Nyles came over huffing and panting as she stepped inside the carriage. “M’lady!” she said as she hugged Anastasia tightly.

A smile broke on Anastasia’s face.

Nyles started fussing around her. “How are you?” she asked, examining her hands and her body in general. “These bastards didn’t let me meet you for three days straight. I had to ride with that stupid woman Darla!” she grumbled. “For three days we have been riding constantly, stopping for not more than for a few hours to give horses a rest. My buttocks and my thighs are numb. They ache and they are sore,” she said rubbing her buttocks. “I have never been subjected to this kind of hardship, m’lady!” Nyles started crying. “We must go back to Vilinski as soon as possible. I didn’t know that Kaizan was such a trickster. For a year how could he stay like Kaizan?” She said with a frown, pulling herself together. “Wait. Am I making sense?”

Anastasia started laughing. “I am fine Nyles and it is good to see you.” Then she looked at the fur she was wrapped with and her cheeks heated. “Can you borrow some clothes from them?”

“Oh! Aye! I will get some fresh clothes for you. That woman Darla—she has some clean clothes in her saddlebag,” said Nyles and went out of the carriage.

Anastasia saw her leaving with a faint smile until she disappeared from her sight. Her gaze settled on the men outside who were trying to burn a small fire. Pots, pans and some ladles were lying around and she could see that they had hunted a deer.

She could see the thick mist rolling around them. The ground was covered with a thin sheet of ice and now and then little gusts of wind forced Anastasia to clasp the blanket tightly around her.

She looked out of the window towards the other side and her thoughts went back to what had happened over the last few days. It all seemed like a dream. She had escaped. Now that she was awake, she wanted to talk to Ileus, thank him again and tell him to drop her at the farthest farming village near The Tides of Bromval. For that was her destination, her retribution, her key to freedom. She exhaled deeply. “I am sorry Father… but I will be back soon…” she murmured under her breath. “Once I have what I am seeking, I will meet her and she will help us back to the throne…”

“Have this princess,” a deep, cello-like voice that sent shivers down her spine, interrupted her thoughts. A plate consisting of oat bread, cheese and cold meat was presented in front of her.

She grasped the fur and looked at him. He was heartbreakingly beautiful. Something in his countenance was so feral and deadly, more than anyone else she had ever seen. She held her breath. She looked at his ruffled raven black hair that fell against the marble skin of his neck. Even in this coldness, his fiery yellow eyes gave off a radiance, which she could feel.

They stayed quiet for some time. She wanted to voice her thoughts out loud but somehow saying thank you wasn’t enough. She had waited to escape for eight long years and it just had happened… because of him. She found herself tongue-tied seeing in his dominating presence, Her eyes wandered over his stiff body and travelled to his thigh. It had healed.

Anastasia moved back on her bench in awe of how magnificent his broad chest was. If Maple were in love with Kaizan, then she would have gone mad about this man and the mere idea of that brought her bitterness.

Ileus prowled closer to her and placed the plate on the bench near her. “Eat this,” he said arrogantly and was gone.

To say that she was terrified of him was an understatement.

Nyles came bristling back to the carriage. Her face was red with anger. “That rotten woman! She didn’t give me clothes. I had to get them from one of the men here.” She closed the door and drew the curtains for Anastasia to change.

“It doesn’t matter,” said Anastasia as she wore oversized black slacks and a gray cowl neck sweater. “These will do.” In fact anything would do as long as she was going further from Vilinski.

“Your scars have healed to a great degree, m’lady,” she observed.

They must have because Anastasia felt a dull ache over there. It used to take weeks for her scars to heal and now—they had healed in three days? His medicine was amazing.

“And who gave you that horrible food?” said Nyles as she looked at the plate. “How dare they give you this?”

Anastasia chuckled and picked up the plate. She took a bite of the cold meat and loved it. “We really can’t complain, Nyles,” she said savoring the meat. Even the bland oat bread tasted divine. “These people are helping us. Can you imagine that Ileus had been prepared for this escape for two months? Do you realize what that means?”

“That means one thing—death! By the hands of the Crown Prince.” Nyles held her shoulders and shook them. “We must go back. The prince must have already sent his men to search for us. Do you think he is going to stay quiet after his bride was abducted a day before the wedding? No! He will find us, marry you and then kill me. He will hang my body upside down at the entrance of the Kralj Palace and will forever be known as Fallen!” She stopped to breathe and saw that Anastasia was eating her food calmly. Irritated by her patient demeanor, she added, “We are still on the outskirts of Viliniski. I know it. I can feel the thrum of the portals that would lead us back. Let’s just go back!” She said exasperatedly.

Anastasia chewed on the meat slowly. Once she had gulped it down she said, “Nyles, you do know my situation. I have always wanted to find Iona. Once I find her, we will go to the wizard queen. She is our only option now.”

Volinskians, except the royals, were not allowed to leave the kingdom and the ones who left was called Fallen. A Fallen wasn’t allowed to get inside the kingdom. He or she was chased and eventually killed. The family of Fallen was ostracized, their wealth seized and they were thrown out of the community.