Through the Wildwood Read Online Free Page B

slept the night away and yet the moon has barely risen,” she observed in a whisper.
    “It’s almost dawn, my lady,” Trevin replied hesitantly. “The slave switched us back the other direction several hours ago.”
    “What?”
    “Shhh!” Vanx hissed from his place in front of her in the hauler’s saddle. “You’ll wake the night beasts.”
    “It’s night, fool,” Gallarael snapped back at Vanx. “They should already be awake.” The realization of the truth of her own statement caused her to lower her voice as she continued. “Are we in the Wilds then?” Her voice was barely a whisper.
    “Yup,” Vanx answered. “And heading directly for Dyntalla so we can catch a ship to Parydon Isle.”
    “Parydon?” She scrunched up her face trying to figure out why. Trevin started in with the answer after putting her hood back over her head.
    “We have to hide your hair, my lady, for it shines like gold in the moonlight.”
    Vanx snorted at the smitten guard’s words.
    “Those men that attacked, they were your father’s men,” said Trevin. “Vanx says that they were sent to kill him for what he and your — your mother did to the duke’s honor.”
    “Those were trolls that attacked,” Gallarael said defensively. She knew she’d seen a troll. “My father doesn’t command mountain creatures.”
    “Trolls don’t use bows, girl,” Vanx chuckled over his shoulder. “The bandits sent to murder me were careless. They were followed right into our camp by the bloodthirsty fiends.” The emphasis he put on the word murder wasn’t lost on her. “The bandits killed Amden and the rest of the slaves before the trolls descended on the mess.”
    “Oh, the poor captain, and Sterven Trent,” Gallarael leaned deeper into Trevin. “He was a good man, one of mother’s favorites.”

    Trevin resisted saying the first thing that came to his mind, as did Vanx. Trevin saw that it was a struggle for the slave to hold his tongue. Then Vanx turned and spoke to Gallarael kindly.
    “Your father meant to have them all murdered, and poor Captain Moyle was part of the plot.” Vanx lifted his fierce, sea-green eyes to meet Trevin’s, and then he met hers again. “When we get to Parydon you will set this all straight, Gallarael. I’ll not spend the rest of my life avoiding kingdom lands or hiding like a thief. I did nothing wrong but fall prey to the wrong woman’s advances.”
    “How can you ask me to speak against my own father?” Gallarael looked back to Trevin for help. He winced, and for the first time began to see Vanx’s side of it. He too had once been in the duchess’s sights, but was saved by Gallarael’s affections. Had Gallarael not told her mother of her feelings, he would have become another notch in the duchess’s bedpost.
    “He’s not your real father,” Trevin reminded. “Monster was the word you used, if my memory serves.”

    Gallarael slumped in the saddle. Duke Martin wasn’t her true father, but he didn’t know it. Her mother claimed that her real father was someone far more important than the power-drunk Duke of Highlake. Still, Humbrick Martin loved her, and thought she was a child of his own loins. He treated her with more love and affection than any princess of the kingdom could have asked for, but he was a hard and vile monster to those beneath him. Her heart and mind were spinning, knowing that she might have to accuse him of trying to murder the caravan folk just to kill Vanx. To add to the confusion, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that her trollop of a mother would be delighted by it all. She didn’t understand why her mother despised the duke so openly. It was clear that she felt no love for him.
    A thought occurred to her and she voiced her concern.
    “How do you know that Captain Moyle was involved in all of this?” She was asking Vanx, but Trevin answered.
    “I’m not so sure as our friend here.”
    Vanx then explained how Captain Moyle had called the halt just an hour