first.â
âYou can finish eating while I send word to the captain that weâll be moving on sooner than expected. May I trouble you for some provisions?â he asked the king.
âOf course,â said King Berwick. âAnnabelle is family now that my son is married to her sister. Is there anything else you need?â
âWe are short of arrows,â Liam replied.
âReally?â said Cozwald. âSince I assume that you set out from Treecrest well supplied, you must have run into some trouble. What happened?â
Liam glanced at Annie, then back to the prince. âWe had a run-in with some crows. Theyâve followed us most of the way.â
âWhat kind of crows?â asked Willa.
âI think theyâre probably ordinary crows,â said Annie, âbut a witch is controlling them.â
âReally?â said Tyne. âWhat does the witch look like? Do you know her name?â
âWe havenât seen her yet, but we think her name is Terobella,â said Liam.
The king and the queen exchanged glances. âWeâve heard of her,â said King Berwick. âShe used to live in Montrose, but she moved away not too long ago. If sheâsinvolved, you should be careful. Sheâs got a reputation for being truly malicious. Liam, perhaps you and I should take a look in my armory and see what else you might need.â
âAnd Iâll go see about Digby,â Emilio said. âUnder the weather or not, it wouldnât be right to leave him behind.â
âPlus it wouldnât hurt to have another man along,â said Andreas. âIâm pretty good with a bow myself. Iâd like to go with you to your armory, if you donât mind, Your Majesty.â
âOf course you may join us,â said the king. When a serving girl offered him fresh bread, he shook his head and turned back to Liam. âWould you like some of my knights to travel with you?â
âI donât think thatâs necessary,â said Liam. âWe brought guards with us, and with the princes and their attendants added to our number, we should have plenty of eyes to keep watch and strong fighters if we need them.â
âCan we come, too?â asked Tyne. âIâve never seen a real witch.â
âAnd I hope you never will,â said her mother. âAt least not an evil one like Terobella.â
They left Grelia a few hours later with Liam and Cozwald in the lead. Digby, who still wasnât feeling well,started out beside them but soon drifted farther back in the line. They formed a large party now, as each of the princes had brought at least two attendants with him. Like the guards who had come with them, both Annieâs and Liamâs horses were outfitted for travel, so no one gave them a second glance, but the other princes were all dressed like royalty and rode warhorses wearing their most impressive trappings. Waving, cheering crowds gathered in the road before the party reached the second gate. Riding farther back in the line, Annie could see how each prince reacted. Andreas was friendly, waving back to the people who waved to him. Emilio looked as if the attention made him uncomfortable, but Cozwald acted as if it was his due. When Annie looked behind her, she saw that Digby was enjoying himself, preening when pretty girls called out to him. Their progress through the city was slower than before, and Annie was relieved when they finally passed through the last gate.
The road from the castle led across an open field, but they could see the forest less than a mile away, looking like a vast green wall. Heading west to Helmswood meant that theyâd be traveling through thick forest most of the way. Although Annie usually enjoyed forests, she wasnât looking forward to spending so much time in an unfamiliar one while a witch was after her. Even before they reached the trees, she looked around, waiting for something to
Agatha Christie
Daniel A. Rabuzzi
Stephen E. Ambrose, David Howarth
Catherine Anderson
Kiera Zane
Meg Lukens Noonan
D. Wolfin
Hazel Gower
Jeff Miller
Amy Sparling