Chapter 9, part 2

When they woke up the next morning, Catherine did not bother asking about anything else. She was angry, and she was not used to the feeling. She had no idea what to do with her anger. She just kept quiet.

When the prince suddenly came rushing towards her, she tried to walk away. He grabbed her arm.

"Girl, we need to leave right away! Something has gone wrong. Somehow one of the assassins has managed to gain almost two days on horseback on us. He will be at this place in a few hours."

She understood his worry and packed her things quickly. They rode away in silence, as quickly as the forest allowed.

Catherine followed the prince, trusting that he knew where they were going. The ride was more difficult than it had been the previous days, her muscles being stiff and her mind still on the calm camp site.

"I should not have used deer blood," the prince said. "It ruined everything. I should have known."

She did not answer. He did not seem to be conversing as much as just thinking aloud.

"It's unlikely that he finds the camp, but if he does, he will track us down. There is a river a day away from here. We will ride until we reach it. If he gets onto our tracks he will lose them there. I just hope that is enough."

She heard the edge of worry in his voice and understood that what he had seen had scared him. She very much did not want him to get murdered. The thought was scary. If he dies, would she be killed as well? Would the assassins let her go, and if they did, where would she go?

The hectic ride continued all day, except for two breaks where they had drinks of water and another where the prince checked their position. When he had done so, they sped up even more; the assassin had indeed found their camp site.

"He uses magic," said prince Alexander. "I am sure of it. He does not know where we are, but something is telling him where to look next. Now he is on our trail."

After that they did not stop. Catherine had scratches all over her face and limbs from riding full speed into small branches. She had no idea how she had managed to avoid larger branches or even falling off the horse. And still she kept up with the prince, driven forward by adrenaline. He was her future, even if she would have preferred something else. She had even come to like him, at times, over the past four days. She had not hated him before, but seeing him out of the castle had made him more human.

They came to a small road. Finally they could speed up. Suddenly Catherine had an idea.

"Sir, how long before the river?" she shouted.

The prince looked back at her, brows furrowed.

"Two or three more hours, are you tired?"

"No. What way will we be taking?"

"North, what is this?"

"Ride ahead, sir," she answered with conviction.

"I will not! Stop wasting your breath."

With strength she was not supposed to have, she shouted again.

"Ride ahead! He will never suspect that we are together, it might throw him off!"

"Catherine! I already did all I could to throw him off, I will not sacrifice a girl as well!"

"I'll be fine, ride ahead!"

Prince Alexander ignored her, but she would not let him decide her fate like that. If she was to be his property, she would at least make sure he knew to appreciate her. She forced Pello to turn around and went back the way they had come. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She heard the prince roaring her name, but she willed herself to continue. She would not let an assassin waste his life if she could stop it by simply being in the way. She pulled her cloak up and drew the hood down in front of her face.

Then it dawned on her. There was no way of knowing that the man following them would stop to check her identity before firing an arrow or something like it. She might get herself killed. She no longer knew why she had though this a good idea. Scared out of her mind she tried turning Pello around again. This time he must have felt her fear. He reared and threw her off.

She came to on the ground. She could not stop sobbing, the pain and fear was almost making her faint. The prince had not followed her back. She had to get up and continue. Somehow, she had to get back on her horse and flee the place she had so stupidly gotten herself into. Her pride had led her. It was a mistake she would be sure to to repeat.

Her arm felt as though it was broken again. The only thing that got her back into the saddle was the knowledge that she might die any moment. She threw back her hood and spent a few frantic seconds loosening her hair. Maybe if she did not look like a man on the run, she would safe her life. She forced herself to tide at a pace that did not make her look as though she was fleeing.

She hoped the man was still far enough behind them that she would reach the river before he found her. The prince had said that he was far behind. She might have gotten scared for no reason.

She started sobbing again as the movements of the horse made all of her new injuries hurt. It felt as is she had a bad scratch on her cheek as well. Apparently there was no limit to how often she would present herself to her future king looking like a savage. Not only that but she must have made him more than furious by running away from him and into the path of a murderer.

The sound of another rider behind her made her heart freeze. 



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