Ildri rubbed her face. She had not thought about that time in a long time. It had been the best day of her life without contest. True to the old Lord Wildwood's word, she had become Ildri of Wildwood. He had placed her in the care of chef and had become as a beloved grandfather. He had ensured that she learned to read and learned useful skills and that she was cared for properly. There had been no one better than him in the world.

She missed him so much, as much as she missed her parents. If she closed her eyes she could see his kind face in her mind. Ildri was certain that she would never have escaped her wretched circumstance without him.

A few more tears escaped and she did not even bother trying to stop them.

Ildri hated being left to think about all the sad things that had happened. She liked being happy and being with other people. It was all Ty's fault that she felt bad now. Where was he, anyway?

Almost as if she had summoned it with her thoughts, the sound of hooves hitting the dirt met her ears. She waited as the sound drew nearer on the road and finally stopped near to where she was hiding. It had to be Ty.

She strained to see through the trees, to confirm if it was really him.

Something warm touched her back.

Ildri shrieked and spun around. It took her only a moment to realize that the huge predator who had come up behind was a half wolf she knew. She wondered if it had startled her on purpose.

"Good job, Farrel," she heard Ty say from out of sight. Farrel dashed off through the bushes towards his master. Ildri followed, feeling annoyed but at the same time incredibly glad that Ty had returned.

He looked up when she came out of the trees. Farrel was sitting beside him looking rather smug. "I recognized your screams," Ty grinned.

"Took you long enough," she said with a little pout, but there was no real irritation in her words.

"It would have taken longer had you come with me."

She shrugged and wondered what his business had been. Ty had already retrieved the horse's fittings from their hiding spot. He picked up the saddle and carried it towards the horses.

Horses? Two horses waited for him and neither was the large warhorse that they had been riding since they escaped from the war camp.

"You were stealing more horses?" she asked disapprovingly. He had left her sitting there alone so that he could go and steal other people's property? What else had he done while she had been waiting?

"I never stole any horses. The first was spoils of war and these two I'm only borrowing."

"Borrowing?"

"I'll bring them back eventually."

Ildri doubted that. "They don't know that you're borrowing their horses, do they?"

He just grinned as he moved around and prepared the slightly smaller of the two horses. He tied his bags onto the saddle. "Don't worry so much. We'll get to the capital quicker. These horses are fresh and they'll have lighter loads with only one rider each. We'll make up the time easily and we'll be less conspicuous as well."

"I'm not very good at riding," Ildri said sceptically. "I only rode a few times with Saul."

"You'll be fine," he assured her. "You're a natural. Now let's go." He helped her up onto the back of the saddled horse. She let him, but she felt horribly nervous about everything.

And she was definitely nervous about riding a stolen horse. "I still don't think it's a good idea. What if the owners come after us? Stealing horses is a serious crime," she said, not willing to let it go.

"I told you that I did not steal them. You worry too much," he said in a distressingly carefree voice as he mounted the other horse bareback.

Ildri frowned. "This is serious."

"Ildri, I know these horses and I well know their owners. Don't waste your worry on this when there are so many more dangerous things to worry about."

"Where did you get them from?"

"Ildri..."

"Of course, of course, you can't tell me anything. Then why didn't you tell their owners that you were taking them?"

"There wasn't time and other reasons. Listen, Ildri. I promise you that I haven't done anything wrong. Now, will you please stop fretting? I've got everything under control. We're wasting time." He made a noise and his horse started moving. Ildri's horse followed the other horse without her direction. Farrel trotted alongside Ty's horse.

Ildri sighed. She really hoped that he had everything under control, because she seemed set to follow him whether she wanted to in the moment or not.

* * * * *

They rode for a while in silence and Ildri began to feel annoyed and neglected. Now that they had separate mounts Ty seemed to have completely forgotten her existence. Her sole privilege seemed to be watching the back of Ty as he travelled with his wolf monster trotting beside him in companionable silence.

She supposed that he did have a nice back. It looked strong and dependable.

Not that she was admiring anything about Ty. He was really never nice to her and he was rude and secretive much of the time. And how could she forget that everything was his fault?

And the least that he could do was talk to her once in a while.

Ildri ground her teeth together. To think that she had been foolish enough to have hoped for his return. If she had been smart, she would have turned around and made her way back to Wildwood when he had first agreed to it. Then he and his wretched beast would be long gone.

As if he had read her mind and knew that she was thinking about him, Farrel turned his head and looked at her as he trotted along ahead of her. Ildri would have sworn that there was a triumphant look on the wolf's face.

What was the wolf doing there anyway? Ty had kept him away before because he would scare the horse previously. Yet the horses did not seem overly concerned that the wolf was there.

She had not meant to talk, but she asked nevertheless, "Why is Farrel here?"

Ty turned his head. "He comes with me everywhere," he said simply.

Ildri was certain that Ty sometimes deliberately misunderstood her words to avoid answering or perhaps just because he liked to annoy her. She explained, "I mean, didn't you say that he would scare the horses?"

"Oh. Spoils wasn't used to him."

"Spoils?"

"I named him Spoils of War, in case anyone had any questions."

Ildri almost smiled, but then she noticed what was unsaid. "Wait. Are these horses used to Farrel? Then are they your horses?"

"Yes and no," he said quickly.

"But you know these horses? And you know this area, don't you? Are you from here? We must be close to Viersen by now. Did you grow up around here?" she asked with her curiosity rekindled about his past. She knew that he was private but it was not as if she would tell anyone.

"I did grow up around Viersen," he agreed grudgingly.

Ildri had heard of Viersen before. Almost a year previously rumours had reached Wildwood. The Marquis of Viersen had been found dead in his own bedroom and it had been clear that foul play was involved. The Marquis had been a loyal supporter of the king and he had not been the first to die. Ildri suspected that Anya's plotting against Lord Wildwood had been tied into larger plots. It seemed that Anya had been nothing but a pawn in a larger scheme.

Ildri was sick of the plotting and scheming and the unpredictable schemes. She just wanted to live happily and safely but greedy people were constantly trying to upset the order of the world. Who knew how things would turn out if these interloping forces had their way? The king needed to know that there were more plots forming by unconscionable people.

"We need to get to the capital quickly," she said, feeling determined.

Ty glanced back at her and seemed confused by the sudden change in topic. "Yes."

"We really do," she repeated because she wanted him to know that she really understood the importance.

"I know," he agreed. "If we don't tell the king, no one will."

"Why do you think that those men were gathered there?" she asked.

"I can't say for certain," he said slowly. "But they were clearly there without the king's knowledge. Did you hear anything while you were there?"

She thought about it. "They didn't say anything important around me but it looked like they were having a council or something. They only asked me who I was and about you. There were parchments on their meeting table but I could not read what they were. I think at least some of them were from a different country."

Ty nodded. "I'm not surprised. I suspect they were from Scelus."

"To the west?"

"Yes."

"But they weren't very close to the border," Ildri said, thinking of the maps in the library at Wildwood.

"That's why the king needs to be informed. They were at least a hard day's ride into Edelland."

Ildri drew in a breath. "Are they going to attack?"

Ty shook his head. "Not yet, I believe. Their force is too small as yet."

"They're close to Wildwood." And Lord Wildwood was not even there to defend it. He had strengthened the physical defences in the form of soldiers since the incident with Anya, but Wildwood estate's strongest defence was still Lord Wildwood's magic and leadership, to Ildri's mind.

It had to be well guarded, though, because he would not leave Lady Theresa and baby Lillie there otherwise. They were very much in love and the new baby was adored as well. It made Ildri happy to see them so happy, but at the same time the thought caused a sad ache.

Ildri had thought that she had found that with Saul and she had been very wrong. He had been handsome and everything that she thought she wanted, but there had been something missing. If she had really cared that much, she would feel more pain now she was certain.

What a terrible person she was. Saul had only been dead for a couple of days and she was already feeling the sting of the loss fading. It still hurt, but she knew that she would not mourn him forever in the way that Lord Wildwood would if something were to happen to his wife.

"Don't look so upset. I'm certain that Lord Wildwood protects his estate well. They're not likely to begin their attack there if and when it comes," Ty said reassuringly.

Ildri was startled. "Oh, I know he does. I was just thinking about my feelings for Saul," she said quite without considering her words.

Ty's face looked stony. "I see," he said and turned to look ahead.

"No, it's not that, whatever you are thinking. It's just that I was thinking about how much Lord Wildwood loves his wife and then I was thinking about Saul and how—"

"I don't want to hear this," he interrupted.

"But, I just want to explain," she said.

"I'm not interested."

Ildri sighed. He was such a pigheaded idiot. It was not her fault if he was feeling guilty for what he had done. He probably did not need to. She was coming to see that Saul was not the man that she had wanted him to be and that he most likely was everything Ty accused him of being. If he had been innocent he had no reason to be so defensive, to pull a knife on someone asking him questions. Even if that someone was a spy who wore the guise of a monster and lurked in the shadows.

She could hardly believe that the man with her was the same man. He looked so different. She still wondered what his real appearance was.

He was definitely strong. She could tell by the way that he carried himself that he was in good physical shape. It made sense with the way he wandered around getting himself into dangerous situations.

She wondered if he was still angry at her for saying Saul's name. She did not want to ride the entire way to the capital in silence. She urged her horse forward so that she rode beside him. She tried to think of something different to talk about. "Why didn't you stea—borrow a saddle?" She wondered if he noticed her slip.

For a moment she thought he would not speak to her, but when he answered he seemed amused. "He prefers not to wear one."

"What're the horses' names?" she asked.

"You're riding Sarabella and this is Dark Demon."

"Why's he called that?" she asked, looking at the horse Ty was riding. "He's almost completely black so I can understand the dark part but he seems so calm that I can't imagine why anyone would call him a demon."

"You should have met him before. He would not let anyone ride him and my brother was furious that he wasted money on the beast."

"Your brother? These are your brother's horses?"

He sighed, clearly regretting his momentary lapse. "Yes."

"But they don't know that you stole the horses."

"No. He is not aware that I borrowed the horses, but he won't be upset. Now, could you please cease your worrying about the matter?"

Ildri shook her head. What was the point of arguing with him? She decided to change the subject. "What's your family like?" she asked. There was something intriguing about the idea of having brothers and sisters. It was something that Ildri had never experienced. She wondered if she might have had younger brothers or sisters if her parents had lived. She liked the idea of other children bonded by blood.

"We're normal enough, I suppose."

"Is your brother older or younger?"

"They're both older."

Ildri nodded. "Are you the youngest?"

"I am." He seemed resigned to answer her questions.

"What are your parents like?"

"My father is dead and my mother, I just can't describe her."

"Oh. How did your father die?" she wondered.

"I don't want to talk about that," he said flatly and turned his head away.

Ildri could understand that. Talking about death was painful, like putting the idea into words made it more real and painful. She said softly, "My parents are dead, too."

He looked at her and she could see pity in his eyes. It was an expression she was all too used to seeing when someone heard about her past. She shook her head.

"Lord Wildwood, rather the old Lord Wildwood rescued me and everything was wonderful," she said, almost defiantly. At least she had thought it was wonderful at the time, before everyone kept messing things up on her.

"I see," he said slowly, but she doubted that he did.

"It doesn't matter. I have a great life," she told him, not quite certain who she was really trying to convince.

"Still feel that way?"

Ildri really did not want to answer. "As long as Wildwood is safe." That was what really mattered to Ildri.