[Books of Bayern 1] The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

know, Princess, that it is not easy for a brave soldier to admit to ever being scared."
    "I'll remember that of you if ever I'm in need of a brave soldier," said Ani, teasing.
    "Yes, well, if the danger can be stuck with a sword, I am your man." He smiled at her and quickly returned to watching the road.
    "You are ever vigilant," she said.
    "Mmm. For such a long journey, this terrain is dangerous. If there was a road cut through the Bavara Mountains, one could reach Bayern in a matter of a fortnight. But the Forest Road circumscribes the mountains. The Forest itself is striped with gorges, and the road doubles in length to avoid them. A straighter path would have to cross many bridges."
    As he spoke, Ani saw the way in front of them begin to wind sharply up and left. The road cut across a long arm of mountain, and between there and the next arm the ground dropped into a deep and narrow ravine.
    "Gorge to the right, mountain to the left," said Ani.
    "There's much flat land in the forest, but the climbs and drops are unpredictable."

    The Forest did not seem dangerous to her, just dark and brooding. She envied the permanence of the tall, thick-trunked firs that had stood in one place for generations. Her own family had always lived in Great City Valley. She was the first of her line born as crown princess, the first to leave the valley, the first to see the Forest. She wished it had been her choosing, that she had been the kind of person who would steal a horse and leave in the night to find adventure instead of one who is handed duty and numbly complies.
    This road is long, said Falada. How long until we arrive?
    Weeks yet, said Ani.
    A warm breeze came up from the gorge beneath them and stirred their hair. Falada flicked his tail at it and walked a little faster.

    ************************************
That evening a stream passed near the road and Talone called for an early camp. It had been a week since they had found moving water. Their water barrels were low, and the company was irritable with dust, stink, and horse hair. Ingras set up a metal tub in Ani's tent and ordered water heated for her bath. While Ani soaked in the hot water in her thin privacy, the rest of the company hiked to the mountain runoff to scrub their clothes and themselves, Selia upstream and the men down. Talone assigned Ishta, a thin man with a long, tipped nose, to guard Ani. Ishta did not seem too concerned about bathing.
    It was dark before the others returned. Ani dried her hair by the fire and waited. Ishta stood on the other side of the fire. The light turned his face orange, the hollows of his cheeks still in shadow. She could hear him scrape the undersides of his fingernails with a knife.
    When he spoke, his voice was soft, with a lilt that seemed feminine. "How is it, Princess, to bathe in nice, warm water in your own little tent?"
    "It is nice, thank you," said Ani with some unease.
    "Mmm." He took a step forward. "You like being a princess?"
    "I don't know. It is what I am. Do you like being a man?"
    He walked to her, dead pine needles breaking like glass under his boots, and crouched beside her. He leaned in. Her pulse snapped in her throat.
    "Do you like that I am a man?" He smiled. His teeth looked rotted at the roots.
    "Step back," she whispered. He held his face there, and up close his expression was leering, inhuman, his face as sharp as a weapon, his breath the promise of ugly things. Ani gripped her brush in both hands and could not seem to let it go, not to push him away, not to push herself to her feet. Never had she felt this way, helpless, alone, no servant to call, no guard outside her door. No door. And a man who came too close.
    "Step back, Ishta," she said again, but her voice held no more of the authority of her mother than the chattering of .1 magpie. He sneered.
    There was a sound of bent underbrush and low laughter. Ishta stood and casually walked away as a group of guards, i heir faces shiny and red from bathing, entered