The Queen's Rising (Untitled Trilogy #1)(78)
“Merei Labelle,” she said. “I just met Amadine a few moments ago.”
He guided us to the open gates of the courtyard, where Allenach’s servants were starting to bring the horses up to the Valenians.
“Give me just a few moments, to go fetch two palfreys for you,” Sean said. “Wait here. I shall return.”
We moved out of the way, watching Sean jog down the path to where the stables lay in the palm of the valley. I took this moment—the courtyard was humming with activity and movement as the men mounted their horses to leave—to ease Merei to a quiet pool of morning light.
“Act as if I am telling you something pleasant,” I whispered to her. Her face was exposed to the men, while my back was turned, so someone like Rian couldn’t read my lips.
“Very well,” Merei said, giving me that I just met you smile. “Tell me what is going on.”
“Shh. Just listen,” I murmured. “At some point in this ride, I am going to give you a hand signal. When you see me lay my hand over my collar, I need you to pretend that your horse has spooked. Ride as far away from the forest as you can. You must distract Sean for as long as you are able.”
Merei was still smiling at me, tilting her head as if I had just told her something wonderful. But her eyes widened, fixated on mine.
“I cannot tell you the details,” I whispered. “It’s best that you do not know.”
She wanted to say my name. I saw her lips, wanting to form Bri. But she laughed instead, remembering my coaching. And it was good she did, because I felt the grease of Rian’s stare again as he rode out of the courtyard.
“Be careful of the dark-haired brother. He looks at you in a way that angers me,” she whispered, hardly moving her lips so they could not be read as the last of the men departed.
“Don’t let him anger you.” I linked my arm with hers, the courtyard feeling vast and lonely now that it was empty. We walked back to the gates, watching the groups of men ride across the lush meadows, toward the forest. “I promise you when all this is over, I will tell you everything.”
Merei glanced to me, just as Sean emerged from the stables with three horses in tow.
“You had better,” she playfully admonished. “Since you-know-who is also here.”
I couldn’t help but smile at the reference to Cartier. “Ah yes. That was a surprise.”
The curiosities crowded her eyes, desperate to spill as tears, but I didn’t dare say anything more about him. All I said was, “Continue to play along with me.”
She nodded, and we greeted Sean with excited smiles. He gave Merei a bay mare while I took a roan gelding. And then we were mounted, following Sean as he led the way on his black stallion.
“Now, what should I show you first?” he asked, turning in the saddle to regard us riding side by side.
He had definitely chosen palfreys for us. These horses were extremely mellow, clopping along at a disinterested speed. Merei’s mare looked half-asleep, and my gelding was determined to taste every blade of grass we plodded by.
“Perhaps we could start with the alehouse?” I offered.
“Excellent choice,” Sean declared, and as soon as he turned back around in the saddle, I gave Merei a knowing look. She was going to have to switch the mare to get her to “spook.”
We rode the short distance down the hill, leaving our horses tethered outside the alehouse. It was evident Sean was thrilled to show us around; he told us every bit of the history of the stone-and-timber building, which I half listened to. I was more worried about making sure Merei found an appropriate switch, so when I saw her discreetly slip a slender branch into her skirt pocket, my heart finally settled back into my chest.
Now. I needed to go now, while I was still near the portion of forest that Tristan had once darted into, while the men were still pressing deep into the woods for the hunt, before they started to trickle back to the castle.
We mounted our horses, and Sean began to trot us along the wood line, chattering about the mill, which he was taking us to next. We were nearly upon the portion of forest that I needed to enter. I looked at Merei, laid my right hand over my left collar. She nodded and brought forth her switch. She gave her mare a hearty tap on the rump, and blessed saints, that horse bolted, just as I’d hoped.
We had all been taught how to ride at Magnalia. Even so, Merei almost lost her seat as the mare pulled back in a rear and then lurched into a furious gallop. I screamed after her, which startled Sean and sent him in hasty pursuit after her, across the wide pasture.
My gelding, old stalwart, watched with a little nicker. I nudged him into the woods, which he opposed until I kicked him harder. We trotted among the trees, the branches clawing us, my eyes hungrily taking it in. Faster, faster, I coaxed the horse, and he shifted into a rolling canter.
The branches swatted my face, yanked through my hair, kissed me with sap. But I continued to weave through them, my heart pounding as we drew near. I was letting the memory guide me, Tristan’s ten-year-old memory, and I felt the oak’s presence. Its roots were groaning beneath the ground, recognizing me, drawing me in as if I were on a tether.
The gelding jumped the little creek, and then we came to the clearing.
The years had shifted the forest, widening the arc about the oak. It stood alone, defiant, its long branches rustling in the gentle breeze. But it also meant I would be clearly exposed as I dug.