Dexter peered over his shoulder, twisting his lips. “There is.”
She wanted to smack him for making her panic like that.
Chuckling, he said, “The crevice only extends another mile east. Skirting around it will be faster, safer, and easier. However, we’re going a little way down into the crevice tonight—to where the cave is located. That’s why I’m in such a hurry to get there before it’s too dark.”
After another mile, the ground abruptly turned rocky. Dexter halted everyone. Looking past him, Reid saw a narrow crevice, only a quarter of a mile wide, cut into the ground. On the other side, the agricultural plots resumed. The fissure blended in so well with the ground she never would have spotted it had Dexter not pointed it out.
“There’s a narrow path along here somewhere,” Dexter mumbled as he dismounted. Walking parallel to the crevice, he peered over the side, searching for the path. After a hundred feet, he found it. “I’ll go first. Lead your horse down slowly.”
Reid had flashbacks of descending the mountain from the Knights’ headquarters. It had been so steep her horse had slipped.
“Reid?” Duke Ellington said. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she lied.
“Then why do you look so scared?” her father asked.
She narrowed her eyes, not wanting Dexter to think her weak. “I’m wondering if the cave is safe for us to stay in.”
Dexter placed his hand on her shoulder, squeezing it. “The cave is perfectly safe. I promise.” His eyes flashed with mischief and his lips twitched, as if he were on the verge of laughter. There was something he wasn’t telling her.
“What?” she asked curiously, half afraid to know.
“You’ll see. Let’s go.”
Carefully leading his horse, Dexter went first, followed by Duke Ellington.
“Your turn,” Gordon said. “I’m waiting here for Ackley.”
Rolling her shoulders, she approached the edge. The path, as Dexter had the nerve to call it, was simply an etched-out portion of the cliff. While the agricultural plots had been variations of green, the sides of the crevice were a deep red. Trees littered the bottom.
Taking a deep breath, she began the descent, guiding her horse behind her. Thankfully, the dirt path was sticky, making it easy to hike down. She kept a firm hold on the reins, wanting to make sure her horse didn’t spook. After twenty feet, she came to what she assumed was the cave. It appeared as if someone had taken a spoon and carved a chunk out of the earth.
The ground was the same dark red dirt as the path, the sides a harder variation.
Dexter and Duke Ellington stood next to a wooden fence, which extended from one end to the other.
“There’s hay for the horses in here,” Dexter said, opening a gate in the fence.
Reid led her horse inside, where she quickly removed his saddle. “How’d the fence get here?” she asked when she rejoined Dexter.
“I’ve used this place enough times that I had the fence built,” Dexter explained.
“Where are we going to sleep?” There didn’t appear to be enough room for five people to lie down. And she didn’t like being so close to the edge.
“Funny you should ask,” Dexter muttered.
“No, there is nothing funny about that question,” Reid said, folding her arms. “In fact, nothing good ever starts with funny you should ask.”
Duke Ellington chuckled. “I can tell you two are going to have a wonderful marriage.”
Reid eyed her father, trying to determine what he meant. Was that a good or a bad thing?
“You know how you asked about being safe?” Dexter said, his voice suddenly placating.
Reid tapped her foot. She knew she wasn’t going to like whatever it was he had to say.
“We’re safe because there’s another cave. It’s…hidden.” He waved the duke and Reid over to the side.
When Reid got closer, she could see a dark tunnel.
“It’s through here.” Dexter ducked inside.
“Go on,” Duke Ellington said.
Reid stepped into the tunnel. The ground felt…squishy. Was the red clay damper here? After ten feet, the ground turned solid again. She found herself in a similarly situated cave, though this one didn’t have a fence. In the middle, several rocks formed a circle filled with wood. Dexter knelt, fumbling with a couple of rocks and dry leaves. He seemed to be trying to get a fire started.
Reid and Duke Ellington sat near the mouth of the cave, staring at the crevice before them. The stars dotted the sky as night descended.
Once the fire finally took, Dexter sat beside Reid. After another twenty minutes, Ackley and Gordon joined them.
Dexter jumped to his feet. He went over to the tunnel, then pulled something toward him. It looked like several tree branches had been tied together, making a ten-foot-long plank. “It’s a bridge,” he explained. “You asked how this place is safe, and this is how. If anyone tries to get from the first cave into this one, he’ll fall to his death.”
Horrified, Reid stood. “You mean to tell me that I walked across those flimsy branches?”
Dexter placed the bridge against the side of the cave. “It’s perfectly sturdy.”
“Sturdy?” It had been squishy. She could have fallen to her death.
Ackley chuckled. “As entertaining as this is, I have three skinned rabbits I’d like to cook.” He knelt by the fire, arranging the carcasses on a stick above the flames. “And, as promised, I have a story to tell.”
Chapter Four
Ackley sat next to the fire. “You asked me how I became a Knight.”
“I did.” Reid positioned herself beside him. Since Anna hated the Winstons and blamed them for her family’s demise, Reid couldn’t understand why her mother would have wanted Ackley to be a Knight.
Duke Ellington, Gordon, and Dexter also sat around the fire, no one saying a word.
Ackley stared into the flames, not looking at anyone as he delved into the past. “When I was eight years old, I loved to sneak around the castle. I’d eavesdrop on my father and his men during important meetings. I knew all the hiding places. That was about the time I noticed a woman who also appeared to be hiding in the shadows, listening in on conversations. I knew she didn’t work at the castle, so I asked Mum about it. But Mum didn’t know who the woman was.” He twisted the stick the rabbits were hanging on, so they cooked evenly. “I decided to hide and wait for her. A few days later, I crouched behind a door. When she passed, I confronted her. I demanded to know who she was and what she was doing there. She smiled kindly, then said she could use someone with my unique skills. She told me she needed my help to protect the kingdom. Since I was only eight and didn’t know any better, I said yes.”
Reid swallowed, trying to process the information. Her mother, Anna, had been in northern Marsden, spying on the royal family? And she’d recruited Ackley to be a Knight when he was only eight?
“Over the next couple of years, I was Anna’s eyes and ears in the castle. Every three to four months, we’d meet in the city. I’d give her a full report, mostly focusing on who was visiting and why.” He turned the stick again. “One day, Anna asked about my father. She said something about my mother not being true to him, and she asked if Eldon was even my legitimate brother. It was all my twelve-year-old brain needed to start snooping into my family’s past, searching for things that may or may not have been there. I had no idea Anna was manipulating me. It wasn’t until I turned fifteen that I even thought to question her motives.”