Jade's Arc

Chapter 3 of 7

The boy waited for her answer. Jade kept her seat and let the reins rest loose. The stoat pressed warm against her neck. She was tired of running without speaking, so she told him the truth. She said her father had sent guards to drag her home for a wedding she had not agreed to. She said she had crossed the border by accident, following a small dragon between the trees. She said she would leave his father's ground as soon as he pointed the way. Felix listened without moving. The little dragon on his wrist turned its head between them like it was following the words. When she finished, he opened his mouth to speak, then stopped. His eyes shifted past her shoulder. Jade heard it a breath later. Hooves. Not one horse. Four or five, moving at a trot through the leaves. "Patrol," Felix said. "They found tracks at the border this morning. My father's men. If they reach you first, they will call you a trespasser and take your bow." Jade slid down from the stallion and put a hand on his neck to keep him still. She pulled the white birch bow from its sheath. The blue grain caught the light along its length, and the small carved moon at its grip pressed cold against her palm. She did not draw an arrow. She held the bow low and looked at Felix. "Then point me a way out. I will ride." Felix shook his head. "You will not outrun them on a tired horse. They know these trees." He stepped closer and lowered his voice. "Walk beside me. Lead the stallion. If I bring you in, you are my guest, not their prisoner. My father will hear you at the house before he decides anything." She measured him. Red hair, brown vest, a boy with no weapon and a dragon on his wrist. He had every reason to shout for the patrol and no reason she could see to help her. The hooves grew louder. The stoat climbed to the top of her hood and went still. Jade slid the bow back into its sheath. She took the stallion's rein in her hand and stepped up beside Felix on the trail. The riders came around the bend a moment later, four men in green with short spears. The lead man reined in hard when he saw Felix. Felix raised one hand, calm, and said the woman was with him and was expected at the house. The lead man looked at Jade, at the bow on the saddle, at the stoat, and then at Felix again. He gave a short nod and turned his horse. The patrol moved off between the maples. Jade let out a breath she had not known she was holding. She was safe from the spears and walking, on foot, toward a castle she had never seen, beside a boy whose word had just covered her. The wedding was still waiting under the next full moon. But for the first time since she left her cottage, someone had chosen her side before knowing her.