Read Daughter of the Disgraced King for Free Online

the roads wouldn’t be too rough
or this was going to be a very bumpy ride. The padding on the seats was thin,
too. Ailsa sighed. It would have been faster and more comfortable just to ride Pearl
all the way. She wouldn’t have had to share the cramped space with strangers,
either.
    As soon as she was aboard, the four guards climbed up to the
seats on the top of coach. Ailsa placed the smaller valise that held the things
she’d need en route under her seat and leaned out of the window to wave goodbye
one more time. She caught a glimpse of Sav at the back of the crowd, shoulders
slumped. She couldn’t remember him looking quite so sad since his mother died,
four years ago.
    She waved to him, but her palm itched to take his hand, touch
his face, and tell him that it would be all right. She almost reached for the
door latch before the coach started to move. No. She couldn’t go back. Not
until she’d at least found out what kind of magic she had. She waved once more
and sat back in her seat, resolving to write to Sav as soon as she arrived.
That much, she could do. She’d already promised to write her parents to let
them know that she’d arrived safely. It was time to look forward, not back.
    Ailsa had never traveled far before—and never alone or in a
public conveyance. Papa could have sent her by private coach, but that might
have been construed as an impolitic show of wealth and privilege. The public
coach wouldn’t be as comfortable, but there were royal guards riding on top, so
it should be, if anything, safer than a private carriage.
    Ailsa sat back and turned her attention to her fellow
passengers. An elderly man had the seat next to Ailsa. He’d already leaned his
head against the opposite wall of the coach, closed his eyes, and started to
snore—loudly. A young girl sat across from Ailsa, apparently accompanied by the
woman about Mama’s age sitting next to her.
    On the other side of the woman, sat a slightly younger man—too
old to be her son and too young for her husband. From the distance between them
on the bench, Ailsa didn’t think they were traveling together. His clothing and
appearance would be consistent with a well-off merchant or maybe some distant
relative of one of the barons. Nothing about him should be alarming except for
his manner. His open, appraising stare made Ailsa want to pull the demure
collar of her traveling dress closed in spite of the growing desert heat. Ailsa
looked away. He had no business looking at her like that, but perhaps a closed
coach wasn’t the best place to confront him about it. They were already as far
apart as the coach permitted. It would be best to try to ignore him.
    Ailsa smiled uncertainly across at the woman and turned to
look out her window. The road was wide enough for two coaches to pass each other
going in opposite directions. Ailsa’s seat gave her a view on the outer side of
the road, where a double row of sycamore trees shaded the highway from the
desert sun. The trees weren’t thick enough to completely obscure the desert
beyond.
    Ailsa felt heavy and enervated. It must be all the
emotional ups and downs of the last few days. She had trouble even keeping
her eyes open, but she didn’t want to miss anything on this trip. If only
everything along this highway didn’t look so much the same . . .
    Ailsa jerked awake as the coach pulled to a stop. She couldn’t
have slept all day. No, the sun was high overhead and the heat was oppressive.
They’d come to a wider green area, surrounding a small oasis. A rustic building
made of crude mud bricks stood across a cobbled yard. The coachmen leaped down
and began to unhitch the sweaty horses.
    One of the guards climbed down from the roof right in front
of her, making Ailsa start. He opened her door and stood back. “We’ll stop here
for a meal and to change the horses. If you’d care to disembark . . .”
    Ailsa stepped down and stood in the yard, uncertain what to
do now. She stretched gratefully,