“Something has happened, Your Grace,” Benedict said suddenly to the Duke from their spot at the front of the entourage. The knight was looking over his shoulder.

The Duke whipped his head around and saw that the carriage had stopped, the gray uniformed guards gathered around it. He drew in a sharp breath, then wheeled his horse around and raced back to the carriage. I shouldn’t have gone so far ahead! I should have stayed in the back-

Erik saw Lady Karissa emerge from the carriage, assisted by the guard captain, Dalvo, and walk to the front by the horses. Her guards were not shouting, nor were they panicked in any way. He slowed his horse to a canter, and removed his hand from the hilt of his sword, trying to calm himself. Not an attack, then.

Karissa spoke to the driver, who was leading the two horses away from the carriage, and Erik finally saw what had happened. Irreparable, at least for now, he thought. Karissa put her hands on her hips, biting her lip, staring at the two halves of the broken wheel.

Erik heard his knights racing up behind him, and he turned to signal that all was well. They slowed their pace, and the Duke then stopped his horse and dismounted. 

“Lady Karissa, are you alright?” he asked, trying to keep his tone even as he approached.

“Yes, Your Grace, I apologize for the delay,” Karissa said, quickly turning to him as she ceased biting her lip and, instead of keeping her hands on her hips like a disapproving mother, clasped them neatly in front of her. She smiled apologetically. “It seems this carriage was not meant for the journey.” Her quick reposturing confused him, but he quickly put it out of his mind.

“Not to worry, my lady,” Erik said. “We will get everything situated.”

“We can use one of the horses to carry Lady Karissa’s luggage,” Dalvo suggested. “But there will not be enough room for the rations.”

“Why use only one of the horses?” Karissa asked. “Both can be used as pack horses until we get to the keep.”

“My lady, if we do that there will be no mount for you to ride,” the lady’s maid, Lilian, pointed out.

“I can walk-”

“I would not dare allow such a thing, my lady,” Dalvo insisted, his eyes darting from the former princess to the Duke. Karissa opened her mouth to protest again, but Erik intervened, reasoning that it would not be good for his knights to see their new Duchess arguing with her servants.

“If it pleases you, Lady Karissa,” the Duke said. “Use my horse as your stead. He is well trained, and more than capable of delivering you safely to Hallel.” Karissa looked from the Duke to her guard and then her lady’s maid, seemingly unhappy with the suggestion that she be treated like a lady at all. “I would also be remiss to allow my new bride to walk the rest of the way,” Erik added gently, giving a pointed look.

Karissa looked right back at him, a small frown on her face, and for a moment he thought she was going to refuse. But then she lowered her gaze and nodded. “Very well. Captain, how soon can we be moving again?” The guard looked relieved.

“Not long at all, my lady. I’ll see to it.” The guard turned and began giving orders to the other men to begin taking the supplies off the back of the carriage and lashing them to the two horses. Erik gave orders for his men to resume their positions, while he would stay in the center with the two women. 

Karissa and her lady’s maid stood to the side, and Erik saw Karissa taking something out of her pocket and handing it to her servant, who stuffed whatever it was into her own pocket. Curiosity nagged at the back of his mind, but he dared not ask. It would do no good to upset her further.

At last the supplies were situated, and Karissa approached Erik’s horse. The Duke held out his hand to help her mount, but to his surprise she placed a foot in the stirrup and grasped the saddle with both hands, hoisting herself up to sit astride the animal. Most ladies would have ridden side-saddle, but he supposed it would be more comfortable for her to ride normally. 

Karissa’s servant stood on the other side of the horse, carrying only a canteen of water. Once everyone was ready, Erik gave the reins a tug and led his horse forward, the procession continuing anew.

“Thank you, Your Grace,” Karissa said after a few minutes. “For offering your horse.”

“No need for thanks,” he replied. “It was only right.” The Duke glanced up at her and met her eyes, seeing that indiscernible look on her face again. He walked on.

“Do you travel this road often?” Karissa asked after another few minutes.

“Only when I must,” he answered, truthfully. “I much prefer to stay in Hallel. But I am often called away by the emperor.” 

“He must value your skills then, if he so often calls on you?”

“I suppose so. Though I do not know how much longer my skills will be of use to him.”

“Indeed. Much of the continent is under his rule now. Perhaps he will allow you to rest for a time.”

Erik glanced back at her again, but her tone and expression only gave an air of small talk. Of simply wishing to converse. But he still had to be careful of saying the wrong thing.

“Perhaps. That would be a welcome change, but I am always ready to serve the emperor.”

“Of course.” The conversation lapsed into silence, and he wondered if she was satisfied with his answer. 

While Erik did not know the exact reason behind the emperor orchestrating their marriage, he could not dismiss the possibility that his new bride was a spy sent to discover any disloyalty. There was none to find, of course. He had pledged to serve the emperor until his dying breath the day he had been knighted almost a decade ago. Through that decade he had given much of his own sweat and blood, and that of the men under his command, to preserve and expand the empire. 

But the emperor had always been paranoid. In recent years he had accused those closest to him of conspiring against him, and either exiled or stripped them of their power. Now that there was no one left in the capitol to worry about, had the emperor turned his attention to the nobles elsewhere?

What else must I do to prove myself loyal? What other battles must I win in his name for him to trust me? I already agreed to a marriage without a word of protest, and yet he names her, the daughter of the man I most recently killed, as my bride. What else could this be but a carefully laid snare?

Erik glanced back at Karissa again, an unsettling feeling enveloping him. He wanted to believe that she was not a part of such a scheme. He wanted to put his own paranoia aside. He wanted, more than anything, to just let his guard down and get to know his new wife. 

But the circumstances surrounding them were too peculiar to allow that. At least not yet.