Chapter 20 Hunted
Janelle
Two days of running had worn us all down to nothing.
I crouched behind a fallen log, my servant's dress torn and muddy, watching Adrian pace like a caged wolf. We'd moved camps twice since leaving the rebel stronghold, always one step ahead of the hunting parties that seemed to multiply every day. The forest that had once felt like home now felt like a trap closing around us.
"We can't keep this up," Adrian said for the tenth time that morning. His royal bearing had cracked under the strain. Dark circles shadowed his eyes, and stubble covered his jaw. "They're getting closer."
"We're safe here," I insisted, though my voice lacked conviction. "The magic protects this grove."
"Magic won't stop arrows, Janelle." He stopped pacing and turned to face me, his green eyes wild with frustration. "Or swords. Or the fifty men I counted yesterday morning."
Darius looked up from sharpening his blade. "The rebels are organizing. More survivors arrive every day. If we can hold out another week.."
"Another week?" Adrian's voice rose dangerously. "Do you hear yourself? We're being hunted by every sellsword and desperate fool in the kingdom. Twenty thousand gold pieces, Darius. That's more money than most people see in a lifetime."
I flinched at the reminder. The bounty on my head had grown with each passing day, along with the wild stories about what I'd done. Some said I tried to poison the entire royal family. Others claimed I'd summoned demons to attack the castle. The truth didn't matter anymore.
"I won't run forever," I said quietly.
Adrian whirled to face me. "What?"
"You heard me." I stood up, brushing dirt from my ruined dress. "I won't spend the rest of my life hiding in forests and caves while your father sits on his throne, unpunished for what he did to my family."
"Janelle, be reasonable.."
"Reasonable?" The word exploded from me, weeks of suppressed anger finally breaking free. "Was it reasonable when your father murdered my entire pack? Was it reasonable when he had children killed because they might grow up to oppose him?"
Adrian's face went pale. "That's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean?" I stepped closer, my hands clenched into fists. "That I should be grateful to be alive? That I should accept my family's deaths and disappear quietly so you can have a peaceful life in exile?"
"I want you safe!" Adrian shouted back, his composure finally cracking completely. "I want you alive, even if it means giving up everything else!"
"And I want justice!" My voice rang through the forest, startling birds from the trees. "I want my family's murderer to pay for what he did!"
"He's the King of Ashwick! He has armies, Janelle. Castles. Allies in every kingdom." Adrian's hands shook as he spoke. "What do we have? A handful of rebels and your untrained magic?"
"We have the truth."
"The truth doesn't stop swords!"
"Maybe not." I felt my magic stir in response to my anger, silver light dancing around my fingertips. "But this might."
Adrian stared at the light, his expression shifting from anger to something like fear. Not fear of me, I realized, but fear for me.
"You don't understand what you're suggesting," he said quietly. "Using magic like that, against trained soldiers... Janelle, you could burn yourself out. You could die."
"I'm already dead." The words came out flat and certain. "The moment your father put a price on my head, I became a dead woman. The only choice I have left is how I die. Hiding like a coward, or fighting for the people I loved."
Adrian's face crumpled. "Don't say that. Please, don't say that."
"It's true." I let the magic fade from my hands. "Adrian, I know you love me. And I love you more than I ever thought possible. But I can't live with myself if I don't try to make this right."
"Then we'll find another way." His voice was desperate now, pleading. "We'll gather evidence. Build a case. Expose him properly."
"With what proof? What evidence?" I gestured helplessly. "He's the King. He writes the history books. He decides what's truth and what's treason."
Darius cleared his throat. "Actually, there might be another option."
We both turned to stare at him.
"The Southern Kingdom has been investigating Magnus for years," he continued carefully. "They have documents, witness statements, evidence of other massacres. If we could get you both safely across the border..."
"See?" Adrian's eyes lit up with hope. "We could build a new life there. Start over."
"While children die here." I shook my head. "While other packs get slaughtered because they dare to question the King's authority."
"Janelle.."
"No, Adrian." I looked at the man I loved, memorizing his face. "I understand why you want to run. I do. But I can't. This isn't just about us anymore. It's about everyone who's suffered under your father's rule."
"So you'd rather die than live peacefully with me?" The pain in his voice cut through me like a blade.
"I'd rather die trying to save others than live knowing I could have helped and chose not to."
The silence that followed was deafening. Adrian stared at me as if I'd struck him, while Darius watched us both with something like pity.
Finally, Adrian spoke. "If you stay to fight, I stay with you."
"Adrian, no.."
"You don't get to choose for me, Janelle." His voice was steel now, the prince emerging again. "If you're determined to throw your life away for revenge, then we throw our lives away together."
"It's not revenge. It's justice."
"Call it whatever you want." He moved closer, his hand cupping my face. "But understand this – where you go, I go. If you fight, I fight beside you. If you die..." His voice broke slightly. "Then I die with you."
The mate bond hummed between us, and I could feel his absolute certainty. He meant every word.
"You're both insane," Darius muttered, but there was admiration in his voice. "Brave and noble and completely insane."
A horn sounded in the distance, followed by another. Then another.
"Hunting parties," Adrian said grimly. "They're coordinating a sweep."
"How many?" I asked.
Darius climbed a nearby tree with quick, practiced movements. After a moment, he dropped back down, his face grave.
"Too many. They're coming from three directions. Professional trackers, by the look of them."
"We run," Adrian decided. "Find higher ground, make them work for it."
We mounted our horses again, but as we prepared to ride deeper into the forest, I heard something that made my blood turn to ice.
The sound of a woman laughing.
"Oh, how touching," Princess Sophia's voice drifted through the trees, sweet and poisonous. "The little servant girl thinks she can play at being a rebel."
She emerged from behind a massive oak tree, flanked by six royal guards in gleaming armor. Her golden hair was perfectly arranged despite the forest setting, and her blue dress was spotless. She looked like she was attending a garden party rather than hunting fugitives.
"Hello, Adrian darling," she said with a brilliant smile. "Miss me?"
Adrian's hand moved instinctively toward his sword. "Sophia. I should have known you'd be the one to track us down."
"Did you really think you could hide from me?" She tilted her head with mock sympathy. "I know every spy network in three kingdoms. Finding you was child's play."
"How?" Darius demanded.
Sophia's laugh was like silver bells. "Poor Darius. You thought you were so clever with your rebel contacts. Did you never wonder why it was so easy to find allies? So convenient that people just happened to know where to find you?"
My stomach dropped as understanding hit me. "You've been feeding information to both sides."
"Very good!" Sophia clapped her hands together delightedly. "I've been tracking the rebellion for months, feeding them just enough real information to keep them useful. And now, thanks to you two, I have the locations of all their camps."
"You're going to destroy them," Adrian said, his voice hollow with horror.
"I'm going to save the kingdom from chaos and disorder." Sophia's mask of sweetness finally fell away completely, revealing the calculating predator beneath. "Starting with executing the witch who tried to murder our beloved King."
The guards stepped forward, their swords drawn. I felt my magic rising in response to the threat, silver fire building in my chest.
"Don't," Adrian warned quietly. "There are too many."
"Listen to your prince, witch," Sophia said with vicious satisfaction. "He's right. You're outnumbered, outmatched, and out of time."
But as the guards moved closer, I realized something that made me smile despite our desperate situ
ation.
Princess Sophia had made one crucial mistake. She'd brought her hunting party into my forest. And the forest was very, very angry.