“Evie, Evie, there you are.” Someone I didn’t recognize gripped my arm and began to tug me away. “The caravan master is looking for you.”
Celine trailed behind me, as the trader girl led me through the makeshift camp that had sprung up. When we found the caravan master, he stood beside a saddled camel, one who had been unharmed in the fighting.
“Oh, good, there you are.” Without waiting for explanations, he grabbed my arm and pushed me on to its back.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
Frederic appeared from somewhere, looking dirty and tired. “We desperately need water. The wounded, especially. We’ve stripped the fastest, strongest camels of their loads, and we’re sending a team to ride ahead for water and bring it back. We need you to lead them to the oasis.”
I nodded as the camel stood to its feet. A sudden memory of the last words I had heard Frederic say sprang to my mind.
“Where are the prisoners?” I called down to him.
He shook his head, his face haunted. “None survived. They fought to the last man, and despite our efforts, we could not save any of their wounded.”
My camel moved off to join a small waiting crowd, and I looked back at him over my shoulder. His expression confirmed the sinking feeling in my gut. This had been no ordinary group of bandits.
My own throat felt parched and dry during that desperate nighttime ride. Thankfully a clear night had followed the hot day, and the stars kept us on course. When we reached the oasis at last, I would have cried if I had any moisture left to leak.
One of my travel companions helped me down from my camel, respect in his eyes. “I admit, I wasn’t sure, but…”
I could feel no resentment at his doubt. I had doubted myself. I tried to reassure him, but my dry throat could barely form words. I managed to muster a small smile before stumbling the last few steps and thrusting my whole face into the water, just as the animal beside me did.
As soon as the humans had drunk our fill, we began to fill the skins we had brought, loading them carefully onto the replenished camels’ backs. When we had loaded them all, we wearily remounted and began the ride back.
The camels seemed ready to drop by the time the camp came back into sight, and many people ran forward to relieve them of their loads. I tried to help, but Frederic caught me as I swayed and almost fell.
“Steady there,” he said in my ear. “You’ve done your part tonight.” Scooping me into his arms, he cradled me against his chest, the rocking motion of his walk and the warmth of his chest against my face soothing me into a half doze. Someone else had been carried like this today, I remembered, but I could not force my brain to form proper thoughts.
I was laid gently on a bed and thought I felt lips press against my hair. But that part might have been a dream.
The next morning, I led the rest of the camels to the oasis. The animals that had worked so hard the night before still rested, along with most of the camp. The remaining camels could easily bring enough water back for all the humans, leaving no need to attempt to move the wounded yet.
All three royals accompanied me, along with half the remaining guard and Tillie, who had barely left Cassian’s side since the attack. Cassian, a proud and somewhat dumbfounded expression perpetually on his face, had regained his confidence. He made no secret of their engagement, and the poor caravan master had been swept along with the plan with a look of utter confusion. He could hardly refuse his permission for his daughter to wed a Lanoverian prince. I wished their betrothal could have come under happier circumstances, but at least Tillie seemed to find great solace for her grief in Cassian’s steady presence.
The oasis looked different in the light of day, the water sparkling and blue against the yellow sand around it. Several palm trees grew on the fringe, along with some hardy desert grass, and the green and yellow along with the brilliant blue of the sky created a striking picture. Many of those who had accompanied us plunged fully clothed into the water and swam through the softly burbling pool.
A quick look passed between Celine and me, and then we were running for the water ourselves. The feeling of the cool water and the weightlessness as I floated seemed to lift off my pressures in some impossible way. I had done it. I had found the oasis, I had led everyone to the water we so desperately needed.
Tears welled, washed away before they could even fall. I just wished we could have done it without the heavy price.
But when I mentioned the thought to Frederic, who had joined us, he shook his head. Glancing around to see who was in earshot, he spoke quietly to Celine and me.
“Bandits don’t dress as royal guards, and they don’t come this far into the desert. They must have been rebels, it’s the only explanation. We think they meant to destroy the caravan, as Caravan Osmira was once destroyed, but this time the fallen attackers left behind with the trader dead would have appeared to be crown men.”
I had to admit the thought had occurred to me, and I had even forced myself to walk the line of enemy dead, looking for a single familiar face. The looming dread that hung over me due to Marcus’s freedom had faded in the jungle, a place that had no connection with him. But with the attack, the old fear had come rushing back. But I had seen no sign of him.
“But what of us?” asked Celine. “What reason could they give for the royal guard attacking us?”
Frederic shrugged. “I suspect the plan was to keep us alive and take us as hostages. It was a bold concept, and no doubt concocted to sow fear and confusion on both sides, as Father would no doubt question if the traders themselves had taken us.”
He looked over at me. “And their plan would likely have worked if not for you, Evie.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. It must have been them who filled in the oasis. They hoped to drive us hard for Largo, and no doubt had an ambush set up just before the edge of the desert, planning to attack when we were at our weakest. But instead we turned this way. They had to ride hard to catch us, and they had to attack sooner than they had planned. And in so doing, they lost the element of surprise. Their force wasn’t strong enough to take a full caravan in a defensive position.”
I let myself fall back into the water as I processed his words. So much more had been riding on my head than even I realized.
“Instead of disaster and a kingdom plunged into chaos, this attack has actually left us in a stronger position.”
“Stronger?” asked Celine.
“The merchants and traders, instead of turning against the crown, now stand with us against the rebels. It is the rebels who have violated the ancient treaty, not us. It was a bold gamble on their part, and it hasn’t paid off.”
I thought of the row of motionless bodies and shivered. How many had to pay the price for future peace? I supposed it was always so in times of war. And it was increasingly clear that war was exactly was this was—even if it was a strange, guerrilla kind.
When we returned to the camp, plans were made to move on as soon as the worst of the wounded could be moved. Messengers had already been sent out to the other camel caravans and to the merchant caravans currently in Lanover. Any of the smaller ones who doubted their capacity to protect themselves would go to ground. The others would be ready for any attack. I didn’t think the rebels would try that strategy again, however.
No one asked me for my opinion, but I announced that I would be publicly declaring the location of the Osmira Oasis to the other caravans. The caravan master made no protest, although he gave me a rather crestfallen look.
“A gift from Caravan Osmira to all the traders,” I said. “In exchange for the oasis that has been lost.”