Chapter 26
The Evernean Forest
Cai
The breeze was warm and her forehead creased with fierce concentration. She had an arrow aimed at a target, a painted hay-sack on the branch of a nearby tree. Breathing slowly, I watched her, the string of the bow pulled tight. I leaned forwards on the tree branch.
Before she could realise my intentions, I gently pressed my lips to her jaw as she let the bowstring go, sending the arrow flying into the leaves of the nearby trees.
“You scoundrel.” She elbowed me in the ribs and I let out a laugh.
“You and I both know you cannot shoot should your life depend on it. This way I saved you the embarrassment of losing, as you get to blame it on me.”
She pulled out another arrow. “If you think you’re getting away with this, think again.” She pulled the string tight once more.
“Here, let me show you.” I covered her hands with my own. “Pull the string to your mouth and relax your shoulders.” She followed my instructions. “Now breathe in and once you’ve let it out, in that moment when you’re completely still, before breathing in again, you let the arrow go.”
She breathed deeply against me, then stilled completely. This time the arrow actually managed to hit the target. “See?” She grinned. “I told you I could shoot.”
“I wouldn’t call the winner just yet.” I chuckled and her eyes met mine with an unfamiliar look. “Have you given any thought to my proposition?” I asked. She looked back towards the target almost shyly, allowing me to smile. Beneath that cold exterior, Lara had a softness she didn’t allow many to see.
“Are you referring to the proposition of me falling in love with you before we go to war against the Evernean monarchy and possibly die?”
“Something like that.”
She pulled the bowstring tight with a new arrow. “Well, I’ll tell you this, Your Highness — you can kiss my neck until it kills you, but I still won’t be yours.” She let go and the arrow hit the branch next to the target.
I let out a laugh, placing my hands on her waist. It caused her to jump, and we ended up losing balance and plummeting to the ground. Luckily the ground wasn’t too far off, but it still felt like the air had been knocked out of my chest.
Lara giggled. Her landing was more comfortable, considering she was practically on top of me.
“You really are trying to kill me,” I said, and she laughed even more. I had grown fond of the sound.
“Nah,” she said, surprising me by grabbing my collar. “You’d be no fun if you were dead.” She pressed her lips to mine in a swift kiss that was over too soon. Lara sat up, her legs falling on either side of mine. I pushed myself up into a sitting position.
“Do that again,” I said shamelessly.
“Are you ordering me, Prince?”
“Maybe.” I couldn’t help but grin.
“If you think I’m going to start taking orders from you now, then you are very wrong.”
I placed a hand on her waist and gently brushed her hair away from her neck before pressing my lips to her collarbone.
“Mmhh,” I murmured against her soft skin.
“We should probably be getting back,” Lara said but I felt her breath hitch.
“Not until you kiss me again.” Our faces were inches apart now and it took every ounce of self-control that I possessed not to close the gap between us. Lara started leaning forwards but we both pulled apart quickly upon hearing laughter nearby.
“Who was that?” she asked.
“Don’t know. Probably someone fetching water.” We weren’t too far from the river. “The laugh sounded female.”
I helped her into a standing position, in silence, as we tried to locate exactly where the sound had come from.
“We can’t let anyone see us.”
“It’s nice to be appreciated like this,” I teased.
“Shut up.” She hushed me. “I will not be known as the Evernean rebel who had an affair with the Prince of Norrandale.”
“You say it like it’s a bad thing.”
“It is a bad thing,” she replied.
“How am I not supposed to get offended by this?”
And then we heard it again, more distant this time, but it was there.
Almost instinctively and for no reason whatsoever, I grabbed Lara’s hand and she interlaced her fingers with mine. Another laugh came and this time it was male. Lara pulled me in the direction of the camp. “Come on, let’s go before someone sees us.”
“No,” I whispered. “I know that voice. That’s Jack.”
“So?”
“So he told me he was going pheasant hunting this morning.”
“Maybe he got distracted by some female company,” she suggested.
“Jack doesn’t get distracted. He lied to me. And if my second-in-charge lies to me, I want to know why.”
She rolled her eyes, but walked after me nonetheless.
They were in a small clearing in the trees — Jack and, in his arms, Cordelia.
“Cordelia?” Lara half scolded in surprise, and Cordelia and Jack sprang apart.
“We . . . we . . .” Cordelia was at a loss for words.
“This is what you call pheasant hunting?” I grinned at Jack, who looked more than flustered.
“So this is why I can’t find you most of the time?” Lara asked Cordelia, and suddenly everything started to add up. I felt stupid for being oblivious to it all this time. Angry with myself that I had been too focused on my own problems to notice what was going on with my friends.
“What are you doing here?” Jack suddenly asked, turning the tables.
“We were discussing matters concerning our entrance to the palace on the day my uncle decides to attack.”
“We were?” I frowned for a moment before catching on. “Right, we were.” I cleared my throat.
“You see, I thought that it would be foolish just to storm the gates since all their forces will gather against us there. But if we used that as a distraction, it would be easier to enter the palace from a different position.”
“Right,” she confirmed.
Jack and Cordelia looked at us strangely. For a moment the four of us only stared at each other awkwardly.
“Best be on our way, then,” I said uncomfortably and turned in the direction of the camp.
“Right,” Lara said again.
“You’d think I’d see that coming,” I said a moment later.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself.” She ruffled my hair playfully and I pulled away. “One can only expect so much from a prince.”
I barked out a laugh and chased her back to camp.
* * *
The moon was high in the sky and the night was at its darkest, but we were all still sitting outside, gathered around a large fire. Someone started telling stories and soon a small crowd formed. Despite the fire, the air outside was cold, not that I minded this at all.
“Delaris and Valerie knew they couldn’t be together with everyone watching them.” The man was telling a story about a prince and princess from long ago and their forbidden love.
“So, in the middle of the night, Valerie escaped from her palace, and with a dove, she sent a letter to Delaris, telling him to meet her in the centre of the forest.”
“But we’re not supposed to go there,” one of the small children piped up. “It’s dangerous. You’ll die in there.”
“It is dangerous, yes,” the man replied. “During the day there is a mist that is so dense, you will never find your way out. Only those with royal blood can find their way through the mist. So when Delaris got Valerie’s letter, he got on his horse and rode there as fast as he could.”
“Did he find her?” a little girl asked.
“He did. And they lived happily ever after, where no one would find them.”
“So nothing could hurt them?”
“No, nothing could hurt them.”
I met Lara’s eyes on the other side of the fire and she managed a smile. The stories continued with tales of the magic forest and heroes who roamed the lands long ago. The lot of us listened intently and, for that time, we could forget about poverty and rebellions.