
“You pin a lot of belief in the tales the son of a blacksmith tells.”
“Yes, but once I heard that rumor and combined it with another, and another, the picture became clearer. When young, Lord Jeffery’s father held extensive lands in Wren and paid taxes to the crown with a little left over. Near the end of his life, he built Broadmoor Castle. I haven’t been there, but they say it’s the most beautiful in Wren.”
“I’ve heard the same. But that explains nothing but that his father came into a fortune in some manner.”
“Do you know where Broadmoor Castle is located?”
“Not exactly.”
“Neither do I, but if I make a mental map of Wren and Peermont, and this mountain pass we will travel, Broadmoor Castle lies at the foot of the trail. It protects travel between the kingdoms, and also prevents anyone from traveling to Eagle’s Nest, or Peermont.”
“You make a lot of assumptions, but the pieces seem to all fall into place.”
“I’ve heard the servants in Broadmoor Castle were not to speak of gold, the monastery, or the pass to Peermont. That has been true since Jeffery’s father built the castle, and some say that any who did speak of those things disappeared in the night until nobody remembered—or spoke of them.”