Queen of Ashes │ Season 1 │The Journey

5 │Setting off

Three horses—Frida being one of them—waited in front of the back courtyard. They were saddled with large pouches, mostly belonging to Freya since she was the one moving out and on the way to her new home and life.

The farewell committee was intentionally small. Together with her father, she had decided that it would be better this way. After all, the knowledge about creatures accompanying her was confidential and the less people witnessed their appearance, the better. Chances that anyone would suspect their true nature were low, however they didn't need to risk it.

Freya had to admit as well, that the timing and place were also to her benefit for another reason—showing herself all vulnerable and teary-eyed wasn't high on her to-do list.

The sun had already begun to go down and Freya had to admit that she couldn't have imagined a more beautiful setting for her departure than the summer evening bathed in the rays of the setting sun. If only she could somehow capture this moment for eternity. Or stop in time and stay in this borderline moment for awhile. She knew she couldn't savor it though, for why, along with the last rays of the sun, her traveling companions were to appear and their journey was set to begin.

After that nightmare of an evening audience, she had only a few days to prepare. Because their activity timelines were naturally different, she didn't have any problems avoiding both vampires. Well, maybe except for that toe-curling scene at the lake. Every time she thought about that she couldn't avoid blushing, feeling as embarrassed as oddly curious about the Prince himself.

She was lucky he had the same idea as her and went to the royal gardens. Freya would have ended up at the bottom of the lake if not for his fast thinking. She was glad of him saving her life but also utterly ashamed at what state he had to rescue her in.

She was naked, for goodness' sake. Freya hadn't even thought about wearing panties under the nightgown before she stormed off her chambers. She didn't catch him staring but the mere thought that he had an opportunity to see everything, truly terrified her. His brother was now officially her betrothed. How would he react to hearing of his human bride's night hobbies?

Cursing every time the topic came to her mind, she tried to focus on matters that didn't attract such heated emotions.

Giselle did help her with packing but everything else had to be personally done by her. She had to close some affairs she was taking care of and meet with people who had to take over her duties from now on. Finally, she also had to meet with her father several times to discuss certain details of her ill-starred marriage. If it weren't for the topic, Freya would have been delighted with the thought of numerous meetings with her father. Working with the King was always a pleasure, even if the problems were challenging and cases—difficult to solve. Her dad was a patient, well-balanced king who made mostly wise decisions, so she could learn a lot.

However, as one could imagine, discussing her marriage was not a simple matter for both. Especially since representatives of King Cassius were also present at several meetings. They were talking about the assurances that this marriage would sufficiently protect the people of Carda from any kind of vampire assault. They discussed the journey as well. Avoiding the Prince's gaze came as a challenge back there, but Freya managed through it somehow.

From what she had learned—they had a long way ahead of them, and certainly not the easiest. The vampire lands were far up northeast. To get there, they had to travel through the thick woods of Carda, then cross the Mourning Sea—waters known for their fondness of lonely sailors—and when someone could say their journey should pass its most interesting and dangerous points, they had to break through the Ivy Forest.

Legends say that these woods have never been crossed. However, judging by the presence of King Cassius's emissaries—this was not entirely true. Nevertheless, both the Prince and Qadir were not too effusive in describing what awaited them there. It was a bit unsettling for Freya, but no more than the mere fact of traveling in the company of two bloodsuckers. That probably should disturb her a little bit more at the moment.