(Chapter 10: The Moors, cont.)

  A few paces away, Chadwick scowled as he struggled with the tent, but by the time the sun set, he had it standing.

  Roarke helped him stake it into the ground. The tent was domed, and it did fare better in the wind than a flat-top would have, but it was smaller than Ean expected, and decidedly cramped inside.

  He managed to claim a spot by the edge, so he wasn’t stuck in the middle, but sleep was hard to come by. The wind made the tent sway and buck. The howl of it sounded angry, at other times mournful. As loud as the wind was, it couldn’t drown out Roarke’s rumbling snore, the whine to Asali’s breathing, or Chadwick’s unconscious mutterings. Leo sprawled, taking up twice the room as any one of them. Ean woke up squished against the side of the tent, his wrist knives clutched in his hands. He staggered out at first light, feeling like he hadn’t gotten any sleep at all. The others looked similarly bedraggled. Their pace was slower that day.

  The trail they followed was well-marked. It wound around the hills, rather than climbing up them. They reached Collis River by mid-day. The road flirted with the river, sometimes taking them onto the rocky shore, and sometimes breaking away to divert around a stretch of hills. They walked another two days before the trail struck out toward the east. Someone had carved a sign into a towering boulder, pointing the way to the healing springs.

  Chadwick kept the party traveling north, following the river. Without the road, their pace slowed. The landscape was speckled with stone ridges and crevasses that sprung from the earth, sometimes not visible until they were right upon them. On the fourth day, they reached a farmstead. The house and barn had been carved out of a large rock face. The family there was surprising cheerful, despite the barren surroundings. They tended a large flock of sheep and welcomed them in for a hot meal before they continued their journey.

  At night it was possible to look across the moor and see the flecks of light that indicated a lonesome cabin in the wilds, far away from the rule of kings and queens, a day’s journey to the nearest neighbor. Ean found it hard to believe that people willingly chose to live so far from civilization.

  On the fifth night, Chadwick got to his feet. He squinted into the darkness behind them, raising a hand to his eyes. Everyone stopped eating.

  “What do you see?” Asali asked.

  “Campfire,” said Chadwick.

  Ean stood and peered into the night as well. He could see the fleck of light Chadwick pointed to, but he couldn’t tell if it was a campfire, like he said, or another homestead.

  “Are you sure?” Roarke asked.

  “It wasn’t there last night.”

  Ean looked over at Chadwick and narrowed his eyes in disbelief. He’d really memorized the location of each firelight on the moor? No one else question his claim though, and Roarke put his dinner plate down to assess the landscape with him.

  “It’s a large party,” Chadwick said. “Maybe forty or fifty men.”

  “It could be a group of pilgrims headed to the springs,” Asali said.

  It was a wishful thought. Ean didn’t believe it.

  “The surveyor said that the Wildmen were traveling in large groups,” he countered. He’d dismissed that warning after discovering the mass murders in Northpoint, but now he wondered if he’d been too hasty.

  Flora looked up from her dinner. “But I thought it was the townsfolk that were killing all those travelling parties.”

  “The misfortune of meeting a lion does not preclude the misfortune of meeting a bear,” Roarke quoted sagely.

  “It’s most likely that they’re pilgrims,” Asali said. “If they are, we’ll see them turn away in a day or two when the road veers towards the springs.”

  “And if they don’t?” Flora asked.

  Roarke stoked the fire with a stick. “We’ll have to think of something then.”

  It was pragmatic, but hardly comforting. Ean went to bed feeling uneasy, and he spent his watch that night practicing Star and Meteor Dance. They rose early the next day and broke camp without bothering to cook a hot breakfast. They ate jerky and dried fruit while walking and chose not to stop for lunch. They traveled until dusk, had a quick supper, and were up before dawn the next day as well.

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  On the third day, it was clear the other party was following them. And from the size of their campfire, now an easily spottable blob instead of a miniscule dot, they were gaining on them. Ean’s palms itched. He checked his knives.

  “They should have turned by now,” Asali said over dinner that night.

  “Wildmen,” said Chadwick.

  “Or worse,” said Leo.

  Ean looked up in consternation. “What’s worse than Wildmen?”

  “Spies,” said Roarke.

  “Is that likely?”

  “Westenvale has been privy to our secrets before,” said Leo. “Father thought word might have spread about the sword.”

  “Spies or Wildmen, we’re not likely to outrun them. Not if they keep gaining,” Chadwick said.

  “There’s nowhere to run.” Flora’s voice cracked in obvious fear.

  She had a point. The moors had been sparse so far. There were a few patches of scraggly woods here and there, a few defensible positions in the ravines, but nothing that offered any substantial shelter. Chadwick pulled out his map and spread it out on the ground. It wasn’t as detailed as the one Ward had shown them, just a few scant lines to indicate rivers and mountains.

  “We’re here at the river and we’ll reach this ridge tomorrow.” Chadwick pointed to a couple of jagged lines that indicated some sort of mountain range. “This will take five days to clear. We should split into two groups, one group will keep following the river and the other will divert to the east around the ridge.”

  “You want us to split up?” Ean interrupted. “For five days while there are fifty Wildmen chasing us?”

  “If it’s a bandit party, they’ll split up and chase both groups. Ward’s map showed a crossing about here.” Chadwick drew a line halfway through the mountains. “If they split to chase us, then we can use this passage to rejoin each other and face only half their number.”

  Roarke nodded. “It gives us the best odds.”

  “And if they’re not bandits?” Ean asked.

  Chadwick glanced at Leo. “If they’re not bandits, then they’re spies.”

  Leo’s lips twisted into an apologetic smile. “If they’re spies, they’ll follow me.”

  “They can’t possibly recognize Leo from this distance,” Flora said. She paused a moment. “Can they?”

  “I can pick out individual features from this distance,” Chadwick said.

  Ean scoffed. His eyesight couldn’t be that good, could it?

  “Not many people have your eyes,” Asali said, confirming Chadwick’s claim. “But they could have sent scouts ahead of their party. We need to act as if it’s the worst-case scenario: they are spies and they have recognized the Prince.”

  “What do you suggest?” Chadwick asked.

  “Leo travels ahead and Ean goes with him. We stay behind, set up an ambush, and take out as many Wildmen as we can.”

  Ean nodded in agreement. That was a plan he could get behind.

  “Absolutely not,” Leo objected. “We take Chadwick’s option.”

  “Or Flora could sneak over there and burn them up while they’re sleeping,” Ean suggested.

  There was a collective outcry from the group—particularly from Leo and Flora. He had expected it. Leo was too noble, and Flora was too gentle. Roarke’s mouth pursed, like he was considering it.

  “We are not going to kill them when we don’t know who they are,” Leo said. “There’s still a chance they’re a simple hunting party.”

  Ean huffed out an irritated breath. He was just being practical.

  Leo looked around the group, a stubborn set to his jaw. “We’ll take Chadwick’s option and split into two groups. Odds are, they are a bandit party, and they’ll split as well. We’ll rejoin and face half of them together.”

  “But if they are spies, they’ll follow you,” Asali said. “That leaves you under-defended.”

  “So why don’t we use that to our advantage?” Flora asked, sitting forward. “They’ll expect the Prince to go with his friends. We disguise Ean to look like Leo and he goes with you two,” she pointed at Asali and Chadwick. “Leo disguises himself as Ean and comes with me and Roarke.”

  “Like hell,” Ean said. “I’m staying with Leo.”

  Asali looked between him and the Prince. She tipped her head to the side and squinted. “It’s not a terrible idea.”

  “If they switch clothes and put on a hat, it might be enough to fool a scout,” Chadwick agreed.

  “Might?” Ean echoed in disbelief.

  “It’s decided,” Roarke said with a nod. “Leo comes with me and Flora; Ean goes with Asali and Chadwick.”

  “We’ll move the fastest,” Chadwick said, “so we’ll divert around the ridge and use the passage to meet back up with you. Expect us late on the third day.”

  “No.” Ean crossed his arms in defiance. “My job is to protect the Prince. I can’t do that from across a mountain. I stay with him.”

  Roarke dropped a hand on his shoulder. “Move quick enough and you’ll make it back to Leo before there’s any fighting.”

  “But—,”

  Roarke squeezed, tight enough to border on painful. “I’m not asking for your approval. Just your cooperation.”

  Ean could see they had all made up their minds. They weren’t going to listen to his arguments, no matter how rational they were. He clenched his jaw to keep from cursing and jerked his head in acknowledgement.

  Roarke slapped his shoulder. “Good man.”

  He reclaimed his seat and resumed his meal. Ean pushed his aside, stomach churning with dread. This wasn’t going to end well.