Chapter 26
Cai
Though it was still the early hours of the morning, the sun burned hot and bright. The sweat made my shirt to cling to my body. I looked over to where Elara sat astride her mare. Her hunting attire reminded me of our time at Fairfrith camp. A time now lost and long gone with the wind.
When Elara had suggested a hunting trip, I wasn’t convinced it was a good idea. We would be far away from the palace, while leaving Lance in charge once again. And although Elara seemed content with the arrangement, I didn’t trust him.
Yet she seemed so excited at the prospect of spending a few days in the woods that I would have said yes to anything when she looked at me with those pleading eyes. I suspected she knew just as much.
“You’re lagging behind,” she called over her shoulder. “At this pace, we’re not going to catch anything, Your Majesty .” Her tone of voice was flirtatious, teasing as she used my title.
“Just admiring the horse’s flanks.” I made the same joke as I had in Norrandale, and she let out a laugh.
“Do you know where you’re going?” I asked, urging my horse forwards so that I could be next to her, our small group of guards riding behind us. Jack and Rhen were in conversation with Cordelia (who’d arrived a few days prior), and Alastor was his usual quiet self.
“Of course I do,” she scoffed, as if I’d just asked the most ridiculous question.
“Just checking, Your Majesty.”
The weather of the morning changed, and the afternoon grew dark and cold. We caught a few pheasants but nothing of merit, and after a few more hours of riding, we finally set up camp for the evening.
“Everything in order, Your Majesty?” Jack checked up on me again for the umpteenth time in the last hour.
“Please, Jack. Take a seat.” I gestured to the log on the other side of the fire.
“I hardly think—” he began, but I interrupted him.
“I royally command you to. Now sit, have something to drink. I doubt Argonian soldiers are just going to jump out of nowhere. You’ve scanned the surrounding area at least seventeen times now.”
“I can’t drink while I’m keeping watch.” Jack took a seat, though his posture remained tense.
“Then at least have something to eat.”
He kept his eyes on the trees above, hand on the hilt of his sword.
“Jack.”
He met my gaze.
“It’s not your fault.”
“I beg your pardon, Majesty?”
“It’s not your fault I was poisoned and it’s not your fault the Argonian spies broke into the palace that day.” And I meant every word. Jack hadn’t been the same since we’d left for Everness, and while I appreciated his commitment and efforts to keep me safe, I needed him to let go of the burden he now carried like a second skin. I could tell how much he blamed himself, and I hated it.
Everything in his expression told me that he didn’t believe me.
“You’ve always done your job as you should have. You’ve always kept my protection as your main priority, Jack, and I still trust you with my life.”
He shook his head with a trace of sorrow. “I failed at my job. My single most important duty is to protect you, and I have failed.”
“I am still alive. And as long as I’m alive, I want you to remain head of my guard. Even if we do our best, there are things outside our control.” Jack had seen me at my best and at my very worst. We’d been through hell together.
“One day I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”
I was about to respond when Elara’s voice rose up behind me. “Do you mind if I join you?”
Jack jumped up and out of his seat. “Please do. I think I’ll take a walk around camp again, make sure all is well.” He cleared his throat and scurried off.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt anything,” she said, taking a seat next to me.
“You didn’t interrupt.”
The cool evening prompted Elara to press up against me. She rubbed her hands together and sucked in a breath. I took her right hand and held it between my own, attempting to create warmth. Elara gave me a smile before looking back at the burning fire.
“How did we find ourselves back in the Evernean Forest in the middle of the night?”
“What do you mean?”
“The night I found you guys while running for my life,” she reminded me.
“Ah yes, the night you won’t ever let me forget because of that damned tree.”
With a chuckle, she nudged my shoulder. “It’s still the best night of your life.”
“How so?”
“Because it’s the night you met me.”
I pressed a kiss behind her ear and whispered into her hair, “How could I forget?”
Elara squeezed my hand, and I would have given anything in heaven or on earth to be alone with her in that moment. One day, I told myself. One day we could watch the stars together without the worry of alliances and wars and our duties as monarchs.
* * *
We rose with the sun, packing up our small campsite and readying the horses.
“Good morning.” Elara braided the last part of her hair before reaching for her horse’s saddle.
“Here.” Looking for an excuse to touch her, I helped her onto the horse.
“Thank you.” She put on her riding gloves. “Hopefully we have better luck with the hunt today.”
We had no such luck.
No animal appeared. As if the forest was watching us, protecting its own from our bows and arrows. Not that I minded too much. It was a good distraction from everything that awaited us once we returned.
Speaking of which . . .
“How do you think things are faring at the palace?” I asked Elara.
“What do you mean?”
“We left Lance, Thatcher and Gwen there unattended,” I remarked, as if they were small children in constant need of being watched. Maybe they were.
“True,” she admitted. “We’d be lucky to return and find they hadn’t destroyed the place yet. Why did we leave them there alone again?”
“Because none of them wanted to go hunting,” I answered.
“Right. I’m sure it will be fine regardless. It’s a big palace — they’ll stay out of each other’s way.”
“I should think so.” Knowing the three of them, she was probably right, and we would be lucky if they hadn’t burned the place down.
Suddenly Elara’s mare stopped, and it was only when I noticed her grip on the reins that I realised she was the one who had halted the horse.
“Is something wrong?”
“Do you hear something?”
Our guards drew their swords, our hunting party quiet.
I even halted my breathing until finally, very faintly in the distance, there was a sound. It wasn’t easily distinguishable, nor could I decipher what exactly the sound was, only the direction it was coming from.
Jack and Alastor moved their horses in front of ours.
“Stay back, Your Majesties,” Jack ordered while looking ahead.
Something was coming our way.
We all seemed to hold our breath in anticipation until something broke through the leaves.
A man on a horse came cantering towards us.
The surprise was in it being a familiar man.
“Ray?” Elara said in shock, and his horse reared at the sight of all of us ready to strike him down.
“Whoa.” Ray held on to the horse, calming it. It looked like he hadn’t slept, as if he’d been riding through the night.
“Ray, are you all right?” Elara said.
He heaved. “What are you all doing here?”
“Hunting,” Rhen responded. “What are you doing here?”
“He’s found her.” Elara didn’t give Ray a chance to reply. “He’s found Princess Eloisa.”
“Where?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“She’s in Argon,” Ray answered.
* * *
Rhen suggested we return to the palace, and we all agreed. With the news of Eloisa, sooner was better than later. But we were more than a day’s ride away. We’d have to cut our trip shorter somehow, so Rhen took the lead, changing our route.
Of all the places I’d expected Princess Eloisa to be, Argon wasn’t one of them. Ray had got lucky in his search. After speaking to the palace soldiers who lost her, he interviewed people in nearby villages and eventually someone said they’d seen her get onto a ship. I looked towards Elara, her face etched with worry.
“Do you think Her Highness simply got on the ship or was made to get onto the ship?” Jack asked, pulling me away from my thoughts.
“I don’t know. With the number of spies Aries has doing his bidding, I can’t say I’m surprised he found her and brought her under his ‘protection’ or whatever he’s going to call it.”
“Aries will most likely try and use her as some form of bargaining chip against us,” Elara commented. I hadn’t realised she was listening to our conversation. She’d never met her sister, so it wasn’t like there was any form of attachment between them apart from their blood. But Aries liked to have every possible weapon at his disposal. He would use anyone he could.
“Could you find out anything else about King Aries’ army?” I’d never particularly liked Ray, especially because anyone could tell he was in love with Elara. But we were beyond juvenile jealousy at this point.
“Nothing of real value. I wasn’t really welcome there, and I’d only managed to find out about Princess Eloisa staying in the palace by word of mouth. I didn’t see her.”
“Then how we do we even know she’s truly there and they are not just rumours?”
“She’s there,” Elara said with certainty. “She has to be.”
* * *
We set up camp as the sun began to set, the shadows of the forest merging into night. I brushed down my horse, needing my hands to do something. I was on edge, my stomach in a twist. It felt as though danger lurked behind every tree and that it would only be a matter of time before Aries finally caught up to us.
My eyes searched for Elara in the camp’s firelight. She was perched on a nearby fallen log, the dagger I’d gifted her in her hands. She turned it carefully, inspecting the weapon as if it held some deeply guarded secret.
My horse gave a small neigh as it gobbled up every blade of grass it could find. I petted the animal’s neck gently.
When I looked back up, Ray was seated next to Elara. I tried not to take note of the proximity between them, or the prick of unwanted jealousy it caused within me. Ray had been her closest friend since childhood, and I knew how important he was to her. But I also saw the way Ray looked at Elara.
“I can’t believe you actually found her,” I heard Elara say. “I mean, I knew you could do it but...” She sighed. “Argon, of all places.”
“I was just as surprised when I found out.”
“I’d just assumed she was hiding somewhere in Everness, possibly out in the country and away from all the trouble at court. But this is going to be a lot more complicated than I thought, especially with King Aries coming after Norrandale.”
“I heard Cai killed Aries’ younger brother in battle.” My heartbeat increased at Ray’s words and at the horrid memories it brought up.
“It’s about more than that. Aries is after something else.”
“What do you mean?”
Elara hesitated and I feared what she would say. Whether she would betray my trust by telling Ray about Norrandale’s biggest secret.
She wouldn’t do it, I told myself.
“Norrandale has some very valuable land that could make King Aries even more powerful.”
A breath of relief escaped me.
“It always seems to be about power with these people.”
“I’m one of these people now, in case you forgot, Ray.”
“No, you’re not. You’re not like them, Lara. How long are you going to pretend?”
“Pretend?” Her voice rose a little. “You think I’m just pretending? This is my life now. This is who I am, and if you can’t accept that...” She shook her head. “Then you’re not the same person I grew up with.”
“If anyone’s changed then it’s you. You used to hate these people and now you’re trying to marry a king.”
“I’m going to marry a king,” she insisted.
“Don’t marry him, Lara.”
I stiffened but resisted the urge to intervene.
“Why not?” She was clearly annoyed.
“Because you don’t need him or his kingdom. You are strong enough to rule on your own.” He placed his hand atop hers, and my fist clenched at my side.
“You know nothing of this world,” she said, more softly now. “If I don’t marry him then I won’t survive my reign.”
“But are you really willing to spend the rest of your life with someone that you don’t love?”
Elara looked away and I swallowed hard. Even though she’d said that she would marry me and that she cared for me, Elara had never told me that she loved me. I couldn’t blame her. Love was something that took time to grow.
“I know you better than anyone else,” Ray persisted. “And I know this isn’t going to make you happy.”
“You’re right,” Elara said after a few seconds, and I thought my heart stopped. “I have changed. No matter how much I miss the girl I used to be, I don’t think there’s any way back to her now.”
She removed her hand from Ray’s and stood up. “I’m going to marry him. And nothing will change that.”
* * *
We packed up our little camp and continued our journey back to the palace the next morning. It was early enough that the sun had yet to rise properly. Hues of orange and red surrounded us, while many fallen leaves coated the forest floor.
I wondered what the Evernean Forest would look like in the height of winter. If Aries did plan on attacking Norrandale, I hoped he would wait until spring. The only thing worse than sending an army out was to send them out in the middle of winter. They’d be marching to their deaths.
“How much further until we reach the palace?” Cordelia asked. None of us had a chance to reply before an arrow came flying out of the trees and straight into Ray’s chest.
It happened so quickly, Elara’s scream, Ray’s body falling to the ground. The guards screamed something. More arrows flew.
I was off my horse before I knew it, running towards Elara.
She was crouched over Ray’s body, holding on to him as if it would save his life.
“Elara, we need to go.”
“No!” she cried and pulled out of my grasp, her eyes welling with tears.
“I’m sorry but we can’t save him.” I had to make a choice, no matter how broken Elara’s heart was. Her life was more important. And as for Ray... Ray was gone.
She was near hysterical as I pulled her away.
With every second, more armed men emerged from the woods, clad in Argonian armour and symbols. The sight of them seemed to bring her back to some sense of reality. Swords clashed, men cried out in pain, our guards prioritising our protection. I pulled my sword from its sheath, shielding Elara.
Except, when I reached for her, she wasn’t behind me anymore. I swerved to see her jumping onto the nearest horse and kicking it into motion.
“Elara, wait!” I called as she galloped away. One of the Argonians came at me before Jack stepped in his way, giving me enough time to mount one of the other horses and set off after her. She couldn’t be too far ahead. The trees and branches went by in a blur, the horse’s hoofs echoing off the pathway.
My worry intensified with the realisation that I wasn’t catching up to her, and so I eventually slowed the horse into a trot. I listened for any sound that could hint at which direction she went in.
A few seconds later, the familiar sound of her scream sent me barrelling forwards. It wasn’t long before I realised why.
A white mist started creeping up like it was being exhaled by the trees. Damn. With our shortcut, I hadn’t thought about how close we were to the centre of the forest. The last time, Elara made the group of us run for our lives when we got this close.
I had to find her before she got hurt.
My horse was tempted to turn away from the haze, but I pushed it onwards, until the mist surrounded us.
* * *
The forest was quiet in the middle of the mist.
I woke up alone on the leafy forest floor, with my horse gone. The mist itself was so thick and heavy that I could barely see around myself.
I exhaled with a cough, wondering what kind of mist it was. Based on the myth Elara had told me, it trapped men in this part of the woods until they died. I’d never seen anything like this in my life, and while my instincts warned me to be terrified, I wasn’t dead yet.
“Lara!” Calling out her name seemed like the sensible thing to do, but there was no response.
I had no idea which direction I’d come from, and I was starting to understand all the more why she had warned us against the mist during our previous visit to Everness. One truly had no sense of direction. I couldn’t see the sky to tell where the sun was and get my bearings.
I shifted my position, my limbs sore from what I suspected was falling off my horse.
I froze at the sound of a growl. Though I couldn’t see anything, I could sense something coming towards me.
Fingers digging into the ground, I quickly pushed myself into a standing position.
As the growl grew louder, a wolf emerged from the mist. It looked similar to the one I’d encountered the day we entered Everness for the first time, but this one was larger, deadlier. This was no normal wolf. This was a beast of the forest.
A male scream erupted in the distance, causing both of us to look in that direction, before the wolf turned its attention back to me.
I stood my ground while the wolf continued its approach. It sniffed the air. There was blood on my hand. I must have scraped it when I fell. My mind felt fuzzy and disoriented.
The wolf looked into my eyes as if it was searching for something. As if it was more than just animal. And then, to my surprise, it walked away, disappearing into the mist as if it had never been there at all.
I blew out a breath.
Elara.
I called out her name but there was no response. Only the vastness of the thick mist and the echo of my voice. And so I ran. Surely it couldn’t last for ever. It had to end. There had to be a way out. “Elara!”
I ran until my legs started to ache, the mist creating its own maze. It was blinding, consuming. Something ran into me, knocking the air out of my chest. My arms reached forwards instinctively. She smelled sweet. Elara jerked in surprise.
“Cai.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.” She let out a breath. “I don’t know which way is out.”
I didn’t care. In that moment, I only cared that she was unharmed. Holding her by the shoulders, I breathed heavily. Too much had happened in too little time.
“I thought I’d lost you.”
She met my gaze, her eyes filled with fear. “I’m sorry. I didn’t... I couldn’t—” She struggled to find the words.
“We need to find a way out.” Later, I told myself. Later there would be time to process and discuss everything, but first we needed to get out alive. I took hold of her hand and turned, going back in the direction I’d come from. Or at least, what I thought was the direction I’d come from.
We walked in silence, her hand in mine. It may have only been a few minutes, but it felt like hours had passed. The mist finally began to fade, and we stepped back into the light of the forest.
“We’re out.” Elara’s tone suggested she almost didn’t believe it. She continued looking around her, as if half expecting the fog to creep up on us again. “I didn’t think we were going to get out.”
“I knew we would.” I didn’t want to tell her that I was starting to have my own doubts for a while back there. I looked around the high trees and green branches. There was a path not too far off. “Any idea where we are?”
“More or less. I think I might be able to find my way back.” She let go of me and started making her way towards where she thought the road would be.
I stopped in my tracks behind her. “Elara, I’m really sorry about Ray.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
It might have been a coincidence, or it might have been the fact that she helped save my life with a price she wasn’t willing to pay. I didn’t want to think too much about it, but I couldn’t help my eyes from boring holes into her pocket, which I knew carried the dagger I’d gifted her.