Page 131 of The Twisted Throne

She tried to haul on the lead rope to stop Dippy, but without a bit in his mouth, her horse was off to the races. He galloped straight at the closed gate, which stood as tall as she did.

It’s too high.

But he didn’t slow.

It’s too fucking high!

She shrieked the last, but Dippy didn’t care. Gathering himself, the gelding jumped.

Only her grip on his mane kept her from falling off as they soared upward and over, her ass lifting off his back as they descended on the far side. As he landed, she slipped sideways, nearly falling off.

Ahnna clung to his mane, barely managing to heave herself back in place as Dippy galloped into the city.

The civilians were out in the streets, having heard the alarm bells ringing in the palace, and astonished eyes gaped at her. If it had been Ithicana, every civilian trained to react to danger, she would have been stopped with an arrow through the chest. But the Harendellians only stood frozen.

She didn’t think the soldiers on the bridge gates would be so helpless, so Ahnna heeled Dippy down to the quay. Hooves clattered in pursuit, and she risked a backward glance to see James bareback on Maven, chasing her through the streets.

She didn’t have to urge her horse to go faster. Sensing that he was being raced, Dippy careened wildly through the streets, hooves skidding on cobbles.

They exploded through the market that ringed the quay, only for the gelding to skid to a stop just at the end of the stone, snorting at the raging black water.

“Go!” she shouted at him. “Jump! I know you can swim!”

But he was having none of it. Remembering what James had taught her about horses, she dismounted. Ripping off her tunic, she placed it over the horse’s head. She knew he’d probably never trust her again, but she still led him over the edge.

Water closed over her head, infinitely colder than she’d expected. Breaking the surface, Ahnna held tight to the lead rope as she and Dippy were hurled downstream. A backward look showing Maven standing at the edge of the quay.

“You can’t run from this, Ahnna!” James screamed, his fury cutting her like a knife. “There is nowhere you can go that I won’t find you!”

Pulling hard on Dippy’s lead rope, Ahnna swam in the direction of the opposite bank, her horse snorting in fear as he followed.

She couldn’t see the bank in the darkness, and cold dug into her with each passing second. Then her foot hit rocks. In a few more strokes, the water was only waist-deep. She and the horse stumbled up the bank in the blackness.

Dippy let out terrified snorts with every panted breath, and afraid he’d stiffen in the cold, she led him onward. She was frozen to the bone, dressed in only trousers and a camisole, but Ahnna gritted her teeth and carried on until she reached the road.

Putting the looped lead rope back over his head, she climbed on her horse and urged him to a trot. Once his shivering ceased, she risked asking him for more speed, for she had no doubt that James had already crossed the bridge in pursuit.

And that if he caught her, she’d die on the edge of his sword.

Weary to the bone andhis heart carved from his chest, James entered the Sky Palace and walked through the corridors to where Will and Lestara waited under heavy guard.

My father is dead.

The soldiers parted to allow him into the sitting room, where his brother wept, his face buried in Lestara’s lap, her hand stroking his hair. “James has returned,” she said softly. “My love, we will have answers.”

Will slowly lifted his head, eyes swollen and face wet with tears. “Is she dead?”

“No.” James swallowed hard, his mouth parched. “She swam her horse across the river. We found the trail where she climbed the far bank, but her horse is fast. I have men with dogs in pursuit, and eventually we’ll catch her.”

“And then she’ll hang!” William screamed the words, then pressed his hands to his face. “No, it needs to be worse. Hung, then drawn and quartered. I’ll send her head to her brother on a spikeso that he knows his is next. Ithicana will bleed. They’ll burn for what that bitch did to Father. And to Mo—” William broke into sobs. “Oh God, Mother’s face!”

“The physician is still with the queen,” Lestara said. “As are Virginia and George. It’s difficult for the queen to speak because”—she swallowed hard—“because of the injuries to her face, but she was able to implicate Ahnna.”

James said nothing, guilt drowning him because he should have seen the threat that Ahnna had posed. He knew better than anyone how deadly she was, but more than that, he knew how much this alliance had meant to her. What losing it had meant, and instead of being on his guard, he’d been drowning his sorrows with his father’s liquor.

My father is dead.

“I saw him, Jamie. I saw Father.” Will could barely get the words out. “So many stab wounds they were beyond counting.”

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