Free The Keeper's Flame (A Pandoran Novel, #2) by Barbara Kloss

far?” I hated not being able to see anything.
    “Eh”—pot hole—“not too far, but…” Thad stopped talking and I felt his unease—not an emotion I was used to feeling from Thad.
    “What is it?” I asked.
    “Don’t say another word till I say.” His voice was barely audible.
    The wagon stopped again.
    “Good afternoon, sir,” said a very matter-of-fact voice. “Name and destination.”
    “Just gave them that back there,” Thad said. He’d lost the drunken stupor.
    “Name and destination, sir,” repeated the voice.
    “Rodi. I’m headed to see Otis and I’m kind of in a hurry…”
    “What’s your cargo?”
    Thad’s frustration spiked. “Uh, kinda obvious, isn’t it?”
    Silence.
    “Hay,” Thad said at last. “You want me to count each piece of grass, too?”
    “Sorry, sir, but we’ve been ordered to check every cargo that comes in and out of the castle. King’s orders.”
    My heart pounded in my chest and my palms started sweating.
    “Go ahead, then, check.” Thad didn’t hide his irritation.
    I held Fleck’s frightened gaze, pressing my finger to my lips. Fleck bit his bottom lip and squeezed my hand so hard it cut off the circulation.
    The bales at the end of the wagon shifted as they were pushed and poked.
    I told you this was a stupid idea. You never should’ve come down here. The king will find out, and…
    Conscience, now is not the time.
    They were getting closer, haphazardly poking and lifting the bales, and right as the one over my head began to rise, the wagon shifted.
    The horses whinnied, jerking the wagon back and forth, and Thad said, “Whoa, boy! Sorry about that. The horses have been acting a bit skittish lately.”
    “They’re not the first,” said the voice, farther up the wagon.
    I let out a quiet breath. At least he’d stopped searching.
    “The animals sense something,” continued the guard, “and I think it has to do with”—his voice dropped—“the dark rider.”
    “You’ve seen him?” Thad asked.
    “No, but others have. They say they’ve seen him here, in Valdon, and I don’t like it. Not one bit.”
    Thad was quiet a moment. “I’ll be sure to keep watch, then. Thanks for the warning.”
    The wagon creaked and moved forward.
    I breathed a sigh of relief right as Fleck sneezed loudly.
    Oh, no.
    “Hellfire,” Thad cursed under his breath.
    “You there!” shouted a different voice this time.
    The wagon stopped.
    Footsteps thudded on the ground and I heard a knife scraping against its sheath. The bale of hay over my head was ripped free and a man’s round face appeared, angry and satisfied.
    “Well, well, well, what have we here?” sneered the man. “A princess and—” he ripped Fleck’s hood off “—the Daloren child.” His ugly sneer looked familiar, somehow. “Off to see Otis, were you?” His eyes turned hard. “Get. Out.”
    I climbed out of the wagon and turned to help Fleck, but the man shoved me back and grabbed Fleck by the cloak.
    “Get your hands off him!” My fists clenched at my sides.
    He tossed Fleck to the ground and pointed his sword at Thad. “Name,” he spat.
    Thad flashed me a silent apology and leapt from the wagon. He stood tall and faced the man with a proud grin on his face. “Come on, Lorimer, don’t you recognize me?
    The man’s eyes narrowed. “You.”
    “Actually, it’s Thad. I reserve ‘you’ for special occasions.” Thad smirked. How could he think this was funny? “Say, how’s Denn doing?”
    The man’s fury seared. “If you ever pull that kind of stunt on my son again…”
    Denn Faris, the bully, the one who’d humiliated me in the forest, was this man’s son?
    My heart dropped.
    As if this could get any worse.
    “Oh, you don’t need to worry about that,” Thad continued. “The stunt I pulled was good enough to last him the rest of his life.”
    Lorimer stared at Thad, and for a long terrible moment, I thought he was going to kill him.
    “What should I do with them?” The