The Lost Queen (Book 1 of The Lost Queen Series)

Chapter Three

Kestrel had been leading them through the forest for the last hour. They'd chosen to walk their horses the remainder of the distance to Ratha as the path became harder to follow. Kai's feet had frozen a while back, and he couldn't entirely feel his fingers where they gripped the reins anymore, but none of that could put a damper on his anticipation.

This might finally be it—he might have finally located his sister after years of searching.

Kai had always known in his heart that his sister was alive, and when Neorah had let the truth slip, he'd begun his search.

It was a small comment she'd made about the Princess, but it had been enough to make him suspicious. It hadn't taken much questioning from him for the healer to confess the truth.

His sister was alive. The Queen had faked her death.

Neorah hadn't known what had become of the Princess, or why the Queen had wanted everyone to think she was dead. So, he'd moved on to his next target.

His mother had been a harder one to crack. He knew he couldn't outright ask her about it, so he'd hinted around it, poking and prodding to get the information he wanted.

The most he had been able to get from her was that her former Queen's Protector, Jensira, had disappeared not two days after the Princess's death had been announced. It hadn't taken him long to figure out she must have carried the Princess with her.

Supposedly, Jensira had fled the kingdom. It was suspected that she might have gone to the human lands, but no one knew for sure or cared to go after her.

After that, Kai had seized every chance he could to visit the human lands and continue his search.

At first, he'd assumed Jensira would try to get as far from the portals as she could. When that had turned up nothing, he'd changed his tactic and started looking closer to them.

It seemed all his hard work was finally going to pay off—or at least he hoped it would.

Kestrel held up her hand to indicate he should stop as they neared the edge of the forest. She crept forward alone while he waited in the shadow of the trees.

A few minutes later, she returned.

"It's about mid-afternoon now, and it looks like there are a good number of people in the streets. I think we should wait until nightfall to enter the city."

Kai agreed with her. They didn't need to attract more attention than necessary.

"Also," Kestrel continued, "it looks like there is another snowstorm blowing in, so we will be in for a cold night."

He snorted. "You mean colder than it is already?"

The man from the last inn hadn't been lying about the unusual weather. They'd encountered the winter weather when they'd entered the forest, and it had only gotten colder the farther north they'd traveled.

If the man had been right about the weather, then he was likely right that the people of Ratha hadn't seen anyone from the outside in quite a while.

"We'll wait until a few hours after sundown, preferably before the snow arrives," he proposed. "Then we'll find an inn to stay the night."

"And after that?" Kestrel asked. She blew into her cupped hands to warm them. "The minute we step in there, we'll be the talk of the place."

"Maybe. Maybe not. Their interest could potentially be used to our advantage. We'll say we're long-lost relatives of Jensira and have someone point us in her direction."

Kestrel laughed. When she realized he wasn't smiling, she stopped. "Oh. You were serious."

"Of course I was serious," he said. "Did you think I was jesting?"