He felt sure he was right about Lord Arwyn. Someone had certainly betrayed them, and he could not imagine who else it might be, who else could benefit from Michael’s death or disappearance. But if the plan called for him and Michael to be killed, why had the goblins bothered keeping them alive this long? Perhaps because some sort of proof that they were alive would be required when the demand for ransom was delivered. Or perhaps because they really did intend to sell them into slavery. It was even possible the goblins had some other plans for them that he could not foresee. His imagination started to come up with all sorts of lurid possibilities, which only increased his anxiety and made sleep difficult, despite his exhaustion. There was no sound from Michael, and Aedan assumed he was asleep until he heard his name whispered softly.
“Aedan? Are you awake?”
“Yes,” he whispered back. “I’m dead tired, but I can’t seem to get to sleep.”
“I think I’ve almost got my hands free.”
Aedan craned his neck to look up at him in surprise. “What? How?”
“When they tied me up, I tensed my muscles,” Michael whispered. “It was a trick I learned during our games. It gave me just a little bit of slack in the ropes when I relaxed, and I’ve been working at them ever since. Now I think I’ve almost got my right hand free.”
Aedan was astonished. Michael hadn’t been untied ever since their capture, which meant he had enough presence of mind right from the beginning to think about escape and he’d been working on the ropes all day long while they had traveled.
“I got a little worried when you asked them to untie me,” Michael continued, whispering softly. “They would have seen I’d been working on the ropes and would have only tied me up tighter.” Aedan heard Michael grunt softly. “There! Hold on…
A few moments later, Michael had untied the ropes holding his feet and crouched beside him.
“Lie still,” whispered Michael, as he worked at the knots on Aedan’s bonds.
A short while later, Aedan’s hands were free. He sat up and glanced around quickly to see if the goblins standing watch could see. He felt Michael’s hands working at the ropes around his ankles.
“I’ll get these,” the prince whispered. “You keep watch.”
Aedan marveled at the boy’s composure, but then he realized they were still a long way from being truly free. The goblins standing watch were actually sitting underneath a tree about fifteen or twenty yards away, playing some sort of game with dice. He could barely make them out, but he could see the motions they made as they tossed the dice and he could hear their voices. They were absorbed in their game and not watching them at all. But the guards were not their greatest worry.
As Michael got his feet untied, Aedan whispered, “What about the wolves?”
“I think they’re sleeping,” Michael whispered back, jerking his head toward where the beasts had all curled up together a short distance away. “They’ve come a long way, bearing riders, and they were fed just before the goblins went to sleep. If we’re very quiet, we might have a chance to slip away.”
“But the moment they realize we’ve escaped, they’ll wake the beasts and set them on us,” Aedan replied. “We’ll never be able to outrun them!”
Michael’s face was close to his. “We have to try,” he whispered. “If we can reach that stream we crossed a while back, we can follow it and they will not be able to pick up our scent.”
“That’s good thinking. But it’s several miles, at least,” Aedan replied. “We’ll never make it!”
“Aedan … do you want to escape or don’t you?”
He bit his lower lip and nodded.
“All right, then. Come on.”
Slowly, they started to crawl away from the camp, taking great care not to make the slightest noise. It was agonizing progress and, at any moment, Aedan expected to hear shouts of alarm behind them and the growling of pursuing wolves. His heart raced and his stomach felt tight as he crawled behind the prince, trying to breathe steadily and evenly. He had never felt so afraid in his entire life. The thought of being brought down by wolves and torn to pieces was foremost in his mind as he carefully placed his hands and knees down, dreading to make the slightest rustling sound. Once, a twig snapped softly underneath his knee and he caught his breath and froze, but as loud as the sound had seemed to him, it went unnoticed. After what seemed like hours, they were finally far enough from the camp to risk getting to their feet.
And then they started running for their lives.
4
They plunged through the forest with Michael leading the way, his smaller size making it easier for him to dart among the trees and pass below low, overhanging branches. Aedan’s longer legs were not much of an advantage in the heavily overgrown terrain, besides which, he had been on his feet all day, running for miles, and he was dead tired. He tried not to think about the burning pain in his overworked leg muscles as he ran, concentrating only on putting one foot in front of the other. And it seemed to take all his concentration.
They could not have run more than a hundred yards when he was already gasping for breath and stumbling. In the darkness, with the thick forest canopy blocking the moonlight, he could not see more than a few yards ahead of him, and he strained to keep up with Michael, whom he soon lost sight of and was only able to follow by the sounds of his running footsteps somewhere just ahead. And to make matters worse, his leg muscles started to cramp.
He did not know how much longer he could keep it up. He knew it wouldn’t be long before his muscles cramped so badly he could not go on. If he could only make it to the stream… but he did not see how he could. Already, his left leg was starting to fail him, and he slowed as he was forced to trot with a limp in Michael’s wake. The important thing was for the prince to get away, he told himself. It would not be long before their escape was discovered and the wolves would be on the trail. There was no hope of outrunning them. None at all. However, if they caught him first, it might give Michael enough time to reach the stream and lose them. Then he might get away, if he were lucky.
Aedan winced with pain as his left leg cramped so badly that he could not take another step. He stumbled to a halt and supported himself painfully against a tree trunk. It was no use. He would never make it. Go, Michael, he thought. Go, run for it!
In the distance, he heard the howling of the wolves as they picked up their trail. It felt as if a giant fist had suddenly started squeezing his gut. It was all for nothing. But maybe not. There was still a chance he could buy Michael some time. At least he would give his life in the service of his prince. Perhaps it would compensate for his dereliction of his duty in his affair with Laera. It was certainly no more than he deserved for having acted like a fool.
There was a sudden rustling ahead of him and he straightened, breathing heavily, prepared to meet whatever new threat could be facing him, but it was only Michael. He had doubled back.
“Run!” Aedan shouted at him. “They have discovered our escape! Run for your life! I will try to hold them off as long as I can.”
“With what?” asked Michael. “Don’t be stupid. Come on!”
“I can’t,” said Aedan, wincing with pain. “My legs … cramped…. I can’t go on. Save yourself.”
“I am not going to leave you,” Michael said. “Now come on, Aedan, lean on me….”
“Forget about me! I’ll only slow you down!”
“We go together or not at all,” insisted Michael, taking his arm and putting it around his small shoulders. “Now lean on me. Come on, you can do it!”
“It’s no use. We’ll never make it. You must go on without me.”
“Shut up and move!” said Michael.
They started off at an awkward, shambling trot, with Aedan leaning on Michael for support, but he knew it was hopeless. The stream was still at least a mile or two away. The wolves would catch them long before they reached it.