wonderful time. I’ve been gone for nearly four.”
Willow blinked her eyes. “We did.”
The dressmaker knocked her knuckle on the window.
“Time to get back. An hour after sundown?”
“Suits me. I’ll go back and take a nap. I don’t need them like I once did.”
~
“So she’s changed, has she?”
“Grown up, I’d say. She even helped me with my rabbit traps and skinned a few of them herself.”
Unca couldn’t help but laugh. “Who would have thought? She’s an impressive young woman.”
“Sally is, but I worry about her every night. She could be dead on the road or in the clutches of Duke Histron’s men.”
Unca pushed his empty plate away from him. His appetite had definitely picked up in his new form. “I’m eating too much,” he said.
“Not for a person your age. What do I call you?”
“Anchor. The name’s Anchor.”
“Not too much different and I think it suits you. You’re a much more steady person than you’d like to think.” Willow smiled at him.
“I’ve done some awful things and made mistakes that got the wrong people killed, Willow. I have more guilt than any man my new age should have to bear. I have to make it up by finding Sally and it bothers me that I might have passed her on the road to Sally’s Corners.”
“I think she headed straight north and you came in on the West Road?”
“I did. Oh. No possibility of her passing me.”
Willow shook her head and put her hand on his. “You’re ridden with guilt over her, aren’t you? If you are to do Sally any good, set that aside and go find the girl.”
He nodded and changed the subject to his holding. Seeing Willow had settled him down a bit. Now he’d have to figure out how to rescue Sally from Histron’s trained soldiers.
The mare seemed to have taken to the night’s rest and seemed ready to head north. Unca took a deep breath once they were in the middle of forest land. He felt as if his life depended on saving the princess and wondered how he would be able to find her. She had nearly two weeks head start, but he would catch up. If the soldiers brought her back to the Red Kingdom, they’ would have to pass him on the road. Willow didn’t think she had much money—maybe not enough to take her all the way to Crackledown.
He rode through Five Mills, the first village of any size. She would have stopped here and that thought promoted him to check in at the village’s only inn.
“I’m looking for a golden-haired girl. Brownish eyes. About twenty years old. She’s on foot.”
He shook his head. Unca didn’t like his expression. “If she’s blonde, she’s gone. The Red Kingdom invaded us a few days ago and took all of the women of the description you gave us. They didn’t care what color her eyes, just her age and hair color. They paid a gold for each one. Three girls were plucked from our village. One was an outsider. She stayed at the boarding house on the south end of town.”
Unca plopped a silver coin on the counter and rode to the boarding house and asked who had stopped by.
“Oh, yes. Nice girl. Sally was her name. They just grabbed her off the street and away they went.”
“Which way did they go? I didn’t pass anyone on my way here from Sally’s Corners.”
“She your girlfriend? Wife?” She looked up at Unca, battered her eyelashes and smiled. “You can call me Bertel.”
Unca shuddered at the introduction. “Neither, but she was under my protection. I left for a few months and she fled to the north.”
“She told me she ran away from her master. Were you the master who went hunting? Is she really the princess?”
Unca snorted. He hoped he didn’t blush. “Did she act like a princess?”
Bertel shook her head. “No princess would ever volunteer to help the likes of me.”
“What happened to her things?”
She shrugged. “She might have had them with her. I don’t know.”
“I asked if you knew where they went.”
“North. They’d be getting close to
Willow blinked her eyes. “We did.”
The dressmaker knocked her knuckle on the window.
“Time to get back. An hour after sundown?”
“Suits me. I’ll go back and take a nap. I don’t need them like I once did.”
~
“So she’s changed, has she?”
“Grown up, I’d say. She even helped me with my rabbit traps and skinned a few of them herself.”
Unca couldn’t help but laugh. “Who would have thought? She’s an impressive young woman.”
“Sally is, but I worry about her every night. She could be dead on the road or in the clutches of Duke Histron’s men.”
Unca pushed his empty plate away from him. His appetite had definitely picked up in his new form. “I’m eating too much,” he said.
“Not for a person your age. What do I call you?”
“Anchor. The name’s Anchor.”
“Not too much different and I think it suits you. You’re a much more steady person than you’d like to think.” Willow smiled at him.
“I’ve done some awful things and made mistakes that got the wrong people killed, Willow. I have more guilt than any man my new age should have to bear. I have to make it up by finding Sally and it bothers me that I might have passed her on the road to Sally’s Corners.”
“I think she headed straight north and you came in on the West Road?”
“I did. Oh. No possibility of her passing me.”
Willow shook her head and put her hand on his. “You’re ridden with guilt over her, aren’t you? If you are to do Sally any good, set that aside and go find the girl.”
He nodded and changed the subject to his holding. Seeing Willow had settled him down a bit. Now he’d have to figure out how to rescue Sally from Histron’s trained soldiers.
The mare seemed to have taken to the night’s rest and seemed ready to head north. Unca took a deep breath once they were in the middle of forest land. He felt as if his life depended on saving the princess and wondered how he would be able to find her. She had nearly two weeks head start, but he would catch up. If the soldiers brought her back to the Red Kingdom, they’ would have to pass him on the road. Willow didn’t think she had much money—maybe not enough to take her all the way to Crackledown.
He rode through Five Mills, the first village of any size. She would have stopped here and that thought promoted him to check in at the village’s only inn.
“I’m looking for a golden-haired girl. Brownish eyes. About twenty years old. She’s on foot.”
He shook his head. Unca didn’t like his expression. “If she’s blonde, she’s gone. The Red Kingdom invaded us a few days ago and took all of the women of the description you gave us. They didn’t care what color her eyes, just her age and hair color. They paid a gold for each one. Three girls were plucked from our village. One was an outsider. She stayed at the boarding house on the south end of town.”
Unca plopped a silver coin on the counter and rode to the boarding house and asked who had stopped by.
“Oh, yes. Nice girl. Sally was her name. They just grabbed her off the street and away they went.”
“Which way did they go? I didn’t pass anyone on my way here from Sally’s Corners.”
“She your girlfriend? Wife?” She looked up at Unca, battered her eyelashes and smiled. “You can call me Bertel.”
Unca shuddered at the introduction. “Neither, but she was under my protection. I left for a few months and she fled to the north.”
“She told me she ran away from her master. Were you the master who went hunting? Is she really the princess?”
Unca snorted. He hoped he didn’t blush. “Did she act like a princess?”
Bertel shook her head. “No princess would ever volunteer to help the likes of me.”
“What happened to her things?”
She shrugged. “She might have had them with her. I don’t know.”
“I asked if you knew where they went.”
“North. They’d be getting close to
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