“Are you both ready?” Peter asks, but before they can answer him, he sees three bags on the ground, just beside the two most important women in his life. Daria picks up her luggage, urging Ariana to do the same. Peter grabs his, which he knows his wife prepared with their best interest in her mind. She had a talent for predicting almost everything. This allowed her to pack the bags according to what they might need. Ariana carries the clothes which they will need during their traveling. Although it’s winter, they shouldn’t feel cold, but that doesn’t mean they can travel in one set of clothes the entire time. Daria’s bag contains what they could use as a kitchen in the wild. Some spices, hard to find ingredients and utensils. Their country isn’t huge, but it will take up to three weeks to reach the neighboring country. Especially since they can’t use the main road and can’t allow anyone to see them. Once Marcus finds Ariana is gone with his child, he will send warriors to find them.
“What do you mean GONE?” Marcus shouts at Tarek, who brought him news about Ariana’s disappearance. They delivered the letter they prepared yesterday. According to it, Ariana should have arrived at the castle almost two hours ago, but she never showed up. Without hesitation, Tarek sent guards to her home to pick her up and accompany her on the way to the castle. His men came back empty-handed. Right after, the chef reported an absence in the kitchen. Ariana’s mother didn’t show up for work, either. In the last twenty years, Daria has never been absent from work except for the time she delivered the baby. She took several weeks off from work at that time. With no one telling him, Tarek sent one of his men into the barracks. Like his entire family, Peter Thomas wasn’t at work either. Her whole family was gone. “Daria Thomas, Ariana’s mother, is absent from the kitchen. Peter Thomas, Ariana’s father, is missing from his post too. The entire family is gone, Your Highness. If I may be so
“Are they following us?” Daria asked her husband, who had just caught up with them. Peter leaves them every morning to create several blind leads to cover their tracks while getting back on route. Peter agreed with his wife to travel this way to avoid being caught by their pursuers. Although until now they didn’t see anyone, they are cautious. “No one is after us. Maybe it’s exactly as you said. He will try to predict where we are going and wait for us there.” Peter informed his wife. “Maybe we should find another path to cross the borders. In particular, Edeirland doesn’t have that many places suitable for crossing. The mountains between those two countries are deadly.” Peter’s words bring nothing new. Daria already knew about the decision her husband had made. Whether the peaks are deadly or not, they have no other choice but to cross the border this way. “Mount Reichard has a secret passage. Only a few people know about it. Maybe we could cross there.” Daria quickly replies to he
“Are we on the correct trail?” Marcus asked the tallest guy in the group. He isn’t just the tallest, but also the slimmest. His entire features look strange, unnatural, but Marcus can’t complain about him. His skills are the best he can find in the entire country. For the past several days, Marcus’s senses betrayed him. His Lycan abilities are stronger and sharper than those of werewolves, yet he can’t track Ariana. Her scent disappeared several days ago and since then he hasn’t caught a hint of her vanilla scent. “Yes, we are.” The tracker says nothing else. He doesn’t even call Marcus by his title. Marcus decided a long time ago that if this guy wouldn’t be able to get close to Ariana, he would simply execute him just for his rude behavior and lack of respect towards his king. His abilities are the only thing keeping him alive, but for the past few days, Marcus isn’t so sure they are still following the right path. They turned briefly to the south-west. There isn’t any crossing
“I can see the town.” Peter stood on top of the hill they were about to cross, waiting for his wife and daughter to climb to him. They have been on the way for nearly two weeks now. Tiredness and worries are visible on their faces. Daria reaches the top of the hill briefly before Ariana, offering her help with the last steps. The last days were emotionally exhausting for her. Peter worried their pursuers were getting closer, so they were waking up before sunrise and rushing through the wilderness until the sunset. Not even once had they started the fire. They eat only what they can find on the way from the random sellers marching from one homestead to another or the leftovers they had dried in the bag. Dreams also haunted her every night. She saw Marcus holding her not yet born child while staring at her with a cold dead gaze. She wanted to scream at him to give her the child, but no voice came out of her throat. When she stretched her hand towards him, the bars blocked her from comi
“We should wait for night.” Peter stopped his family several miles away from the town. Daria looks at him with confusion all over her face, but once she sees the town’s wall behind him, she understands instantly what he means. “Entering town at night is impossible. They close the gates.” Daria tells him, but Peter shakes his head. The capital itself is closing its gates for security. Too many people are entering and leaving the capital every day, not to mention the city is the center of the entire country. The most prosperous city in the entire nation. But this town is different. Nobody rarely targets small towns like this one. The country itself doesn’t have a problem with robbers and the strategic position of the town offers this place absolute security. Their gates will remain open even after sunset. But the main reason for Peter stopping his family lies elsewhere. The sudden scent of blockers hit his nose as they were passing near the edge of the forest. Whoever went through this
Peter greeted the guards standing on each side of the main gate. He expected them to ask for his identification, but to his surprise, they simply let him in without a word. Entering the city seemed to be much easier than he imagined. Once Peter enters, he almost instantly blends in with the crowd, adjusting his speed to match the regular passerby not to stand out. The city looked smaller when Peter observed it from the top of the hill several days ago. Surprisingly, the streets here are as wide as those in the capital. They are bursting with life as well. People walk from shop to shop, checking the goods and deciding what to buy. Shopkeepers hire youngsters to stand in front of their shops, shouting promotional discounts just to attract potential customers and sell as much as the people can buy. It didn’t take long for Peter to guess the actual size of the town. The strategist inside let him quickly understand how they constructed the city. Longcron was the biggest city in the region
“What took you so long?” Daria asked him. It was deep dark already and Peter had just arrived at his family's hideout in the woods. Daria watched over her daughter while waiting for her husband. “I had to lose my tail.” Peter tells her, using his army jargon, forgetting he was talking to his wife and not to a warrior. Daria is used to the way her husband talks, so she immediately understands what he means. She didn’t need extra time to understand why her husband insisted on taking another route. Their fear becomes true. “Is he there?” Her eyes hung on her husband’s lips, hungrily waiting for a single word. To her dismay, Peter couldn’t answer that single question. “I don’t know, but his warriors are surely there. Two of them were following me.” Peter replies to her. Daria let out a long sigh. They are trapped. Ariana doesn’t have the energy for them to take another route and prolong the journey. They need to cross the borders as fast as possible, so Ariana can rest in the nearest to