“You can’t stop us,” she said. Then after a heartbeat, she continued, “However, you can talk your way out of a noose if you do it fast enough.”
“They’ll kill me if I talk.”
Hannah turned her back to him. “General, either get his whole story and a way off this mountain or hang him. Now. I don’t care which.” Without looking at him again, she walked away, never turning back to address his cries and threats until she was out of sight.
She moved to a campfire and warmed her hands while listening to the soldiers talking among themselves. Obviously, they hadn’t recognized her, yet. They were excited. Optimistic. Hopeful that Princess Hannah could end the war and return Peermont to peace so they could all go home to their farms and families.
It seemed so little to wish for. But, the part where they spoke of her as the only one who could end the war and return them to their old lives struck home. She was not responsible for only Wren, but these men and the entire kingdom she’d barely knew existed ten days ago.
The general joined her. “You walking away like that loosened his tongue. He thought it was over for him.”
The men at the fire recognized her now and began melting away. “Hey, this is your fire. Get back here.”
They slowly and silently returned.
She said to the general, “What did he tell you?”
“As you suspected, he is no prospector. He is a royal officer who reports directly to the King—or did until he accepted bribes to become part of the revolution.”
“Did he share anything valuable?”
“A traitor like that will sell his soul for a gold crown. I offered him gold I do not have, but he doesn’t know that. Yes, there is another way down the mountain, a third way. His job was to direct us to the second so we’d be unprepared for the ambushes they have waiting. But if we took the main trail there are more traps.”
“This third way—do you believe him?”
“I offered him gold, and the chance to walk at the front of our army with a noose around his neck to prevent him from running off. If we’re attacked, he’ll wear a dozen arrows in his back, no matter who wins the engagement.”
“That sounds great.”
“I offer my resignation.”
“What?” The statement took Hannah by surprise, and no other words came to mind.
“If you had followed my advice, we would all be dead in a day. I believed him, and that was the sort of mistake you cannot allow a general to make. I’ll introduce the major who will take my position. I’m certain he’ll do a credible job, Princess.”
“Nonsense.”
“Still, I offer my resignation and wish you well in the future.”
Hannah shook her head. “You offer your resignation, but I refuse to accept it. There is no better man to be my general, and you will have that position until I decide you must resign.”
“Thank you. Now, I must return to my duties.”
She watched him retreat. The men, common soldiers, still at the fire fidgeted and remained quiet. Hannah said softly, “I used to be a servant and worked the morning kitchens in the Earl’s Castle.”
The quiet grew intense until a young soldier no older than her spoke up. “Why?”
“It wasn’t my choice, but politics. Only a few people knew I existed and then my mother died. I’m not telling you this for sympathy, I just want you to know that I got up before the cooks every day, well or sick, and made the fires in the stoves so the cooks would have warm ovens. I’m more at home beside this fire with all of you than in a throne room surrounded by handmaidens and royalty.” She put her warm hands into her pockets and walked away.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Several men were still intently questioning the prospector. They huddled around him, some asking new questions, others seeking clarification. They were officers and senior enlisted men, and it didn’t appear the session would end soon. When the prospector’s eye found Hannah, a flash of fear crossed his features, and he talked faster.
She would also speak to him, but later, and alone. She had an envelope with a powder that encouraged truth in her backpack, and it would make the man believe he liked her and wanted to please her. But, she couldn’t use it with others nearby. Nobody must know of her powers because they were far more effective if people didn’t know. She shunted the opinion most held of magic to the side.
Brice jogged a few steps and joined her. She briefed him, and they agreed to verify what the army learned before making rash decisions. He said, “The main trail is out as far as I’m concerned. It’s a death trap, and I’d rather go all the way back to Calverton and take a ship to Wren.”
“Probably a month. I don’t have that long,” she said.
“The traps waiting on the second path also mean certain death. Two mages are waiting to release a landslide where workers weakened the hillside. They intend to release it after we pass. They also control a rope bridge over a gorge with no other way around. We’ll be trapped with no way out. You are the only target, but they don’t care how many others die, as long as you do.”
Hannah said, “There’s supposed to be a third way. A way they don’t know about.”
“Then with all these paths in the mountains, why haven’t people used Eagle’s Nest Pass in the past? It should be a trade route, even if only used in summer.”
“I think they did, long ago. Then somebody blocked it off, and the monastery was originally a military outpost built to prevent people from traveling from one kingdom to the other. Why? Either gold or power, it matters little which. Over time people who knew of it died, and the knowledge wasn’t passed on.” Hannah took them into the building where the kitchen had stood, the short battle fought, and Brice’s fireballs thrown.
It had burned. The roof had caved in, and only blackened beams and portions of the walls remained where the kitchen had stood. She moved on and examined the rest of the monastery. The long, narrow stone buildings connected to each other. Some connected with two or more, leaving small courtyards sandwiched between. The fire had destroyed only a single section, but most of the buildings were in terrible shape. Roofs had caved in places and sagged in others. In a few more winters, only the stone walls would stand.
It made her sad, like watching a ship sink or making its last voyage. She tried to imagine what it had been like years earlier and failed. Another thought came to mind. Had Princess Elenore discovered the building and the route between kingdoms before or after the monks abandoned it? The stories said after, but Hannah had doubts.
She could imagine either scenario occurring, and her mind still chewed on those ideas when a pair of soldiers escorted the man who claimed to be a prospector to her. They quickly bound his feet and hands, at her direction, withdrew, leaving them in a small room, alone.
With a glance at Brice for confirmation that he was prepared for her inquisition, she said, “Do you understand that if you lie, you will never leave this room?” She waved an arm around at the burned husk of the building where they stood. The stink of the burned building permeated the air. The fire had driven away animals and quieted the insects. The silence was as alien and frightening as the blackened timbers.
He nodded.
Brice slowly stepped back and focused his full attention on Hannah. She clasped her hands behind her back and spoke directly to the imitation prospector, “I am going to ask only a few questions because those are the only answers I care about knowing from you. Then I’m going to use a magic spell I brought from Gallium to determine if you’ve told me the truth.”