Anastasia frowned. It had been two days since the king’s death, and they had sent a message to Commander Eldric, but there was no response.
"Do you think Commander Eldric didn’t get the message?" Anastasia asked the guard who had been tasked with delivering it.
"He should have gotten it the very night we sent it," the guard replied. "The bird came back that night, and the message was gone. If someone else had gotten to the bird first, I would have known."
"Your Highness," he lowered his voice, "I heard there was a battle between our kingdom and Gube yesterday. The fighting was fierce." He paused and looked around cautiously. "Even the Crown Prince was injured. I’m not sure how serious it is. Every able soldier is now guarding the city gate, as our men were forced back by Gube," the guard added.
Anastasia’s heart skipped a beat.
"Any news about the kidnapped princess?" she asked.
"Your Highness, there’s no news, but I heard they are looking for that lady," the guard replied. Although they had been forced to stop at the checkpoint for two days, he had been gathering information about the situation.
Anastasia took a deep breath. She didn’t know what was going on. At first, she had continued pretending to be a man because she was worried about trusting too many people, but with the current situation, she wondered if it might be best to reveal her identity.
"Let’s go find the leader," Anastasia said after a long pause.
"Your Highness, the current situation is unclear. Let’s just bear with it. There are only five days left. At that time, we can continue our journey to meet the prince," the guard said. He felt that with the king dead, the court would definitely be in chaos. It was hard to know who to trust now.
Although the princess hadn’t said anything, he had noticed that she always kept a box close to her throughout the journey. Even when she had to relieve herself outdoors, she took it with her.
It was as if, if she wasn’t looking at it, it would disappear. So he guessed she wasn’t just delivering supplies—there must be something important inside. He kept these thoughts to himself.
"Why?" Anastasia asked. All the while, she had thought that keeping her identity secret was her best protection, but with the king dead and Prince Edward injured, those with ambition might become bolder. She just wanted to reach Lowe and the camp as soon as possible.
"The king died in a time of war. The royal city must be in chaos. I just feel it’s easy to fall into the wrong hands now. Anyway, after the mourning period, they’ll have no excuse to stop us. Besides, Commander Eldric knows where we are. I trust he’ll send a message soon. Maybe we won’t even need to wait five days," the guard said.
Anastasia considered his words and found them reasonable. So she agreed.
"What is your name?" Anastasia asked. She suddenly realized that she had been traveling and communicating with this man for over ten days but still didn’t know his name. Actually, this wasn’t entirely her fault. In the Duke’s residence, she had no respect and knew none of the servants’ names. She usually recognized them by appearance and role. Over the past days, she had simply seen the two men as guards. Only now did she realize how awkward it was to have spent so much time with them without knowing their names.
The guard smiled. Though he was skilled, he wasn’t considered high-ranking enough to guard a princess. This time, it was the princess who had felt comfortable with them by her side. He hadn’t expected her to take an interest in him.
"My name is Gavin," he answered.
"Gavin," Anastasia repeated, glancing at him. "Then let’s wait," she said. Gavin bowed and left.
Anastasia felt very tired. She didn’t want to sit in the carriage anymore, so a few minutes later, she stepped outside. Although she knew she was far from home and unlikely to be recognized, she still kept her head low as she walked.
They could have returned to a nearby village to lodge at an inn, but Anastasia had initially thought it was safer to camp near the guards’ checkpoint. Now, after waiting two days, she didn’t see a good reason to turn back.
"Your Highness, do you need something?" Gavin asked when he saw her walk out. Since their journey began, Anastasia rarely left the carriage except at night, worried someone might see through her disguise. It had been the same for the past two days. No one found her behavior strange after all, wealthy merchants’ children often acted spoiled.
"No, I’m just tired of sitting in the carriage all day. I thought I’d take a short walk," Anastasia replied. Gavin nod but did not follow her.
For the first time since they arrived, she noticed their caravan wasn’t the only one camped near the checkpoint.
"Do we really have to wait until the mourning period is over before we can leave?" she heard a man say. She turned and saw two men standing by a small carriage, their backs turned toward her.
"What can we do? If we move now..." The second man didn’t finish his sentence, but his companion seemed to understand.
"We have to find a way to sneak out tonight. We’ve already been delayed a day. The longer we’re stuck here, the more we lose our advantage," the first man said.
Anastasia was about to walk past, but when she heard their words, she found herself stepping toward a nearby tree. She wanted to hear their plan perhaps she could escape as well and make her way to Lowe to find the prince.
She carefully moved behind the tree, trying to listen, but their voices dropped too low to hear clearly. Of course, that made sense. Only a fool would speak loudly while planning an escape. Fresh chapters posted on noᴠelfire.net
The only words she managed to catch were "chaos," "abandon the carriage," and a mention of someone needing to carry an injured soldier.
Anastasia frowned. If she couldn’t hear them clearly, she couldn’t make a proper plan.