“Well?” Lorencz barked. “Come on, man, make haste.”
Gabe took the steps two at a time and leaped out the door, holding up his fists, ready to fight. But Lorencz was already preceding him down the passageway that led out of the castle. Gabe ran after him.
“What is happening?” Gabe asked.
Lorencz didn’t answer until they were outside. Gingerbread was already saddled and standing nearby, placidly grazing beside a second horse, a black stallion he presumed was Lorencz’s.
“I don’t have time to explain everything. Sophie is in danger. If you don’t get to her now, the duchess will kill her.”
“Where is she?”
“You should know the area well, seeing as you likely followed us there when Sophie and I picnicked.” Lorencz raised one eyebrow. “She’s tied to a tree in the clearing.”
“What do you mean, ‘she’s tied to a tree’?” Gabe grabbed the front of Lorencz’s tunic and clenched his fist.
Lorencz pushed him away, and Gabe stumbled back into his horse, who whinnied and tried to nip his shoulder.
“The duchess ordered me to kill her, but I didn’t. Now get on your horse, untie Sophie, and ride as fast and as far from this place as you can.”
“I need to get a horse for Sophie.”
“No.” Lorencz seized his shoulder roughly and turned him around. “Get on your horse and set off. Now. You can’t go near the stable without being seen, not with all the guards milling around there. And as soon as Duchess Ermengard finds out you’re not in the dungeon and Sophie’s not dead, they’ll be hunting you. You have to get Sophie to safety.”
Lorencz practically shoved him into the saddle, then mounted his own black horse.
Gabe caught his eye. “Thank you. For your help.”
Lorencz looked back at him grimly. Gabe wondered where the huntsman would go, with just his horse and the clothes on his back.
As Gabe was turning his horse around, Petra came running out of the kitchen.
“Wait!” She thrust a cloth bag into Gabe’s hand. “If you run into trouble, there is a safe place you can go. It’s about three days’ ride from here, to the north. Locals call it the Cottage of the Seven. It’s in a glen on the east side of the river.”
Gabe nodded.
“Ask for Dominyk the Wise and the Cottage of the Seven if you get lost.”
Gabe was already riding across the yard and into the woods. Her words followed him away from the castle.
In a few moments he was at the clearing.
Was this a trap? Or had the huntsman actually set him free from the dungeon in hopes he’d rescue Sophie? God answered prayers in the strangest ways sometimes.
But there was no scullary maid tied to a tree in the clearing. The only sign that Lorencz may have been telling the truth were ropes at the base of a large tree.
“Sophie?” he called quietly, keeping alert in case the duchess had planned an ambush. “Sophie, where are you?”
Now that you’ve given me another chance, God, please don’t let me fail. I can’t fail again.
Sophie trembled from behind the tree as she watched Gabe frantically searching the clearing and calling for her. Until his intentions were clear, she intended to stay put.
Her head still hurt from where Lorencz had slammed her against the tree trunk. She had wakened to find herself tied up and him holding his knife against her throat. The huntsman’s eyes had held the same darkness she’d seen on Duchess Ermengard’s face so many times before, and she was sure he would kill her.
But then Lorencz dropped the knife. He looked at her as if she’d suddenly grown wings and feathers, backing away from her slowly and shaking his head. “I can’t do it,” he whispered. “Oh, God, I can’t do it.” Then he’d turned and stumbled away into the trees.
When her vision stopped spinning, she squatted down, stretched her arm, and managed to reach his knife with one of her fingers. Slowly, she nudged the handle close enough to grasp it. She’d freed herself from the ropes just as she heard a horse’s hooves approaching, and she ran into the woods. When she saw it was Gabe, she’d been relieved — but only for a moment.
What was he doing out of the dungeon? Had he been sent to lure her into the open? She had never imagined Lorencz would slam her head against a tree, tie her up, and hold a knife on her — her mind was still reeling with the thought that he’d actually intended to kill her — so how did she know she could trust Gabe? His kind words and incredible promises could easily be a ruse.
Gabe dismounted from his horse and knelt to examine the ropes. Sophie turned and ran, still clutching the knife. She sprinted as fast as she could, bushes snatching at her clothes, limbs slapping her in the face, leaves temporarily blinding her.
Her foot caught on a root and she fell headlong to the ground, flinging Lorencz’s knife in front of her.