I woke up a little chilly and disoriented. The cold was from my arms being outside my bedroll. And the confusion was from a very vivid dream about Beyan. I blushed at the memory. Had he been holding my hand when we fell asleep? I turned to face him—and then was really confused. He wasn’t there.

I sat up and surveyed our campsite. Farrah and Rhyss were just waking up as well. My father and Beyan were missing.

“Where is everyone?” I asked.

“Your father just left a few minutes ago. He went to get water for us,” Rhyss said. As I recalled, there was a river about two miles away.

“Where’s Beyan? Did he go with Joichan?”

“I don’t think so, I think he was already gone,” Farrah said. “We don’t know where he went.”

“Hopefully he comes back soon,” I said.

With uncanny timing, Beyan appeared at the campsite. He was breathing heavily and there was a sheen of sweat on his forehead. He quickly surveyed our group. “Where’s Joichan?”

“He’s headed to the river,” Farrah said. “Where have you been?”

Beyan ignored her and started grabbing whatever he could from the campsite, hastily packing things haphazardly. “Come on, we have to get moving.”

Farrah, Rhyss, and I didn’t move. “What’s going on?” Rhyss asked.

“I’ll explain later, but for now, we have to go,” Beyan said.

“What about Joichan?” Farrah said.

“We’ll find him later. Come on, we don’t have much time.”

His unceasing urgency finally galvanized us into action. We jumped out of our bedrolls and started packing, but it was too late. Heavy footsteps made us look up. Several of King Hendon’s soldiers marched into our campsite.

Two of the soldiers instantly targeted me, grabbing my arms and forcing me away from the others. My friends tried to come to my aid, but found themselves facing the sharp ends of the soldiers’ swords. One of the men stepped forward. I recognized him as Kestos, the Captain of the Guard.

“Kestos! What are you and your men doing? I demand you let me go, right now!” I tried to dig in my heels, but the two men holding me easily lifted me as if I weighed no more than a feather. With the guards holding my arms, I was unable to cast any spells. Not that I would have wanted to; I would never have wanted to do anything, magical or otherwise, against my own people.

Kestos looked at me sadly. “I have to follow orders, Your Highness. Otherwise, there will be consequences.”

He turned to Beyan, who was glaring at the men holding me. “His Majesty, King Hendon of Calia, thanks you for your help, young man.”

Farrah gasped. Rhyss’s eyes grew wide. Beyan turned his glare on Kestos.

“For your service.” Kestos threw a small, dull brown pouch at Beyan’s feet. The clink it made as it landed promised a hefty reward.

“You can keep your filthy money,” Beyan spat out. He made a move, like he was going to pick up the pouch and throw it, but the soldier who held him at sword point moved in closer. Beyan stepped back.

My guards started to haul me toward the castle. The people at the other campsites looked away as we passed; no one wanted to get involved in whatever issue had occurred. My vision was blurring; tears were flowing down my face, unchecked. Through my watery eyes I saw Beyan, Rhyss, and Farrah get smaller and smaller as they helplessly watched me get taken away.