Chapter Twenty-One

Silence permeated the air, which caused fear to spread throughout her body like wildfire on a dry summer day.

Sophie looked around. She felt exposed and vulnerable sitting alone in her carriage. She scooted to the far end and vainly attempted to cover herself with pillows.

After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, the deafening silence broke with muffled voices. She strained to hear what was being said, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t make out anything.

Finally, curiosity took over and she removed the pillows and peeked out through the curtains. Although it was pitch black outside, several torches lit the area. She saw her husband speaking to a guard, Brianna, and Emlyn. Brianna pointed to a nearby carriage and Emlyn looked like she had been crying.

Sophie strained to hear the conversation, “I don’t… where the body… from!”

Body? What body?

She couldn’t wait any longer, so she pushed through the carriage door and stepped into the chilly night air.

When she approached the group, everyone stopped
talking.

“What’s going on here?” she asked.

“It was terrible!” cried Emlyn.

“Shut up!” shouted Algid.

“Excuse me?” asked Sophie.

“I’m sorry. I just don’t want you to worry. Please, go wait in the carriage for me. I’ll be right there,” said Algid.

Crossing her arms, Sophie demanded, “I’ll do no such thing! Now tell me what’s going on!”

“Darling, we stopped because of a felled tree,” explained Algid.

“And?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why did someone scream? And why does it look like Emlyn has been crying?”

Brianna looked at Algid for permission to speak. When he nodded, she began. “We were riding along and everything was going fine. Then suddenly we just stopped dead in our tracks. Moments later, a body crashed through the top of our carriage!” She began to sob and couldn’t finish the story.

Emlyn spoke up. “The body, it had a note secured to it.” She looked down at her hands and tears welled up in her eyes.

“What did the note say?” asked Sophie.

“It’s too terrible to repeat,” sobbed Emlyn.

“Where is the note? Give it to me!” demanded
Sophie.

Algid toyed with a rolled up piece of paper in his hands. “Here,” he finally said, handing it to Sophie. “Just know that I won’t let it happen, I’ll never let anyone harm you!”

Sophie unrolled the paper and began to read.

“Princess Sophie, this trip shall be your last,

For everyone will soon know your past.

Kiss your beloved goodbye,

And prepare to die.”

Goosebumps snaked up her arms and her knees felt like jelly. “What does this mean? Why does someone want to kill me? And what do they mean by my past?”

“I don’t know,” said Algid. “But we must get back in the carriage and take another route with haste!”

The guard shifted uncomfortably. “There is no other safe route, Sire.”

“We have no other choice. We are like sitting nabbits out here! What about crossing through the Halias Swamp and then cutting through the Sareet Desert?” asked Algid.

The guard furrowed his brow. “There are many dangers that await us in both the swamp and the desert.”

“No more so than if we continue on this route!”

“As you wish, Sire,” said the guard.

Algid stood proud. “I shall help you navigate out of here.”

“Prince Algid, may Brianna and Emlyn ride with me? I really don’t want to be alone right now.”

“Of course, my love. And I will have guards surrounding your carriage as well.”

Brianna and Emlyn followed Sophie to her carriage.

After the three of them were settled, Sophie asked Brianna, “The body that fell, did you recognize it?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Me either,” said Emlyn. “But don’t worry. We have your father’s best guards getting us out of here, and of course, Prince Algid.”

“You’re right, we’ll be fine,” said Sophie.

The carriages jolted back and forth as they were turned around on the narrow passageway. Emlyn bit her nails and Brianna kept pulling at stray threads on her skirt.

Finally, the carriages were turned around and began moving back in the direction they had come.

Sinking into the cushions, she began to relax.

“Are you hungry?” Sophie asked.

“Yes, quite,” said Brianna.

Sophie pulled out a basket packed with her favorite goodies and passed it around.

“So, something really strange happened today,” said Sophie. She paused to take a bite of a trequil cookie. “This woman in the crowd, she was yelling out this name and I had this funny reaction.”

“What do you mean?” asked Emlyn.

“Well, this lady said the name Ryder, and it was like I had the wind knocked out of me! Plus I had all these weird memories, like flashbacks or something.”

Brianna’s eyes widened and jaw dropped. “What did you say his name was?”

“Ryder. Why, do you know him?”

Brianna was too stunned to respond.

“Well, do you?” asked Sophie.

“It’s strange. Someone named Ryder approached me and claimed he was my brother,” said Brianna. “I didn’t recognize him at all and I don’t have a brother. It was so weird, though. He knew my name and everything! He even asked about my mother.”

Sophie began to feel dizzy and her surroundings swirled together like dancers on a ballroom floor. Images pushed to the front of her mind. A moonbow, followed by a handsome young man reaching out for her when something snatched her up and carried her away. “Brooklyn!” he screamed. Then, as fast as they had appeared, the images faded. Emlyn shaking her injured shoulder brought her back to reality.

“Ouch!” she cried.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Princess Sophie! Did I hurt you?”

“It’s okay. I hurt my shoulder when we stopped earlier.”

“What happened? It looked like you were in a trance,” asked Emlyn.

Sophie shook her head. “I don’t understand. More bizarre memories just flashed through my mind.” She pursed her lips. “That boy, Ryder, he was there again. This time he called me by a different name. He called me—”

Brianna interrupted, “Brooklyn?”

Sophie gasped. “How did you know that?”

“When he approached me in the castle, we were outside of your room and he told me he had to save Brooklyn. Do you think he meant you?” she asked.

Sophie opened her mouth to respond when the carriage jerked wildly, then slammed to a stop for the second time that evening.

The three bounced off the seat and into one another on the floor of the carriage.

“What is it this time?” asked Sophie.

“I hope nothing bad,” said Emlyn with a worried look.

Sophie began to worry, too. Should I stay in here or should I go check it out?

Boonum growled from a nearby carriage and a putrid scent filled the enclosure.

“Ew!” said Emlyn.

“Yuck! It smells like a latrine bucket mixed with stagnant swamp water,” added Brianna.

Without warning, the door flung open and Algid stood with a strange smile on his face.

“My love! We have a visitor! Please come and pay your respects.”

A visitor? Who the heck visits someone so late at night? Especially since we’re in the middle of nowhere?

“Prince Algid, it’s late and I’m scared. Can’t I just stay here?”

He ignored her comments and reached out for her hand. “Please be careful. I’m told our guest has something that will help the pain in your shoulder.”

Something in the pit of her stomach told her it was best not to inquire about the visitor and just take her husband’s hand as he led her into the dark forest.

“This way, my love,” said Algid, leading her further from the carriage.

They kept walking. Scrawny branches from nearby bushes slapped at their legs and something sticky brushed against her face.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

Algid remained silent and kept walking.

Something felt wrong, very wrong. Even Algid’s palms felt clammy.

Stepping out from behind a massive tree, a rumbling voice greeted her. “Princess Sophie, I’m so sorry to interrupt your trip to Dratun.”

Grishma’s rancid smell, coupled with her abhorrent appearance, made her stomach clench tightly.

“How is your trip going?” Grishma asked.

She stammered, “Everything was going well until a short time ago.”

Grishma frowned, “Do tell. What happened?”

“Here,” said Algid. His movements seemed almost robotic as he handed Grishma the threatening note.

“Oh dear—this doesn’t look good.”

“No, it doesn’t. Especially since we received it attached to a dead body,” said Sophie.

“I suppose it doesn’t. Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I also have something alarming to share,” growled the Grishma. “You see, the King received a detailed letter claiming someone was going to kill you on the way to Dratun.”

Panic seeped in and her own palms began to sweat.

“It certainly appears someone wants you dead,” snarled Grishma.

“But why? What have I done?” asked Sophie.

“You know too much,” answered Grishma.

“I beg your pardon?” asked Sophie in disbelief.

Grishma roared, sending shooting pains through her head. Gnashing her razor sharp teeth, she spewed, “I said, you know too much and now you must die!”

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