Noble Falling by Sara Gaines Page A

with a glance back over my shoulder at the animal, I stepped from the stables right behind Ori. As soon as we got a clear view of the road, we witnessed a rider slip from his saddle and urgently call out to the townspeople. The words that fell from the man’s lips sent chills through my body—armed soldiers were heading toward the town.
    “We need to get out of here. I doubt those men are coming for friendly reasons.” I pulled on Ori’s sleeve. “They will immediately ask if we have been seen, and you just handed over an entire set of armor branded with my family’s crest.”
    “Yes, Your Grace.”
    Ori’s voice deepened, hardening as he assumed the mantle of noble protector once more.
    “We’ll take the main road south, and then split off into the woods as soon as we can. Let’s go.”
    I didn’t protest.
     
     
    W E only stopped running at the sight of an outcrop that promised shelter. Finding a small area tucked away in the rocks, we had decided we would spend the night. Hoping the men looking for us would pass without incident, we tried to calm our nerves. Neither of us had said it, but we knew the situation was incredibly grim. We had traveled as far as we could, but we had to waste daylight by leaving Ori time to go back and mask our tracks leading from the main trail. The rain earlier in the day had softened the ground so that every print was visible enough for the most incompetent tracker to find us. As soon as we reached our hiding spot, I had hoped it would begin to rain again, washing our footprints away. The added rain would be miserable, but miserable was better than dead.
    The sun’s rays were almost gone when Ori returned. “I did what I could. We’ll just have to stay alert tonight, and there will definitely be no fire.”
    It went unsaid that neither of us expected to get any sleep, no matter how much the rest was needed.
    I spoke, mostly trying to end the cycle of horrors playing in my imagination. “If we make it through tonight, I doubt Dalric will send his new army deep into Tallak’s territory. They might technically be under the same monarch, but I don’t think the Halvarians will take kindly to armed Enivian soldiers moving out of their region.”
    Our voices dropped to serious whispers.
    “Let’s hope you’re right.” Ori sat beside me, leaning his back against a rock.
    “Let’s just hope the night is a quiet one.”
    We spoke softly for a while, trying to dispel our fears, but as the night went on, we were afraid our voices would carry in the increasing silence of the forest. Staring at the trees and willing my exhausted eyes to stay open, I realized how lucky we were that the foliage was providing decent cover. The forest had thinned out, and we were lucky to find such a hidden spot to spend the night.
    To my surprise, I was soon fighting sleep. Before long, even the stress of hiding and my own thoughts couldn’t keep me awake, and I began to drift to sleep.
    What must have only been a few hours later, Ori gently woke me as the dawn’s red tint crept into the sky. I looked at the guard whose shoulder I had fallen asleep on, and the dark circles under his eyes told me that he had not slept at all. Despite his obvious exhaustion, Ori was unwilling to show it, smiling at me as I did my best to pull myself from the remaining fog of sleep. As soon as I was awake and functioning well enough, our things were packed and we were walking once more, eating as we headed on toward Ferrum.
    We walked quickly, silence falling over us for the better part of the morning. Ori’s exhaustion grew more apparent with each passing hour. His feet seemed to be moving only to keep his weight from falling forward and sending him crashing to the ground. Still tired myself, I could barely imagine how the guard must feel. When he turned to me and spoke, I was actually taken by surprise.
    “I noticed you were limping a little bit. Are your feet bothering you again?”
    Ori’s obvious worry managed