Not for the first time, Theo wondered what his life would have been like if King Andras had won the war for the throne. The young king had seemed so confident in his victory, so assured that right was on his side, that men had flocked to him. Theo had been eager to take up arms against the tyranny of the Lord Protector. He had wanted nothing more than to return home with tales of war and scars as proof of his bravery in fighting alongside his king.
Not that Theo had ever spoken with him, of course. The king had been surrounded by what seemed like hundreds of people at every moment of the day. There had been lords and generals devising strategies, weapon smiths outfitting him with armor and swords, and minor nobles pledging their lives in support of his cause. And, of course, the queen had remained by his side until the moment of battle. All of this had been far more important than a boy's wide-eyed admiration of what was so plainly a true man and king. Still, Theo thought he would have liked to be able to tell his stories. He thought he might have told everyone he knew about what he had seen.
Yet here he was, almost a full month after the king's death, trapped in a tree and hardly daring to breathe as the Lord Protector's men drew to a halt beneath him.
"Why 've we stopped?" one of the men whined. He and another man sat astride ponies behind a large man on an enormous grey hunter. The one who'd spoken held the pure white standard of the Lord Protector in his hand as though he would gladly drop it. "I thought we'd done this part of the woods two weeks ago!"
"Aye!" shouted the man beside him. "We've been looking 'round for her for ages."
The man on the hunter didn't respond. He swung himself off his horse, pausing for a moment to straighten his leather tunic. Theo thought he had never seen anyone so big as this. Though he was high above the three travelers, there was no mistaking this man's massive body. The very trees seemed dwarfed next to him, and Theo could not help but feel a measure of pity for the poor animal tasked with carrying him.
Then, faster than Theo could have imagined, the humungous man lunged toward the standard bearer, pulling him from his pony and throwing him against the snow-covered tree with all his strength. Theo clung desperately to keep from falling off at the force.
Everything around them went silent. Even the wind stopped as the man in leather stepped casually over the fallen standard and sauntered toward his whimpering companion. The man still astride his pony stared after him with wide, fearful eyes.
"We are here," he said calmly while pulling the man into a standing position, "on the orders of the Lord Protector of the realm. I am here because he commands me, and you are here because I command you." The man's voice was soft and terrible like distant thunder. Theo felt himself grow more and more terrified with every word he spoke. He did not think he would survive an encounter with this man if he were discovered.
"Our mission is not complete," the man continued in the same calm voice, "nor will it be until we have the girl in our possession." He grasped the smaller man by the shoulders and leaned toward him slowly. "If either of you ever question me again, I'll feed your balls to my dogs. Understood?" He waited for the whimpered "yes, m'lord" before turning to address the other man as well.
Theo leaned in to listen; the branch he sat on creaked at the strain.
"We don't stop searching these woods until I find the slut Prince Andras ran off with. I know she's here; her family's magic has clung to these trees for weeks. The only trouble is finding the source."
As horrible as the man's words were, Theo couldn't help but let out an indignant breath at his references to the king and queen.
"What if the rebels have her concealed with magic, m'lord?" the man on the pony asked timidly.
"Then we smoke them out."
It was all Theo could do to keep from gasping aloud. The man astride the pony reared back as if he'd been struck.
"You can't mean to set the woods alight?"
"I do, and I will."
Theo believed him. More than that, he believed that the Lord Protector truly would not care if the ancient woods burned to cinders if it meant that the queen was in his grasp. They had to leave. Fast.
"I meant to search this area for a while, but Jace's accident surely scared off anything within a mile of us," the huge man continued cheerfully. The man called Jace mumbled a tearful apology, clearly terrified of be smashed into the tree again. "We'll ride a few miles east of here and search in the Clearing for a while before heading back here." His companions nodded their agreement, and they set off.
Theo watched as they rode away in the direction of the Clearing. He watched as the Lord Protector's standard grew ever smaller and more obscured by branches. It wasn't until he couldn't see it at all that Theo jumped down from his branch. He landed hard in a pile of snow, his bow and arrows still in his hands. All thoughts of hunting had been completely forgotten.
He stood, brushing snow from his hair. Without a single thought, Theo turned on his heel and ran as fast as he could all the way back to the cottage.
---
The queen had long since risen by the time he returned.
She was sitting before a fire cracking merrily in the hearth, staring into it as though it held the solution to all of their problems, when Theo burst into the cottage toward her. She did not look up at him. She did not acknowledge that he had reached her side until he bowed low before her. Only then did she deign to cast her bright golden eyes in his direction.
"My lady! Your Grace," he panted, heart racing from more than just the run, "something's happened. We have to go!" The queen glanced at him curiously, as though he had posed an interesting philosophical question rather than exclaimed at her.
"What are you talking about, Theoden?"
Theo's heart lurched as it always did when she said his name, but he dutifully ignored it. Now was not the time for hopeless fantasies.
"In the woods. There was a lord. He was huge. He and his men said they were looking for you on the Lord Protector's orders !"
Her eyes widened at that. Quickly, she rose from her seat and stalked toward him. "What lord? Who was it? Tell me!"
Theo could only shake his head. "I don't know, Your Grace. I only saw that he was huge. He threw one of his men against a tree like it was the easiest thing in the world."
The color drained from her face. The queen clutched her throat, eyes growing wider by the second. "Houndore," she whispered. "He sent Lord Houndore after me." Seeing the confused look on Theo's face, she explained. "He's one of the Lord Protector's most trusted men. Houndore is known for his cruelty. He sets his dogs on anyone who displeases him and orders their families to watch." Theo remembered the calm threat delivered in the woods and shivered. No wonder Houndore's men looked terrified of him.
The queen glanced at him then, eyeing the bow still held firmly in his hand.
"Did you kill him?" There was hope to the question, but not much. Theo flushed. The thought had not occurred to him as he sat high in the tree above Lord Houndore and his men. Shame flooded him yet again. What use was he to the queen if he could not be counted on to think to kill a man looking to harm her?
He didn't meet her eye.
She didn't press him.
"We need to leave the woods, Your Grace," Theo said after a moment. "Lord Houndore said he was going to burn them down to get you."
At this, the queen looked enraged. "Burn down the woods?" she asked quietly. "Burn down everything that was here when the Others still walked among us? Burn down a thousand years of our history?" Her hands balled into fists. Magic cracked sharply in the air between them. For a moment, Theo was afraid of her. He remembered suddenly why King Andras had thought it wise to make her his bride. He remembered what it was, exactly, that she was.
The queen breathed. The magic dissipated.
"We need to leave," she said. "Tonight."