The Shadow Tide

CHAPTER 11 - Snare

Arian had sent one of the guards to the village post centre and requested an urgent message be delivered to the palace, informing them that the prince would be back the next day, not that same night as previously agreed. He didn't say anything to Brethen until he received confirmation that the message had been sent, right after they returned to Basken's house for a snack, following their beach outing.

"Enjoy the time you have with your brother," Arian whispered when she attempted to protest. "You deserve it, and the world won't end if I'm late for a ridiculous lunch with people I see almost every week."

Brethen remained silent, merely embracing Arian on the front step of her brother's house before entering.

They departed early the next day after spending the night at the town's inn and returning to Basken's house for breakfast. Brethen promised to visit more often, and Arian extended an invitation for her family to visit the palace whenever they wished.

In private, Brethen handed her brother a purse of coins identical to the one she had given their parents. He tried to refuse, but Brethen insisted.

"If not for you, then for my nieces and nephews," she said. "For their future."

Thus, Basken accepted, bidding farewell to his sister with a long, tight hug, moistened by tears, and watched as the carriage departed, everyone waving from a distance.

Once again seated next to Arian in the carriage, Brethen felt a smile escape her lips.

"Thank you," she expressed her gratitude to the prince. He smiled back and squeezed her fingers in response.

After a few minutes, Arian opened a book on his knee, and Brethen closed her eyes in an attempt to take a nap. She couldn't comprehend how the prince could read anything with the jolts and shakes of the carriage, but she had given up on telling him that it couldn't be good for his eyes.

Amidst a restless sleep and fragments of confusing dreams, it took Brethen a while to realize that something was amiss. The sounds outside merged with the figures of her imagination, and it was Arian's hand – a firm grip on her arm – that brought her back to reality.

Beside her, the prince was as tense as a cat on high alert, golden eyes wide, one hand still on the open book on his lap.

"Why have we stopped?" Brethen asked.

"I don't know," he replied, his voice almost a whisper, "but I have a bad feeling."

She leaned over the narrow space of the carriage and slid open the small window facing the driver's seat, where Arture and another guard were.

"What happened?" she inquired, but before Arture could respond, she noticed a figure standing in the middle of the road. He had a sword sheathed at his belt and his arms open by his sides, blocking the way.

"Stay here," she told Arian and stepped out before he could reply. However, as soon as she set foot outside, a scream came from behind the carriage. The third guard, sitting alone at the back of the vehicle, fell to the side with a dagger lodged in his neck.

Brethen didn't have time to process the scene – the man on the ground, the blood, the frozen panic expression on his face – when she noticed more movement in the woods.

"It's an ambush!" she shouted, and Arture and the other guard, a young man named Calam, sprang into action. Arture drew his bow and arrow, and Calam brandished his sword, as four more men, in addition to the one standing in the middle of the road, emerged from between the trees. They all wore cloth masks. Two rushed towards Brethen, and she positioned herself between them and the carriage door.