Drift: River of Falcons Book 1

The First Arrow

As Ubi led Drift from thicket to thicket, she tugged on his tunic and whispered, "Let me go first!"

"I know the way."

"But you don't know how to get the forest on your side. Watch." She took him by the hand and walked toward a tall patch of tangled blackberry vines. As she reached them, she whispered something. The vines brushed against them as before, but this time, they did not catch their clothes or scratch their skin. "Which way now?" she asked.

"That way. But we've run out of cover." Ubi pointed to where rows of stately trees marched off toward the southeast with nothing but low ferns between them. "The river's over there. Can you conceal us?"

"I told you, I only know little spells, like how to cure mastitis in goats."

"What's that?"

"Never mind. There's bushes over there. Can we go that way?"

Ubi shrugged. "If you don't mind more brambles and thorns," he said.

Drift took his hand again. "I don't. Come on." They pressed through thick foliage until they reached a deep green wall of bushes. "Ligustrum," Drift muttered. "Its branches are too woody and thick. I can't get us through." It was an overgrown privet hedge, much like the one she had met on an earlier trip. "Where are we?" she asked.

"Near the stables. Good!" Ubi started off in a new direction. When Drift hesitated, he said, "Trust me."

*

Sasha had arrived above the Palace just in time to see Drift and Ubi clambering over a tumbledown wall and running off into the forest. He circled overhead, catching occasional glimpses of them through thick trees. He could also see guards rushing around and a variety of dark birds winging in to join the hunt. At one point, he spotted Drift standing in a little clearing, talking to two boys. One looked younger than her. That must be the boy she's running away with, he thought. The other was older and dressed like an apprentice, but he did not try to stop her, which puzzled Sasha. Then Drift and the younger boy rushed off into the trees again, and Sasha lost sight of them. He continued to circle the area, trying to figure out where they had gone.

*

"I think there's a hole in the hedge here," Ubi whispered. "Let me check." He crawled under the dark green wall of foliage, then backed out. "It's clear," he said. "Follow me."

"Why?" Drift demanded. "Where are we going?" But she followed him through.

"The guard's not at his post," Ubi said. "He's probably gone looking for us. This way, quick!" He ran across an open area toward a long stable, where he stopped at one of the doors. It was the only one that was ajar. He slipped inside it and Drift, increasingly puzzled, followed him.

They were in an old stall with dirty hay on the floor and a general smell of decay. The smell told Drift that whatever animals lived in those stables were not well tended. She wrinkled her nose in disapproval.

"This is where they kept me," Ubi said. "I want to get something."

"What! Have you lost your senses? You'll get us both caught!"

"It'll only take a moment," he said.

"Shhh," she hissed. She had heard the sound of heavy boots nearby. She reached for the door.

Ubi grabbed her arm. "Don't lock it," he whispered.

Drift glared at him as they waited for the footsteps to pass.

"It's okay, really," Ubi said. "The guard expects this door to be open because he knows Magus sent me out to look for you." He began pushing the loose hay to one side, exposing the floorboards beneath. When he came to a board that wiggled, he pried it up and felt around. "Here it is," he said, extracting a tarnished silver rope with a silver locket in the shape of an ivy leaf, which he handed to Drift.