Chapter 3
Three
THE PRINCE DIDN’T LINGER. I watched from the window as he saw himself out, stopping only to give me a playful wave when he caught me looking. Then he strode towards the bridge on foot and vanished into the dark.
‘You sold me to him,’ I said, still staring into the darkness.
‘I didn’t sell you, Clara. You’ve jumped to conclusions again.’
I turned to glare at him. ‘You just agreed to our marriage so the prince would keep your secret. I’d call that a sale, wouldn’t you?’
‘If you knew—’
‘Tell me, then,’ I said, although I already knew he never would.
If he could have been convinced to reveal the truth, he never would have agreed to trade his only daughter to her mother’s killer just to hide his secret.
Nothing could justify this. I fought to catch my breath.
My blood was running too hot to think straight, betrayal curling like ribbons around my limbs and tightening with every word.
Blood must be paid with blood.
Father never struck me as someone capable of murder, but the only other conclusion I could draw was that he’d finally tried to overthrow the prince.
If that were the case, though, he would have shown up dead under mysterious circumstances, as Yann’s father had.
So what had Father done that was so terrible?
One final answer swam in my mind, too terrible to contemplate.
What if there wasn’t anything? What if this was all one final pretence to put my dowry to good use? Father always had his way in the end, and who could be a better match for a humble mayor’s daughter than the reigning prince himself?
There had to be a more noble explanation. This was my father, after all.
‘Tell me this much.’ I took a breath. ‘Did you plan this?’
‘Of course I didn’t,’ Father said.
I chose to believe him.
I stormed across the room, throwing the door open to reveal Johanna listening on the other side. She went white, but I’d expected to find her there. ‘Could you please saddle the horses?’ I asked.
She darted off without question.
‘Where are you going?’ Father asked.
‘The bakery first,’ I said, ‘To get Yann. Then … I don’t know. Anywhere. Anywhere on the other side of a river to here.’
‘Clara, please calm down.’
‘I’m not marrying the prince!’ I yelled.
My whole body began to shake, terror clawing at my heart with a frenzy I didn’t know how to calm.
‘I’m not your property, and I won’t obey you in this.
I have one day to put as much distance between me and him as possible, and I am not waiting a second longer than I have to.
You’re welcome to come too, but do not try to stop me. ’
‘Please think this through.’
‘He will kill me,’ I said. ‘One way or another. You know that.’
He didn’t argue. Couldn’t argue. It was what he’d agreed to, after all. ‘Just wait here,’ he said instead. ‘One moment.’ He left.
I stared at the clock, blood curdling in my veins, counting every second he wasted of my borrowed time. He returned promptly with a letter of introduction for Yann to a baker he knew in Salzburg, and a bag with enough money hidden in the lining to last us until he found a way to send us more funds.
‘After all’—he braced himself—‘there’s quite a sum that belongs to you both.’
I knew then we may never see each other again. I threw my arms around him, my anger momentarily quelled. ‘Come with us.’ I couldn’t leave him. Not when the prince would return the following night to find me missing.
‘We only have two horses,’ Father said. He stroked my hair as he had when I was a child. ‘It’s time for Yann to take the reins.’
There was still candlelight flickering in Yann’s window when I pulled the horses up outside the bakery. I hopped off Sovereign and hammered on the door until Yann threw it open, looking annoyed.
‘Change of plans,’ I said. ‘We’re eloping.’
He stared at me, searching for the joke. ‘Let’s calm down,’ he said, as though I were a child. ‘What happened?’
I tried to explain, but doing so made it feel more real than I was prepared for. Tears welled up, unbidden, until I felt like I was rambling hysterically.
Yann pulled me into his arms. ‘It’s okay,’ he said. ‘I’m coming with you. I will always follow you. You know that.’
I waited inside while he explained the situation to his grandfather. Then he emerged with a pack over his shoulders, and I was met by the terrifying clarity that this was really happening.
‘Did you bring a map?’ Yann asked as he hoisted himself onto Father’s horse.
In my haste to leave, it hadn’t occurred to me.
My mouth tasted sweet, and for a moment I felt like I was underwater.
Then, the prospect felt ludicrous. We wouldn’t need a map.
I’d spent enough time as a child memorising maps of the surrounding farms to make our way to the Austrian border unaided.
After leaving Orlfen, the road north would take us most of the way out of the valley.
We’d reach the next bridge just before dawn, which joined a road that would take us directly across the border.
I explained all this to Yann as we walked the horses out of Orlfen, but after only an hour, when another bridge came into view, Yann urged his horse to cross.
I steered Sovereign in front of him, blocking his way. ‘Where are you going?’
‘You said we had to cross the next bridge.’
‘A half-day away. This one must not be marked on the map.’
Yann looked at me, then at the bridge. ‘If only we had one we could check,’ he muttered.
I glared at him. ‘We don’t need to check.’
‘Of course not,’ he said. ‘That would mean admitting you could possibly be wrong about something.’
‘I can admit to being wrong,’ I snapped. ‘I was wrong when I said Father would never give his blessing, wasn’t I?’
‘Were you?’
My stomach gave an oily twist. ‘What do you mean?’
Yann looked away. ‘Well, it’s interesting timing, isn’t it? He’s always wanted you to marry into nobility.’ He nudged his horse forward. ‘Strange for it to happen today.’
‘Father didn’t arrange this.’ My words felt hollow.
‘I have to assume you’re right about that,’ Yann said. He pushed forward onto the bridge, and I had no choice but to chase after him. No good could come of getting separated in the dark.
In the silence of night, miles from anyone, I couldn’t shake the feeling we weren’t alone.
The path on the far side of the bridge snaked into woods, but no matter how many times I racked my brain to remember the map, I couldn’t recall ever seeing woodland marked so far down the valley.
On this side of Orlfen, there was only supposed to be fields.
I jolted and turned Sovereign around. The riverbed had already been swallowed by the trees.
I scanned the dark road we’d taken, searching my scattered thoughts for what had made me turn in the first place, but they kept slipping away before I could hold on to them.
The river was gone. That felt right. We should leave the river.
But I hadn’t thought that before, had I?
No. The map.
I clung to the memory before it could abandon me again. Why didn’t I bring one? The thought slipped from my mind before I could remember the answer. ‘We should go back to the river,’ I said. ‘It leads out of the valley.’
‘Clara, please just trust me. I’m to be your husband.’
I couldn’t shake the implication left hanging in his words. As my fiancé, Yann was asking me to trust him. If he were my husband I wouldn’t have a choice. That strange, cloudy feeling returned.
We pushed forward. Something in me knew this would take us where we were supposed to go. I couldn’t remember why I thought we needed to follow the river. That would only take us out of the valley. We weren’t supposed to leave the valley. A thought tried to surface and then was lost.
The path grew narrow. It wasn’t long before we had to guide the horses on foot.
My skirt caught on every low-lying thistle and thorn framing our track, and every branch above me sought to rip out my braids.
I found myself flinching at every noise, convinced it was the prince, ready to drag me home to atone for my treachery.
But each time I whirled around, I found nothing but darkness.
It was all I could do to force myself to keep going, when in my heart I knew at any moment I would feel his claws at my throat.
Sovereign was starting to drag her feet, grumbling under each tug of the reins. Yann’s mare wasn’t faring much better. We couldn’t keep pushing them through the dark.
‘Yann, stop. We’re lost. If we push on any longer in this darkness, one of us is going to wander off a cliff. We should make camp and work out where we are in the morning.’
‘Here? We’re in the middle of the woods.’
‘The horses need to rest.’ As do you, I silently added. We would all benefit from a few hours’ sleep.
We tethered the horses near the road and set ourselves up on the flattest ground possible. It was a cold night, but the scrub was too dense and too dry to risk lighting a fire. We had no choice but to huddle together in bitter silence.
I was still fuming. If only Yann hadn’t crossed that bridge. If only Father hadn’t slighted the prince. And, deep down, I was furious at myself. I was the one who’d dragged Yann into the wilderness with nothing to guide us but a badly remembered map. This was my fault.
Feeling hollow, I slumped against Yann’s shoulder. ‘I’m sorry,’ I muttered.
‘For what?’ I was relieved to hear the surprise in his voice.
‘For this. For everything.’ I looped my arm around his, desperate for something familiar to hold on to. ‘You didn’t need to throw your life away for me.’
‘I’d have thrown my life away if I hadn’t come with you.’
I wasn’t sure how to respond. It made me happy, I suppose. Though we were cold and tired and lost in the woods, what could make me happier than the unconditional love of my beloved fiancé? It was a shame I was too tired to feel it.