Chapter 7 - The Hunt

“I’m sorry, sir –“ the boy gasps, shrinking away. “We’re told to obey Celestial orders without question –“ his lip starts to tremble in fear and guilt.

Auden just growls and drops the boy’s arm, reaching into his pocket to grab some coins, which he slips into the boy’s hand. “Tell no one that we’ve been here and no one that she left. Share those coins with the boys inside, pass the instructions on to them. If you all stay silent, there will be more.”

“Yes sir!” the boy quips, his face bright now.

“I’m serious, boy,” Auden continues, snapping his fingers in the boy’s face to make him focus. “There will be consequences for all of you if you disobey. As far as anyone knows, you all fell asleep. You know nothing of anyone leaving the stables tonight. Even if they flog you for it. Yes?”

The boy hesitates and then nods.

Auden nods back to the boy, dismissing him as his Betas come forward leading their mounts. When they’ve led the horses outside and climbed into their saddles, Auden signals for both of his men to come close.

“My father’s bride has made a run for it,” Auden informs them, rueful. The men say nothing, but their faces pale. They know precisely what this will mean if she’s not recovered before the King finds out.

“Joshua,” Auden continues, fixing his eyes on his dark-haired Beta. “Of the three of us, you’re most adept at tracking, so you take the lead tonight.” Joshua nods, accepting the duty.

“Any idea where she’s headed, sir?” Richard asks, leaning forward in the saddle, his face serious.

Auden clenches his jaw, thinking. “She’s a de Silva, so it makes sense that she’s going east, towards the sea. My best guess is that she’s running scared and seeking familiar ground. We’ll try that first, look for tracks.”

The Betas nod, agreeing to the plan, and Auden turns his horse, kicking him into a canter. The Betas follow at a swift pace, the pack headed east.

Joshua leads the group down the road, his eyes keen on the dust for any sign of Everleigh. Luckily, the horse she stole wears shoes made by the palace blacksmith, which have a distinctive pattern if you know to look for it, and not many other royal horses left the stables tonight.

The group follows the tracks, Joshua’s eyes close on the dust as he tries to make sense of a path through the well-trafficked roads outside the palace gates. But Auden chose Joshua because he’s the best – and each time Joshua looks back at the others, he simply nods. And so they keep going.

East, ever east. Towards the de Silva pack lands. Towards Everleigh’s home.

As they travel through the dark countryside towards the sea, the track that they’re following becomes clearer and Auden hopes to hell that it’s hers. God – if this turns out to be a mistake and she gets away…

But Auden dismisses the thought. He’ll face that if he has to, not before.

The rural roads by the ocean are less traveled, and when they are, it’s largely by farmers who are now in their beds. It is a fairly simple task, this late, to follow the single horse’s tracks through the dirt.

Auden blinks in surprise, though, when Joshua indicates a southern road instead of the one heading dead east, towards the de Silva pack lands.

“The tracks lead this way, sir,” Joshua says, his voice firm.

“But,” Auden replies, frowning down the eastern road. “Her family estate –“

Joshua just shrugs, his face expressionless. “I don’t know why she did it, sir,” he says, “but whatever the reason, she took this road, not that one.”

Sighing, frustrated that it’s not as simple as he’d like it to be, Auden nods, and the three continue their hard ride along the southern road.

The path soon opens out onto the coast and the team moves along lofty cliffs that dip into sandy beaches. Auden glances at the coastline in the moonlight, passively appreciating its beauty before he notices that Joshua is flashing them a hand signal ahead.

“She slowed down here,” Joshua says as the group comes together at a crossroads, one path leading into a tiny coastal town, the other merely a footpath towards some cottages settled below on the beach. “And I think…”

“She went this way,” Auden says, looking down the little footpath. Joshua looks up at Auden, surprised that he intuited it first, and then nods.

Auden nods to his Betas and, single file, they start to head down the path, Auden in the lead.

It’s not hard to see where they’re going. Only one of the houses ahead has windows lit by candlelight. Inside the house they can see the hurried shadows of figures flitting back and forth.

As they come close to the cottage, Auden signals his men to fall back out of sight. He dismounts and moves forward alone, listening closely for any voices, but the only sounds are the waves crashing close beyond the house’s simple fence. As he approaches, Auden notes that the cottage is a cheerful place. The door is painted a bright blue and a collection of shells neatly decorates the lintel above it.

Close enough to hear voices inside, Auden slips the reins over his horse’s head and ties them neatly to a post near the entrance. Then he flips the latch to the little white gate, pushing it open.

As he does, the door to the house opens as well, as if fate deemed his entry to coincide neatly with her exit.

Because he knows instantly that it is Everleigh wrapped in a traveling cloak, pushing the door open with her shoulder, a pack slung over her arm. Her face is still turned towards the house as she steps one foot out, pulling something along after her.

She turns, speaking softly -

And then she sees him.

Everleigh’s face goes pale. Her mouth drops open as her body locks in shock.

Auden feels the same shock pulse through him as his eyes travel downward, taking in the two children – a boy and a girl, obviously twins - standing next to Everleigh, one of each of their hands clasped in her own.

And Auden’s eyes go wide as he realizes that held close to the chest of the little girl is a very tiny, very sleepy blue dragon.