"Good to go!" Rowan led the stallion and the mare out of the pen, and Aliyah swung the gate closed behind them. Rowan gently petted Dust's muzzle as Aliyah approached, calming the stallion against the wolf smell, "She's very kind," Rowan assured him, then glanced at Aliyah, "Get on now, just slowly."

      Aliyah soon sat atop the horse's back, the reigns in her hands, "I haven't ridden a horse in a long time! He's so sweet!"

      Dust neighed happily as Rowan slipped him a carrot. She glanced back at Kaden, but noticed his face had gone pale. His eyes were fixated across the street, and she waved a hand in his face, "Hello, Kaden, earth to your brain."

      "Out of town," he said suddenly, starting out of his thoughts, "We need to get out of town fast."

     Rowan swung up onto Sandy's back, and Kaden got on behind her, "What's wrong?"

     "Just go," he said, and she snapped the reigns. Aliyah and her horse took off after them, and Rowan glanced back at Kaden, "Do you wanna explain any time soon, or do we have to play a guessing game?"

      "This," Kaden leaned off the side of the horse, his fingers snatching a piece of paper from the wall of a sandy building as they flew by, "See?"

      Rowan only needed a brief look to recognize Kaden's face, "Why are you on a wanted poster?!"

      "For treason!" He held it up in front of him to read it despite the wind buffering his face, "I-I'm being blamed for association of the kidnapping of the princess!! Adeline must've gotten sick of waiting for me!"

      "There's one of you too, Rowan," Aliyah called, her horse bounding alongside them over the stone roads, "There's a three million credit reward for your return!"

      "Damn!!" Kaden moaned, "We really need to go! It's a miracle no one's noticed us ye-" he broke off with a shout as someone sprang from the building, knocking him off of his horse.

       "Kaden!!" Aliyah shouted, and she pulled hard on the reigns to spin her horse around.

      Kaden rolled to his feet, looking up to see a large hand reaching for him. He drew his sword, but Rowan sprang off of her horse to give the attacker a direct kick to the face. He fell back, and Kaden was already on his feet.

       "You're worth five thousand credits, boy!" The man shouted, launching himself after them, "Traitor!"

      "He's not a traitor!" Rowan shouted fiercely, "He's more loyal to his country than the Queen!"

       "Princess?" the man looked shocked, his momentary distraction causing him to trip on the uneven cobblestones. The stumble gave them enough time to swing onto the horse again, and the man shouted, "Someone, get him!! He's kidnapping the princess!!"

        "HOW DOES IT LOOK LIKE I'M KIDNAPPING HER?!!" Kaden shouted hysterically, clinging onto her shoulders as she directed the horse down a mostly empty street to escape their new pursuers.

       Aliyah was forced to take another road to avoid their pursuers, unable to turn down the road they had gone.

        Now they had a few men chasing them, two on horses and one on a camel. The camel's long strides didn't take long to keep up with the horse.

       "A CAMEL?!!"

       "Stop screaming in my ear!!" Rowan snapped at him, reaching up to grab pole overhead that supported a large sign. She was snatched off the back of the palomino and slammed into the camel rider. She knocked him off, in front of the horse rider, who pulled his horse to a halt to avoid trampling the man. Now on the camel, she pulled the reigns to halt it.

       "Turn left!" Rowan yelled at Kaden, who fumbled with the reigns before pulling on them to turn the horse. Rowan was now aligned with a sloping rooftop, being held high on the camel's back. She leapt onto it, sprinting as hard as she could across the flat roof. She veered left, heading towards the alley she knew Kaden was riding through. She heard a shout behind her, but didn't turn to look as she leaped off of the roof.

        She was falling, and for a second her heart stopped, fearing she may have mistimed her jump, but then she landed in front of Kaden on the horse, "How'd I do?"

     "Not bad for a princess," he smirked, then looked up to see a man with a bow and arrow in front of them, balanced on the edge of a building, the arrowhead aimed at Kaden's face. He grinned, drawing his sword, "But now it's my turn."

      The arrow came flying towards his face, but there was a ping and the sword deflected it away. Kaden steered the horse down another street, heading back towards the market place. A horse drew alongside them, its rider brandishing a farming hoe.

       The hoe came swiping down, but Kaden deflected it upwards as they passed beneath a sign. The top of the hoe snagged on the pole, and the man was yanked off of his horse. The now riderless horse stumbled with the sudden jerk, and it knocked against Sandy. The palomino stumbled, and Rowan felt her grip slide.

       With a shriek, she tumbled off of the horse. Rowan landed hard on the stone street, a searing pain jarring her shoulder, but rolled to her feet as Kaden turned their horse back around to her. A hand grabbed her arm, and she gasped as sharp fingernails pricked her skin and wrenched her already agonized shoulder.

      "Let go!" Rowan shouted, flipping the man over her shoulder. She caught him off guard, and he landed hard on his back. Kaden had at least three men on him as he leapt off the horse.

       Kaden blocked the strike from a rusted rake as it flew for his face, but was kicked in the stomach. He knocked aside one of his opponents, his sword slicing into his knee. The men dropped, but Kaden was forced to spring away as a knife barely missed his face.

      Rowan caught a man in the jaw with a fist, and it felt like her knuckles were breaking with the impact. But it gave Kaden an opening to headbutt the last man, defeating him.

         "Hey!" Aliyah dropped off of her horse, Sandy's reigns in her free hand, "Get on, we don't have time to waste!"

         Kaden swung onto the horse, offering Rowan his hand. She was clutching at her shoulder, but let him grab her good hand, pulling her up behind him. Then they snapped the reigns and took off at full speed.

        Trying to ignore her shoulder's agony, Rowan buried her face into the back of Kaden's jacket. She remained tense and ready to fight again if needed until she could no longer smell the delicious food or hear the clamor of voices in the market place. When a breeze smelling of flowers and trees stirred her hair, she looked up again. Her shoulders relaxed, though it hurt her left. Her knuckles still hurt from the punch.

      "You good?" Kaden asked suddenly, and she hid her bleeding knuckles in the folds of her muddy shirt, "You punched that guy in the cheekbone. That's always painful."

     "It's nothing," Rowan flexed her hand behind his back, cringing at the pain. Their horse leapt over a fallen tree in the road, and the landing jogged her shoulder. The pain leapt like electricity through her body, and a cry escaped her gritted teeth.

       "Are you okay?" Aliyah and Kaden asked instantly, and she faked a smile.

       "Just happy we got away," she said tautly, trying to let out a relieved laugh. It fooled neither of them.

        "What hurts?" Kaden asked, glancing briefly back at her.

        "My heart. You think I'm lying to you?" She feigned hurt, resting a hand on her chest to imitate an aching heart.

      "Your knuckles!" Aliyah realized, noticing them on her raised hand, "They're bleeding!"

       "Oh, this? This is nothing," Rowan lied, stuffing her hand beneath the folds in the hem of her shirt, "Where are we heading now?"

       "Tiberia. Duh."

        "I'm not in the mood for your sarcasm right now," she bristled, flicking the back of his neck, "Let's get far away, then stop for a food break. Your girlfriend gave us some apples in the saddlebag."

       "She wasn't my girlfriend," Kaden contradicted, though he sounded smug, "But was that a jealous note I heard in your voice?"

     Rowan banged her head in exasperation against his back, "You would wish that, wouldn't you?"

        She was surprised when he didn't answer.

      Aliyah looked astounded by his sudden silence, "Hey, what's up? I can think of several sarcastic replies to that, and I'm not even a sarcastic person!!"

      "It's nothing," he muttered.

       "Yeah, and my shoulder isn't wrenched," Rowan snorted sarcastically without thinking. She fell forward into his back as the horse was slowed to a halt. "Hey, what're you—"

        Kaden slid off of the horse, "C'mon, princess. Let me see your shoulder." At her hesitation, he added, "We're plenty far away for right now. Come on, the faster we do this the better."

       Aliyah brought her horse around to a halt beside Sandy, "Rowan, if you're hurt you should tell us. You might get hurt worse if you don't."

       Kaden examined Rowan's shoulder, "Did this happen when you fell?"

       "Yeah," she pulled her arm away, "It's just wrenched. It'll heal." She sat down hard on the edge of the road, sucking on her bleeding knuckles, "We should go."

        Kaden rested a hand on her head, crouching in front of her, "I don't care if you tied me up and dragged me along. But we're friends now, and partners. So we have to work as a team. It's fine if you're not fine. If Aliyah was hurt, you'd want her to tell you, right?"

       Rowan rubbed her shoulder, knowing she would. But all she said was, "Who are you to be giving lectures?"

      "Guys," Aliyah said suddenly, turning to face the horizon behind them, "I smell dust. And I hear shouts. People are coming after us." She mounted Dust again, and Kaden leapt up onto Sandy. He offered Rowan a hand, but she managed to climb on herself.

     Both horses took off across the cornfield, splitting from the road, to head for the shelter of the forests nearby. Rowan sank her teeth into her lip as she tasted blood. The running of the mare beneath her was jarring her shoulder, but she refused to speak, to say a word of her pain. She would fight through it.

     The shouts died away, and their pace slowed to a trot as they entered the forest. The trees brushed their branches over their heads, dropping sap-smelling leaves onto them and their mounts. Soon they were riding in the dying sunlight to the sound of bird calls.

      Rowan was exhausted, not having slept much the night before. The black journal had entranced her attention to keep her from more than a couple hours of sleep.

      The cool wind stirred her hair, carrying a flowery scent that made her sleepy. She sank forward, resting against Kaden's back with a low sigh. The scenery around them was peaceful, and the slow walk contributed a rhythmic rocking.

        "Get some sleep," Aliyah advised as she saw Rowan's drooping head, "We want to ride farther, until moon high. These trees should keep me from turning wolf until then anyway."

       Rowan barely heard her, but the tiredness allowed her mind to wander. The rocking of the horse reminded her of the swaying of her dance with Kaizen. He had been described as cruel, but he had seemed to be good company. She remembered him telling her that he would take her hunting one day. She snorted to herself. As if. He'd probably forgotten about the disrespected princess he'd danced with by now.

       Her certainty that he would help them in Tiberia had faded with the once vivid memories of the dance. Maybe he wouldn't. But she couldn't tell the others that, that they may have come all this way with her for nothing.

       The peaceful sounds of crickets made it harder to stay awake, but an odd desire to read the book she had found in Janessa's old hideout was fighting her. She wanted to read it again, to unlock more secrets and spells. But she didn't want to wait until they stopped... her eyes could barely stay open.

       Then, before she knew what was happening, she was asleep again.