Chapter 27
Chapter
I long for her to know me.
I dread the day she finally does.
Morning arrives with the relentless drumming of finger-like taps on the carriage roof from the pouring rain. The dark gray sky and thick fog make it nearly impossible to see the dense foliage arching over us, let alone the narrow gravel road. In a way, the dreary sight reminds me a bit of home.
Home. A funny word to use, I suppose. I was never welcome in the walls where I was kept. Needed? Certainly. Well, occasionally. But wanted? Cherished? Did I ever truly belong?
Day in and day out I have watched the knights interact with one another. There is a bond that surpasses their bickering. A kinship greater than blood. They’re a family, like the ones forged by battle and bread in the fables of old.
I wonder…is what I had anything like that?
I think of Xander. Of Peony and Rhidland too. Even Gally comes to mind.
We hardly bickered, for we hardly spoke.
But though few words were said between us, something powerful was shared.
Hope. Enough to keep us going when the days were full of dread.
To keep our hearts from curdling like all the others had.
We weren’t forged by blood or battle, but our resilience still stands.
A family made of misfits. A love with no end.
My chest aches at their memory, the heaviness of my sorrow evident in the tears racing down the hollows of my cheeks.
’Tis a tragically beautiful feeling, the tugging of the soul.
“How ya doin’ in there, Princess?” Merrek shouts over the torrential downpour.
“I am well.” I call out, though I’d be better if I knew my men didn’t have to traverse in this rain.
Myrrdin rides up beside the carriage on Wolfe’s gray speckled horse, his normally combed-back hair now dripping in his eyes.
“Might I trouble you for a favor, Princess?” he sputters through rain-slicked lips.
“Of course!” I eagerly nod, desperate to help lighten their burden.
Myrrdin lets on a sheepish smile as he reaches beneath his armored chest. For half a heartbeat I think he’s going to shed out of the steel plate, when he steers the horse closer and pulls out his six-legged companion instead.
“I know he’s an insect but…”
My heart squeezes at the way the proper knight gently holds the creature to his chest.
“He’s my dearest friend,” he says. “And with this weather I…well, I’m worried that—”
“I’ve heard enough,” I cut in, sticking my hands out the window and gesturing for the knight’s stick figured friend. “Hand him here.”
Myrrdin’s blue eyes flicker from me to the road, stalling, his rigid shoulders proof of his worry.
“’Tis a scary thing to trust another with a piece of your heart, but I promise you, Myrrdin. Yours is safe with me.” My lips tug into a warm smile, despite the chilling rain coming down on our heads.
He offers one of his own in kind, his voice low as he says, “Thank you, Princess.”
“Of course.” I nod.
And then slowly, carefully, I take the six-legged creature from his hand.
Myrrdin’s shoulders drop on a heavy exhale as he reluctantly tears his eyes from my hand to catch up to where Frog is riding up ahead.
“Looks like it’s just us for a bit, boys,” I whisper to the stick thin creature hugging my finger as the carriage’s wooden wheels rattle and bounce over loose stones in the road.
Buttons, on the other hand, couldn’t care less about the violent jolts in our ride.
It’s his wet feathers that have him in a tizzy.
He’s spent the better half of the morning preening the soft fuzzy fur of his belly and looking woefully pathetic curled up in the center of my makeshift bed—the very same one he saw fit to push me out of too early this morning, after everyone else decided to go back to sleep for a few more hours.
“You spoiled little thing,” I tease, flicking a few stray raindrops onto his freshly cleaned coat.
His feathered tail flickers with annoyance as he makes quick work of the water I sent flying his way, which raises the question…
“What on earth were you doing in that well?”
Buttons’ big black eyes meet mine just in time to see me fly forward off the bench as the carriage jerks to a stop.
“Hold on!” I think I hear Merrek yell as I stumble to my feet.
There’s a heavy thud of boots hitting the rain riddled path before fading off into the distance, and then…nothing. No explanation or quick-witted remark.
It’s the latter that scares me the most.
“Is everything alright out there?” I shout, pulling my skirts up just enough to find two bright red spots on both of my knees.
Silver lining? The stick bug’s made it out unscathed.
I sigh, fixing my skirts before slipping Myrrdin’s friend into my shallow pocket as I shuffle to the carriage window.
“Merrek, are you alright?” I call out once more.
Again, he doesn’t answer.
I pop my head out the window, despite every story I’ve ever read expressly warning me not to do anything of the sort in situations such as these.
And looking outside, I can see why. The grayish-blue fog that rolled in with the storm is thicker than before, its heavy presence making each of my breaths feel borrowed.
I hold my mouth closed as I squint into the darkness, but the only thing visible from the carriage are the tall black shadows of crooked trees, their branches cracked and snapped to make the darkened tunnel over our path even more so.
‘Twould be the perfect place for a candle-lit dance. Or an ambush.
I quickly retreat back into the safety of the carriage, where I find Buttons with his spine arched high toward the sky, his tongue flicking madly against the salty air.
“You feel it too, don’t you?” I whisper, crouching so my head sits just below the window on the carriage floor.
Something is wrong.
Someone should have answered by now.
“Myrrdin? Rhidland?” I try calling out again.
Silence.
“Frog?” I shout, the desperation in my voice more evident than before.
Buttons flares his wings, baring his teeth at the door.
I look in time to see the small metal knob turning and suck in what may well be my last breath. I’m fully prepared to use that very air to scream bloody murder when suddenly the door flies open and—
“Wolfe?” I exhale, though my shoulders remain rigid.
The amber-eyed knight looks taken aback to see me crouched low on the floor. Not that I can’t say the same. For the last time I saw him, he was…well, changed.
“Why are you not with them?” he murmurs to himself.
Still, I answer anyway.
“There was some commotion ahead,” I fidget beneath the intensity of his gaze. “I mean, I assume. I-I didn’t actually see. I was left alone by—”
“Aye! There you are!”
Merrek.
Wolfe jumps, his muscles stiff as he’s all but crammed into the carriage by the curly-haired knight.
“Where ya been, buddy?” Merrek asks, plopping on the carriage floor beside me after taking off his cloak to hang over the window’s frame. “You missed all the action!”
“Action?”
“What action?” me and Wolfe ask in unison.
“Relax. They’re long gone now.” Merrek sighs, resting his head against the carriage wall.
It’s then that I notice the small cut above his brow. A dark bruise sits just below his chin. Wherever he was, whatever he was doing, it was more than just a little action. Though it doesn’t sound like he’s going to admit to much more. At least, not to a princess. But maybe a friend?
“Is everyone okay?” I ask.
“Okay?” Merrek scoffs, puffing out his chest. “Try unstoppable! Especially that castle guard of yours!”
“Rhidland?” I puzzle, my gaze snapping to his.
“You never mentioned he was a soldier in the Cinder War. The man’s a legend with a blade.
Says he’s going to teach me a thing or two.
Or was it I needed to learn a thing or two?
” Merrek’s face pinches in contemplation before sliding back into awestruck wonder.
“Nevertheless! He is now my third favorite person. The second being me. Naturally.”
I shake my head, having long accepted the nonsensical ways of the curly copper knight.
But Rhidland? A legend with a blade?
Wait…
“Why was Rhidland using a blade?”
My heart hammers in my chest, driving me to my feet.
Merrek follows, looking more surprised by his little slip up than me.
“People were trying to kill you?” I ask between quick, shallow breaths.
There isn’t much room left to pace between the two large men, so I opt for running my hands through my hair while healthily hyperventilating.
“Princess, perhaps you should sit down?” Wolfe offers, gesturing toward the bench.
Merrek opens his mouth to agree when I cut them both a look hot enough to curdle dairy.
The whites of Merrek’s eyes are on full display as I back him into a corner, waving my pale blue finger between him and Wolfe.
“I will not be sat. I will not be silenced,” I avow.
Merrek nods emphatically, while Wolfe blows out a heavy breath.
Progress, I fool myself into believing, just as Myrrdin appears on the carriage steps.
“You varlet,” he starts, shaking his head at his twin. “You were meant to check on the princess and—Oh. Wolfe, you’re back?” Myrrdin blinks at the amber eyed knight.
“You’re just in time to pick up that one’s slack,” he jeers. “The Redhoods left quite a mess on the road ahead.”
“The Redhoods?” I gasp.
“No taking that one back.” Merrek sucks in through gritted teeth.
Wolfe cuts a sharp look between the twins, massaging the bridge of his nose. “I am surrounded by simpletons,” he mutters.
Sympathy pangs my heart as I watch him storm past Myrrdin and out of the carriage. I know there is little I can do to ease the burden he carries, but I should have liked to try.
Myrrdin clears his throat, drawing me back to the matter at hand— a situation which I will not be swayed from.
His fingers fidget at his sides, but his thinned lips don’t show any sign of letting slip any more of the truth.
I’ll just have to get it the hard way then. Through pure tenacity. And a little bit of princess charm.
“Perhaps you should sit and—”