“No one merely asks a question. There is always an ulterior motive.”

She was growing tired of his antagonism but, however angry he made her, she knew enough to pretend to misunderstand the thrust of his remark. “Perhaps that is true in the sophisticated palace, Chief Menial. But out here in the provinces, we are a simple people. Such layers of meaning lie far beyond our humble experience.”

“You are an accused thief and murderer. I will be keeping an eye on you.”

“As you wish, Chief Menial. I have nothing to hide.” She delivered the lie straight to his face. Her exchange with the-prince-who-might-be-the-haunt had given her firmer ground to stand on. The haunt needed to go north, and the prince’s party needed to go north, and she truly was the only one who could get them there. For now, that gave her a measure of protection.

27 DESTINED TO BE A CHARMING ADVENTURE AND NOT A TEDIOUS SLOG

The carriages departed with sparks of magic shimmering off the beasts. The concubines leaned out of their carriage window to wave silk handkerchiefs in sobbing farewells. Elen couldn’t tell if their emotion was real, or feigned according to palace protocol. One of the wardens was assigned to return with the carriages to Orledder Halt, where Lord Duenn was certainly brooding on revenge. To her relief, the warden sent back was not Kem. Although he was now wearing a warden’s uniform, it was only the prince’s authority that truly protected him.

She had to take charge of the next stage of the journey. Even stripped down to a “small” party, they were eleven, a bigger group than she had hoped for, but she’d work with what she had.

In her experience, it was best to simply start as she meant to go on. She set out walking and left the rest to follow in whatever formation they chose. First, she descended from the promontory to the holystone post where the path split. The carriages had taken the path back to Lancer’s Ridge, while she turned north onto the route that led into the Moonrise Hills. She walked alone at the front, which suited her just fine. The first stage of the journey was a four-or-five-hour hike through what the locals called High Horse Valley, an upland saddle of ground whose slope ran steadily upward toward the true beginning of the Moonrise Hills.