"We're almost to a town."

Aliana looked up and shielded her eyes from the setting sun. "How far?"

"A couple of miles. We should arrive there by tomorrow." Iora held the map up closer to her eyes. "This town is small, but the name, Eelry, seems familiar to me."

"Are we going to get warm clothes?" The princess shivered involuntarily and wrapped the thin blanket tighter around her. She was getting colder by the hour and had long since taken the blanket out of the saddlebag to use for warmth. She was envious of Iora, who seemed to have no reaction to the chilly weather.

Iora nodded, engrossed in the map. "We still have the coins Hesse gave us, and a bit from selling the horses. It's not a lot, but we should be able to by some warm clothes. I hate to say it, but we chose the worst possible season to come to the Frozen Lands."

"Really?" the princess muttered sarcastically through gritted teeth. "I never would have thought."

"Heh. That's only because this season is just beginning. You haven't felt true cold yet."

"Lovely. I can hardly wait."

"You won't have to wait long, I can assure you of that. And we have further north to go yet as well. I must caution you, however. We can't afford to be found out again as happened with Hesse. You have been good at practicing speaking and acting more like a man, but we both forget ourselves with that sometimes. For the sake of our safety, you must be Allan all of the time. It would not do well to have someone happen by and overhear anything suspicious. It is not often we will run into anyone in the Frozen Lands, but it does happen unexpectedly from time-to-time."

"I know, I know," Aliana whined, bowing her head sarcastically and lowering her voice. "I'll try to be more cautious, Mother."

Iora ignored her rude tone. "As will I."

They continued riding. The time was passed in silence, both women's minds filled with thoughts. Aliana, as she had been for so long, was thinking of her father and her new, miserable life. She had been on the run for so long now, she could count the days. It seemed like an eternity but, with a few calculations, she estimated they had only been gone two or three weeks.

Iora was also deep in thought.

"There is something I need to tell you," she finally said after an hour of silence.

Aliana raised an eyebrow. "Hmm? That doesn't sound good. What's wrong?"

"It may be nothing, but..." Her voice trailed off; she sounded conflicted.

"You can tell me anything."

Iora ran her fingers through her greasy brown hair and sighed. "I may know the assassin."

"What?!" Aliana cried out. She yanked her horse's reins, bringing it to an abrupt halt. "You what?!"

"Relax." The guard also halted her horse, keeping her eyes on the startled princess. "If he is who I am thinking of, then I don't know him well. Just his name."

"You have five seconds to tell me who before I take your sword and stab you with it!" Aliana was furious! Not at Iora, although the poor guard would surely bear the brunt of her rage as there was no one else around to direct it towards; no, her true animosity was at the assassin himself. The anger was so intense that her head exploded in pain, her breathing grew more rapid, and her eyes and veins bulged.

"I was reluctant to even mention this to you, because I only caught a glimpse of the man's face and thought he looked vaguely familiar. It was back at the tavern, when he walked in. It was the first time I had actually seen the assassin with his face exposed."

"Tell me!"

"If you insist. Not too long ago, maybe a year ago, there was a young man, a year or so younger than me. He was training for the castle guard and had just been sent to the castle. It wasn't but six months before he was caught stealing food from the kitchens. He was fired immediately and banned from the capital. It caused a huge scandal among us guards- none of us would ever consider doing something like that- but it didn't seem to cause too much stir among the higher ups and royals." She paused for a split second before adding on, as an afterthought, "But, the more that I think about it, it is likely this man has an accomplice."

"His name! I want the assassin's name."

Iora sighed before continuing, wondering if she should have brought this up to begin with, but knowing that Aliana would be more upset if she kept it from her. "As I told you before, it won't do you any good right now. But his name is Soren. Honestly what I have told you about him is all that I know about him. Without knowing his accomplice, or any evidence, his name does nothing for us."

Aliana stopped her horse. "What makes you so certain he has an accomplice?"

"He's bitter enough to kill, but killing you and your father would gain him nothing in and of itself besides revenge. While revenge is certainly a good enough reason, it would not get him his job back or do anything beneficial for him. It was not you or your father who fired him; his hatred should have been focused on his superior. So obviously, something else is motivating him. Acting alone, he would not have been able to have the access he would have needed to pull this off, and I am certain he would have been caught. There was simply too much for him to accomplish on his own -- such as planting the poison in your room days after the murder. We both know it was not there until minutes, possibly a few hours, before it was discovered. Somebody needed to know where to find it, and Soren either needed access to your chambers the very day you were accused, or needed to pass it off to someone else to plant. My guess is someone else played on his want for revenge, and most likely also gave him money, to do what he did."

Aliana nodded, still taking in all the new information and deciding what to do with it. What could she do with it? Who hated her family so much and had the necessary knowledge and means to plan all of this? She could not envision someone despising her family so intensely, even after knowing how her father had recruited soldiers. Her heart simply could not bear admitting someone could hold so much contempt for her father.

Finally, with a sense of resolution in her voice, and hatred darkening her eyes she said, "The next time I see Soren, I will kill him."

The princess was disappointed to see that Iora didn't share her confidence and passion. "That would be a bad idea. If you were successful, we would have a more difficult time discovering his accomplice. We need him alive. Plus, no offense, Your Highness, but you almost died because you got frightened by a deer and fell down a hill. Do you understand why I doubt your killing abilities?"

Aliana gripped the reins tighter. "He ruined my life," she stated through gritted teeth. "He'll be lucky if I make his death quick."

Iora changed the topic. "Speed up your horse. We need to get to Eelry by tomorrow."

They rode on until the sun began to descend, then left the road and settled into a spot about a hundred yards into the forest. Iora built the shelter, and Aliana made her best, albeit futile, attempt to start a fire. When she failed, Iora took her place and started one. Their supper was the last bit of rabbit meat and a few handfuls of berries, which the ladies devoured with mixed feelings knowing it could be some time before they ate anything so delicious again.

As they settled in for the night, Aliana asked a question that had been on her mind for a while. "Are you sure you recognized the assassin?"

Iora, who had been trying to sleep, rolled over and glared at her. "Like I said, I don't know. He just looked like Soren. It might have been him or it might not have been him. I don't know. Now just go to sleep."

"But I can't sleep. How can I sleep knowing the name of the man who ruined my life?" She poked her guard in the side.

"Like I said," she repeated impatiently, "he probably wasn't acting alone. There is a good chance that he is working for someone in the government."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"I'll just settle for you being quiet and going to sleep."

"I just want this all to be over." Aliana sighed sadly and rolled onto her back.

Iora tilted her head to look at her. Even in the dark, there was clearly sympathy in her eyes. "It will be soon enough. We're going to figure out why this is all happening, and then fix it."

Aliana looked at her. "Promise?"

"I can't promise, but I can say I will do everything in my power."

"I'll settle for that." The princess yawned and snuggled closer to Iora for warmth. Exhaustion had suddenly hit her like a tidal wave. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Your Majesty."

The kind gesture of referring to her rightful, if temporarily taken, title did not escape the princess as she drifted off to a not-so-peaceful sleep, her dreams soon to be hijacked by the assassin and his unknown accomplice.