Destined for Greatness ✔️

Chapter 26

"Gavin?" Danny linked, hoping he might still be close enough to the castle to be able to reach him. He was standing in the middle of the forest, staring at Jade's clothes lying in a pile under some bushes. This wasn't good.

"Yeah? Did you find her?"

He released a relieved breath. "No, not yet. The tunnel led outside. I don't like this at all, Gav. Should we link Prince Aaron? Ask him what he wants to do? I can go after her, but she'll probably figure out I'm following her. And I think she's faster, so it might be a while before I catch up."

It was silent a few seconds.

"You really have a bad feeling about this?" Gavin asked.

"Yes. I can't explain it, but I do."

"Link the prince."

Danny's throat ran dry when it dawned on him what he was supposed to do. Link Prince Aaron? Directly? O, Goddess. He stared into the forest, hoping to miraculously spot Jade, but she was long out of sight. Perhaps she was doing fine. Perhaps she'd return in a couple of hours and they could all pretend it had never happened. Only something tugged at his chest, something heavy and constricting.

"Your Highness? It's, uh, it's Danny. Daniel. Jade's personal guard. The young one. The one you don't like." He slapped his palm against his forehead. Way to sound professional.

"You had better have a really good reason to be linking me this late," the response came.

Hearing the prince's stern voice inside his head made his knees buckle. O, Goddess, what was he doing?

"I think I do, Sir. Your Highness." He started kicking off his shoes. If he was going to go after Jade, he'd better get at it.

"Well? Are you going to tell me what it is or am I supposed to guess? Is she alright?"

What to tell him?

"Your Highness, about twenty minutes ago – or maybe half an hour. No, not half an hour. It's hard to keep track of time when –"

"Short and concise please, Daniel."

"Right. Apologies, Your Highness. Jade left her room, told us not to follow and to tell anyone who asked that she was still there. I had a bad feeling about the whole thing, so I followed at a distance. I figured she was probably going to go to the garden, but she wasn't. I followed her to the dungeons, where there's a tunnel, and I followed her scent in there, and now I'm somewhere in the woods, and so is she. I found her clothes, but not her. I think she's running. That might be fine. She might not be in trouble. But she's not supposed to go outside alone, so I wasn't sure how to proceed. Should I go after her?"

Uncharacteristically, there was some cursing in his head.

"Yes. Go after her. Where in the woods are you?"

"East of the castle, Your Highness. The tunnel was about half a mile long, I think. At the most. She has about a ten minute head-start." He pulled his shirt over his head and shimmied out of his trousers. He'd left his spear at the tunnel's entrance, but was still carrying his knives. He put all of it underneath the bushes, beside Jade's clothes.

"I will send more men to help look for her," Prince Aaron said. "Find her as quickly as you can."

*****

The arrow lodged itself deeply into Jade's side, but what hit harder was her surprise. She hadn't heard the woman coming. She hadn't been able to discern her mind.