Chapter 34 Jess
“What do you think he meant by that?” I stared at Danym across the table.
“Well, I’m guessing your mother and father know where we are. That would explain why we haven’t seen those robed men anywhere. Constables are probably posted all around the inn to keep you safe.”
“That makes sense.” I leaned forward on my elbows, then put my face in my hands, mumbling, “Danym, she’s going to make me go back.”
Before he could respond, the innkeeper appeared at my side and placed a hand on my back. “Is everything all right, dear?”
I began sobbing. Before I knew what had happened, I found myself wrapped in the innkeeper’s arms, my head buried in her shoulder. “Please help me. I can’t go back.”
The innkeeper stroked my head. “Of course, I’ll help ya, Your Highness.”
I jerked back. “What did you call me?”
“It’s all right, Highness. I’ve known since ya walked in.”
The woman’s warm, toothy smile nearly eased my shock.
“I’ve dreamed of a life in the Palace since I was a little girl. Following the lives of the royal family has been something of a pastime for my sisters and me. I’d know you anywhere . . . Highness.”
I gave Danym a questioning look.
“Why don’t we go back into the kitchen to talk in case someone else walks in?” The innkeeper motioned toward the door behind the bar, then released me and turned.
On the far wall of the spacious kitchen were two enormous fireplaces whose suspended pots were already boiling with the day’s lunch. The innkeeper sat on a stool and motioned for us to do the same.
“Highness, why don’t you tell me what’s going on? Maybe I can help.”
I hesitated, but Danym reached over and gripped my hand. “I think it’s all right. She already knows who we are.”
“We just want to be together. My parents want me to marry someone else, someone truly horrible. He’s forty years my senior and ugly as a pig, with hands that wander. They wouldn’t listen to me, so running away was our only option. Now it looks like they know where we are,
and it’s only a matter of time before they make us go home.”
“If we could just get to Huntcliff, I think we could be free,” Danym said. “That’s where we were headed before we were attacked on the mountain pass.”
The innkeeper kneeled in front of me and took both of my hands.
“Constables are watching the inn. There were a few inside and more surrounded the building last night, but our stables are across the street, and I doubt they’re watching them since you’re trapped in here. If I can get you into the stables, ya should be able to take your horses out the back.”
I asked, “You would help us? Why?”
“Love does tricky things to a person,” said the innkeeper with an almost tremble to the words.
Danym stood. “How do we get into the stables?”
“The inn shares a storage basement with the building next door. We keep meats and barrels of ale down there. It opens into the neighboring building but also into the stables.”
“Do you really think this could work?” I worried.
“I don’t know,” Danym answered. “The worst thing they can do is send us back, and they’ll do that anyway if we just sit here. It’s worth a try.”
I sat immobile for a moment before nodding once.
Danym rested a hand on my shoulder. “We need to pretend we never heard what the Constable said today. We show up for lunch and dinner and act like we don’t know anything. If they get a hint we’re up to something, they’ll drag us back.”
I wiped a tear. “All right.”
I raised the innkeeper’s hands to my lips and kissed them. “I don’t know how we can ever thank you for your kindness.”
The woman beamed. “Your Highness, you’re letting me play royal for a day. What more could a poor girl like me want? Now, ya two go back up to your room before one of those men comes looking for ya.”
Danym and I held hands as we strode upstairs. Once the door was locked, I pulled the curtain back and peeked out. The innkeeper was right. Now that I was looking for them, I spotted four Constables across the road, opposite the main door to the inn.
I felt sick.
I had spent my entire life being watched, and I hated that it was happening again.
Luckily, the rest of the day passed without incident. Lunch in the common room was a simple meal of pork stew, greens, and cornbread—remarkably similar to dinner the previous night. Afterward, we retreated to our room and decided not to go back down to the common room unless we truly needed to.
Night fell soon enough. Danym and I sat on the bed, bags packed, when a knock sounded. The innkeeper might’ve offered a limited menu, but she was pleasantly prompt. She bustled us downstairs and into the kitchen before speaking.
“There’s no one stirring right now, but that could change any moment. We’d best get ya on your way.”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
The woman smiled. “No thanks. Just move quickly now.”
As we crept through the kitchen to the wall beyond the second hearth, I noticed a large metal ring on a door I hadn’t seen earlier in the day.
The innkeeper grabbed a candle and lit it, then pried the door open and led us down a short stair.
The air was musty, and the floors were packed dirt with a few wooden platforms built to hold casks, clay jars of honey, and a variety of pickled, salted, and dried foodstuffs.
We walked twenty paces before coming to a wall with a ladder bolted into its boards.
The innkeeper stepped aside and motioned up the rungs.
“That’s your exit, Highness. It’ll open into the middle of the stables. I gave the stableboy the night off, so there shouldn’t be anyone up there. The hinges on the stalls squeal something awful, so be careful. The Constables are probably standing just outside on the street.”
I stepped forward and surprised the innkeeper with a tight hug. “Thank you so much. One day I will find a way to repay you.”
“Dear child, just be happy.” She cupped my cheek and smiled. “That would be repayment enough.”
“Oh, I almost forgot.” The innkeeper reached behind a cask and handed Danym a sack. His grip sagged under its weight before he righted himself. “You’re a week and a half to the next town. I can’t let ya starve on your way to freedom.”
I gave the woman one last hug, then followed Danym up the stairs and began saddling our horses. Dittler nuzzled me as soon as I opened his stall.
Once the packs and saddles were in place, Danym gave my arm a quick squeeze. “We’ll walk them out to the street and make sure nobody’s there, go three or four blocks to be safe, then we can mount up and get out of this town.”
I nodded. “I’ll follow your lead.”
He opened the back door, and we led the horses onto gravel. The skies were clear, and the night was dark and cool. There was no one in sight. As we passed the third block without alarm, Danym motioned to mount and we trotted away.
It took another hour before the last of Spoke’s houses faded from view, and I released a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. “We actually did it.”
Danym smiled. “I told you, Jess. We’ll be all right. I’ll make sure of it.”