I promise you, the story Tass is drawing to a close.

“You stay quiet,” Danid said in a low voice. “Just listen to me, and you'll be fine.”
Rynere straightened herself on the horse, suddenly scared again. She stared ahead, hearing her heart pound and feeling every muscle in her body tremble.
“You'll be my wife. You listen to me, I'll treat you well.”
Rynere looked down, at her hands, folded tightly in front of her.
Then she saw something, tucked into her sash. A handle.
A knife.
But what would she do with it? She didn't have the stomach to kill, or even injure, anyone. She couldn't ride the horse herself, and jumping off would both hurt her and make it easy for Danid to catch her. And then her knife would be gone.
And then there was the fact that there was another horse behind them. Whoever had been helping Danid.
Danid.
What was he doing? He was going to marry her anyway, wasn't he? What was he doing, stealing her in the middle of the night to make her his bride? There was no reason -nothing was making sense.
He had knocked out Tace. Had he killed Kyndran?
'Let the prince save the princess', Tace had said.
But this wasn't a rescue. It was a kidnapping.

The sun was straight overhead when Danid stopped the horse, dismounted, and pulled her off. His companion stopped some yards back. Rynere couldn't see him.
“I'm going to undo the gag so you can eat,” he said. “If you scream, or try to call for help, I'm going to put you to sleep and gag you again. Do you understand?”
Rynere nodded, and Danid untied the strip of cloth. He pointed to a nearby tree.
“Sit.”
Rynere obeyed.
Danid rummaged through the saddlebags, then produced some fruit and a few rolls. He bent down next to her.
“I'm untying your hands. You understand what will happen if you try to run.”
Rynere nodded, taking the food.
But she wasn't hungry. It felt like there was a stone sitting in her stomach.
What was happening?
“Why are you doing this?” she asked, trying to keep her voice from shaking.
“Because I don't want you to marry the prince. I want you for myself.”
“But -but you are -”
“I'm not the prince you're thinking of. The man Tass is a fool. Tace is the same. Kyndran is an idiot. They all think I'm that prince, the one that's 'supposed' to marry you. You know the cuckoo? Lays its eggs in the nest of another bird so that it doesn't have to raise its own offspring.
“I was switched out for a stillborn child when I had just been born. The others thought it was a miracle, a baby coming back to life. But my parents, though they didn't raise me, know who I am, and I will return with a bride to carry on our name.”
“Who -who's that with you?” Rynere pointed to the other horse, still in the distance, with a man standing beside it.
“My trusted guide Matthan,” Danid said. “To protect us from any wild plans your Tace and Kyndran might have to try and save you.”
Let the prince save the princess.
But the prince was stillborn. The prince never lived.
Rynere took a bite of bread. It was dry, tasted like sand.
“I need a drink,” she said, quiet. There was nothing she could do.

No rescue came. They kept riding, into the night, and Rynere eventually fell asleep from simple exhaustion. She awoke as light began to fill the world.
But the sky was cloudy.
The sound of the horses continued on. The constant noise was beginning to wear on Rynere, but her hands were tied again and she couldn't cover her ears. The gag was in and she couldn't make a sound to drown it out.
A light rain began to fall, covering up the tears that were starting to sting Rynere's eyes.
She didn't want to be here. She'd never wanted to leave her village, much less be dragged through kingdoms, nearly killed, watching others die -and now being kidnapped as a bride for a nobody. A fraud.
And no one was there to help her.
Then there was a rustle in the trees behind her. Danid glanced back, as did Rynere.
Nothing. Just a figure on the horse behind them, hooded against the rain.
Rynere didn't know why she'd raised her hopes. They simply dropped again, lower than before.
Was this the way she was going to live for the rest of her life?
And then Danid fell off the horse.