Oath of Rings

Chapter 12

It wasn't that Sasha thought robbing a castle would somehow be easy. She just figured that from beginning to end—from the first ridiculous idea to the planning and then the execution of the heist and their getaway—she would have thought the actual theft would have been the most difficult part of the equation. Castles were designed to be fortresses, after all, daunting and impregnable; if they hadn't had Charlotte on their side, even Sasha had to admit they never would have been successful. The planning had suffered a few setbacks, but once again, Charlotte's help had made all the difference. Now they were far enough away from Castle Flair that the king would need magic to track them with any sort of accuracy, and yet it seemed like their cohesion was starting to fray at the edges before it was ever truly whole. Charlotte was still adapting to her new—and decidedly less glamorous—life, the strain of the rivers was starting to stiffen up Sasha's joints, and Bex and Bayley were both tired from exertion.

Going back to England seemed like the obvious answer, and from there back to the far northern reaches of the continent, but Bex had said it would be too dangerous. "Charlotte was just there. She went to think about her impending marriage, remember? It will be one of the first places Ric would think to look." She had a strange look on her face when she said it, but Sasha was focussed more on her words than her expression.

"I think I'd be more worried about Randall," Bayley admitted. "He's not going to take this well, is he?"

"Don't worry about him," Charlotte said, voice almost snapping. "I'm more worried about Clan McMahon. My father might be willing to give me some space, but King Vincent isn't so kind. He likes to keep his local rulers in line, so he'll demand my father do something. Randall will help, of course, but for his own reasons." Then she looked to Bex. "Maybe Ireland? Would Finn take us in?"

Bex winced. "It wouldn't be up to him. Not yet. He's only a prince, not yet the king. I want all of us to be safe, but I don't want to bring ruin down on him either." In the end, though, she nodded. "If he finds out I was in trouble and didn't go to him, though, he'll never forgive me. I just . . . ."

"You're worried about your family. That stands to reason." Bayley sat beside Bex and hugged her gently. Though they had put enough distance between themselves and Castle Flair to relax a bit, they had still spent most of their days travelling and their nights camping under whatever cover they could find. This would be the first night they would venture into a village and see if it was safe to barter for goods and perhaps hire some rooms so they could get some proper rest. "Maybe we could go to a different part of the country and lay low for a while?" the earth-etcher suggested.

"That means a lot of time on the sea," Bex warned. "I'm not sure. We could try. For now, let's focus on tonight. Food, supplies, sleep." She and Bayley had already taken apart their boat for the night and stowed its pieces in a cave by a small waterfall. In the days that had passed since their escape, they had gradually lengthened and widened the boat, and even attached the figurehead from Charlotte's father—once they were certain it hadn't been enchanted in any way. "Everyone has their trade bags?"

Sasha looked over at Charlotte. "Why are you taking your dresses? Look at this place! You think anyone's going to have use for a fancy gown? We're going to have a hard enough time using gold here."

"They're taking up too much space," Charlotte replied, shoving a dress deeper into the bag, "and it's not like I can wear them in the forest anyway. Maybe some village girl is getting married and can use one of the dresses. . . ."

Bayley shook her head. "Charlotte, it's a nice thought, but wearing a gown like yours in these parts would draw far too much attention. And if any of your father's men come through, they might recognize it and assume the family stole it and then punish them."